Category Archives: Tips for Teachers

February Blues – Advice On How To Kick It

I’m not sure if the February blues are really a thing, but I definitely feel a bit down at this time of year. After all the excitement of Christmas and the holidays, I find it difficult to get back into the, sometimes monotonous, rhythm of life at school. So I have made a list ofContinueContinue reading “February Blues – Advice On How To Kick It”

Murder Mystery EFL Game – Classroom Activity

As you may have guessed from my previous posts, I really love playing games with my classes! Especially if they’ve been working really hard and need a bit of a break. This one can be used as a speaking activity. The aim of the game is to find out who killed the town mayor. It’sContinueContinue reading “Murder Mystery EFL Game – Classroom Activity”

Native TEFL Teachers – Here’s The Problem

What are the problems with hiring a native speaker to teach English? As a native myself, I recognise that in many areas, we have to work harder than our bilingual counterparts. Here are my thoughts.

TEFL Teaching – How To Get Over Your Nerves

Every teacher feels nervous when they start teaching, move to a different school, or start a new type of class that’s perhaps a bit unfamiliar. How do you get over this, and be the best teacher possible? I’ve put together some tips that I have found useful over the years.

Direct Methods – Let’s Be Honest!

Direct methods, such as Callan, are sold as a fun and engaging way to learn English. There are schools all over the world that are dedicated to Callan or other, similar methods. But it is as effective as some people say?

FCE and CAE Speaking Practice Activity – Just A Minute

In the game the panellists, in this case your students, are invited to speak about a topic for one minute without hesitation, deviation, or repetition. Exactly the things that they should avoid doing in their speaking exam. It’s the perfect game!

Professional TEFL Teachers Never Do These Things

Your job as a TEFL teacher is to help your learners advance in English, be it for an exam or simply to improve their skills in the language. Be wary of anything that could inhibit their progress or damage your professionalism. 

Teaching Pronunciation To Adult Learners

People are far more willing and likely to forgive grammatical errors than they are to forgive pronunciation faux pas. 

Owing to this, many speaking examiners will give a lot of credit to a candidate who attempts to produce natural sounding language. Making pronunciation a key part of language lessons and exam preparation. If you don’t dedicate much time to this aspect in your classes, now would be a good time to start!