Both Sides Now – A Painting with Words



Sometimes there is much to learn about writing from the

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ESL Writing and Listening Exercises

This exercise involves some study of a written passage. Here we are most interested in looking at a writing style that develops progression. The text for this exercise is a story which was written by someone who saw a beautiful woman on the subway but did not have an opportunity to approach her.

Part 1: Jigsaw

The story is divided into eight sections. Each person reads their small numbered section. Take time to understand unknown words. Appreciate what might be happening.

Part 2: Combine

In order, each person reads their section. We put the

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Easy Writing Activities

Here is a short list of easy ESL writing exercises to help students learn and improve their English writing skills.

Writing Activity #1  Murder Mystery

  1. Review a true story about a man who was killed. The slides are here.
  2. Do a short pair work discussion to review the key facts and undercover missing elements.
  3. Write a persuasive story to describe what happened. Put the facts together. How did the guy die?

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ESL Writing Lesson: How to Write and Format an Email

This is the last week of new content to help ESL students learn English writing.

Email Writing Research

  1. This slideshow provides basic data about email messages.
  2. Here is an email which I sent to many hotels in Korea. Some of the answers I received are here.

Dear Sir/Madame,

I’d like to get some information about rooms and availability at your hotel.

I have two adults and one teenager traveling to Seoul. They need a room for two nights
on May 26 and May 27.

1. Do you have rooms available on those nights?
2. What are the rates and taxes?
3. Do you have wheelchair access?
4. What is the best way to travel to your hotel from the airport?

Many thanks for your help and information.




Writing an effective email in English is not difficult. But my students need to learn a few basic writing skills.  This lesson will help them in the future, especially when they start looking for a job and need to write emails in

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