Learning English and creative writing through photographs

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"A picture is worth a thousand words ..." blog

The English language: Gateway to the world

The English language in its different varieties (American English, British English, etc) is the gateway to the world of education, business, technology and inter-people communication. More than a billion people speak the English language, and there are only a few places in the world where English is not understood. Here in the Philippines, English is the language of government, education, commerce and industry.

The Filipino diaspora

The Philippines has a population of around 78 million. As of December 2004, there were more than eight million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) employed in over 180 countries as nurses, engineers, doctors, entertainers, domestic helpers, seamen, business management experts, etc. The term "Filipino diaspora" has been used to describe this scattering of Filipinos all over the world. Foreign employers prefer Filipinos, not only for their industry and technical competence, but for their ability to communicate in English.

There are also thousands of Filipinos pursuing their studies in colleges and universities in English-speaking countries.

Exceptions rather the rule

Thousands of Filipinos are also employed in the call center companies here in the Philippines. Acceptable fluency in the English language by Filipinos is one big factor for the booming call center industry in our country.

However, Filipinos who can speak, read and write excellent English are the exceptions rather than the rule. Studies have shown that the Filipinos' grasp of the English language is slipping, and other Asians are fast catching up, thanks to their governments' aggressive English language training programs.

According to one media report, only two out of ten applicants in call centers eventually get hired, the rest having failed in the English proficiency tests. Those who do get hired are often required to undergo a rigorous review of English. The same report also stated that many graduates from our top universities have English language skills comparable only to 2nd grade children from Western countries. Another news item reported that out of 100 Filipino nurses who take the English proficiency exams abroad, only 50 percent or less pass.

To address this problem of decreasing competence in English among Filipinos, Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo directed in early 2007 the Department of Education to use English as the medium of instruction in all school levels.

In Congress, House Bill 305 or the proposed "Act to Strengthen and Enhance the Use of English as the Medium of Instruction in Philippine Schools" is expected to be passed in 2008. Under Section 4 of this bill, English will be the medium of instruction starting from Grade 3 up to high school. In addition, HB 305 will encourage the use of English in language interaction in schools and the organization of English-based clubs such as book, oratorical, debating, writing and related associations. Under Section 5 of the bill, the use English will be required for government examinations and entrance examinations in public schools, state colleges and universities.

The goal of this website

If you are a teacher or student from grade school up to college, an OFW, a professional, an entrepreneur, an employee in government or in the private sector, this website can help improve your mastery of the English language. Proficiency in English will help improve your grades and create opportunities for advancement in work and career.

The design of this website

The website is divided into the traditional classification of English grammar of the eight parts of speech, plus sections on idioms, vocabulary, spelling, listening, speaking, pronunciation, and writing. Based on these divisions, we have searched for and selected good discussions and interactive exercises from more than a thousand ESL (English as Second Language) and EFL (English as Foreign Language) websites.

The websites we have chosen are consistently good, fast loading, and generously offer to their users, free of charge, a wide range of resources. Besides the materials listed in this website, these excellent sites offer a tremendous range of valuable resources in learning the English language.

Except for three or four websites, the selected sites come from American, Australian, British or European sources. Thus, Filipinos may sometimes find it difficult relating with the situations or the contexts of the discussions and interactive exercises. As soon as we find online English lessons with an Asian context, we will include them here.

According to the National Statistics Office, there are presently more than 13.4 million Filipino users of the Internet. While broadband connection is becoming more accessible and affordable for homes, most of you probably still have online access either through slow dial-up connections or through rental by the hour services of Internet cafes. This website thus uses predominantly text links, with very few graphics.

American English and British English; an emerging standard of Philippine English

Please take note that these websites either teach American English or British English. Although American English is the standard in the Philippines, we have included websites on British English since the countries Filipinos have gone to as workers or students include those where British English is the standard. For a better understanding of the differences between American and British English, please read the following articles : (1) American and British English differences from Wikipedia; and (2) Differences Between American and British English from About.com.

According to scholars (Dr. Teodoro Llamzon,1969; Bro. Andrew Gonzales, FSC of De La Salle University, 1981; and recently, Dr. Ma. Lourdes S. Bautista, Professor Emeritus, DLSU), there is now a brand of English known as “Standard Filipino English” or “Philippine English”. Dr. Llamzon described it as “the type of English that educated Filipinos speak and which is acceptable in educated Filipino circles.”

How to answer the interactive exercises

In answering the interactive exercises, you should follow carefully the prompts and directions. You should read each sentence or part aloud before clicking the answer you think is right. After the correct answer is displayed, think it over as to why it is the correct answer. (Please take note that the correct answer may depend on whether the exercise comes from an American English or a British English website.) After doing so, read the complete sentence again aloud with the correct answer.

To train yourself to think in English, try to recite the sentences with the correct answers from memory and at your full speaking volume. Or you can ask a friend to read out loud the sentences with the correct answers and you repeat them without looking at the computer screen.

Learning English through photographs

A unique feature of this website is the section on "Learning English and creative writing through photographs". While the primary intended beneficiaries of this website are OFWs, professionals, teachers and students from the Philippines, everyone (from any country) is welcome to make use of this feature of the website.

Testing your level of English proficiency

Before browsing the other sections of this website, it is a good idea to first test your level of mastery of the English language. Listed below are some online diagnostic and assessment tests. Clicking the blue link will take you to the specific page where the diagnostic and assessment test is located, while clicking the website name will bring you to the site's home page.

[01] Free Online TOEFL, English and Multi-Language Vocabulary Test, from FreeTOEFL.net

Designed for multi-language vocabulary tests (Chinese, Spanish, Turkish, etc) and for English exams like TOEFL, iBT, GRE, SAT and TOEIC

[02] Online Assessment Tests, from World English

Diagnostic Grammar Test
English Grammar Placement Test
English Language Assessment Test
Online English Assessment Tests

[03] Diagnostic tests / Assessment tests on English grammar, from www.english-at-home.com

[04] Assessment Tests, from Churchill House School of English Language

Elementary Level
Intermediate Level
Upper-Intermediate Level (FCE)
Advanced Level (CAE)

[05] Test your English now (vocabulary, grammar, listening and reading (cloze test)

[06] Free online, interactive exercises in grammar, vocabulary and discourse, from Language Project (approved by the British Council)

Elementary English Practice Exercises
Intermediate English Practice Exercises
Advanced English Practice Exercises

News updates as of June 19, 2008

“PGMA : The sooner deficiencies of RP education system are fixed, the better” (www.gov.ph)

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stressed that English proficiency should be “universal” among Filipino teachers.

She said that “in-service training” in English should be held on weekends in order that teachers will continue to hold classes during regular school days.

Malacanang had earlier earmarked P500 million for English training.

The President made no bones about her concern over the current state of the state of English teaching, as she recalled a comment by Sen. Richard Gordon that many of the semi-finalists in an English competition could not “verbalize” their answers to the interview questions.

“We have to make sure their (the teachers’) English is good. Really, English is not proceeding anywhere as fast as Math or Science… It is deteriorating. Something must be wrong with the educational system,” she said.

Filipinos’ proficiency in English up – Social Weather Stations survey, by Shianee R. Mamanglu

The proficiency of Filipinos in written and spoken English has improved in the last two years, the Social Weather Station (SWS) said.
The survey, conducted from March 30 to April 2, indicated that the ability of Filipinos to write English recovered from 48 percent in March, 2006 to 61 percent in April, 2008, while their proficiency in spoken English improved from 32 percent to 46 percent for the same comparative years.

Decline of English, by Adrian Cristobal (Breakfast Table)

There are a great number of people, from politicians to prelates, business executives to journalists, who speak and write English but who, by a certain measure, can hardly be called proficient. They do get by with their English, at least in bamboozling people who have less English, but they’re not quite in their element when faced with their counterparts in the United Kingdom and the United States. This is probably one reason we are so poor in negotiating for our own interests in trade and diplomacy.

English lessons to form part of RP tourism package

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), the Department of Tourism (DoT), the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Bureau of Immigration (BI) yesterday signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) on the "English as Second Language" Program (ESL), which aims to make the Philippines not only a tourist destination but also a destination for learning the English language.

Practice makes perfect!

Founding members of the English is Cool Coalition, the European Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (ECCP), Hands on Manila and EON, The Stakeholder Relations Firm, held the pilot English Camps at the Far Eastern University, Manila Doctors College, Fort Santiago, and Central Colleges of the Philippines to encourage the Filipino youth to learn and practice English.

Improve English education, US envoy urges RP government

(DPA) -- The US ambassador to the Philippines urged yesterday the government to improve English education in the country or lose foreign investments to other countries.
re browsing the other sections of this website, it is a good idea to first test your level

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Spoken English Learned Quickly offers free downloads of lessons and books (Learning Spoken English, a 450-page Student Workbook and an Instructor’s Guide) to your computer, iPod, Blackberry, MP3 player or PDA; Lessons on vocabulary, grammar, syntax, and verb tenses using spoken English exercises; Complete lessons contain enough recorded audio lesson material for two hours of study a day, five days a week for nine months.

Typical English mistakes by speakers of other languages, by Language Project, (approved by the British Council; more examples available upon registration): Arabic speakers; Chinese speakers; Japanese speakers; Korean speakers; Portuguese speakers; Spanish speakers; Czech speakers; French speakers; German speakers; Greek speakers; Italian speakers; Polish speakers; Russian speakers; Swedish speakers; Turkish speakers.