CATESOL 2007 - Workshops to hone your skills as an ESL professional

I always look forward to the statewide CATESOL conference www.catesol.org and this year it's in my hometown, San Diego, which is all the more exciting because I can invite local experts to speak. I'm coordinating the ESL Healthcare Colloquium with Lisa Naylor, UCSD, who has developed online medical English classes. From San Diego Community College District, Continuing Education www.sdccd.edu, we'll also have Kathy Campbell, CNA Instructor/RN as one of our speakers. Join us Fri. April 13 for a dynamic 1.5 hour discussion about linguistic and cultural issues in healthcare, from assisted living to hospitals, from nursing assistants to pharmacists.

On Sat. April 14, 8am-8:45am, I'm presenting ProblemSolving and Communication Skills for Workplace ESL. I will give examples of stories I've written based on ESL employees' experiences in three of San Diego's largest industries: hospitality, construction, and shipyards. In this workshop, I'll cover new material, so even if you already came to the 2006 regional CATESOL conference, you'll see my latest lessons. I'll highlight lessons from teaching at local shipyards. For a taste of these lessons, visit this website www.quia.com/pages/shipyardsvesl.html to see internet quizzes and activities that supported welders, forklift drivers, painters, and other laborers in learning English to increase safety awareness and productivity.

I look forward to meeting you at CATESOL 2007 in sunny San Diego!

Cheers,

Ingrid Greenberg
Vocational ESL Instructor and Workplace ESL Consultant