Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. Why ESLNotes?
2. Why don't you have more hi-tech interaction with the actual movies?
3. What is DVD, and why do you so highly recommend watching movies on this format?
4. Can I suggest a movie for which ESLnotes should write a synopsis?
5. Can I suggest some corrections or improvements on the Guides that you have already put on the site?
6. Are the synopses REALLY free?

1. Why ESLnotes?

There are hundreds of ESL vocabulary books produced every year, but frankly, I think few of them are particularly useful. ESLnotes, however, is a truly practical approach to agggressive vocabulary acquisition, based on the ideas that people internalize languages more easily when they are already familiar with what is being said. Thus, ESL students who read the synopses before seeing the accompanying film should dramatically increase their level of comprehension, which in turn should greatly increase the quantity of words and cultural references that will enter their long-term memory.

Actually, the psycholinguistic concepts upon which ESLnotes are based have been discussed in ESL education for years. If interested in this subject, I suggest you read a book called The Input Hypothesis by the noted linguist Stephen Krashen. He wrote this book in the early 1980s, but it seems that few people have bothered to effectively exploit the pedagogical principles that he so eloquently articulated over 15 years ago.

2. Why don't you have more hi-tech interaction with the actual movies?

There are some ESL teachers and even companies that break up movies into small sections, and then have students "interact" with the movie in order to teach ESL vocabulary or grammar. This is certainly a reasonable approach, but I believe that the most efficient way for ESL students to learn great amounts of vocabulary is to seriously study the synopses first, and then sit back and watch the entire movie all the way through. Real movies, like real life, are not broken into pieces.

3. What is DVD, and why do you so highly recommend watching movies on this format?

While I don't think most students benefit so much from hi-tech interaction with the movies, I do recommend that if all possible, students view the movies on a DVD format. DVD stands for Digitial Video Disk, which is the most technically advanced medium available, with the clearest picture.

DVD is extremely valuable for ESL students since films in this format almost always come with actual English language subtitling of the entire film. While such captioning was originally thought of as a well appreciated service for the deaf, the subtitles are obviously extremely helpful for those ESL students struggling to keep up with the rapid pace of the dialog.

4. Can I suggest a movie for which ESLnotes should write a synopsis?

Sure! Send your suggestions to us here.

5. Can I suggest some corrections or improvements on the guides that you have already put on the site?

I appreciate all comments (though I can't promise I'll agree or act upon them). Send any advice here.

6. Are the synopses really free?

Can you believe it?! Until further notice, you are more than welcome to download and print out any or all of the synopses. Yes, these guides require quite a bit of work to produce, but that's not your problem!


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