Hope to hear from you!Dear Friend,
I am always delighted to receive comments from subscribers who read my Newsletter. It makes the whole process of writing a letter in the first place totally worthwhile. But then my feelings are not really the point I want to make in what I shall call this mini-letter. As you will know, we now have more than 18,000 subscribers from some 130 countries throughout the world.
A far cry indeed from those early days some few years ago when there were just a handful of readers. And now we come to the point of this impromptu missive - a request for more contributors to our forums. Let's have a look at one of the most popular forums:
English Teacher Explanations (ESL Tests)
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum4.html
When you have completed one of our tests and decided which of the multiple choice answers are the correct ones, you may well find that you've got one of the answers wrong and that really mystifies you because you are convinced that you are right. That's the forum to go to and put your question. We just love that us teachers, as we can show off like mad and give you an explanation in the hope that things will become a little clearer. We are quite a friendly lot and promise not to bite your head off!
On another occasion you might well come across something you've read or something you've heard and try as hard as you will, you just can't make head nor tail of it - you just don't get the meaning. You've searched Google and you've been overwhelmed with information and end up being more confused than when you started. What you need now is a calm authoritative voice which understands your predicament and is there willing to give a hand. Perhaps voices can't give hands but I hope you understand what I'm on about. We are only too delighted to shine a little light and all we ask is that you either describe the situation where you heard it or give us a little bit of context showing where you read it. And we'll do our best. The forum for you in that case is:
English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum17.html
There are other times of course when you've got a bee in your bonnet - there's something you have strong feelings about, there's something that interests you very much or simply you are feeling in a chatty mood and want to talk to someone else about a particular topic. And after all, the world out there might feel exactly the same as you. You might find that someone else totally agrees with you or indeed they might think the complete opposite. Who cares? There's nothing like a good chat and likewise there's sometimes nothing better than a good argument. If that tickles your fancy, whets your appetite, grabs your interest, the forum for you is:
What do you want to talk about?
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum3.html
For the specialist taking an examination and in particular the TOEFL (The Test of English as a foreign language) we have a forum in which you can post an essay and submit it for correction and comment. At the moment that job usually falls to me. I try to offer suggestions and point out corrections in CAPITAL LETTERS. Quite simply this forum goes under the heading:
TOEFL prep forum and TOEFL essay samples
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum16.html
I've just had a quick look at this forum for example and a subscriber has sent in an essay with the title: "Do you agree or disagree with the following statement? Boys and girls should be educated in separate classrooms using different teaching techniques. Use specific reasons and examples to support your answer."
I'll have to take a look at that when I've finished this letter.
Just to show we're not just interested in grammar and language, we have another forum called:
Controversial and Political Topics
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum27.html
As with all the forums we are particularly keen that views are expressed in moderate language for this forum.
These are just if you like a 'taster' of what is available because there are several other forums.
If you are a first time subscriber, you are sure of a friendly welcome from members of our team and also from other subscribers around the world.
All I can say is that we look forward to hearing from you soon.
Alan Townend
Please write your review here:
http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic17883.html
PS: Dear Friend, In case you want to test and improve your English in a pleasant and effective way, you might consider obtaining a copy of all the materials available on our site:
http://www.english-test.net/pdf-worksheets/esl-handouts-for-students.html
As you can see, you will get a wealth of English language exercises which you can print off, photocopy and even share with your friends and colleagues. Oh, and if you like you can tell us what you think about any of our ideas here:
http://www.english-test.net/forum/forum6.html
Dear Friend,
You are a modern person, aren't you? Then you should be using a modern web browser too. You can get the best Internet browser today for free. Just click on the link below and download Firefox - you will be amazed!
http://www.english-test.net/faq/9/index.html 
