Cross-cultural

drawing of Jesus and Bible Characters

Bible Study or Engaging Bible Characters?

by Tom Steffen, D.Miss. The setting was central Luzon in the Philippines. The audience was composed of a group of multi-aged Ifugao, most, if not all, could read at some level. The topic for the Bible study was contrasting the attributes of God and Satan of which I presented propositionally. My language-cultural abilities were sufficient […]

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Connecting Students to the Community

If you’ve ever moved to a new city, you know the feeling of starting over. Creating new routines and finding new connections are a normal part of adjusting to a new place. However, for someone learning English, making those connections can take much longer and be much more difficult to access or understand. Your students

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Focus on Learner Needs: Key 3

This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. When planning a Sunday School curriculum, we often begin by focusing on people’s spiritual needs and then we think about how we can address those needs through our

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Quality Teaching: Key 2

This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training * and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. When the need for ESL teachers in our communities is so great and there is pressure to begin teaching as soon as possible, it’s easy to be

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Cultural Understanding: Key 1

This 3 part series is an excerpt from the the Institute of Cross Cultural Training’s “Reach Out With English” training and has been shared with ICCT’s permission. In making your decision to become an ESL teacher, you have probably prayed about your desire to minister to those who have a range of needs that go

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International students studying English

Inside the Mind of an International Student

The Disney Pixar movie “Inside Out” offers viewers a feature-length glimpse inside the emotional life of an 11-year-old Midwestern girl named Riley. When her family moves from Minnesota to San Francisco, Riley’s world is turned upside-down (and inside out). Her first day in her new school was memorable (and one she would love to forget).

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This image has "welcome" written in 10 languages.

Learn My Language, Touch My Heart

When people find out that I teach ESL (English as a Second Language), they often ask me the same question: “How can you teach international students if you don’t know all those languages?” Actually, you don’t have to be able to speak the languages of your students to teach them English. They’re in the class

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2 friends walk along a tree lined sidewalk in Dusseldorf

Bridging the Gap – part 4

“What’s with those girls?” Our student ministry building was just across the street from the Dental School of one of the largest universities in the world, and their volleyball team needed a place to practice.  We had a basketball/volleyball court behind our building, so when the coach asked if they could practice on our court, my

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2 friends walk along a tree lined sidewalk in Dusseldorf

Bridging the Gap – part 3

Celebrating Important Milestones by Dr. Lloyd and Wilma Mann I met my wife, Wilma, in Costa Rica as a young, single missionary.  Her university training was in teaching elementary students, but she has prepared herself extensively in teaching English as a second language.  She taught ESL at the local community college for some eight years, until the

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