I love meeting talented and passionate ESL teachers. In a recent episode of Little Rascals, Frank and I got to interview Chris Rush from Off2Class.com. Chris explains how he got started, what Off2Class can do for teacherpreneurs, and how Off2Class might be used to support English Second Language Help Centers at colleges and universities. Watch
Read on »Posts By: Nicholas Walker
How can I give detailed feedback with the Win-10 Multi-Clipboard?
For corrective feedback on writing to be effective, it must be consistent, frequent, immediate, and explicit. That’s difficult for a teacher to achieve with 120+ writing assignments piling up and lessons to plan. Difficult, but not impossible. How can I give detailed feedback? Wouldn’t it be great if, instead of having to use terse correction
Read on »Possessive ‘S or OF? Learn which to use and why
English second language learners find this grammar point difficult. The reason is that possessive ‘s is a relatively infrequent form in written English, compared to more frequent forms such as plurals and past tense forms. Infrequent forms are harder to learn. Another reason that possession rules are difficult to learn is that we seem to
Read on »Institutional Recognition Award, 2019, at Ahuntsic College
August 16, 2019, I received an institutional recognition award for excellence in developing pedagogy at Ahuntsic College, Montreal, Canada. In my case, I was recognized for my contribution to computer assisted learning with the Virtual Writing Tutor. See my other awards here.
Read on »What are the new features on the Virtual Writing Tutor?
Hooray! The BRAND NEW version of the (now) award-winning Virtual Writing Tutor is finally here. It has taken almost a year to add new features and update the code, but it is finally ready. It is a whole lot faster, and there are some very cool new features, too. So, what’s new? Self-scoring IELTS Academic
Read on »IELTS Practice Test: Get Your Band Score!
Do you need help practicing for the IELTS test? Do you want feedback on you IELTS writing skill? Do you want to improve your band score? The Virtual Writing Tutor now offers a series of free IELTS practice tests. 8 IELTS Practice Tests There are eight tests to choose from: 4 x Task 1 tests,
Read on »How can teachers promote achievement using persuasion secrets?
We all want our students to succeed, but sometimes we encounter resistance. If we could persuade students to cooperate with us sooner without having to resort to rewards and threats, we might be able to get better results, right? Here are some sneaky persuasion secrets that marketers and advertisers use to influence behaviour. Teachers can
Read on »Grammar Checker Testimonials
This semester, I asked students what they thought of the Virtual Writing Tutor Grammar Checker as a learning tool for their English course at Ahuntsic College in Montreal. You can learn more about the VWT here. A number of them replied using our internal messaging system (MIO) in either French or English. I have blurred
Read on »Feedback and Links Page
Check your feedback and links on the feedback page. Start by clicking on the feedback link on the navigation menu at the top right, under the share icons. Feedback Tab This tab shows the latest text you submitted to the Virtual Writing Tutor grammar checker. Each text is dated. The Virtual Writing Tutor keeps your
Read on »What are sentence length and sentence variance?
Conversational sentences tend to be short. In fiction, sentences are on average about 20 words long. In academic writing, they are about 40 words long. Whether you write fiction or academic prose, you will still want to vary the length of your sentences. Here’s why. This sentence has five words. Here are five more words.
Read on »Translate Grammar Checker Feedback to one of 70 Languages
When you create a member’s account on the Virtual Writing Tutor grammar checker website, you can get feedback translated to your native language with the click of a button. We use Google’s translation API to translate feedback to any one of the 70 languages currently available. Membership is 100% free, and we don’t send spam.
Read on »Your Friendly Robotic Grammar Checker
We are in the process of updating the Virtual Writing Tutor.com, so now is our opportunity to make the VWT faster, more powerful, and a little friendlier. In order to make the VWT a little friendlier, I have been working with a designer to create a friendly little robot to accompany the feedback you receive
Read on »Self-Publish or Perish
Ouch! No college teacher is going to die because they don’t self-publish. What an overstatement! Luckily, the pressure in academia to publish research does not extend to college ESL teachers like me, so why use such a provocative title? Because self-publishing keeps you engaged in the best parts of teaching. Also, teachers who are not
Read on »AQPC Mention d’Honneur 2019
Great news! You may remember that I won the TESL Innovation Award in June 2017 and the Sesquicentennial Pin for Leadership in Education in November 2017, but now Ahuntsic College, my college, has bestowed on me the teacher of the year award for 2019. It is called the AQPC Mention d’Honneur. See my other awards
Read on »How can I insert an image into Blogger from Wikimedia Commons?
Students tend to be familiar with MS Word and some features of social media websites, but blogging platforms and anything involving HTML can be a challenge for them. This blog post is intended to help anyone writing a blog on Blogger.com to add free images to their next blog post. Find an image on Commons.Wikimedia.org
Read on »Where can I get free board games and card games for my ESL class?
Despite the enormous popularity of video games, young learners still love to play board games with family and friends. Designing a game for others to play can double the fun. And it can add engaging learning opportunities to a course on any subject, including English as a Second language. Why are games so engaging? Most
Read on »Essay Checker
Imagine a website that could help students write better essays with automated feedback. Now imagine the same website but with additional commenting tools to help people record audio comments and rate each other’s essays using IELTS and TOEFL rubrics and comments. There you have it: an essay checker for the Virtual Writing Tutor. For a
Read on »Missing word error
Sometimes writers forget to include a word that’s expected in a sentence. Here are a few examples. I prepare myself and do my daily reports to know how much food I prepare. (in order to know) The men frustrated. (were) I would really appreciate if you are able to test and provide your sign off
Read on »What should I write in an email to my teacher?
Students aren’t often aware of the impact of their emails on their teachers. Well-written emails strengthen the relationship. Poorly-written emails will arouse resistance and opposition. You don’t want that. Teachers are committed to helping students succeed and prosper. Really. It only makes sense for students to learn to write emails that maximize their chances of
Read on »What are the 3 best TOEFL and IELTS grammar courses?
Are you concerned about your English grammar for the TOEFL and IELTS exams?
Read on »Transitions for Better Cohesion
Cohesion is what helps your reader understand the connection between your ideas. Transitions and conjunctions are the words and phrases that build cohesion. Here is a list of cohesion-building words. I have designed the Virtual Writing Tutor’s Cohesion Checker to measure the cohesion in your text by looking for transitions and conjunctions. When the system
Read on »The 3 Best IELTS Essay Graders on Fiverr
If you are looking for someone to proofread or grade your essay, I have three recommendations for you based on my research on Fiverr.
Read on »Best IELTS Vocabulary Courses Online
In the IELTS Task 2 rubric, your band score will be determined in part by the sophisticated control of a wide range of advanced vocabulary that you display in your writing and the elimination of word choice and word form errors. An online IELTS vocabulary course could be the one thing that really helps you
Read on »Article Errors
What are articles? Articles are one of three types of determiner (articles, possessives, demonstratives) that come at the beginning of noun phrases. They help us to say whether things are known or unknown to the reader (the man outside vs. a man outside) and whether we are speaking about particular examples of something (a car caught
Read on »Awkward Phrasing
It is sometimes difficult to know what exactly is meant by phrases such as, according to my memory, he proposed to me, a car that is a gift, my big parent’s house, and it hurt my heart.
Read on »Common Present Perfect Errors and How to Fix them
The Present Perfect tense is a challenge for many learners. If your first language doesn’t have a tense analogous to it, perfect tenses can seem mysterious and unnecessary. Nevertheless, there is a logic to the Present Perfect that is easy to understand. Look at the following common errors, their corrections, and the explanation that follows.
Read on »Easily Confused Words
Some low-frequency words are easy to confuse, especially if they sound similar. Here are some examples of words people mix up, with definitions to help you keep distinctions clear. Alternate vs. Alternative INCORRECT: The low-carb pizza is a healthier alternate.CORRECT: The low-carb pizza is a healthier alternative. Explanation: Alternate means “to occur in turn repeatedly.”
Read on »Writing about Charts, Graphs, and Diagrams
Make sure to organize your IELTS Task 1 essay so that the reader can navigate it easily. Step 1: Give a clear overview of what the figure is about, showing that you understand the main message it conveys. Step 2: Describe the data in a systematic way (left to right, top to bottom, biggest to
Read on »Verb Agreement Errors
Rule: Use a singular subject with a singular verb and a plural subject with a plural verb. Here are some examples of common errors.
Read on »Its or It’s
Why so confusing? Using “its” when you really meant “it’s” is a very common punctuation error, and it is easy to understand why it happens. The two forms sound identical. Not to worry, it is easy to eliminate this error from your writing if you ask yourself one simple question: Do I mean it is or
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