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November 2008 ESL Newsletter

Hey Everyone!

Another month has gone by and the weather is finally getting a little cooler, winter is on the way! This month Reach To Teach has a social event planned at Citizen Cain, some useful information about what your future holds after teaching ESL and a few teaching tips to share as well. Enjoy!

Thanks!
The Reach To Teach Team

An ESL Teacher with her kids

Photo Contest Update!

We would like to thank everyone who took the time to submit images for our photo contest! All of you showed a keen eye for photography and clearly have a lot of fun in and outside the classroom.

QUICK ANNOUNCEMENT! We would like to extend the photo contest for a few extra days to include photos from your Halloween festivities. We want to see everyone having fun in their costumes!

All submissions should be made to Andrew: Andrew@ReachToTeachRecruiting.com Please submit your photos to Andrew no later than November 10th!!

The winner of the photo contest will be announced at our next Reach To Teach event, November 15th at Citizen Cain.

Citizen Cain logo - ESL in Taiwan

Upcoming Events - Citizen Cain

Citizen Cain LogoWe would like to announce our next Reach To Teach event at Citizen Cain on November 15th. We have held many social gatherings here and they have all been a great success. We invite everyone to come and meet new friends or reconnect with some old faces!

As always there will be NT$100 drink specials as well as select food specials.

We will also be announcing the winner of the Reach To Teach photo contest during this event. If you submitted photos to the contest be sure to come and claim your prize!

Date: November 15th
Time: 8:00pm until late
Address: #67 Dong Fong St., Taipei
Directions: The quickest way to get there is to take the MRT to Zhongxiao Dunhua on the blue line. From there you can walk south on Dunhua St. until you hit Dong Fong St. on the right side. Citizen Cain is a half a block in. This shouldn't be more than a 15 minute walk. Alternatively you can take a taxi from the MRT station.

ESL Globe

Life After Teaching ESL

Internationally competitive businesses are more likely to hire job candidates who have studied abroad than those who haven't. That's the conclusion of a report released last week by the U.K. research organization Council for Industry and Higher Education. According to the study, titled "Global Horizons and the Role of Employers," international firms are putting an increasingly higher priority on hiring employees who have had experience living, working and completing their education abroad. "They will have to work with global clients and mix with a range of people from different cultures. They have to be at home with cultural differences," said Keith Dugdale, a study author and the Director of Global Recruitment at the international accounting and consulting firm KPMG.

The report also reveals that international students feel more confident upon graduation that they will be more likely to land higher-paying job offers, and that they will spend less time job hunting than peers who didn't study abroad. "Such study helps them be more culturally aware, more able to work in multicultural teams and more able to move around the world as part of their career," the report concluded.

English Teacher Steven in the classroom with his students

Teaching Tip of the Month by Alex Justice

The Perils of Competition

With the opportunity to impart a single piece of teaching wisdom I must speak on competition. This motivational tool is one of my best friends, and yes, one of my worst enemies. The past few weeks I have been struggling to determine the right mixture of competition in my activities. I believe competition can induce a level of concentration and commitment to the material at hand that non-competitive activities cannot usually do. However, too much of a good thing can kill you, or in this case, can outright devastate a class.

Let me give you an example. I regularly play a bit of dodge-ball in the last few minutes of class to give the kids a bit of excitement and energize them on their way out. To participate each student must produce the language from that day correctly, and then must ask the next student the relevant question to get the small soft blocks used in the attack. For several weeks this was a great closer to many of my classes, but as the game evolved and the students started keeping count of wins and losses each week the games became more intense.

Eventually, the losing team would be on the verge of tears, enraged, and somehow always feeling cheated. The winning team's elation and pride would disappear as their angered peers complained and stormed out of the classroom. Virtually all the students departed angry or guilt ridden. A balance must be found between competition that creates an obsession with winning and that which fuels healthy learning; finding this balance, as I obviously discovered, can be tricky.

El Gallo Bar & Restaurant in Taipei - ESL Abroad

Tastes of Taipei

El Gallo Logo ImageLamenting the lack of burritos and all other manner of deliciousness that is Mexican food in Taiwan? Well, your days of misery are over for El Gallo has arrived! This newly opened restaurant is located in Tienmu (northern Taipei) and easily offers the best Mexican food to be found in Taiwan.

El Gallo offers your typical favorites including enchiladas, burritos and quesadillas which all have the option to be happily covered in fresh guacamole. For an appetizer I would recommend los nachos supremos which is topped with just the right amount of cheese, sour cream, beans and pico de gallo.

The restaurant's proprietor is a very friendly Mexican gentleman who will enthusiasticly explain each of the dishes on the menu and how many of the ingredients used are directly imported from Mexico. The restaurants setting matches the quality of the food and makes for a great location for dates or small dinner parties.

The food fare here is on the expensive side with entrees starting at $NT250. There is also a fully stocked bar which offers wine by the bottle or glass, as well as a number of top-self tequilas for some truely potent margiritas.

Address: #42 Zhongshan N. Rd. Sec 7, Taipei City (台北市中山北路七段42號)
Getting There: El Gallo is located in Tienmu, a suburb in northern Taipei. I recommend taking the MRT to Shipai station on the red line and then taking a taxi (NT$100).
Telephone: (02) 2874-1366 I would recommend calling ahead on Friday and Saturday nights.
Website: You can read more about El Gallo and see their full menu at www.elgallotw.com

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