Same same, but different. Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash "English is sooo simple", said no student ever! This is what you get when a language begs, borrows and steals from other languages. So you end up with a jumbled mess that has words that sound the same but are spelt differently or words that are … Continue reading Homonym, heteronym, homophone, what-in-ym? A dive into English language classifications
ESL
The smartphones in the classroom: a gift or a curse?
Using smartphones in the classroom isn't always a bad thing. There are several great ESL games and activities that utilise the smartphone.
These are a few of my favourite things
All teachers have their go-to resources for the classroom. These are my favourite ESL coursebooks and activities for online and in-person classrooms.
Controlling an unruly classroom: How to manage the chaos and engage the learner, or die trying
Advice from a seasoned ESL teacher on controlling an unruly classroom: be flexible, engage and motivate, embrace the phone, and get the students moving!
The best TED Talks for the ESL classroom
Engage your learners with the best TED Talks in the ESL classroom for a more dynamic lesson and learn other tips for modern language learning.
Unsung heroes: Giving credit to the websites that saved my behind
An ESL teacher is only as good as their lessons. These three resources are my unsung heroes for ESL lesson planning.
Rule breaking: Why “kids’” activities work for adults too
The lack of self-consciousness in kids is why they are often the best to teach. If you can get your adult students to act the same way, they will get so much more out of their lessons. Let them act like kids!
Rule breaking: Why memorizing vocabulary lists is a waste of time
In our second post of the Rule Breaking series, we are looking at vocabulary and why memorizing lists of words is not only pointless, but a waste of your valuable language learning time. Language is too intangible to be rote I have talked about this subject a few times in past posts, but it is … Continue reading Rule breaking: Why memorizing vocabulary lists is a waste of time
Rule breaking: Why teaching grammar rules doesn’t always work
I have been an EFL teacher for about four years now. In this time, I have had the privilege to teach a wide variety of learners, levels and needs, from 9–10 year-old beginners to 45 year-old advanced learners. I feel like “I’ve seen ‘em all.” I’ve also been pretty lucky to have been exposed to … Continue reading Rule breaking: Why teaching grammar rules doesn’t always work
My 6 go-to ESL speaking activities for the classroom
These six ESL speaking activities have been life-savers for me when in a pinch to develop a lesson. They can be adapted to most teaching situations.