In this section there are 2,124 articles that cover essential ESL topics such as how to teach grammar, use realia, and teach young learners. There are also a lot of lesson ideas and fun activities included in the articles. This ESL article, for example, is about teaching grammar and describes five great activities. It has been given five stars by other busy teachers so it obviously has useful content. Check it out for yourself or take a look at other articles that relate better to your questions or teaching situation.
There are a lot of dos and donts and tips and tricks that many teachers learn through teaching.
Our ESL Essentials section will help you master the basics of teaching English and will help you start teaching like a 'pro'. Every ESL Essentials article provides clear, to-the-point instructions that can be used with the students right away.
At the moment we have 2,124 ESL Essentials.
Sometimes that is the best way to learn but the experiences of others can also help you develop your teaching skills without having to make the same mistakes. If you have a great story or activity, feel free to submit your own article so that you can share your knowledge with others. We would love to hear from you!
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ESL Articles
View our latest knowledgebase articles that will help you become a better English teacher. Learn from
professional teachers and put a bit of your own creativity into it!
When other teachers, even other ESL teachers, hear I’m teaching an ESL conversation class, they often say it sounds “relaxing,” or “fun” or “easy.” Most ...
When teaching the Present Simple, the ultimate goal is to make sure your students understand that it’s used to describe routines, habits, daily activities, and general truths. It is ...
There probably isn’t a youngster who is not looking forward to Halloween.
And most adults want to join in the fun too! Halloween is a great holiday to celebrate in the ESL classroom, as wel ...
Halloween is just around the corner, and it’s a great excuse to share some American culture with your ESL students.
Here are some fun ways to bring the celebration of all hallows eve into ...
Well, it is that time again. You have finished your unit on (insert topic here) complete with vocabulary, listening, speaking, reading and writing activities, but you are not entirely done. The te ...
In today’s globalized world, most beginner ESL students have had some contact with the English language, usually through the Internet, movies or TV.
Many ESL students, often referred to as ...
Every ESL student should have a pronunciation element to their language studies. Sometimes, though, a student may need more than one strategy for tackling English pronunciation.
By making sure yo ...
Your students can help you be a better teacher. Here are 10 tips to do it.
Understanding the learning styles of your students can help you become a better teacher. And in this way, y ...
First lessons are the perfect opportunity to tell students a little bit about yourself and get to know something about them as well. This may be your first chance to determine your students&rsq ...
On the first day of class, the halls buzz with excitement. Teachers get ready to greet their students, anxious to get started, and our young, or not-so-young, learners are nervous, won ...
Starting a class with an entire group of new students can be a stressful experience for both teacher and student.
Teachers may feel awkward speaking in front of a group of new faces who appear to ...
Have you ever noticed that students start disappearing right about the time you start reviewing for a test?
Review lessons can be boring enough, but grammar reviews are precisely the type of t ...
He said…She said…He asked her if, when, where or what… Reported Speech, also known as Indirect Speech, is not one the most fun to teach.
What ESL teachers usually do is s ...
Past Continuous tense can be introduced at a fairly low level of language acquisition.
There is no shortage of great activities for practicing Past Continuous tense, but it may take so ...
You are in a small classroom at your local language school or university. It is almost the end of the semester, and your speaking class has been fun all year. Your class has learned vocabulary, ...
Board games are a useful and ready asset for the ESL classroom. Most require little to no preparation, and with a little patience, your English learners add a new resource to their language stud ...
New vocabulary is one of the basic building blocks in your students' learning. But have you ever put much thought into how you introduce new words? Learning long laundry lists of words can be ver ...
Teachers at times tend to believe that summary writing is easy, and students should be able to do it without being taught; they will sometimes make an assignment to “read and summarize th ...
August is here, and many students are heading back to school after a fun filled summer.
Use the following August themed activities to get your ESL students back in the groove of language learning ...
Students just starting their English studies risk being overwhelmed by new material.
Showing them that lessons can be fun and that they can perform well is important to get them engaged in and fe ...
Everyone loves a good icebreaker—it’s a great way to get to know other people and help students feel relaxed in stressful situations, such as the first day of a new school year.
Here ...
When we as teachers correct students, we discourage them from trying!
It is hard enough to get EFL students to practice speaking and writing without adding barriers. While it’s easy to ma ...
Prepositions of place are an important part of the English language and will enable students to create more complex sentences. The meanings of basic prepositions and prepositional phrases are incr ...
English language learners are often confused by modal verbs because they are used differently than other verbs and in a wide variety of situations such as asking for permission and giving advice. ...
Oscar Wilde once said, “Experience is simply the name we give our mistakes”. This holds true for everyone starting out in a new career, and ESL teachers are no exception. But one thing ...
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