Ebaby! Blog

Our goal at Ebaby! is to virtually immerse English language learners in young American culture.  By showcasing real conversations by native English speakers and using examples of popular culture to demonstrate how English is being used today, we try to replicate what it’s like to live here.

It sounds like the Taiwanese government strongly believes in the value of immersion as well after their recent announcement of an English Village for children.  Learners there can choose from 21 differently themed rooms that simulate living in an English speaking country - from restaurants to airports.

We love the idea of setting up real world environments like this one.  Might be a bit tough to scale, but great for the kids in Taipei.

Many articles have been written about social networks and education and how teachers can leverage websites such as Facebook and MySpace to help educate their students. We’ve seen some good examples of using these sites to support classroom teaching and believe there can be some crossover. However, the reason students are using these sites isn’t to learn - it’s to network with their peers, and that’s what they’ll do.

This doesn’t mean that social networking doesn’t have its place in education. We actually believe that using the core concepts of interactivity and user-generated content can produce a highly educational environment. Students and teachers agree that some of the best learning happens when students have the ability to practice the skills they’re learning with their peers, which is exactly what can happen in a social network.

To make a social network educational, it should start out with that goal in mind. The early adopters will quickly start building a culture of their own and set the pace, but they need the correct foundation to build from. And the beauty of a social network is that a site doesn’t need fancy features to accomplish its goal - it simply needs the right people contributing content.

There should be social networks for every educational topic imaginable. Students of English, math, science, history, economics, psychology and computers would benefit from an online environment where they can learn, practice what they’re learning, and meet other like-minded individuals. The markets will vary in size, but where there’s passion for learning, there’s a website waiting to be built.

If you’re considering building your own educational social network, check out Ning. Lots of interesting sites are popping up, as shown by Steve Hargadon in his blog about education and social networking.

Lots of love on the site this week. And I don’t mean just the romantic kind. Love for us too! In addition to all the great stories on this forum thread about how people learn English and make friends here, people have been singing our praises in the comments. A Brazilian woman said we help her learn outside of her English class.And a similar sentiment from a Pakistani member. I suppose we are doing something right. I mean, we apparently reach a demographic in Korea that has never heard of MySpace. I also discovered Chinese girl who had never heard the English name for the Spice Girls until our English lesson on their reunion. And there was some major wisdom shared about love in our English lesson on love after divorce. This comment from a Filipino member is English words to live by. But it wasn’t all love this week here in the land of ESL and social networking. At least not for me anyway. One Chinese member thinks it’s completely obvious that Mason is more attractive than I am, and that’s why he’ll prevail in our little love triangle.And amidst the hundreds of positive responses to our Turkrainian Wedding Preview, I found one nonbeliever. And one master of self-love.And what would a best English comments post be on Ebaby! without a note from someone looking for love, looking for friends and English chat? There’s no doubt that one new Chinese member loves English.

Getting students to write in the ESL classroom is sometimes a drag. In a fun communicative classroom, solitary writing activities are hardly a perfect match. I have found one exciting writing lesson/ reading lesson: Addventures! One addventure site is :

http://www.protagonize.com/ On these sites, people can read through stories and at any point add a new variation, a new twist to the plot. Suddenly, writing and reading are interactive and creative activities. Here is a clip from one story:

This is a great story for an ESL writing or reading lesson. Students can chose what to do next. They simply click on their choice (”Kick it” “Bite it” or “Gently massage it’s self confidence”) and it takes them to the next part of the story. Or if they don’t like the choices, they can create their own story line by clicking the “+”.

So the story above could read: “Whoa. What is it? You’ve never seen anything like it.” (click “Kick it”) “You kick it. It flies off into the sky, and you can see where it landed, which you can see is about a quarter of a mile away. You still don’t have a clue what it was.

However, the neighborhood you would need to walk through for it to only be a quarter of a mile is one that you wouldn’t trust with your life, or the expensive new iPod in your pocket.

Your car is nearby in your garage, but you might wake up your spouse opening the garage door. (Yes, you’ve got one of those, too.)

Also, you have an orange and a toothbrush.”

And then you would have to decide what to do next: “Walk towards the object.” “Open the garage door.” or “Stab the orange with the toothbrush.” Again you can click on these to read more of the story or maybe you want to add something else.

This is a great way to stop boring lessons in their tracks. Start here and be proud of what your students create. Explain to them that hundreds of people will read their work. What a motivation! Students will edit their work more and be more creative. The final products are amazing.

Another bonus to the large sites is that they accommodate varied reading levels. Low and advanced students can find engaging story lines.

Overall, this ESL writing activity can work for everyone. The lesson is fun. The stories are varied. The options are endless.

So have fun!!! And tell me what you wrote.