Wednesday, April 16, 2014

ESL Resources

Short URL of this page: http://bit.ly/cbcesl

Handout: Top 10 Things ESL Students Should Know About the Library

Online Library Reference Databases
(You don't need a password to use these on CBC campus. At home, log in with your student ID and Pin.)
Oxford Reference Online
ProQuest Elibrary
EBSCOhost Middle Search Plus Magazines, reference books, biographies, primary sources, images.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
Encyclopedia Britannica Online
Daily Life Online Essays about the domestic, economic, religious, and other aspects of people's daily lives, ancient to modern.
CultureGrams Concise, readable information about countries and cultures.
MAS Ultra - School Edition

Books
List of CBC Library language dictionaries

A few sample books and journals
Author: Blamires, Harry.Title: The Cassell guide to common errors in English /Publisher: London : Cassell, c1997.Call Number: PE1460 .B64 1997Location: Reference

Civics and citizenship toolkit: a collection of educational resources for immigrants / Publisher: U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, Institute of Museum and Library Services, U.S. Govt. Printing Office, 2007. Information about the toolkit.

Practice Makes Perfect : English Grammar for ESL Learners/by Swick 2005 (ebook)

Astronomy : A Self-Teaching Guide (7th Edition) (ebook)
Astronomy (journal through ProQuest)

Local Public Library (Mid-Columbia Library) Resources
    Online Database Learning Express: free online practice tests from Mid-Columbia Library:
    • Go to their Electronic Resources page;
    • Scroll down to the end of the page and click on Learning Express Library;
    • Click on "New User" to register for free;
    • The Username should be your 14-digit mid-columbia library ID card number
    • Make up a Password for yourself;
    • Once logged in, to practice TOEFL: search "toefl" and you will find TOEFL iBT Reading, Speaking, Listening, Writing Practices and lessons
    • Or click on "US Citizenship" tab and you can practice the 100 civics, history, and government sample questions for the citizenship test. (The USCIS government website also has Study Materials for the English Test  and Study Materials for the Civics Test.)
    Tumblebooks: "An online collection of animated,talking picture books which teach young children the joys of reading in a format they'll love."

Free Websites

Free Online Learning at Goodwill Community Foundation (‘hundreds of free online lessons on Computers, Reading, & Math)

Agenda Web (‘hundreds of free English exercises’)

Typing Web (‘free online typing tutor’)

Free Rice (‘vocabulary builder that helps to fight world hunger’)
Spelling City
OWL resources for ESL from the Purdue Online Writing Lab for second language writing.

Vocabulary Builder from Vocabulix, a commercial company (you can hear the pronunciations)
Activities for ESL students by The Internet TESL Journal

Learn English lessons from U.S.A Learns (for beginning and intermediate learners, you can hear the lessons with videos)

ESL Video Lessons from Real English (you can hear the lessons with videos)

Learner.org Interactives: Spelling Bee

Learner.org Storytelling: Cinderella


Dave’s ESL CafĂ© resources for students
Starfalls Learn to read website.
English Health Train: English language skills for health care

More Links:
www.manythings.org
www.eslpod.com
www.learn-english-online.org
www.welcometousa.gov
www.lingual.net
http://www.studyguidezone.com/gedtest.htm
www.usalearns.org
www.newsforyouonline.com
www.conquiztador.com *
http://web2.uvcs.uvic.ca/elc/studyzone
http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com
http://www.typingtest.com/
www.freetypinggame.net
http://www.learn2type.com/TypingTest

Other Useful webpages:


updated y.y. 5/2014

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Resources for the Study of Philosophy

    From Ebrary and Oxford Reference Online

    Introductory Texts
    Reference
    Sources
    Web
    • Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "...a non-profit organization to provide open access to detailed, scholarly information on key topics and philosophers in all areas of philosophy."
    •  Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy - "organizes scholars from around the world in philosophy and related disciplines to create and maintain an up-to-date reference work."

    Tuesday, January 28, 2014

    Income Inequality & the Minimum Wage

    Articles

    Mantel, Barbara. "Minimum Wage: Would raising the rate be good for the economy?" CQ Researcher 24 Jan. 2014. Political pressure is building on Congress to raise the federal minimum wage, which has remained at $7.25 an hour since 2009. Polls show a majority of Americans support the idea;
    low-wage workers have staged protests demanding higher pay; and 21 states have set their own hourly minimums at more than $7.25.