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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The Interconnected World: An Advanced ESL Class on Globalization

The Interconnected World: An Advanced ESL Class on Globalization

ESL Essentials
Before we begin, I’m going to invite you to think about tea. I started my morning with a pot of Anxi Tie Guan Yin, a tea from eastern China. It’s aromatic and energizing, and I can sc ...
Views 36,632 All
What Came First the Book or the Movie? Great Pairings That Work for ESL Students at Any Level

What Came First the Book or the Movie? Great Pairings That Work for ESL Students at Any Level

ESL Essentials
Have you ever noticed that if you read the book before seeing the movie, the book is always better? I think that’s because, as we read, we picture the characters and events in a certain way ...
Views 12,127 All
Inside Outside Upside Down: Everything You Need to Know about Internal and External Motivation

Inside Outside Upside Down: Everything You Need to Know about Internal and External Motivation

ESL Essentials
What motivates you? Is it the spark of comprehension on your students’ faces when they finally “get” something? Is it a sense of accomplishment you feel within yourself when you ...
Views 15,086 All
Wired for Story: 5 Fantastic Ways to Teach Listening through Story

Wired for Story: 5 Fantastic Ways to Teach Listening through Story

ESL Essentials
As author Lisa Cron puts it, human beings are wired for story. We like stories. We know what makes a good story just by our human nature. And we love them. The publishing industry and success of ...
Views 24,610 All
Teaching ESL Presentation Skills: Preparation, Rehearsal and Feedback

Teaching ESL Presentation Skills: Preparation, Rehearsal and Feedback

ESL Essentials
When working with foreign students who are preparing for college or a career, it makes good sense to help them gain public speaking skills. This work needn’t be restricted to improving the ...
Views 53,636 All
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An Occasion to Celebrate: 3 Special Occasions That Will Get Students Talking

An Occasion to Celebrate: 3 Special Occasions That Will Get Students Talking

ESL Essentials
We all love special occasions. They give us a reason to get together with the people we love and celebrate. Sometimes we celebrate a birthday. Other days we celebrate a holiday. Still other times ...
Views 36,763 All
The Echo Chamber: An ESL Lesson on 21st Century News Media

The Echo Chamber: An ESL Lesson on 21st Century News Media

ESL Essentials
Here’s a great way to begin a class with ESL students: ask them where, in their opinion, the impact of the Internet has been felt the most. Some will tell you that email and instant messagi ...
Views 23,995 All
The ABCs of A B C: Reading Comprehension Strategies That Work

The ABCs of A B C: Reading Comprehension Strategies That Work

ESL Essentials
Reading. It’s a little word that encompasses so much. As one of the core skills in learning English as a second language, you know it’s important. But exactly what elements of reading ...
Views 33,846 All
Skynet or Utopia: Challenging AI Discussions for ESL Students

Skynet or Utopia: Challenging AI Discussions for ESL Students

ESL Essentials
If someone mentions ‘Artificial Intelligence’, what does that make you think of? Perhaps you recall the Spielberg movie of the same name, or an article you read about Stephen Hawking ...
Views 31,984 All
There’s No Place Like…Class?: 7 Ways to Help Students Feel at Home in the Classroom

There’s No Place Like…Class?: 7 Ways to Help Students Feel at Home in the Classroom

ESL Essentials
How homey is your class? I only ask because sometimes making a class feel more like home is just what your ESL students need to relax and prepare to learn. If your room is feeling a bit too insti ...
Views 13,389 All
Playing the Phonics Game: 7 Games for Practicing Pronunciation

Playing the Phonics Game: 7 Games for Practicing Pronunciation

ESL Essentials
If you are looking for some fun ways to practice pronunciation with your ESL students, try one of the following games that puts the fun in phonology. 7 Games for Practicing Pronunciation 1 ...
Views 83,603 All
Crisis Point: An ESL Class on Police Shootings and Black Lives Matter

Crisis Point: An ESL Class on Police Shootings and Black Lives Matter

ESL Essentials
Students who take ESL courses in the US and Britain come from a variety of backgrounds, but once they arrive, they tend to need help navigating the same group of controversies and themes. The US ...
Views 22,275 All
How Affective Is Your Teaching? All You Need to Know about the Affective Filter and ESL Students

How Affective Is Your Teaching? All You Need to Know about the Affective Filter and ESL Students

ESL Essentials
Big teacher word time: Affective Filter. If you’re like a lot of others who have been teaching for a while, the term probably evokes memories of teaching methods classes where you may or ma ...
Views 19,109 All
All Ears Up Here: Listening Practice for Every Level

All Ears Up Here: Listening Practice for Every Level

ESL Essentials
If you teach listening class, you probably have a good staple of materials you use with your students. Most text books come with recorded files or cds, and you have your favorite websites to go t ...
Views 18,219 All
Teaching ESL Presentation Skills: How to Engage an Audience like the Professionals

Teaching ESL Presentation Skills: How to Engage an Audience like the Professionals

ESL Essentials
You know that expression, “It’s not what you say, it’s the way that you say it”? Well, I’d contest that the truth is somewhere in the middle. We do listen to the con ...
Views 19,775 All
Looking at the Bigger Picture: 7 Tips for Using Project Based Learning in the ESL Classroom

Looking at the Bigger Picture: 7 Tips for Using Project Based Learning in the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
Not everything we do in school is for the end result. Sometimes the process of getting there is more valuable than the final project itself. That’s the idea behind project based learning. I ...
Views 36,668 All
Step-by-step Guide to Teach Assignment Writing in Classroom

Step-by-step Guide to Teach Assignment Writing in Classroom

ESL Essentials
Teaching writing to a classroom of green scribes is a stressful undertaking indeed – in fact, after my first failed attempt during my inaugural teaching year, I was tempted to cut this entir ...
Views 17,343 All
Right Turn: Helping ESL Students Understand the New Power of the Alt-Right

Right Turn: Helping ESL Students Understand the New Power of the Alt-Right

ESL Essentials
I tried an experiment yesterday morning, one which left me feeling deeply uncomfortable. Instead of reading my usual news sources with breakfast, I tried out the advice of a friend who told me th ...
Views 12,583 All
Easy, Breezy Reading Comprehension: 6 Simple Solutions to Boost Student Performance

Easy, Breezy Reading Comprehension: 6 Simple Solutions to Boost Student Performance

ESL Essentials
Comprehension. It is arguably the most important aspect of language learning. If you don’t understand what you hear and read, how can you act upon that information? But thankfully increasin ...
Views 14,282 All
Listen Up!: Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching Listening

Listen Up!: Seven Mistakes to Avoid When Teaching Listening

ESL Essentials
Teaching listening is a challenging process. It’s vital to understand the key principles behind teaching this crucial skill. In this short article, I will describe several things you should ...
Views 35,462 All
Are You Sure This Is School? 3 Out of the Box Ways to Get Students Writing Better

Are You Sure This Is School? 3 Out of the Box Ways to Get Students Writing Better

ESL Essentials
Do you have pen and paper on you? More likely, you have a smart phone, tablet, or computer in easier reach. That’s because writing for the average person isn’t what it used to be. Pen ...
Views 12,913 All
Love Thy Neighbor: Teaching Love, Kindness and Compassion for ESL Classes

Love Thy Neighbor: Teaching Love, Kindness and Compassion for ESL Classes

ESL Essentials
Let’s start with some food for thought from one of the wisest people alive in the world today: “Whenever possible, be kind. It is always possible.” Perhaps more than anyone, ...
Views 14,948 All
Predicting POTUS: 6 Ideas for Initial Discussions and Analysis of the Trump Presidency

Predicting POTUS: 6 Ideas for Initial Discussions and Analysis of the Trump Presidency

ESL Essentials
It’s not every day that a hundred million people wake up to discover that the sky is falling. This was the horrified, shocked reaction from American democrats on the morning of 9th November ...
Views 14,449 All
Dragon Rising: Five ESL Topics for Understanding China’s Growing Influence

Dragon Rising: Five ESL Topics for Understanding China’s Growing Influence

ESL Essentials
This is China’s century. We’re just along for the ride. We’ve all heard sentiments like this. Though they are expressed with varying degrees of expertise, it’s not diffic ...
Views 16,665 All
After Snowden: 6 Discussion and Essay Ideas for an ESL Class on Cyber-Security and Privacy

After Snowden: 6 Discussion and Essay Ideas for an ESL Class on Cyber-Security and Privacy

ESL Essentials
I’ll begin with a question I asked my students, one which is well worth considering: Do you feel safe online? I clarified that I wasn’t really asking about stalkers or identify thieve ...
Views 27,768 All

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