About Michael's ESL Web Site

If you are studying ESL and are keen to improve your English, you will notice that Michael's site has been changing recently as several sections morph into full-featured online ESL courses. These have taken Michael many hours (years!) to create for you. You can support and enroll in these courses over at Michael's partner site: Get ESL Online

Comments from Visitors of Michael's ESL Web Site

Dear Professor,

I just get my Toefl score today which is 260 (Computer based) with a writing of 5.0.

Thank you very much.

Best regards,

Olivier

Dear Mike,

I have taken many private TOEFL courses in my home country but none of them have helped me to improve my TWE level. I was scoring 3.5 and did not know what to do to improve that. However, after one month with your on-line course, I have maintained a level of 5 points due to a profound course material and personal commitment. If I had known you before, I would have saved time and money. God bless you

Warm regards,

This is Catherine. Last month, exception for paper test, I also took CBT TOEFL test and today I got my grade which is 220. This is not high score but I am very happy that my composition score is 5.5. This is the highest score that I have. If the international students can continue to study and do practice on the composition, they can get satisfied scores. Therefore, I appreciate very much for your help to correct my grammar problems and give me references when first coming here to study, and taught me how to write a good essay. ^__^

I am Sivalakshmi,do you remember evaluating my Toefl essay and I told you that I would be taking the Toefl exam soon. Well, my marks have come and I scored 270/300 in the Toefl CBT test. My essay was rated 5.5 out of 6.I would like to thank you once again for your help .Your timely help really gave me enough confidence to take up the test .

Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Sivalakshmi.

I'm Supaporn[Tom] in level 4 Last Quarter. My toefl score is 217 and writing is 4.0. Another paper-based TOEFL is 570, which makes me happy .Anyway thanks for your help and please tell my teachers,esp Virgina that thanks for any help. I can improve my English because of them. Now I 'll go to language system in Pasadena on Monday and I live with my cousin in Temple city. I plan to test nursing in this month if I pass ,I'll be a nurse in here. Take care and thank you so much.

Dear Michael,

I want to say thank you to you because my TOEFL score is 503 this time.

Thanks,

Dear Sir,

Thanks for the perfect essay evaluation you had done. I could score 5.5 in my actual TOEFL. My overall score
is 273. Just wanted to express how thankful I am for your free essay evaluation.

Sincerely,
Amjad.

HI Michael:

Personally, you are the best teacher I've ever had because you are that kind of teacher that makes the students love studying and learning each time more and more. Thanks to you, I have been improving my skills more and more; and keep working as hard as you have been working because international students like me are needing more and more teachers like you.

Respectfully.

Jorge

Thanks for your teaching and mail. Actually, I didn’t expect your mail because I think you are busy, so you don’t have enough time to mail me. I was very happy when I got your e-mail.

You will take a marathon race, right? I’ll pray for you to get a good result, which you want to reach. You are the most excellent teacher who I ever met. Even if I don’t take your English 306, I’d like to go to your office sometimes. Is it OK for you? Why do have your class on Saturday? If your class is not that day, I can take your class.
Have a great vacation and see you soon.

Bye,

Young.

Hi Michael:
This is your student, Lamies. I just want to thank you for your help and tell you about my TOEFL score. I got 547; I passed it. I went to the office in the University Hall and told them about my TOEFL score. They said: "you can begin your Master's program next fall." I am so happy. Thank you again. I will never forget your remarks, tips, comments, and encouragements. You were my first teacher in the US, and you will be always my best friend. GOD bless you.
Lamies

This is Mei ling . How are you? I would like to tell you some good news. I pass TOEFL already; I got a 557 on the paper TOEFL test. Do you have office hours? Can you tell me? I really want to visit you sometime and tell you how much I appreciate you. Thank you Michael. You have always helped me. You know what, I really appreciate you. You always tell me "read one hour a day. Whenever I saw you, I thought about my TOEFL. After I have thought about my TOEFL, I went to study. TOEFL was my biggest obstacle, but it no long exists ( I am glad to say so). Thank you.

I want to inform you about my recent TOEFL score. I've scored 610 on TOEFL and 5.0 on TWE. Thank you very much for your help. It was invaluable throughout the preparation process. Especially, your essay scores were very useful and corresponded to the actual score. You estimated my score between 5.0 and 6.0, what I actually scored. I also liked your site( your listening section). On the actual exam, I've answered a lot of the listening questions easier because I did all the listening tests on your site. I don't know why you do it free, but I appreciate your help. I searched all the net resources, but they required payment. Even your help was free, and I think that it was invaluable and the most useful.

Hello Michael:

My name is Kerry and I am the academic director at an English institute in Korea. I regularly engage in private research online regarding various educational issues etc. I just wanted to let you know how enjoyable and valuable I found the article "Phonics vs Whole Language:" I have taken the liberty of saving a copy of your article for my growing collection of
excellent articles that are related to teaching.

I have not had the chance to fully explore your site yet and I hope to do that sometime soon, but I did read the page related to your book and I thought you might appreciate knowing that I found a typo.

"Contact Michael if you are [a] publisher and would like to help him publish this book."
http://buckhoff.topcities.com/michael's_new_book.htm

I read some of the comments made by your past students and I was very impressed not only by what they had to say but also by the overall quality of the English used. I look forward to exploring your site further and discovering things that I am sure will help to make me a better teacher and administrator.

Thanks for all the great effort and I look forward to getting your book when it is published.

Sincerely,

Kerry
Academic Director
ICEC

Dear Michael,
Thanks a lot for your website, it has been a great help for me and I am still using it till I take my toefl exam. I have examined myself today and I am quite scared of the writing part. So, I thought I should email you an essay that I wrote on one of the subjects you listed in your website, hoping that you can help me find my weakness points.

Fatma

Hi Michael,

Thanks for your help on writing essays for TWE. I got my TOEFL score. I have got a score of 6 in TWE.

Regards
Namita

Hello, Michael!

On May 11,2002 I took TOEFL exam with TWE. I think that I wrote essay well enough. But the results will show exactly what I've scored. I appreciate your help on writing TWE. Your scores really was what I needed. I took the TOEFL
with TWE on August 2001, and the result was bad. I scored 3.0 score on TWE, but well on TOEFL- 593.0. Because of low TWE score, I had to retake the test. And your help was invaluable. I will certainly inform you about the result
of this test.
Irada

I'm going to take the PBT Toefl this May, but still now my writing skill is bad. I'm very afraid about it since I need a good Toefl score to apply for a Master's program in a foreign university. Your TWE site is so very useful for me that I understand more clearly about the TWE. In addition, I 've found a lot of sample scored essays and common errors.

Hello! This is Hajime. How are you, Michael? Last Monday, I got a result of Computer-Based TOEFL. The score was 227(567)!!! I finally passed TOEFL!!! I am so happy!!!!! Thank you for encouraging me every time.
I really appreciate your supporting. I just want you to know this. Let me say once again. Thank you, Michael!!!
Hajime

My name is Daniel. I live in Uruguay, South America and I am taking a TOEFL on line course tutored by an excellent team of teachers from the ALIANZA CULTURAL URUGUAY-ESTADOS UNIDOS. It has become one of the most rewarding and enlightening experiences in my teaching career. It gives us opportunities to grow and to become aware that learning is living with joy, especially if we are teachers. We do a lot of tasks within each module. Our third module is about action research and portfolios; actually we are sharing part of this experience in the next TESOL convention held in July in our country, and one of our tasks has to do with getting acquainted with different kinds of portfolios. That is how I landed in your Web Page ( Teaching Portfolio ) which became a real discovery. You clearly define your areas of expertise and you also show an outstanding ability to share that expertise. Thank you again.

Recd. my official score sheet a couple of days back. Yes, my TWE score is 6.0, and my overall score is 287/300. Thanks for your constant guidance towards helping me achieve this score.

Hi Michael,

I have receieved my scores at TOEFL. My overall score is 267/300. The break up is as follows:
Listening comprehension: 26/30
Reading comprehension: 26/30
Structure : 28/30
Essay : 5.5/6- thank's for that.
I would like to thanks you again for your efforts in building my confidence and bridging gaps in my writing style in relation to TWE. Your efforts have also reflected in all the other sections since without confidence in essay writing, I would not have been able to perform as well in the other sections.

Thanks again.

Anoop

I have a news!! I got 4.0 in TWE!! ( Last time my essay was 2.0 but my writing skill was improved!) And my score was 193. As you helped my essay writing, I got good result!! Thank you for having taught me. ^ ^
You are great teacher.!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reiko

I took the TOEFL test yesterday. My unofficial score report says that my score lies in the range of 230-287. Rest would depend on the essay. Thanks to your tips, I managed to write the essay quite well.

I hope to get a good score in the essay. Will let you know whenever I receive my official score report.

Regards,
Ranjana.

Hi Michael

I took my exam yesterday. Went well. My score range is 217-270. Now everything depends on the essay.
I would like to thank you for all the help and efforts you have taken during my preparation. In case, you need my help of any sorts in future, please feel free.
Thanking You and with regards
Anoop

Hi Michael....... Just some brief notes... Now I am in Tennessee doing my Aviation Evaluation Camp for 4 days. From the interviewer I got my last TOEFL score, and I am like walking on the air right now. I got 217 for the TOEFL (Computer-Based ) with a 4.5 essay score. I am very happy, and I would like to thank you for your helpful
explanation while I was in your classes, especially in the grammar class. Okay, that's all and once again THANK YOU....GOD BLESS YOU
In Him

Dear Micheal,
Hi! This is Uygar. I want to say "thank you" for everything. You really help me a lot for my English.
Now, CSUSB accepted to me for fall quarter. I will go back Turkey this Thursday. I am very happy and excited about that. See you in September...... Have a nice day. Take care.

Thank you very much for all the information that you have been sending us. I downloaded all of the research papers and included them in my 311 notebook, which has grown from 1/2 inch to 3 inches now. I'm preparing a book for ESL teachers at the new job where I work and I feel that some of the research papers can be used in the book that I'm preparing.
Also, there are some very good different research papers that I will use in a totally different setting. So, all in all, the research papers have served a good purpose by you including them in your web site for teachers. Thanks for all the good info.

Hi Dear Professor,
I have some good news. I got Toefl score 550. I'm really happy and I would like to thank you very much for giving me all the tips and also by encouraging me to always study hard and never give up. Thank you. I really like talk in English and I would like to have the opportunity to work as a Executive Secretary in the US. Please say hello to my friends. I miss you guys.
Thank you very much.
Silena

Dear Michael:

I woke up this morning thinking about you and how much I appreciate your efforts on my behalf - your teaching, your support of my China venture, your support of my education and employment tasks. Thanks so much. You
are great.

Patty Glenn
9/14/00

Hi Michael
This is your student Afagh Khorashadi. I would like to thank you for what you have done for me. You helped me a lot. I learnt many things in your classes. I really enjoyed working with you this quarter as a student, and I hope to remain friends in future. You are one of the best teachers that I have ever had and one of the best people that I have met in America. I never become disappointed in writing assignment; you encourage me to work harder and I really appreciate you. Especially today I realized how lucky I am to have a teacher like you. Never before have any of my teachers missed a movie just to stay in school to help me correct my paper. I appreciate your kindness and every one of your comments. I have learnt a lot from you. Thank you.

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Comments from Visitors of Michael's ESL Web Site