I'm a certified TESOL trainer, working as a freelancer in Stuttgart, Germany and I specialize in teaching adult learners in the financial/ banking, energy, engineering and IT sectors.
I've lived, taught and worked all over the world: from the Caribbean to the US, UK, Australia, Hong Kong and Ecuador.
I recently co-authored Working with Films for Klett Verlag, have written audio material for Didactica and wrote the English version of an animation film, City Animals. I regularly contribute to teaching magazines both offline and online.
Apart from this blog, I am the sole proprietor and webmaster of Kalinago English and author of SimplyConversationsTM, a pedagogically sound speaking skills system, designed to activate language learners' fluency. I also take care of the ELTAS website and recently began writing a blog for Business English language students: Business English >5mins.
One of the things I'm most proud of being is "Ning.Mistress" of BELTfree, a private community of blogging teachers in ELT and we are a supportive group of reflective educators.
I'm also a Edtech teacher trainer and have presented internationally at IATEFL, TESOL Spain and for numerous teaching associations, language institutions and community colleges as well as in webinars. You can hire me to teach you and your colleagues, especially if you are interested in the integration of technological tools in the language learning classroom.
As my teaching philosophy is student-centered so are my very hands-on sessions.
This is what they usually look like:
Visit LinkedIn to connect with or to learn more about me in general, read what my colleagues, employers and trainees think about my work or just to know what else it is I've got up in the past.
External sites
- Why is my business and blog called Kalinago English?
- Conversation materials for adult learners who would like to improve their fluency: SimplyConversations
Links and my life in social media...
- Karenne's delicious links
- Karenne's videos
- Karenne's presentations
- Karenne's on twitter
- Karenne's group on facebook
- Karenne's weblinks
More..? Seriously?
CAN YOU USE MY ARTICLES?
All the articles that appear on these pages by Karenne Sylvester are registered under creative commons, non-commercial, non-derivative, share-alike.
Recently, requests have been coming in for me to write articles or guest pieces for ELT magazines and blogs however what with my own blogs, website, teaching, teacher-training, web2.0 life and numerous projects, I really don't have a lot of time available.
So, this is my compromise:
If you are a non-commercial (or a very small micro-preneur) site, blog, or magazine in the field of ELT you may use any article that you find on this page,
http://kalinago.blogspot.com
http://kalinago.blogspot.com
as long as you attribute the article to me by
- providing my name,
- the original title of the article if you changed it,
- the date of the article,
- the url address and blog name.
You may not do this if you do not contribute or write any original work of your own or if you are a glorified advertising "hub".
You may not do this if you are a commercial website, magazine or newspaper.
Contact me if there is something you would like me to write, re-write or use.
Posts
Hello Karenne,
This is my first visit to your site. I'm always interested in learning what others are offering teachers and students online. I think the concept and content of SimplyConversations are commendable. I went through the Susan Boyle lesson, and I find that it's organized well and takes into account the need/ desire to customize exercises. (Did I mention I'm a big fan of Susan?)
I also appreciate the list of links you've compiled, especially the ones for learners. Because students often ask me about free online resources, I'm happy I can offer links that give well-thought out practice (like esolsources on blogspot).
Thanks and best wishes as you continue your efforts!
Thanks Jennifer! I'm a big fan of yours :) and recommend your site to my students (+ embed your videos in our Ning) - huge honor to have you stop by!
K
Kate Glassman - haven't published your comment as it contains an email address however just wrote to this and it came up as non-existent. I think there was a spelling mistake? Please write to email on the right hand sidebar of the blog.
Thanks Karenne
Hi Karenne,
I wanted to comment on your post on kc-ncm-students about Language City, but it seems to be team members only so I hope you don't mind if I get in touch with you here - I work at Mindshapes and we made the game!
I'd like to answer some of their questions and say thank you to them for playing, the feedback they've given is really useful to us. Here are some answers to their specific questions:
*There are no logout or exit buttons, but the game is constantly auto-saving your progress - every time you enter a new area or finish a lesson or module.
*The beginning is more aimed at beginners but as you get further along the English gets a lot harder. I
If you're finding the beginning too easy I recommend pushing forward a couple of hours; once the story gets going some of the vocabulary and language get very complex, but in a structured way so you can actually learn the grammar and words as you go.
* If they have any more questions, if they leave them as comments on the post I'll come back and reply to them.
Finally - thank you very much for sharing Language City here - please let me know if you'd like any images to go with the post and I'll send some across to you :)