Beckie Loewenstein

My student E. describes and categorizes the objects he sees and touches while walking around the stands in Ortakoy, Istanbul. This vocabulary lesson suits a kinesthetic learning style: Use pronouns to gesture to the objects and to avoid repetition of the object names: one and ones (See British Council grammar ) this, that, these, those (See British Council grammar ) I like this one. I like that one. I like these ones. I like those ones. I don't like this one. I don't like that one.I don't like any of these. I don't like any of those.

As an English teacher in Istanbul, my friends often ask me how I teach adults at a starter level of English. Most importantly, the task should not only correspond with the language skill level, but also be entertaining and relevant to the unique needs and interests of each student. In fact, with challenging enough tasks, even children's books prove rewarding for adults.

In English lessons, we practice analytical writing and critical thinking skills through responding to the graphs and questions in Makers: The New Industrial Revolution by Chris Anderson. Describe the graph "Two Ways to Make a Duck":

The game of Bananagrams, named for its banana-shaped, yellow zipper case, challenges the players to arrange the letter tiles to spell words in horizontal and vertical rows, just like a crossword puzzle. My family, friends, and I usually play this game as a friendly spelling competition and brain exercise. In English lessons, I play this game with both children and adults. The student can practice spelling with either a limited or full selection of tiles. First, we practice the phrasal verbs and adverbs to start the game:

My lawyer student C. and I compare and contrast legal vocabulary found in a news article about recent court decisions to ban and (un)block Youtube in Turkey. A good learning strategy involves finding connections, synonyms, and antonyms of the new vocabulary. After checking the definitions in the Merriam Webster dictionary , I created this mind map with text2mindmap :

In a speaking English lesson, my student S. describes his job as an electricity distribution investment and fieldwork manager in Istanbul, Turkey. Fill in the blanks with vocabulary:

melon fig strawberry apricot purple grape lemon pistachio mandarin banana tahini cinnamon pumpkin chocolate pistachio bitter chocolate gu mmy creamy   (top left to bottom right)

I enjoyed teaching this English listening lesson to an orthopedic surgeon in Istanbul. Listen to the TED talk Allison Hunt: How to get (a new) hip for the answers to these questions:

As I continue to teach private English lessons to surgeons in Istanbul, I feel grateful to learn about the new technology and surgical techniques now available in the field of medicine. Although the expertise of the surgeon certainly matters the most, advances in surgical and robotic technology, especially the minimally invasive da Vinci , provides more versatile surgical techniques to expert surgeons. Patients may benefit with a faster recovery time and a reduced need for painkillers. Some of my students operate the da Vinci robot for cardiac, thoracic, and proctologic surgeries at private hospitals in Istanbul. In addition, they write scientific journals and give presentations to compare robotic surgery to laparoscopy techniques. Although both are minimally invasive techniques, the da Vinci robot offers significant advantages. Unlike the drumstick-like laparoscopy, the da Vinci has a magnified 3D high-definition vision system and instruments that bend and rotate, allowing for enha...

I recently watched a 3-D printer in action for the first time at a meetup group in Istanbul. In addition, I've been reading Chris Anderson's book Makers: The New Industrial Revolution. This English listening lesson about new technology considers how individual makers may change and disrupt the status quo of industrial manufacturing. Students from a wide variety of backgrounds may enjoy this lesson. A surgeon may imagine the future possibilities for medicine. A student preparing for TOEFL may practice reading the passage, listening to the audio presentation, and then writing a short essay with an opinion. At the end of the lesson, each student should be able to answer the following questions: If you had a 3-D printer, what would you make? What kind of raw material would you use? What kind of software would you use? How would the 3-D printer make the physical object? How would this be a revolution? How may 3-D printers be useful in the future? Chris Anderson's book M...