Useful Links

The websites below provide tips for tutors, lesson plans, activities, etc.

• EL/Civics Online Citizenship and naturalization lesson planning.
• Dave's ESL Cafe The Internet's meeting place for ESL students and teachers.
• ESL Party Land English activities, interactive quizzes, lesson plans and more.
• One Stop English Hundreds of prepared lessons, guided reading worksheets and many other free resources.
• Everything ESL Download classroom activities, discussion topics, lesson plans, teaching tips and more.
• Activities for ESL Students Over 1,000 ESL activities.
• English for All English For All is a free Web-based multimedia system for adults learning English as a second language
• Literacy4All Free literacy resources for tutors and students.
• English Club Cambridge's English Club is a full-service portal for English-language learners. There are resources for teaching as well as learning. Users can join EC for free.
  
• English Page Advanced English lessons.
• U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services Educator and volunteer resources.
  

Transparent English Library Edition

Software: Transparent English: Library Edition (This is a title for Spanish speakers.)

Have a student with access to a personal computer?

Transparent English uses a USB device to deliver an integrative approach to learning English for beginning to intermediate students. The program focuses on vocabulary and then on using the words and phrases learned. The software includes over 15,000 words, native speaker pronunciations, videos, games, progress tracking, and more.

To run the program, all you have to do is insert the USB "key" and install the program onto your computer. The USB key must remain in the computer for the program to run. The program will track and save your progress as you work your way through the exercises. Best of all, you can check out Transparent English at a later date and it will remember your progress (as long as you keep the program on your computer).

The program is compatible with Windows XP SP2, Vista, or higher and Mac OS X 10.4.11 or higher.

Software titles can be checked out for 28 days at a time and can be renewed twice (as long as there aren't holds on the item). Transparent English (LITERACY 428.3421) can be found on the second floor of the library in the ESL Collection.

ESOL Community Resource Fair

Largo Public Library hosted Pinellas County Schools' 3rd ESOL Community Resource Fair for refugees and immigrant families living in Pinellas County on Tuesday, May 18, 2010.

The resource fair offered families information about assistance and services available to them in Pinellas County, such as job placement and resume assistance, health care services for the uninsured, interpreting services, after-school programs, and legal issues and citizenship.

Other Community Resources

If your ESL student is interested in more structured learning in a classroom setting, Pinellas County Schools offers free English classes for adults at these locations:

- Clearwater Adult Education Center
540 S. Hercules Ave.
Clearwater, FL 33764
(727) 469-4190

- Dixie Hollins Adult Education Center
4940 62nd St. N
St. Petersburg, FL 33709
(727) 547-7872

- Lakewood Community School
1400 54th Ave. S
St. Petersburg, FL 33705
(727) 893-2955

- Northeast Community School
1717 54th Ave. N
St. Petersburg, FL 33714
(727) 570-3193

- Tomlinson Adult Learning Center
296 Mirror Lake Dr. N
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 893-2723

- Palm Harbor Community School
1900 Omaha St.
Palm Harbor, FL 34683
(727) 669-1140

Helpful Handouts

One of our tutors compiled a couple lists of common problem areas for ESL students. Please feel free to share these with your students.

American Slang
Homonyms (commonly confused words)

ESL Potluck

Thank you to everybody who made it out to our second ESL Potluck on Monday, April 26. Tutors, students, and their families enjoyed conversation and dishes from different corners of the world.

It was a great opportunity to get everybody from ESL together and to celebrate the diversity in our program.

We've got students from all over the world.

We've got tutors from all over the country, too!

Everybody enjoying the food.

Largo Public Library ESL Program Mission and Goals

- To create and promote an independent and successful ESL tutoring program at Largo Public Library.

-To train and support qualified volunteers to act as ESL tutors in the community.

- To promote the ESL program in a way that effectively notifies the public of this free service.

- To make ESL tutoring services as convenient as possible for those in need.

- To match the tutors and students effectively based on individual needs and assessments and qualifications of the tutor.

- To create accessibility to ESL services by providing one-on-one tutoring, small group sessions, conversation groups, and other activities.