Welcome To Crossroads Café
What
Is Crossroads Café?
It's a Proven Way to Learn
English and Build Literacy Skills
Now
Learning English Is More Fun and Engaging...
Crossroads Café is a prime-time quality television
series with closely correlated print material to teach
English to EFL learners.
This lively 26-episode series is a "dramedy " -
blending drama and comedy - centering on six likable
characters and Crossroads Café , a neighborhood
restaurant . Innovative , colorful print materials are
based on each episode and provide detailed reading ,
writing and speaking exercises . Also each half-hour
episode features two video sidebars : Culture Clips
, a documentary style segment focusing on issue oriented
cultural themes portrayed in the story (such as the
changing roles of marriage partners); and Word Play , an
animated segment focusing on language functions, how to
use appropiate language when communicating specific types
of information .
Created
and Designed by EFL Professionals In an Unprecedented
Collaboration .
Crossroads
Café was developed through a partnership between :
The State Education Agencies of California , Florida ,
Illinois and New York ; INTELECOM Intelligent
Telecommunications, The U.S. Inmigration and
Naturalization Service ; Heinle & Heinle
Publishers , the PBS Adult Learning Service , and the
United States Information Agency. The development and
distribution of Crossroads Café continues to be overseen
and guided by two teams of outstanding education
professionals , the U.S. National Academic Council and
the U.S. National Leadership Council .
Just
one Program for Learners With Different Levels of
Proficiency .
The
Crossroads Café print materials are multi-level ,
designed with graduated levels of challenge . Learners
can "grow" with Crossroads Café using the same
Worktext and video series over as they work trough the
levels and gradually gain more proficiency . EFL Teachers
and professors can adopt Crossroads Café to meet the
needs of student from beginning through intermediate EFL
levels .
The Crossroads Café materials consist of :
| Photo Stories |
| Multi-Level Worktexts |
| Partners Guide |
| 26 Videos |
| Teacher's Resource Books |
| Assessment Package |
A
Unique Fusion of Video and Print
The dinamic impact of Crossroads Café stems from the
powerful way the video and print materials work together
. While the video stories viewers into EFL instruction
and provide them with valuable practice in listeninng and
observing , the multi - level print materials develop
language skills.
What
do Crossroads café users have to say ?
"I've used Crossroads Café mostly for distance
learning blended with some classroom instruction . But
next semester I plan to use Crossroads Café for a
classroom conversation class .
Crossroads Café simply isn't limited to any one type of
learning programs ". ESOL Instructor
"Most of my students can't understand anything
initially . I tell them to stick with it , and in two
weeks they do - even the beginners" ESOL Instructor
"Students get so wrapped up and identify so much
with the characters that they are speaking
spontaneously... not stopping to translate in their
minds... just blurting it out !" ESOL
Instructor
"Not every learner is at the same level of English
proficiency , yet I can use Crossroads Café for a class
of mixed - level students." ESOL Instructor
"This is interesting . You have everything - grammar
, pictures , etc . These are things that are happening in
your life , so the grammar is interesting". Learner
"I never think about quitting because I can't wait
to see the next episode... my children watch with me and
are learning too . I wish I had Crossroads Café when I
studied English in my school " Learner
"I play the videos again and again , and I catch it
. I feel good , and I want to keep working on my
own" Learner