FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions
You are bound to have a lot of questions before you would be willing to sign up to esl-lounge.com Premium. It's only natural!
Below, we have tried to anticipate as many of your questions as possible. Just click on any question and you will be taken to the answer or click on any category title (for example, "Deciding To Join") to read all of that section. If there is still something else you would like to know, just contact us. We will get back to you very quickly.
- Why should I join the Premium site?
- How can I join the Premium site?
- How much does membership cost?
- How do I cancel membership auto-renewal?
- Can I see examples of the handouts on offer before I sign up?
- Who made the lesson plans on this Premium part of the site?
- Which lessons have been added since my last visit?
- How do I use the listening materials on the site?
- What are the lesson plan codes for?
- What different types of materials are there?
- What variation of English are the Premium lessons written in?
- What's the best way to open the lesson plans on this site?
- Are the materials on offer easily printed off for use?
- How do I use the materials and lesson plans from this site in my classroom?
- Can I put the materials from esl-lounge.com Premium onto my website or into a book/magazine?
- What do I do if I find a mistake in the lesson plans?
- How can I contact the teachers behind esl-lounge.com Premium?
- Is the site CD still for sale?
- I am already a member of the Premium site but I am having problems with my account.
- I heard esl-lounge Premium runs an affiliate program....
Secure registration from $29. Join today.
Answers
1. Why should I join the Premium site?
Well, there are several reasons so we suggest you look at our Why Join page for you to see why signing up for a Premium subscription makes sense.
We have been providing ESL materials to thousands of teachers since 2001. We are a site that has earned the trust of the ESL community through hard work and dedication to the communicative teaching of English. If you would like to know more about us, read our "About Us" page.
2. How can I join the Premium site?
Simply go to our Sign Up page, fill out the form you find there and that's it! Nothing could be simpler. You will gain instant access to the excellent handouts on the Premium site once your payment goes through.
We offer two methods of payment, either using 2Checkout or PayPal.com (that both securely process all credit card payments) or, should you not have access to a credit card, Offline Payment enabling you to send either a bank transfer or check.
3. How much does membership cost?
We have four levels of membership plus the possibility of just purchasing the eBook.
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Product
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Duration
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eBook?
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CD?
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Price
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Lifetime
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life
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Yes
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Yes
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$99
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GOLD
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18 months
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No
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Yes
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$69
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SILVER
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12 months
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No
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Yes
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$49
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BRONZE
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6 months*
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No
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No
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$29
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eBook
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5 days
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Yes
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No
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$55
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- Click on the membership name links for more information on our Which Membership page.
- *Bronze memberships are renewing, and will automatically renew after six months. You can easily cancel recurring payments should you no longer wish to be a member.
- The eBook includes over 1000 pages of Premium materials in one place, in both PDF and editable MS Word formats. For more on the eBook, go to our eBook page.
This compares very favorably with membership prices at comparable sites, which offer six month memberships for at least $10 more.
To read in more detail about which membership is best for you, see our Which Membership page.
If you would like several teachers in one school to have access to esl-lounge Premium, please contact us.
4. How do I cancel membership auto-renewal?
The Bronze memberships auto-renew after six months. If you paid with PayPal, you can cancel this by logging into your PayPal account. If you paid using 2Checkout, get in touch with us at the site to cancel this automatic membership renewal.
5. Can I see examples of the handouts on offer before I sign up?
Of course you can. We would never expect you to sign up without first seeing what was on offer. We have set up a page of free samples so you can see the high quality of handouts that is on offer for our Premium members. Access the free samples page here.
If you want to see in black and white our record of adding new materials, simply go and check out our new materials page.
We have also put together a Tour to show you what is on offer at esl-lounge Premium.
Secure registration from $29. Join today.
Answers
6. Who made the lesson plans on this Premium part of the site?
The authors of the materials on esl-lounge.com Premium are:
- Neil Coghlan - esl-lounge.com webmaster and owner, ESL teacher with 16 years experience, TESOL Certificate and Diploma.
- Clive Hawkins - ESL teacher with 8 years experience, RSA Certificate qualified.
If you would like to be considered as a materials writer for the Premium site (and make a little money out of it), please check out our free membership page.
7. Which lessons have been added since my last visit?
We have a page listing the most recent additions to the site so you can use this new lesson plans page to check what has been added since your last visit. And if you know how to use RSS feeds, go and visit our RSS feed page where you can get access to our "New Materials RSS Feed".
8. How do I use the listening materials on the site?
esl-lounge Premium also includes listening materials. These can either be used as stand-alone listenings or as part of an integrated listening lesson. For more precise information on using the audio files on the site, consult our Listening page.
9. What are the lesson plan codes for?
Each of the lesson plans has a code number, e.g 3R2. The first number refers to the level:
- Elementary
- Pre-Intermediate
- Intermediate
- Advanced
...and the letter refers to the language skill which is the main focus of each lesson plan:
- G - Grammar
- L - Listening
- R - Reading
- RP - Role Play
- W - Writing
- S - Speaking
- V - Vocabulary
- T - Topic (lesson based around one theme.)
You will sometimes see these codes used in the Teacher Notes to refer to other lesson plans. This is particularly true for listening lesson plans. For more information about using the lesson plans in conjunction with the listening bank audio files, check out our Listening page.
Any Lesson Plan code that is preceded by a "B" (for example, B2G1) denotes a lesson in the "Business English" section.
10. What different types of materials are there?
Our intention is to provide teachers with complete lesson plans, which comprehensively cover all skill areas of language learning. There are lesson plans focused on reading, speaking, vocabulary, writing, grammar, listening, role plays alongside general theme-based lessons.
11. What variation of English are the Premium lessons written in?
Uniquely among ESL sites on the internet, we will offer the opportunity for teachers around the world to download handouts employing both American and British English. We won't make that selection for you - it's your choice. We understand that these two varieties of English are preferred in different parts of the world so have selected to offer both variations.
Secure registration from $29. Join today.
12. What's the best way to open the lesson plans on this site?
Most of the handouts on the Premium site are in PDF format, a widely used document format that is accessible across computer operating systems and browser types. To read PDF documents, you will need to download the free PDF Reader although most modern computers come with this software already installed.
If you purchase a Lifetime Membership or eBook membership that allows you to download the Premium eBook, you will also find the lesson plans available in Word format.
13. Are the materials on offer easily printed off for use?
Yes, that's the beauty of the PDF format. The handouts will appear the same on everyone's computer, regardless of screen size, printer set-up, browser or operating system. Simply open the .pdf file and print away. If you do have any queries about printing out handouts, get in touch with us.
14. How do I use the materials and lesson plans from this site in my classroom?
Each lesson plan also comes together with a page of Teacher Notes. More experienced teachers might choose to use these less than the more inexperienced teachers that we get on the site. But you can be assured that together with a complete lesson plan, the Teacher's Notes guarantee a smooth running lesson and zero or barely minimal preparation time for you.
15. Can I put the materials from esl-lounge.com Premium onto my website or into a book/magazine?
No, this is strictly forbidden. You can freely use the handouts from the Premier site in your school or other educational institution for class or individual lessons but they may not be placed on any website. esl-lounge.com will protect its intellectual property by all means - you should read our Copyright Notice posted on this site. If you want to use one or more of the lesson plans in a printed publication, requests such as these will be dealt with on an individual basis and should be addressed to the webmaster of the site
16. What do I do if I find a mistake in the lesson plans?
We have made every effort to ensure that all lesson plans are 100% accurate and error-free. Should you happen to find any errors, let us know as soon as possible and we can make any necessary changes.
17. How can I contact the teachers behind esl-lounge.com Premium?
We have a contact page where you can find an e-mail address through which you may get in touch with us.
18. Is the site CD still for sale?
We have previously offered the CD of the site (quick and fast, ad-free, no internet connection required) for $30 on the main part of the site. This CD is now being offered to all Senior members for only $10
When you consider the price of the CD is $25 when offered as a stand-alone product and the price of a Six Month Standard membership is also $25, you are truly getting a great deal. It is one of the best reasons for signing up for Premium membership as soon as possible. More information about the site CD can be found on our Premium Site CD page.
If you pay for a Senior Membership which includes the site CD, this can be downloaded from the Your Account page. The file is in .zip format and you should download it (using your mouse right click button) onto your desktop where it can be unzipped using any of a whole range of unzip applications such as WinZip, FreeZip, PKUnzip and others.
Here is a copy of the site CD readme text document for your information before you download the zip file.
19. I am already a member of the Premium site but I am having problems with my account.
If you have lost your password, go to the Log In page and submit either your user name or your e-mail address from the second form on the page. If you are having other log in problems, go to our Log In problems page.
20. I heard esl-lounge Premium runs an affiliate program....
This is a great way for all ESL teachers to make some extra money. Refer people to the site and you get 20% of their subscription fees should they sign up. For more information, go to our affiliate program page.
Secure registration from $29. Join today.
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