Sometimes English can be so tricky. Take an easy word like 'watch.' Recently, as a student was leaving the bus from the front end, the bus driver advised, 'Watch your step.' The student, therefore, paused at the door waiting for the hydraulically operated steps to unfold. After the steps were locked into place and the door was wide open, the driver repeated, 'Watch your step...'
Thinking that this expression meant 'wait a minute,' the student didn't move, so the bus driver again said, 'Watch your step...' By now, the student was getting a bit annoyed. The steps WERE down, and it was not obvious why the student should wait to get off the bus. What should he say? What should he do?
Finally, the bus driver repeated the expression,'Watch your step.' This time the student impatiently replied, 'I AM watching the step!' To the student's surprise, however, the bus driver shook her head in disgust, remarking 'Never mind....' At that point, the student realized he'd misunderstood and, blushing with embarrassment, quickly got off the bus.
At our private lesson later on, I explained some of the many uses of 'watch':
'Watch out!' (Pay attention! Something dangerous could happen.)
'Watch your head.' (Someone might say this to you so that you don't hit your head on a low entryway.)
'Watch your language!', or 'Watch what you say!' (Be careful of the words that you use in speaking. Don't be rude or inconsiderate when you speak.)
'Watch your speed.' (It seems like you're driving too fast, so slow down. Or, maybe you just saw a highway patrolman, and your friend was speeding. You don't want to get a ticket.)
'Watch what you're doing.' (Pay attention to what you are doing.) and so on.
The great thing about listening and 'watching' what people are saying to you - catching these little expressions and actively engaging in an interaction using these kinds of new phrases - is that you can learn a great deal of colloquial English by doing so. Add in a measure of stress and embarrassment, and you ensure that you will NEVER forget the meanings of these expressions.
So, get out there, ESL students, and pay attention to the phrases that people often use. Stick your neck out (meaning, 'take chances/risks'). There are boundless opportunities to learn English. Watch out for them. You can encounter an opportunity any time and anywhere.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
'You're 20 minutes early for the iBT, so you're too late!'
I thought we had everything worked out for the internet-based TOEFL. I checked my students online profile, and the name matched his passport perfectly. Nevertheless, on Monday following the scheduled Saturday test, I queried Patrick about his exam. Well, actually, he wasn't able to take the test in the end.
"Whaaat!! Whyyyy?," I asked, gasping. He was 20 minutes EARLY; therefore, he was too LATE to take the exam. According to ETS rules, you should arrive 30 minutes before the iBT to ensure that there is enough time to check you in before the exam. However, depending on which test center you choose, this arrival time is flexible. After all, if there is no line of students waiting to be processed for the exam, it does not take a half-hour to check in. Unfortunately, in the case of my student, although his test center was not crowded, the person at the front desk was poorly trained. Despite there being no line of waiting students, Patrick was prevented from taking the test as planned, and , of course, lost his registration fee too.
If this is standard policy across all ETS centers, why were some of my students downtown being admitted five minutes before the exam and others being told they were too late when they were 20 minutes early? Obviously, one ETS center manager was trained to provide good service whereas the other manager was trained to follow directions to the point where she behaved like a mindless, thoughtless robot. In the process, a young, non-native English speaker was turned away from the TOEFL test center feeling crushed, angry, sad, defeated, robbed.
As a TOEFL instructor at a relatively small school, I can only imagine that this maltreatment of students is going on all the time across the USA. All I can do now is to get the word out to other teachers and TOEFL students. READ and PAY ATTENTION TO EVERY PRINTED WORD on your registration form and profile for the internet-based TOEFL.
1. Make sure that your profile name matches your passport name EXACTLY (i.e., if you have five names, put them all there. There is no space for middle-name, so put the middle names in the last name box. Better yet, go to the test center and register face-to-face and get a written note from the person who registered you stating the date, time, and place that you got registered.)
2. Arrive early - at least 45 minutes, but maybe one hour! early and check in at the front desk. If you arrive 29 minutes early, be prepared to argue for your right to sit and take the test, since you're supposed to arrive 30 minutes EARLY.
3. If you encounter any problems at the test center, do not leave without getting a piece of paper with signatures of the test center manager, clerks, and so on. Document what happened and why you were denied admittance to the exam. Make ETS personnel accountable by getting their names and contact numbers.
Good luck!
"Whaaat!! Whyyyy?," I asked, gasping. He was 20 minutes EARLY; therefore, he was too LATE to take the exam. According to ETS rules, you should arrive 30 minutes before the iBT to ensure that there is enough time to check you in before the exam. However, depending on which test center you choose, this arrival time is flexible. After all, if there is no line of students waiting to be processed for the exam, it does not take a half-hour to check in. Unfortunately, in the case of my student, although his test center was not crowded, the person at the front desk was poorly trained. Despite there being no line of waiting students, Patrick was prevented from taking the test as planned, and , of course, lost his registration fee too.
If this is standard policy across all ETS centers, why were some of my students downtown being admitted five minutes before the exam and others being told they were too late when they were 20 minutes early? Obviously, one ETS center manager was trained to provide good service whereas the other manager was trained to follow directions to the point where she behaved like a mindless, thoughtless robot. In the process, a young, non-native English speaker was turned away from the TOEFL test center feeling crushed, angry, sad, defeated, robbed.
As a TOEFL instructor at a relatively small school, I can only imagine that this maltreatment of students is going on all the time across the USA. All I can do now is to get the word out to other teachers and TOEFL students. READ and PAY ATTENTION TO EVERY PRINTED WORD on your registration form and profile for the internet-based TOEFL.
1. Make sure that your profile name matches your passport name EXACTLY (i.e., if you have five names, put them all there. There is no space for middle-name, so put the middle names in the last name box. Better yet, go to the test center and register face-to-face and get a written note from the person who registered you stating the date, time, and place that you got registered.)
2. Arrive early - at least 45 minutes, but maybe one hour! early and check in at the front desk. If you arrive 29 minutes early, be prepared to argue for your right to sit and take the test, since you're supposed to arrive 30 minutes EARLY.
3. If you encounter any problems at the test center, do not leave without getting a piece of paper with signatures of the test center manager, clerks, and so on. Document what happened and why you were denied admittance to the exam. Make ETS personnel accountable by getting their names and contact numbers.
Good luck!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
ETS Fails, Part Deux
My last post was about Educational Testing Service's policy toward students whose names don't match their passports exactly. If you thought a name change could be done online a day before the test, please beware that this is NOT possible.
One of my students discovered last Friday (he is registered to take his iBT on Saturday) that to make a name change and not lose his money, he had to FAX a copy of his passport and full name five business days in advance of his test. He tried several times on Saturday to FAX his information, but the ETS fax machine did not respond until Monday morning. Furthermore, ETS will NOT send a confirmation of receipt of the change in name, meaning that it is up to the student to keep checking his profile before the exam date to make sure that the change was made.
We don't know yet what happens if the change isn't made by ETS prior to the exam. I have advised my student to go on Wednesday or Thursday to the exam center with a copy of his FAX and demand that the test center expedite confirmation of the name change before Saturday. I told him to be sure and get a signed document showing that someone has taken responsibility for him to be allowed to take the exam on Saturday. We'll see.... Good luck, TOEFLers!
One of my students discovered last Friday (he is registered to take his iBT on Saturday) that to make a name change and not lose his money, he had to FAX a copy of his passport and full name five business days in advance of his test. He tried several times on Saturday to FAX his information, but the ETS fax machine did not respond until Monday morning. Furthermore, ETS will NOT send a confirmation of receipt of the change in name, meaning that it is up to the student to keep checking his profile before the exam date to make sure that the change was made.
We don't know yet what happens if the change isn't made by ETS prior to the exam. I have advised my student to go on Wednesday or Thursday to the exam center with a copy of his FAX and demand that the test center expedite confirmation of the name change before Saturday. I told him to be sure and get a signed document showing that someone has taken responsibility for him to be allowed to take the exam on Saturday. We'll see.... Good luck, TOEFLers!
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