Kingish.com It's a way of life

There are thousands of ESL teaching courses available, with all sorts of claims being made about them and accreditation that can be valid or bogus. One simple test is to look at adverts to see what employers are looking for, so I went through 200 adverts for basic teaching jobs around the world, and a few teaching online.  I ignored managerial positions, university and specialist jobs.  This does not rate the contents of courses, though it is clear which courses employers trust and prefer.  Qualifications are given with the percentage of the teaching jobs advertised that a person could apply for.

Here's a comparison of some of the sections of the site now with 2007, the last time this sort of overview was done. As always, thanks to everyone who has contributed so much.

Ginger Software proofreads your writing, checking the spelling and grammar as you write.  You download and install it- it works in Windows with Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, and in Firefox and Internet Explorer.

I had a look at the Grammarly automated proofreader and personal grammar coach that claims to be the world's most accurate grammar checker, presumably in the automated category.  The bad news is that those who want to post any text and expect it to be turned into  perfect English will still have to wait for science fiction to become reality, but the good news is that it could be a very useful tool.

The title comes from Pedro Carolino's English as She is Spoke (1883), an accidental classic that is meant to be an English phrasebook and conversational guide, but as the author couldn't speak much, or any, English, he created a garbled translation of a Portuguese-French phrasebook that has a charm in its ridiculousness.

As I no longer live in the UK and only go back a couple of times a year, I may miss some of the changes occurring in British English that aren't easily seen on the web, so I keep in contact with all sorts of sources who try to keep me up to date.