Discover what's new or coming soon, including upcoming lessons and resources and product feature updates. 

Announcements

<h1>Introducing Individual Student Assignments</h1>

<p>Great news, teachers!</p>

<p>As of today, you can now select which individual students receive specific assignments within any class.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Here&#39;s how it works:</strong></h3>

<ul>
	<li>Click on a lesson, video, or flashcard set in your Prepping or Teaching lane within any of your classes</li>
	<li>A modal will open with your assignment preferences for that lesson&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Click the &quot;Students&quot; tab in the top navigation of the modal</li>
	<li>Switch the setting from &quot;All students&quot; to &quot;Some students&quot;</li>
	<li>Select the students you want to assign the lesson to&nbsp;and remember to hit &quot;Save&quot; inside the modal before closing it</li>
</ul>

<p>Only the selected students will see the assignment inside their class dashboard.</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C5BgjG7wtaI?si=I4waw7z14JkLaeer" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>We know that a lot of you have been asking for this feature for a while now. So thanks for your patience, and we hope it&#39;s a big help!</p>

<p>All the best,<br />
Ben :)</p>

<p>Founder, CEO at Ellii</p>


Introducing Individual Student Assignments

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Starter courses for each level with a suggested teaching order from the ESL Library publishing team.

Courses

<h1>Learning Objectives</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Learn and practice <strong>discussions and debates</strong> about globally relevant topics. Themes include <em>history</em>, <em>environmental science</em>, <em>technology</em>, and&nbsp;<em>emergencies</em>.</li>
	<li>Introduce <strong>verb collocations</strong> and <strong>phrasal&nbsp;verbs</strong>.</li>
	<li>Learn and practice using the <strong>passive</strong>&nbsp;voice.</li>
	<li>Introduce <strong>causative&nbsp;verbs</strong>.</li>
	<li>Begin writing <strong>essays</strong> and longer personal&nbsp;responses.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Teachers&rsquo; Notes</h1>

<p>The following list is a suggested order for lessons at the <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/68146">intermediate to high‑intermediate</a> level. These materials are useful for students who are comfortable using the four main English skills at an intermediate level. Many students will remain at this level for a long&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>Unsure if this is the right level for your students? Try <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2450">Grammar Test 3</a> and see how your students do. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">Learn more&nbsp;here</a>.</p>

<p>You do not need to follow this exact order or use all of these lessons. This is just a guideline, and you can adapt the order and content based on your students&rsquo; needs and the length of your&nbsp;course.</p>

<p>You can choose additional or alternative lessons from the suggested sections below (under the More Content heading). Use the level filter marked <strong>Int &ndash; High Int</strong> when looking for other materials to teach at this&nbsp;level.</p>

<p>Some of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_blank">Help&nbsp;Docs</a>.</p>

<p>If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2757" target="_blank">Historic Events: The Thai Cave Rescue</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1830" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write an Introductory Paragraph</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/76/lessons/1731" target="_blank">Everyday Dialogues: Calling 911</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/2374" target="_blank">Functional English: Handling a Medial Emergency</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/3030" target="_blank">Historic Events: World War II</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1831" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write Body Paragraphs</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/2453" target="_blank">Functional English: Making a Complaint</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2395" target="_blank">Historic Events: The Great Depression</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1601" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Passive</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/3022" target="_blank">Historic Events: Apollo 11</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1833" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write a Concluding Paragraph</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/1383" target="_blank">Famous People: 9/11 Heroes</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2816" target="_blank">Historic Events: The Underground Railroad</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1604" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Third Conditional</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/2736" target="_blank">Famous Things: Tornadoes</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1263" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Climate Change</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1278" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Deforestation</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2800" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Verb Collocations</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/81/lessons/3041" target="_blank">Famous Places: Amazon Rainforest</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/2848" target="_blank">Famous Things: Wind Farms</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/2476" target="_blank">Famous Things: Solar Eclipses</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2742" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Phrasal Verbs</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2734" target="_blank">Famous People: Stephen Hawking</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2375" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Talking to Technology</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2212" target="_blank">Famous People: Hedy Lamarr</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2325" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Causative Verbs</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1252" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Cruise Ships</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2527" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Distracted Driving</a></li>
</ol>

<h1>More Content</h1>

<h4>Suggested Ellii sections for teaching intermediate to high‑intermediate learners</h4>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Things</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons" target="_blank">Health Matters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons" target="_blank">Reading in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons" target="_blank">That&#39;s News to Me</a></li>
</ul>


Teachers' Notes for Adult Ed 4-Skills Course 6: Intermediate to High-Intermediate

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<h2>System Disruptions Now Resolved&nbsp;</h2>

<p><strong>March 20, 2020</strong></p>

<p>I want to thank all of our users (teachers and students) for all your patience yesterday as we worked to upgrade our servers and optimize our performance. We believe the system disruptions that some of you experienced yesterday are now fully resolved, but we will continue to monitor the site and work on additional enhancements and optimizations. Due to so many schools suddenly switching from our print content to our online tools, our servers could not handle the rapid increase in traffic all at&nbsp;once.</p>

<p>I also want to extend a huge thank you to our team who worked around the clock to refactor our database and build the optimization tools. We are so thankful and lucky to have such hardworking and dedicated people working at ESL&nbsp;Library. This is a very difficult and uncertain time for the entire world. Yesterday our staff put aside all of their personal stress they are feeling from the COVID&#8209;19 pandemic and did everything they could to resolve the disruptions as quickly as&nbsp;possible.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Working to Resolve the&nbsp;Issue</h2>

<p><strong>March 19, 2020</strong></p>

<p>This week, thousands of our customers who normally only use our printable content have had to suddenly shift to our online teaching tools as a result of their schools closing during the COVID‑19 crisis. The massive increase in student traffic on our site has caused our servers to slow down dramatically. We are aware of the issue. We have been working around the clock to optimize our system to handle the increase. We are hoping to have the full optimization resolved&nbsp;soon.</p>

<p>In the meantime, we want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding, and assure you we are doing our absolute best to upgrade our system as quickly as&nbsp;possible.</p>


Service Disruptions Due to Heavy Traffic During the COVID‑19 Crisis

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<h1>Learning Objectives</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Learn and practice <strong>discussions and debates</strong> about globally relevant topics. Themes include <em>human rights</em> and <em>crime &amp;&nbsp;punishment.</em></li>
	<li>Introduce <strong>adverb clauses</strong> and <strong>adjective clauses and&nbsp;phrases</strong>.</li>
	<li>Learn and practice <strong>summary writing</strong> and&nbsp;<strong>proofreading</strong>.</li>
	<li>Introduce the <strong>past perfect</strong> and <strong>past perfect progressive</strong>&nbsp;tenses.</li>
	<li>Practice complex reading skills including <strong>identifying register</strong> and <strong>implied&nbsp;meaning</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Teachers&rsquo; Notes</h1>

<p>The following list is a suggested order for&nbsp;lessons at the <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/68394">high‑intermediate</a> level. These materials are useful for students who are comfortable talking about current events and are ready for debates and more serious discussions that require expressing&nbsp;opinions.</p>

<p>Unsure if this is the right level for your students? Try <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2451">Grammar Test 4</a> and see how your students do. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">Learn more&nbsp;here</a>.</p>

<p>You do not need to follow this order or use all of these lessons. This is just a guideline, and you can adapt the order and content based on your students&rsquo; needs and the length of your&nbsp;course.</p>

<p>You can choose additional or alternative lessons from the suggested sections below (under the More Content heading). Use the level filter marked <strong>High Int</strong> when looking for other materials to teach at this&nbsp;level.</p>

<p>Some of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_blank">Help&nbsp;Docs</a>.</p>

<p>If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1939" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Proofread</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1944" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Gender Inequality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2718" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write a Summary</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2820" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Homelessness</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1612" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Adjective Clauses</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1647">Grammar Stories: Adjective Clause &amp; Phrase Stories</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1239" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Hazing</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3038" target="_blank">Reading in English: Identifying Register</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1961" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Freedom of the Press</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1611" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Adjective Phrases</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3136" target="_blank">Reading in English: Understanding Implied Meaning</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1281" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Food Waste</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2091" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Food Labels</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1616" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Adverb Clauses of Time</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1283" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Hosting the World</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1312" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: The Right to Die</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1619" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Adverb Clauses of Contrast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1266" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Private Prisons</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1295" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Gun Control</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2881" target="_blank">Famous People: Susan B. Anthony</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons/2109">Nellie&nbsp;McClung</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/3172" target="_blank">Famous Things: The US Constitution</a> or <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons/2963">The Charter of Rights &amp;&nbsp;Freedoms</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1288" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Corporate Responsibility</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1599">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Past Perfect</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1308" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: English Globalization</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1251">Discussion Starters: Censorship</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1993">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Past Perfect Progressive</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1284">Discussion Starters: Modern Slavery</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1271">Discussion Starters: Glorifying Criminals</a></li>
</ol>

<h1>More Content</h1>

<h4>Suggested Ellii sections for teaching high‑intermediate learners</h4>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/80/lessons" target="_blank">Famous People</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/82/lessons" target="_blank">Famous Things</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons" target="_blank">Health Matters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons" target="_blank">Mini-Debates</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons" target="_blank">Reading in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons" target="_blank">That&#39;s News to Me</a></li>
</ul>


Teachers' Notes for Adult Ed 4-Skills Course 7: High-Intermediate

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<h1>Learning Objectives</h1>

<ul>
	<li>Learn and practice <strong>discussions and debates</strong> about controversial topics. Themes include <em>health</em>, <em>ethics</em>, and&nbsp;<em>technology</em>.</li>
	<li>Introduce the <strong>future perfect</strong> and <strong>future perfect progressive</strong>&nbsp;tenses.</li>
	<li>Review the <strong>perfect tenses</strong> and <strong>all 12 verb&nbsp;tenses</strong>.</li>
	<li>Introduce <strong>embedded questions</strong>and <strong>direct and reported&nbsp;speech</strong>.</li>
	<li>Introduce the <strong>passive causative</strong> and the&nbsp;<strong>subjunctive</strong>.</li>
</ul>

<h1>Teachers&rsquo; Notes</h1>

<p>The following list is a suggested order for lessons at the <a href="https://ellii.com/folders/published/68543">high‑intermediate to advanced</a> level. These materials are useful for students who are comfortable talking about current events and are ready for discussing more controversial&nbsp;topics.</p>

<p>Unsure if this is the right level for your students? Try <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/104/resources/2451">Grammar Test 4</a> and see how your students do. <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">Learn more&nbsp;here</a>.</p>

<p>You do not need to follow this exact order or use all of these lessons. This is just a guideline, and you can adapt the order and content based on your students&rsquo; needs and the length of your&nbsp;course.</p>

<p>Choose additional or alternative lessons from the suggested sections below (under the More Content heading). Use the level filter marked <strong>High Int &ndash; Adv</strong> or <strong>Adv</strong> when looking for other materials to teach at this&nbsp;level.</p>

<p>Some of the suggested lessons have digital tasks so that you can teach your students online or assign digital homework. If you need help using the digital platform, visit our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/" target="_blank">Help&nbsp;Docs</a>.</p>

<p>If you are only able to teach online at this time and you want to use a lesson that is currently only available as a PDF, you can download the Student PDF and email it to your student(s) or you can open it on a shared screen while you teach an online&nbsp;lesson.</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<ol>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2847" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: The Opioid Crisis</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1614" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Future Perfect</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2072" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Medical Tourism</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1287" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Surrogacy</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2076" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write Persuasively</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1274" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Human Genetic Engineering</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/2719" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Online Privacy</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/2801" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Net Neutrality</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1972" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Future Perfect Progressive</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1299" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Gene Patenting</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/2555" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Vaccinations</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1997" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Verb Tense Review&nbsp;2</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1968" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Compare &amp; Contrast</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2022" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Solitary Confinement</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2107" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Police Body Cameras</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/1310" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: The Death Penalty</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2364" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Embedded Questions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/1955" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Overfishing</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/2063" target="_blank">Discussion Starters: Trophy Hunting</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1618" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Direct &amp; Reported Speech</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2465" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Paraphrase</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons/2753">Historic Events: The Migrant Children Crisis</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons/2115" target="_blank">Mini-Debates: Advertising to Children</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2834" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Passive Causative</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3037" target="_blank">Reading in English: Identifying Points of View</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/2230" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Cite a Source</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/1628" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets: Subjunctive</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1828" target="_blank">Writing in English: How to Write a Blog Post</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ol>

<h1>More Content</h1>

<h4>Suggested Ellii sections for teaching high-intermediate to advanced&nbsp;learners</h4>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/98/lessons" target="_blank">Historic Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons" target="_blank">Discussion Starters</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/73/lessons" target="_blank">Mini-Debates</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons" target="_blank">Writing in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons" target="_blank">Reading in English</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons" target="_blank">Holidays &amp; Events</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/133/lessons" target="_blank">That&#39;s News to Me</a></li>
</ul>


Teachers' Notes for Adult Ed 4-Skills Course 8: High-Intermediate to Advanced

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Learn how to make the most of your Ellii subscription with tips from our publishing team.

Teaching with Ellii

<h2>Temporary Upgrade to Our Plus Plan Features During the COVID‑19&nbsp;Pandemic</h2>

<p>Understanding that many schools have had to suddenly close and shift to online teaching, we are making our Plus plan features available to all of our Standard plan users at no additional cost&nbsp;during the COVID‑19 crisis. Our <strong>Broadcast</strong> tool will remain a permanent part of the Standard plan moving forward, and our <strong>Digital Homework </strong>tools and <strong>Results </strong>tools will be included in the Standard plan until at least June&nbsp;30th,&nbsp;2020.</p>

<h2>Video Tutorials to Help You Teach English During&nbsp;COVID‑19</h2>

<p>For those of you on our Standard plan who are not familiar with how to use the digital tools from the Plus plan, we&rsquo;ve posted these videos below. Please reach out if you need&nbsp;help.</p>

<h3>How to Broadcast Interactive&nbsp;Tasks</h3>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iKHsUNPIZAM" title="YouTube video player" width="560"></iframe></div>

<h3>How to Assign Digital&nbsp;Homework</h3>

<div class="video-container">
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/FOTYfLWedpU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>

<h2>COVID‑19 Teaching&nbsp;Resources</h2>

<p>We have also been developing several resources specific to teaching about COVID‑19. All of the PDF versions of our COVID‑19 resources are temporarily free for all teachers whether you have a subscription plan or not. Simply sign up for a free account and download the PDFs. The digital lessons are currently available for Standard and Plus plan&nbsp;members.</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/3247">Health Matters: The Coronavirus (Low Int)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/95/lessons/3244">Health Matters: The Coronavirus (Int &ndash; High Int)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3238">Discussion Starters: Pandemics (Int)</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3249">Word Bank (Lit &ndash; Pre Beg): COVID‑19</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3248">Grammar &amp; Usage: COVID‑19 Vocabulary (Low Int)</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/3246">Grammar &amp; Usage: COVID‑19 Vocabulary (Int &ndash; Adv)</a></li>
	<li class="flashcards"><a href="https://www.ellii.com/flashcard_genres/6/flashcard_categories/208">COVID‑19 Flashcard Set</a></li>
</ul>


 Teaching with Digital Resources During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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<p>Dear teachers and administrators of the global language&nbsp;community,</p>

<p>We&rsquo;re all in this&nbsp;together.</p>

<p>As our industry, like so many others, is disrupted by this global pandemic, we know many schools that typically rely on our printable content are shifting to online teaching. In several cities and countries where ESL&nbsp;Library is used, we are aware that schools are closing indefinitely in an effort to curb COVID‑19 and minimize risks to students and faculty. We can confidently assume that many more schools will close before things get&nbsp;better.</p>

<p>For all ESL&nbsp;Library users who are shifting to online teaching during the COVID‑19 pandemic, we want to make sure that you continue to have the best experience with our content without enduring financial burden. Therefore, we are opening up the digital tools from our Plus plan to all ESL&nbsp;Library users on our Standard plan, at no additional charge, through at least June&nbsp;30th,&nbsp;2020.</p>

<h3>What Does This Mean&nbsp;Exactly?</h3>

<p>Recently, we enhanced the Standard plan to include our broadcast tool, allowing all teachers to project interactive tasks on a shared screen in class or online. This is now a permanent feature of the Standard&nbsp;plan.</p>

<p>However, during this crisis, we have also turned on all of the Plus features for Standard users. This means that all Standard plan members can now assign interactive homework and monitor student results. We hope this temporary upgrade helps any struggling teachers and schools during this difficult&nbsp;time.</p>

<h3>How Can I Learn More and Get&nbsp;Started?</h3>

<p>I encourage anyone who needs to make use of our digital teaching tools to start by viewing our helpful articles and videos in our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/">Help Docs</a> section. You will learn how to <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/118-video-how-to-create-classes-on-esl-library-digital">create classes</a>, <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/121-video-how-to-invite-students-to-esl-library-digital">set up student accounts</a>, <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/122-how-to-assign-digital-homework">assign homework tasks</a>, and <a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/129-how-to-access-digital-homework-teachers">view results</a>. Learn how to <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">launch digital tasks on a shared screen</a> (for in‑class or online teaching) in <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">this blog&nbsp;post</a>.</p>

<p>We want to wish all of you a safe journey through this very uncertain&nbsp;time.</p>

<p>With love from all of us at ESL&nbsp;Library,</p>

<p>Ben Buckwold<br />
CEO, Founder<br />
<a href="https://ellii.com/">ESL Library</a></p>


Standard Members Upgraded to Plus During COVID-19 Pandemic

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Learn tips on how to teach grammar and usage from our editors and grammar experts. 

Grammar & Usage

<h1>Language Fossilization and Why It&nbsp;Matters</h1>

<p>The term <em>fossilization</em> in language learning refers to errors that a non-native speaker makes so often in the target language they become ingrained over time. There are many reasons why fossilization occurs, most notably first language interference (which includes the use of false cognates) and the overgeneralization of&nbsp;rules.</p>

<p>Here are some common examples of fossilized&nbsp;speech:</p>

<ul>
	<li>My sister has 15&nbsp;years.</li>
	<li>He study English at&nbsp;school.</li>
	<li>I am work at Walmart.</li>
	<li>The apple are on the table.</li>
	<li>Ben play computer games&nbsp;yesterday.</li>
</ul>

<p>Because the speaker has repeated the same mistakes again and again, the inaccuracies may sound correct to his or her own ears. Furthermore, the speaker often isn&rsquo;t aware that he or she is making the errors since they rarely hinder communication or impede meaning; the speaker&rsquo;s interlocutors aren&rsquo;t inclined to stop a conversation to point out a grammatical blunder or a pronunciation misstep when doing so would risk a break in the flow of the&nbsp;interaction.</p>

<p>Despite the fact that fossilization doesn&rsquo;t prevent learners from being understood, it can have some very real negative consequences. Perhaps most importantly, fossilization can make non-native speakers seem less educated and/or less fluent than they actually are.</p>

<p>Of course, the best way to ensure that fossilization doesn&rsquo;t take hold in your students&rsquo; language use is prevention. If you teach beginners, you can stress accuracy from Day&nbsp;1 and nip any potential problems in the bud. But, as we all know, you aren&rsquo;t always going to be your students&rsquo; first exposure to&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>However, there are strategies that you can use to help your students overcome fossilized speech patterns by raising their awareness of frequent&nbsp;errors.</p>

<h2>Strategy #1</h2>

<p>Record students&rsquo; speech. Have students listen to a short clip of themselves speaking and see if they can detect their errors. If they are unable to hear their errors, ask them to transcribe their speech as they listen and then make corrections. <a href="https://soundcloud.com" target="_blank">SoundCloud</a> and <a href="https://voicethread.com" target="_blank">VoiceThread</a> are excellent online tools for this&nbsp;exercise.</p>

<h2>Strategy #2</h2>

<p>Encourage students to peer edit. Put students into pairs. Give one student in each pair a set of open-ended questions to ask their partner. (Try <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources/3089">Conversation Questions</a> in our Resources section.) As the interviewee answers each question, have the interviewer jot down errors. Before the next question is asked, have the interviewer share what he or she&nbsp;noticed.</p>

<h2>Strategy #3</h2>

<p>Write five correct and five incorrect sentences in random order on the board. Have students divide the sentences into two groups (<em>Correct</em> and&nbsp;<em>Incorrect</em>).</p>

<h2>Strategy #4</h2>

<p>Point out errors that you have noticed students make repeatedly. Then ask them to keep a journal of instances when they notice themselves making those errors that you have&nbsp;identified.</p>

<h2>Strategy #5</h2>

<p>Feign incomprehension. When students make a fossilized error, pretend that you don&rsquo;t understand what they are saying. Ask them to rephrase it using the correct word or&nbsp;structure.</p>

<h2>Strategy #6</h2>

<p>Have students analyze why they are making the mistake. (E.g., can they figure out why they use &ldquo;say&rdquo; in a sentence when &ldquo;tell&rdquo; is called&nbsp;for?)</p>


6 Strategies to Help Students Overcome Fossilized Speech Patterns

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<p>Have you ever felt stuck in an English&nbsp;conversation?</p>

<p>Maybe you wanted to jump into a discussion and share your ideas,&nbsp;or maybe you wanted to disagree with someone but were not sure <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/10-expressions-to-help-you-sound-more-polite-in-english-conversations" target="_blank">how to do it&nbsp;politely</a>.</p>

<p>For whatever reason, you find it difficult to participate in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>Imagine if you were able to enter conversations easily. Even though English is not your first language, you&#39;re able to organize your thoughts, express your opinions, and keep the listener&nbsp;engaged.</p>

<p>Well, you can! And in today&rsquo;s post, I&rsquo;ll show you&nbsp;how.</p>

<h2>The Key to Speaking English Confidently in a&nbsp;Group</h2>

<p>You might be feeling insecure about speaking in English for many reasons, but from my experience, there is one technical skill that has helped my students improve their speaking skills and gain more confidence&mdash;the use of discourse&nbsp;markers.</p>

<h2>What Are Discourse Markers?</h2>

<p>Discourse markers are small words or expressions that we use at the beginning of a sentence. Also called &ldquo;connecting words,&rdquo; &ldquo;signposting words,&rdquo; or &ldquo;<a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2546" target="_blank">transition words</a>,&rdquo; discourse markers are important because we use them&nbsp;to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Introduce or clarify&nbsp;ideas</li>
	<li>Begin or end a conversation</li>
	<li>Express attitudes about what&rsquo;s being&nbsp;said</li>
	<li>Help the listener process information&nbsp;faster</li>
	<li>Signal a change in the direction of a&nbsp;conversation</li>
</ul>

<p>There are formal and informal markers, and they exist in both writing and speaking in English. These markers might seem unnecessary, but they actually have a big impact on your ability to communicate clearly. Without discourse markers, it is nearly impossible to start, end, and participate in conversations. Discourse markers can also help English students get higher scores on English exams such as the IELTS, Cambridge, and&nbsp;TOEIC.</p>

<p>Continue reading to discover 10 discourse markers we commonly use in English&nbsp;conversations.</p>

<h2>1. To Tell (You) the&nbsp;Truth</h2>

<p>We use this expression when we&rsquo;re about to say what we really think or feel. Often, we use it to share information that will contradict or confirm what the listener&nbsp;expects.</p>

<p>Let&rsquo;s look at an example:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>A:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;I liked the author&rsquo;s new book. What did you think of&nbsp;it?&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>B:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;<strong>To tell you the truth</strong>, I liked her first book&nbsp;better.&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>2. At the End of the&nbsp;Day</h2>

<p>This expression has a few different meanings. Literally, it means &ldquo;in the evening,&rdquo; but sometimes we use it when we&rsquo;ve considered all options and we&rsquo;d like to give our final opinion. It&rsquo;s another way to say &ldquo;ultimately&rdquo;or &ldquo;in the&nbsp;end.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s a good example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>At the end of the day</strong>, nutrition is just as important as&nbsp;exercise.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. Speaking of</h2>

<p>&ldquo;Speaking of&rdquo; or &ldquo;talking of&rdquo; are expressions we often use to introduce something new relating to a subject someone has just&nbsp;mentioned.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Speaking of </strong>traveling, are you going anywhere exciting this&nbsp;year?</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. Actually</h2>

<p>&ldquo;Actually&rdquo; is very common in spoken English and it has many uses. Often, we use it to introduce surprising&nbsp;information:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>A:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;How are your studies going?&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>B:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;<strong>Actually</strong>, I decided to drop out of university for a year.&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<p>We can also use it as a softener when we&rsquo;re correcting information or opposing an&nbsp;opinion:</p>

<table>
	<tbody>
		<tr>
			<td>A:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;His last name looks German.&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
		<tr>
			<td>B:</td>
			<td>&ldquo;<strong>Actually</strong>, it&rsquo;s&nbsp;Dutch.&rdquo;</td>
		</tr>
	</tbody>
</table>

<h2>5. To Some Extent</h2>

<p>We use &ldquo;to some extent&rdquo; to say how true something is. It&rsquo;s another way to say &ldquo;partly&rdquo; or&nbsp;&ldquo;somewhat.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s an example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>To some extent</strong>, it&rsquo;s an interesting job. But it can be a bit too stressful at&nbsp;times.</li>
</ul>

<h2>6. Look at It This&nbsp;Way</h2>

<p>&ldquo;Look at it this way&rdquo; is commonly used to persuade someone to think about something in a different&nbsp;way.</p>

<p>For instance, we can&nbsp;say:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Look at it this way</strong>, if the same thing happened to you, what would you&nbsp;do?</li>
</ul>

<h2>7. In Fact</h2>

<p>We use &ldquo;in fact&rdquo; to signify that we are giving more detailed information about what we&rsquo;ve just&nbsp;said.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I know the Johnsons really well. <strong>In fact</strong>, I had dinner with them last&nbsp;week.</li>
</ul>

<p>We also use it to introduce information that contradicts a previous&nbsp;statement:</p>

<ul>
	<li>He might seem unfriendly, but, <strong>in fact</strong>, he&rsquo;s very&nbsp;kind.</li>
</ul>

<h2>8. In Any Case</h2>

<p>This expression means &ldquo;what was said before isn&rdquo;t important.&rdquo; It&rsquo;s another way to say &ldquo;whatever the situation is or will&nbsp;be.&rdquo;</p>

<p>To understand this better, let&rsquo;s look at an&nbsp;example:</p>

<ul>
	<li>The transportation system here isn&rsquo;t that bad. <strong>In any case</strong>, it&rsquo;s better than&nbsp;walking.</li>
</ul>

<h2>9. In Other Words</h2>

<p>&ldquo;In other words&rdquo; is an expression we use to express an idea again in a different and simpler&nbsp;way.</p>

<p>For instance, we can say:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Traveling helps you meet new people and try new things.<strong> In other words</strong>, it&rsquo;s the best way to learn about another&nbsp;culture.</li>
</ul>

<h2>10. Mind You</h2>

<p>We use &ldquo;mind you&rdquo; to add a particular piece of information to something we&rsquo;ve just said. Often, we use it to introduce a contrasting&nbsp;idea.</p>

<p>Here&rsquo;s an example:</p>

<ul>
	<li>The restaurant was fantastic! <strong>Mind you</strong>, it was a little&nbsp;expensive.</li>
</ul>

<p>We&rsquo;d love to hear from you! Let us know in the comments&nbsp;below:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Which of these English expressions were new for&nbsp;you?</li>
	<li>What are your tips on expressing yourself comfortably in a&nbsp;group?</li>
</ul>

<p>Thanks for reading and we look forward to hearing from&nbsp;you!</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2546">Transition Words</a></li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/124/resources/2946">The Language of Evidence</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons/1632">Connector Stories</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1831">How to Write Body Paragraphs</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/74/lessons/1968">How to Compare and Contrast</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons/2547">Black Friday</a></li>
</ul>


10 English Expressions for More Confident Conversations in a Group

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<p>All hands are on deck preparing for the upcoming TESOL conference in Denver, where we&rsquo;ll be showcasing our <a href="https://help.ellii.com/category/119-digital-tools">digital platform and tasks</a>! Our publishing team is also hard at work developing new printable and digital materials. Here are some upcoming lessons and resources for next&nbsp;month.</p>

<p>(Update: TESOL 2020 has officially been canceled as of March 11. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we&#39;ve also made some changes to our scheduled content for next month. Please see this post for all of the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teaching-with-digital-resources-during-the-covid-19-pandemic">new&nbsp;COVID-19 content</a>. We plan to get back to the development of our scheduled content for April very soon, however some of it will be delayed.)</p>

<h1>Lessons</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3238/"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/72_Pandemics.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/3238/">Pandemics</a></h2>

<p>In this new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/72/lessons/">Discussion Starters</a> lesson, students will get a chance to talk about a health subject that is all over the news right now. If your students are concerned about the coronavirus, you&rsquo;ll want to try this&nbsp;lesson!</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3239"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/127_Identifying-Rhetorical-Devices.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/3239">Identifying Rhetorical Devices</a></h2>

<p>A reader lives a thousand lives! Get ready to read this fun‑filled lesson from our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/127/lessons/">Reading in English</a>&nbsp;section. Note: This lesson was delayed due to rescheduling.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3240"><img alt="" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/113_Meat-and-Seafood.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/3240">Meat &amp; Seafood</a></h2>

<p>Students love to learn about food! We&rsquo;re working on a new <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/113/lessons/">Word Bank</a> lesson to go with one of our most popular flashcard&nbsp;sets.</p>
</div>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3241"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/123_Adjectives.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/3245">Adjectives with&nbsp;Be</a></h2>

<p>Are you enjoying the beginner-level lessons in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons/">Super Simple Grammar</a> section? This new lesson on adjectives is&nbsp;easy and&nbsp;useful!</p>
</div>

<h1>Resources</h1>

<div class="whiteBox"><span class="label newLabel hangingLabel">New</span>

<p class="circleThumb"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3242"><img src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/emails/monthly-newsletter/thumbs/128_Utility-Bills.png" /></a></p>

<h2><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/3242">Household Bills</a></h2>

<p>In this new Housing resource from <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/128/resources/">Real‑World Reading</a>, students will practice reading bills, such as gas and electric&nbsp;bills. Note: This lesson was delayed due to rescheduling. </p>
</div>

<h1>Flashcards</h1>

<p>We&rsquo;re getting some flashcard sets ready that go with our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons">Super Simple Grammar</a> section. Thanks for your&nbsp;requests!</p>


Coming in April 2020

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<h1>March Forth on March&nbsp;Fourth!</h1>

<p>March&nbsp;4th is National Grammar Day in the US, so it&rsquo;s a great time to round up the 10 best‑loved grammar posts on ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s&nbsp;blog!</p>

<p>No matter the teaching or learning style, grammar remains essential to good communication. A solid foundation of grammatical knowledge helps learners speak and write&nbsp;effectively.</p>

<p>I happen to love grammar, though I realize I might be in the minority! I&rsquo;ve found that telling my students why grammar is so important, along with <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources">clear charts and examples</a> and <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/105/resources">a variety of practice activities</a>, helps them <em>want</em> to make the effort to improve their grammar. We also have many <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage">free teaching tips and activities on our blog</a> that will help make grammar much more enjoyable to teach and&nbsp;learn!</p>

<p>Here are our top 10 blog posts that have been referred to hundreds of times over the years. Most posts include teaching tips, charts, examples, and practice&nbsp;activities.</p>

<p>Let the countdown&nbsp;begin!</p>

<h1>Top 10 List</h1>

<ol reversed="reversed">
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/an-easy-way-to-teach-conditionals">An Easy Way to Teach&nbsp;Conditionals</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-use-the-conditional-should">How to Use the Conditional &quot;Should</a>&quot;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/there-is-there-are">There Is/There Are + Nouns in a&nbsp;Series</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/embedded-questions">Embedded Questions</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sentence-stress">Sentence Stress</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/recommend">Recommend, Suggest, Advise: Verbs That Have Multiple Sentence&nbsp;Patterns</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/commonly-confused-prepositions-above-over-below-under">Commonly Confused Prepositions: Above, Over, Below &amp;&nbsp;Under</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/modals-of-possibility-may-might-could">Modals of Possibility: May, Might,&nbsp;Could</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-passive-causative">The Passive Causative</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-fun-activities-for-irregular-verbs">5 Fun Activities for Irregular&nbsp;Verbs</a></li>
</ol>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Practice Worksheets</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/90/lessons" target="_blank">Grammar Stories</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/116/lessons" target="_blank">Fun Grammar Lessons</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/89/lessons" target="_blank">Basic Grammar Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/91/lessons" target="_blank">Simple Sentences</a></li>
	<li class="course"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/123/lessons" target="_blank">Super Simple Grammar</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/88/lessons/2565" target="_blank">Grammar Teaching Order</a> &ndash; Grammar Practice Worksheets</li>
	<li class="resource"><a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Resources</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests" target="_blank">Grammar Placement/Assessment Tests</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/categories/grammar-usage" target="_blank">Grammar &amp; Usage Blog Posts</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Which grammar targets do your students struggle with the most? Which targets do you find tricky to teach? We&rsquo;d love to hear from you in the comment section&nbsp;below!</p>


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<blockquote>
<p>If you can&rsquo;t explain it simply, you don&rsquo;t understand it well&nbsp;enough.</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;Albert Einstein</p>
</blockquote>

<h1>Multiple-Choice Digital&nbsp;Tasks</h1>

<p>Throughout their schooling, students of any discipline will come across multiple-choice tasks in practice exercises, quizzes, and tests. Whether you like using multiple-choice tasks or not, it&rsquo;s useful for English learners to practice sharing their knowledge this way. Practice will help them succeed on exams that may be heavily or entirely based on multiple-choice items, which are more and more common with standardized, computer based&nbsp;testing.</p>

<p>Similar to our printable materials, ESL&nbsp;Library&rsquo;s digital platform offers a few different types of multiple-choice&nbsp;tasks:</p>

<ol>
	<li><strong>Multiple-Choice with Audio</strong>: questions or statements are an audio recording; answer choices are text-based responses (for listening&nbsp;comprehension)</li>
	<li><strong>Multiple-Choice with Text</strong>: questions or statements are text-based; answer choices are also text-based (for reading comprehension, vocabulary review, or grammar&nbsp;practice)</li>
	<li><strong>Multiple-Choice with Images</strong>: questions are flashcard images; answer choices are&nbsp;3&ndash;4 word choices (for beginner vocabulary&nbsp;review)</li>
</ol>

<p>With your <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> subscription, you can now assign digital multiple-choice tasks to your students for homework or in‑class work. Your students can do these task types on any mobile device or computer. You can also do the tasks together as a class by using the <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">Launch</a> feature. The <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/launch-or-preview-digital-tasks">Task Info</a> feature gives you, the teacher, easy access to the answers. (Scroll to bottom for video&nbsp;demo.)</p>

<div class="whiteBox">
<h5>Note</h5>

<p>In a digital lesson on ESL&nbsp;Library, the multiple-choice task may be called <strong>Comprehension</strong>, <strong>Listen &amp; Respond</strong>, or <strong>Vocabulary Review</strong>. As a grammar practice task, it will have another task&nbsp;name.</p>
</div>

<h1>1. Multiple-Choice With&nbsp;Audio</h1>

<p>After beginning this type of multiple-choice task, students will see an audio player with three text‑based responses. Students listen to the question or statement and choose the best&nbsp;response.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/195/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_10.55.31_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<h2>Review</h2>

<p>After students complete the Listen &amp; Respond task, they submit their answers and review their&nbsp;results.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/196/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_10.56.02_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<p>If they are happy with their results, they can move on to a different task that you, the teacher, have assigned by choosing <strong>Back to the Lesson</strong>. If they want to try the task again to achieve better results, they can choose <strong>Try&nbsp;Again</strong>.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/151/content_Screen_Shot_2020-01-21_at_8.51.01_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<h2>Viewing Results as a&nbsp;Teacher</h2>

<p>As a teacher, you can see your students&rsquo; results after they complete the multiple-choice task. Make sure you are logged in. Then go to Class Prep and navigate to&nbsp;Results.</p>

<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://help.ellii.com/article/129-how-to-access-digital-homework-teachers">How to View Digital Homework Results</a></p>
</blockquote>

<h1>2. Multiple-Choice with&nbsp;Text</h1>

<p>The multiple-choice task is often used for reading comprehension. A <strong>View Reference</strong> button that allows students to review the reading in a pop‑up modal is often&nbsp;available.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/198/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_11.06.34_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<p>The text-based task is sometimes used for <strong>Complete the Sentence</strong> (vocabulary review) or <strong>Odd One Out</strong>&nbsp;tasks.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/201/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_12.28.30_PM.png" width="400" /></p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/202/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_12.32.30_PM.png" width="400" /></p>

<p>This task type is also commonly used to check a student&rsquo;s comprehension of a grammar target as in this resource on <a href="https://ellii.com/resource_categories/103/resources/2158">Adverbs with Two&nbsp;Forms</a>.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/203/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-19_at_9.24.15_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<h1>3. Multiple-Choice with&nbsp;Images</h1>

<p>The multiple-choice task is sometimes used for low‑level vocabulary&nbsp;review.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/199/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_11.03.48_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<h1>Lesson Sections</h1>

<p>The multiple-choice tasks are unlocked for ESL&nbsp;Library members who have a <a href="https://ellii.com/pricing">Plus</a> account. MC with audio is currently being used in our <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons">Functional English</a> section as a listening comprehension task. The text-based MC tasks are currently used in most of our reading sections. Our <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/introducing-our-new-grammar-tests">placement tests</a> (Grammar Test 1&ndash;4) and many of our grammar lessons also feature&nbsp;this task type. For lower‑level learners, we have started using the MC task with images to check vocabulary in our beginner <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/93/lessons">Holidays &amp; Events</a>&nbsp;lessons.</p>

<p>Look for the computer screen icon to check if a lesson has digital&nbsp;tasks.</p>

<p><img class="hasBorder" height="auto" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/197/content_Screen_Shot_2020-02-18_at_11.21.09_AM.png" width="400" /></p>

<h1>Multiple-Choice: Demo</h1>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/G5oRQ3RzJ5E?si=U7RLgTRmlxV90D55" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>

<h1>Related</h1>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/product-feature-update-matching-vocabulary-preview">Matching: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/image-match-interactive-vocabulary-building-for-beginner-english-learners">Image Match: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/see-and-spell">See &amp; Spell: Demo</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/blended-learning-listening">Listen &amp; Type: Demo</a></li>
</ul>


Multiple-Choice: Interactive Tasks for Reading & Listening Comprehension 

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These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

<blockquote>
<p>Politeness is an inexpensive way of making&nbsp;friends.</p>

<p class="attribution">&mdash;William Feather</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In today&#39;s post, we&#39;re going to focus on how to express politeness when speaking in&nbsp;English.</p>

<p>Whether you&#39;re studying English for immigration, work, or travel, knowing how to be polite in English will help you in many ways! You&#39;ll avoid offending people unintentionally and you&#39;ll connect with others more easily. Also, learning polite language might help you win friends in your personal life and build stronger relationships at&nbsp;work.</p>

<p>Here are ten expressions that will help you sound more polite in&nbsp;English.</p>

<h2>1. &quot;Could you&hellip;?&quot;</h2>

<p>We often use &quot;could&quot; when making requests in English. This softens the request and makes it sound less like an order. &quot;Can&quot; is also common, but it&#39;s more often used with close friends. If you&#39;d like to sound more polite when talking to someone you don&#39;t know well, &quot;could&quot; is great to&nbsp;use.</p>

<p>So, instead of&nbsp;saying:</p>

<p>&quot;Send me the report.&quot; or &quot;Close the&nbsp;door.&quot;</p>

<p>You could&nbsp;say:</p>

<p>&quot;<strong>Could you</strong> send me the report?&quot; or &quot;<strong>Could you</strong> close the door,&nbsp;please?&quot;</p>

<h2>2. &quot;I was wondering if&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>We normally use this expression in spoken English to ask someone politely for help. It follows this&nbsp;pattern:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I was wondering if + subject + past&nbsp;verb</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here are some&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>I was wondering if</strong> you had time to help&nbsp;me.</li>
	<li><strong>Sarah was wondering if</strong> you could pick her up from the&nbsp;airport.</li>
</ul>

<p>We also use this expression to ask someone politely if they would like to do something. For&nbsp;example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>I was wondering if</strong> you wanted to join me for dinner&nbsp;tonight.</li>
</ul>

<h2>3. &quot;By any chance&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>This is a common expression we use to ask for information. &quot;By any chance&quot; means &quot;possibly,&quot; and it&rsquo;s used as a polite emphasis in questions or&nbsp;requests.</p>

<p>We can use &quot;by any chance&quot; at the beginning, in the middle, or at the end of the&nbsp;sentence.</p>

<p>Let&#39;s look at some&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>By any chance</strong>, do you know where the train station&nbsp;is?</li>
	<li>Do you,<strong> by any chance</strong>, know where the train station&nbsp;is?</li>
	<li>Do you know where the train station is<strong> by any&nbsp;chance</strong>?</li>
</ul>

<h2>4. &quot;Do you mind if&hellip;?&quot;</h2>

<p>&quot;Do you mind if&hellip;?&quot; is a great way to <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1750" target="_blank">ask for permission</a>, and it follows this&nbsp;pattern:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Do you mind if + subject + present&nbsp;verb</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For example,</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Do you mind if</strong> I use your&nbsp;phone?</li>
	<li><strong>Do you mind if</strong> we park&nbsp;here?</li>
</ul>

<h2>5. &quot;What if&hellip;?&quot;</h2>

<p>We often use this expression when we want to suggest something indirectly. Generally speaking, when someone proposes an option and you&#39;d like to suggest an alternative, offering your suggestion in the form of a question will help you sound more&nbsp;polite.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>What if</strong> we went out to eat&nbsp;instead?</li>
	<li><strong>What if </strong>we tried a different&nbsp;design?</li>
</ul>

<p>&quot;What if I&hellip;?&quot; can also be used as an informal way of suggesting something that you can do to help&nbsp;someone:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>What if I </strong>helped you with your&nbsp;essay?</li>
</ul>

<h2>6. &quot;Pardon me?&quot;</h2>

<p>&quot;Pardon me&quot; is a polite expression often used to ask someone to repeat what they said. Because responding with &quot;What?&quot; can sound rude and too direct in some cases, replying with &quot;Pardon me?&quot; or just &quot;Pardon?&quot; is a great alternative when asking for&nbsp;clarification.</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an example:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Pardon me</strong>? I didn&#39;t hear what you&nbsp;said.</li>
</ul>

<h2>7. &quot;Sorry to bother you&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>&quot;Sorry to bother you&hellip;&quot; can be used as a polite way of <a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1747" target="_blank">interrupting someone</a> when you&rsquo;d like their attention. For example, if you have to interrupt someone because you need their help, you can&nbsp;say:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Sorry to bother you</strong>, but I really need your&nbsp;help.</li>
</ul>

<p>Here are a few other&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>Sorry to bother you,</strong>&nbsp;but do you know what time it&nbsp;is?</li>
	<li><strong>Sorry to bother you,</strong>&nbsp;but do you know if this bus goes to the&nbsp;mall?</li>
</ul>

<h2>8. &quot;I would like&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>Because &quot;I want&quot; can be direct and impolite in some situations, a more polite option is &quot;I would&nbsp;like&hellip;&quot;</p>

<p>When using &quot;I would like,&quot; follow one of these&nbsp;structures:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I would like + infinitive (to&nbsp;+&nbsp;verb)</p>

<p>I would like + noun</p>
</blockquote>

<p>For example, instead of&nbsp;saying:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I want another&nbsp;coffee.</li>
</ul>

<p>You could say:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>I would like</strong> another&nbsp;coffee.</li>
	<li><strong>I would like</strong> to have another&nbsp;coffee.</li>
</ul>

<h2>9. &quot;I would love to, but&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>This is a polite way to say &quot;no&quot; in English. For instance, if someone invites you to do something and you want to decline their invitation nicely, you can&nbsp;say:</p>

<ul>
	<li><strong>I&#39;d love to</strong>, <strong>but</strong> I can&#39;t. I have to get up early tomorrow&nbsp;morning.</li>
	<li><strong>We&#39;d love to</strong> join you, <strong>but</strong> we&#39;re going away this&nbsp;weekend.</li>
</ul>

<h2>10. &quot;I&#39;d love to hear more, but&hellip;&quot;</h2>

<p>We often use this expression when we&#39;re in a hurry and we need to end a conversation&nbsp;politely.</p>

<p>Here are a few&nbsp;examples:</p>

<ul>
	<li>I&#39;m so sorry.<strong> I&#39;d love to hear more</strong>, but I&#39;m late for&nbsp;work!</li>
	<li><strong>I&#39;d love to hear more</strong>, but I have to run to an&nbsp;appointment.</li>
</ul>

<p>We&#39;d love to hear from you! What other expressions would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments. Also, do you have a friend or a colleague who would like to know how to be more polite in English conversations? If so, please share this post with them. Thanks for&nbsp;reading!</p>

<h2>Related</h2>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/modals-of-possibility-may-might-could/" target="_blank">Modals of Possibility</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1750" target="_blank">Asking for Permission</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1747" target="_blank">Interrupting</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1754" target="_blank">Making Requests</a></li>
	<li class="lesson"><a href="https://ellii.com/courses/92/lessons/1745" target="_blank">Asking for Help</a></li>
</ul>


10 Expressions to Help You Sound More Polite in English Conversations

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