2,124 FREE ESL Essentials - What Every English Teacher Needs To Know!
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ESL Essentials – Important Teaching Tips

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 don’ts 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
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How to Teach Conversational English: 9 Best Practices

How to Teach Conversational English: 9 Best Practices

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 1,087,620 All
How to Teach the Present Simple Tense

How to Teach the Present Simple Tense

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 895,079 All
Spooky Halloween Fun for Your ESL Class

Spooky Halloween Fun for Your ESL Class

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 369,250 All
Give Your ESL Students a BOOst with These Halloween Themed Language Activities

Give Your ESL Students a BOOst with These Halloween Themed Language Activities

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 48,283 All
9 Absolutely Essential ESL Games for Vocabulary Review

9 Absolutely Essential ESL Games for Vocabulary Review

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 529,969 All
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From ESL Zero to Hero: How to Teach Absolute Beginners

From ESL Zero to Hero: How to Teach Absolute Beginners

•, ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 538,970 All
Top 10 Ways to Teach Vowel Pronunciation in English

Top 10 Ways to Teach Vowel Pronunciation in English

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 558,611 All
How to Become the Best Teacher: Students' Advice

How to Become the Best Teacher: Students' Advice

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 561,913 All
First Lesson Magic: How to Introduce Yourself

First Lesson Magic: How to Introduce Yourself

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 647,471 All
Fabulous Ideas for the First Day of Class

Fabulous Ideas for the First Day of Class

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 771,373 All
Your First Lesson: 5 Essential Ice-Breakers That Guarantee Success

Your First Lesson: 5 Essential Ice-Breakers That Guarantee Success

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 666,571 All
8 Super ESL Games for Grammar Review

8 Super ESL Games for Grammar Review

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 579,185 All
“He Said What?” Top 10 ESL Activities for Reported Speech

“He Said What?” Top 10 ESL Activities for Reported Speech

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 579,896 All
What Were You Doing When? 4 Great Activities for Past Continuous Tense

What Were You Doing When? 4 Great Activities for Past Continuous Tense

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 592,473 All
How to Evaluate Speaking

How to Evaluate Speaking

•ESL Essentials
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, ...
Views 535,584 All
Top 12 Board Games for Your ESL Classroom

Top 12 Board Games for Your ESL Classroom

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 571,191 All
6 Best Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

6 Best Ways to Introduce New Vocabulary

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 471,985 All
Less is More? How to Teach Summary Writing

Less is More? How to Teach Summary Writing

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 498,122 All
12 August Themed Language Building Activities

12 August Themed Language Building Activities

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 15,560 All
How to Teach English to Beginners

How to Teach English to Beginners

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 533,851 All
Break the Back-to-School Ice! 10 Fun Icebreakers for the Beginning of the Year

Break the Back-to-School Ice! 10 Fun Icebreakers for the Beginning of the Year

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 475,948 All
9 Ways to Correct Students Without Correcting Them

9 Ways to Correct Students Without Correcting Them

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 78,024 All
How To Teach Prepositions Of Place (9 Simple Steps)

How To Teach Prepositions Of Place (9 Simple Steps)

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 559,366 All
How to Teach Modal Verbs: 4 Simple Steps

How to Teach Modal Verbs: 4 Simple Steps

•ESL Essentials
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. ...
Views 590,396 All
5 Worst Mistakes All Beginner ESL Teachers Make (And You Too?)

5 Worst Mistakes All Beginner ESL Teachers Make (And You Too?)

•ESL Essentials
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 ...
Views 186,892 All

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