Advice+from+ESL+Students

This advice was taken from a survey of 180 ESL learners in an urban high school:

 * Write things, including homework, on the chalkboard.
 * Slow down the speed when speaking at length.
 * Don't isolate us at the back of the room.
 * Ask me to stay for help (I'm too shy to ask).
 * Encourage us to be active in class (it helps me get courage).
 * Give us easier questions and passages to read orally at first.
 * Give us more than one day for homework assignments.
 * Review work and write important things on the chalkboard.
 * Help us to work in groups.
 * Take an interest in me other than just my marks.
 * Hand out notes so I can study at home.
 * Encourage other students to work with us.
 * Have lots of patience.
 * Don't judge me by my English.
 * Don't treat us like strangers.
 * Check to see if I understand.
 * Explain difficult vocabulary and give us a vocabulary sheet with meanings (it takes so long to look up so many words).
 * Don't insult us when we don't understand.
 * Please don't say I'm not listening. I really am.
 * Smile.

Source: Helmer, Sylvia and Catherine Eddy (2003). Look at Me When I Talk to You: ESL Learners in Non-ESL Classrooms. Don Mills, Ontario: Pippin.

Advice from our ESL Students:

 * Be enthusiastic about what you teach and I will be more interested.
 * Engage me in conversation because you are patient and can help me improve my English.
 * Learn about my culture as I have learned about yours.
 * Ask the Multicultural Cultural Worker to translate for me it I can't understand what you are saying to me if we have a conflict.
 * Encourage me to get involved in school clubs so I can make more Canadian friends.
 * Please get involved if you see a student saying something racist to another student. This makes me feel safe.

===Learn about your ESL student's culture by checking out the [|Culture Profiles Project] from the Federal government. The magazine [|The New Internationalist] also has country profiles featured in the publication over the years.===