InterviewAn interview with a Civil Engineer whose made life changing decisions.Page 9

Native Speaking“I want to speak like a native speaker”.Page 11

Audio StoreIntroducing our new audio store.Page 14

Author ExclusiveAn exclusive introduction to “Zana” by Sanj Saigal.Page 28

ChalkboardMagazine Issue 2

Editorial

Sanj Saigal

Assistant Editorial / Producer

Mandi Saigal

Advertising & Marketing Enquiries

learnenglishonline001@gmail.com

Contact: Sanj Saigal

Lesson Plan Sales and Teacher Training Courses

Contact: Sanj Saigal

learnenglishonline001@gmail.com

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From the editorThank You

I was very unsure whether a magazine about learning English as a second language would have an audience, I am very surprised and humbled by the response.

As a young magazine we are looking for advertisers, so far we have had over 26,000 hits on our websites collectively and growing with over 600 audio downloads.

A professional company with an international profile we are offering some extremely good advertising rates. We are also looking for teachers who want bespoke lessons plans to include their company name as the industry becomes ever more competitive.

Here is a full list of all the services we provide:

- Sell lesson plans specifically designed for Skype teachers, we can customise them towards the teachers individual needs.

- Skype teacher training programs to include a starter package of 20 conversational lesson plans and a 2 week intensive course with an optimised blog site.

- One to one Skype English classes.

- Business English Skype classes.

- We sell audio recordings on mp3 format to teachers, students and schools.

Thank you

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By Sanj Saigal

Interview with a student 09

Talk like a native speaker 11

4

Clients17

Audio14

5

Attitude21

Photo description22

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perspectivecoaching online

perspectivecoaching online

perspective coaching online

P9. Interview with a Civil Engineer

A real life account of a student who made some very life changing decisions to leave Spain.

P11. I want to speak like a native speaker

P14. The new audio store

Brining our voices directly to your portable devices.

P17. Clients

P21. Attitude

P22. Photo description

P28. New Novel

An insight into my new novel.

P31. Lesson Plans and Skype teacher training .

A brand new service for teachers who want to embrace technology and develop an online career in teaching.

This magazine has been sponsored by www.Perspectivecoachingonline.com

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Skype teacher training

If you want a change in your career, or you simply want to be better at what you do, talk to us. We provide a dedicated Skype teacher training program that will give you the edge. 8

Interview with a Civil Engineer

“ Life Changing”

A skype interview with a student who changed the course of his life by learning English as a second language.

The familiar sound of a Skype ring tone sounded, as the camera initiated I saw a now confident student a year on from a quest to master the English language. This was a far cry from the nervous demeanor that this particular student displayed just one year ago, a fact that I am often reminded of every time I meet him.

A civil engineer who once boasted a formidable career with an international work portfolio was forced to leave Northern Spain to pursue a life chang-ing experience in Galway, Ireland. The economic conditions in Spain gave him a new perspective and provided him with new objectives for the long term.

Why did you decide to learn English?

I realised the importance of this lan-guage as the Crisis took hold of Spain,

particularly in my sector. A lot of people learn a language for the wrong reasons, mainly because it’s a trend, they treat it as more of a hobby, for me I knew that if I wanted to change my life I had to take it seriously and so I decided to do classes online with you.

Why did you decide on learning on-line?

I always had the option of learning at an Academy, there was one located in my town but I really wanted to learn the language from a native speaker and in a one to one scenario. Your classes al-lowed me to study when I wanted to but more importantly I didn’t have to share my time with other students so it was the best option for me.

What level of English do you need to relocate?

It’s only my opinion but I think that it’s best to have an intermediate level I think I would of found my move too difficult otherwise. Simple tasks like ordering

food at a restaurant or going to a chemist would of been impossible.

Was your move to Ireland a culture shock?

It was fine at the beginning, but as the weeks passed I found the change to my diet and getting used to different eating times a problem. Simple things we take for granted like business hours and the weather was really hard to adjust to.

The cost of travelling is so expensive, I found myself walking up to 3 hours a day, it was the only way to save money, most people paid for travel but I knew that I had to do it.

I made the move on my own, so it was a very lonely experience, to be honest I wouldn’t recommend it, I had to make new friends and build a new life, really hard when you are scared to order a burger from a fast food restaurant. It’s that fear that I would like to stress to others.

How did you make new friends?

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“ it has been an amazing experience but I suggest an intermediate level of English before you think about leaving a country to build a new life somewhere else”.

It wasn’t easy, you have two choices really either make friends within the Spanish community or try and keep a balance between Irish and Spanish. I joined some internet forums and a dating agency before I made the move. This gave me a little head start. Socialising comes with a cost so you have to keep this activity controlled. In Spain I would think nothing of going out for a coffee with friends but in Ireland it’s more than double the cost.

Was it easy to support yourself?

No!, I had some savings and had planned to get a job but my main focus was to immerse myself in the language. It’s been 9 months now and I have sent so many CV’s out to different organisa-tions with no luck. Money is always an issue and I compare it to living like a student. If you don’t have any savings it

will prove to be a very expensive mis-take.

I wouldn’t recommend this move if it’s only for a few months, if you are mak-ing a permanent move then it’s differ-ent.

Are you happy?

Yes, I have met someone and after a long time I have an opportunity working as an intern in London. I have no re-grets and I really have a feeling that my investment in English is paying off. My advice to others is to keep your options open, you may find that you have to move location depending on the op-portunities presented to you.

Would you return to Spain one day?

Yes I would, but it depends on how much my life unfolds in the next 6 months. I have close friends who have returned having failed, I don’t want to be forced to return, if I do go back it would be on my own terms.

Has this been good for your career?

No, well I don’t know, it really depends on my ability to learn English and get a good job. To answer that question I need more time away from Spain.

The interview was coming to an end, an amazing experience for me to gain first hand information about leaving a country to start building a new life. You can find out more about Marco’s adventure in a future edition of Chalkboard.

In the mean time I wish him the very best of luck and I want to thank him personally for the advice that he has provided to others.

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“ I want to speak like a native speaker!”

So many students want to speak like a native speaker, in fact most are confused between accent reduction, pronunciation and this topic.

From a teaching perspective it’s difficult to define a native speaker. Regional accents vary from every part of the United Kingdom and no accent is better just different. Clarity should be high on a list of priorities. Speaking clearly, pronouncing letters in the alphabet should be the main focus point of the learning curve.

Firstly you should become accustomed to your own voice, learn how you sound in another language, this familiarity will help you to identify with your voice tones. Audio recordings are very important, not only do they provide you with a measure of your improvement but they also help you to practice the language.

If you are selecting a teacher the only remit is that you find one who speaks clearly. You can compare different teachers and then make your mind up. You can practice by watching documentaries, they often help with vocabulary building. They can be quite boring so try and choose a topic that you like or are interested in.

How do I know if my pronunciation is good or bad?

The answer to this question depends on how seriously you take the learning process. You should organise a file to store your audio recordings so that you can monitor your progress. If your teacher has trouble understanding you it’s a big indicator.

There are many free recording software applications online that you can download to your computer and use, try and download a format that you can play on different devices.

How can I get an opinion on my sound?

You can use your English teacher to access your sound, or a friend. The objective here is to find someone who will tell you the truth so that you can get a fair representation of how you sound.

Should I worry about my accent?

Never, your objective is to present the language in a way that others can understand you. Pronunciation is something that you will have to perfect but only to the point of being understood.

Audio books and audio recordings that you can buy online and download are a good option to work on this area of learning.

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Sanj Saigal

This space could

be yours... contact

the editor for more

information.

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You can now find us on the following platforms:

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We think that it is important for you to be kept in-formed and up to date with everything we do. Maintaining a high profile gives you the opportu-nity to view the latest lesson plans, information about the teachers and the new and innovative ideas that we are developing for both teachers and students.

“Learning English just got easier”.

The new audio storeThis idea is not one that we can take the credit for, our students designed it and came up with the idea.

With over 500 downloads, we are really excited at the response. Both male and female voices are used in the recordings and we write all of our materials, they are unique and designed for a specific need to help you with your pronunciation. So what are the benefits?

01. Unlike most audio recordings, these have been put together using neutral ac-cents from central London.

02. Extremely well priced and effective.

03. User friendly store, where you can sample the audios before you buy.

04. flexible formats that allow you to download audio directly to your smartphone.

We hope you enjoy our audio store...

Situational Audio

We have tried to provide you with a selection of various audio, these are situationally based such as at a chemist, reserving a table at a restau-rant or at a supermarket.

we think that it will help to get familiar with idioms and sentence constructions.

Interview Practice

Of course there are other benefits to having audio and one of them is interview prepara-tion. Listen in to an actual interview be-tween native speakers and practice the response to different questions.

Everyone has less time to study, working hours have increased and free time has decreased. This option has been specifi-cally designed for those students who want to practice outside the class environment.

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Our classes provide audio, however it’s restricted to student and teacher. The audio store presents a different per-spective and a combination of the two has real benefits especially to those who want to learn how to develop their pro-nunciation skills.

Voice tones

The advantage to our students are that

they have already become accustomed

to our voice tones which helps to

identify with the materials. This provides

students with a definable advantage.

You can also ask us to specifically

design something for you that is related

to your job such as a phone call with a

client for no extra cost. This can prove

invaluable if you require a specific need

for learning English.

To visit our audio store click the link:

http://vibedeck.com/learnenglishonline/

article-on-learning-english

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This space could be yours.....contact the editor.

Clients“how do I improve my voice tones?”.Getting to know exactly how you sound to others will prove invaluable. First identify with the voice tones you have before making any changes. Displaying the way that you feel can influence your performance at work. Continued on page 21.

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Sometimes we have to defy the odds.“work smarter not harder”

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C o n t a c t u s t o d a y t o i m p r o v e y o u r c o n v e r s a t i o n a l s k i l l s . . . .

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Clients Building relationships with interna-tional clients.

When requesting information about a project the following sentence con-structions may prove very useful:

1. Who will be the point of contact for the project.

2. What are the end goals and objec-tives for the project.

3. What will be the level of interaction between the client and the provider.

4. Whether there is any additional infor-mation about the project such as historic information or background information.

5. Time frames and deadlines that need to be adhered to.

6. The status of the project.

7. Client expectations.

8. What type of aftercare package has been put in place for the client.

9. Risk assessment, anticipating problems with the project and informing the client of the challenges ahead.

10.Contingency, allocation of a defined time frame to meet with anticipated chal-lenges.

11.Projected alterations and changes.

12.Updates, defining the end user.

Contact us today to help with question for-mation and hints and tips with this topic.

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AttitudeSo many students feel that they are trapped at work or that they have little or no opportunity.

Be positive

Attitude is everything, if you are going

to succeed then you have to be

optimistic!.

Negative

A negative attitude will impede the learning process, voice tones loose their empathetic value and a monotone voice pattern will be more difficult to loose.

Opportunity

It’s a fact that when we work hard eve-ryone knows it, but when we display certain emotional traits at work or at an interview, others become aware.

Try and separate the way you feel about money, your job or opportunity, you will learn faster and be willing to accept the required changes to voice tones.

Like it or not client relationships are influenced by personality traits and the ability to display emotion. A lack of facial expressions, gestures etc places a large impact on the way that you sound.

There are several ways that you can improve your sound but the main method to adopt is for others to pro-vide feedback to you. Find a friend or teacher who will tell you the truth.

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Photo description

Effective use of images to aid the

learning process.

From a teaching perspective, the use of images are a fantastic way to draw out sentence constructions. They help to iden-tify with vocabulary building and grammar. Visual representation is a very effective teaching tool.

Building a bank of useful adjectives can help you at work as describing is something we do on a day to day basis.

Most of the English exams have an element of photo description, so this skill is some-thing that you cannot afford to omit. Fortu-nately there are some sentences that you can learn that may help you. Try and re-member that understanding is more impor-tant.

» In the foreground of this photo I can see....

» In the background of this photo, I can see.....

» He, she or they appear to be....

» On the left hand side of this photo there is/ are ...

» On the right hand side of this photo, I can see....

» This photo appears to be........

We have produced a helpful guide to help you with this subject, it’s especially useful if you have exams.

It’s more important to understand a photo and what it depicts rather than just learn sentences with a lexical approach.

This skill can help you at work particularly with explaining a process or a sequence of events to clients, or help you to sell prod-ucts and services, as the basic principles are the same.

This topic should be treated as a skill as it can also help you to describe your previous job within an interview scenario.

Adjectives to describe situations are related to this topic. Contact us today if you would like to find out more.

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“ Practicing this topic can help you to translate your job function into English, an important feature of an interview”.

Emotion

There are different adjectives used to describe emotion, appearance, personal-ity and buildings.

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This space could be yours

Photo description

“learning to describe can give you an advan-tage at work”.

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Sales

“Increase your ability to sell, by increas-ing your ability to describe”

Service sector

“ An important skill if you work in the serv-ice sector”.

Exams

“ Nearly all exams have an element of photo descriptions”.

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W h a t c a n y o u s e e i n t h i s p h o t o ?

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Insight I thought that I would give you an insight into my new

book entitled Zana, it’s currently a working title but it is

beginning to take form and I will shortly be searching

for a publisher.

My first novel entitled Dreamstones was aimed at a young reader. It has sold very well and to be honest provided me with an advantage over other English teachers. Not because I think that I am better but because it demonstrates patience, goal setting, time management skills and commitment which are key qualities that are needed in this profession.

New Project

I have always been fascinated with science fiction, I think that there is something intriguing about the unknown. I put pen to paper at the end of last year and decided to create a book

which is aimed at adult fiction. I took my inspiration from my childhood and fused it with my perspective as an adult.

The story

Earth has depleted it’s resources, governments have formed a coalition and have decided that action needs to be taken. As such the think tank conclude that a mission to enter a black hole and locate a new Solar system would be the only possible way to discover new resources essential to the survival of the human race.

Three skilled astronauts undertake the challenge, but as the mis-sion is underway and they awake from their cryogenic chambers they are faced with failure . Impossible to navigate the craft, they crash land on a planet which appears to sustain life.

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Earth is not safe, as a manufactured army known as ZANA are plotting an attack on Earth. For years abductions have been rumored but never confirmed. These humans in form of cy-borgs have been running tests on humans for decades.

A survival instinct and a colony of escaped humans lead a reverse mission to inform Earth of it’s threat. Zana will be re-leased in 2015.

I hope that you enjoyed the insight, I will be providing updates on the progress of this novel in later editions of Chalkboard.

Thank you for the support that everyone has given me, I try and balance my life between my two passions, writing and teaching. Press the Dreamstones image for a link to Amazon.

Sanj

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Conversat i on Le sson

R e s t a u r a n t

O b j e c t i v e s

C o n t e n t s

By Sanj Saigal

www.learnenglishonline001.com Using technology to learn

If you need to entertain clients, then this is the lesson plan for you. A pre written script between two friends in a scenario which demonstrates empathetic value.

To develop confidence, voice tones which demonstrate empathy, vocabulary and grammar structures.

Scripted role play, comprehension, vocabulary builder, prepositions section. This class is audio recorded so you can listen to the class from any portable device.

B u s i n e s s E n g l i s h

A very interactive class based on the ability to be vague, specific or general. An ideal conversational based lesson plan for those students who have alot of interaction with clients. This class is audio supported, so you can learn at your own pace and in your own time.

By Sanj Saigal

SKYPE CLASSES

Introductions

Use English to build business relationships using a mirror technique. TEFL qualified teachers.

Using technology to learn English www.businessenglish001.blogspot.com.es

Conversation MY CITY

LESSON PL

AN

VOICE TONES

VIDEO LINKS

An Interactive conversational lesson plan that focuses on

comparatives, prepositions, and voice control. TEFL qualified

teachers/ native speakers. Skype English

classes.

By Sanj Saigal

Type to enter text

Lesson PlansDue to the level of enquiries we will now be selling our lesson plans. We offer 10, 20 and 30 pack deals. All lesson plans are modified to represent the name of your school, logo and teacher. Ideal for Skype teachers, and conversational based classes.

Solution

It’s very challenging to find high quality conversational material online, we special-ise in the provision of bespoke lesson plans to help you grow and develop your business.

All materials are produced and designed by a published UK author and qualified TEFL teacher who has taught over 4,000 classes online.

If you are interested in developing you teaching business with specialist materi-als that really give you the edge, contact us today.

If you want a change in profession and you want to develop an online business with a structured and well designed package, contact us today.

“ Dedicated and committed to the needs of both teachers and students”.

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Tired of being controlled?

Try something new, learn english on-line with qualified TEFL native speaking teachers. Create opportunity and de-velop your career. Contact us today!

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Type to enter text

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“ S o m e t i m e s l i f e i s f u l l o f q u e s t i o n s , I c a n h e l p y o u t o

t r y a n d f i n d t h e a n s w e r s ” .