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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Black or White? 7 Alternatives to Binary Thinking for Your ESL Students

Black or White? 7 Alternatives to Binary Thinking for Your ESL Students

ESL Essentials
Wherever they are from, and for whatever reason they sign up, ESL students arrive in their classrooms with their culture and philosophies in their rucksacks. Even if they’re studying abroad ...
Views 12,304 All
The Roundtable Discussion: What, When, and Why

The Roundtable Discussion: What, When, and Why

ESL Essentials
Class discussions can pose a number of problems for teachers. Often they waver between either too structured (a series of discussion points) or a free-for-all (questions thrown out to the class a ...
Views 63,332 All
Everyone Can Participate: How to Involve More Students in Discussion to Promote Higher-Level Thinking in the ESL Classroom

Everyone Can Participate: How to Involve More Students in Discussion to Promote Higher-Level Thinking in the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
Many teachers like to teach ESL classes. The students are polite and engaged and usually come from cultures where teachers and the education process is respected. Often measurable progress can be ...
Views 14,585 All
Mr. Know-It-All: Ten Ways to Avoid Talking Down to Your ESL Students

Mr. Know-It-All: Ten Ways to Avoid Talking Down to Your ESL Students

ESL Essentials
I have a recommendation for the next time you finish a tough week of teaching and could do with a morale boost. Open a bottle of something (if you like) and find old lesson plans and, even better ...
Views 31,315 All
Motivating from the Inside: 3 Techniques for Investing Students in Their Own Learning

Motivating from the Inside: 3 Techniques for Investing Students in Their Own Learning

ESL Essentials
You’ve heard the proverb you get more bees with honey than vinegar, haven’t you? It’s a simple way of pointing out there are both positive and negative ways to motivate someone. ...
Views 14,738 All
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Getting Ready to Teach Online: What You Need to Know before You Hit Send

Getting Ready to Teach Online: What You Need to Know before You Hit Send

ESL Essentials
If you have done any amount of research into today’s ESL job market, no doubt you have seen positions advertised all over the world. You can travel into the mysterious lands of the east, th ...
Views 18,447 All
My Country Right or Wrong: Teaching ESL Students about Nationalism

My Country Right or Wrong: Teaching ESL Students about Nationalism

ESL Essentials
If you keep an eye on the news, the recent rise in nationalistic sentiment in the US, Europe and elsewhere can’t have escaped your notice. Far-right parties have come to power, or grown in ...
Views 25,942 All
Firm but Fair: Balancing Praise and Discipline in the ESL Classroom

Firm but Fair: Balancing Praise and Discipline in the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
Developing a reasonable attitude to classroom discipline is a challenge. No one likes a tyrannical teacher, but being a passive, permissive doormat isn’t very effective. This balance is esp ...
Views 26,262 All
End of Session: Fast and Effective In-Class Writing Activities for Higher-Level Thinking

End of Session: Fast and Effective In-Class Writing Activities for Higher-Level Thinking

ESL Essentials
It’s the end of an English class at the high school or college level. Students have spent the session discussing some issue like gun control, the ethics of abortion, the limits of free spee ...
Views 19,612 All
Something for Everyone: Reaching Even Lowest Level of ESL in the Multi-Level ESL Classroom

Something for Everyone: Reaching Even Lowest Level of ESL in the Multi-Level ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
One of the perennial concerns with ESL adult classes is their multilevel nature. Even though the class may be called an “intermediate listening class,” any ESL instructor knows that s ...
Views 21,077 All
10 Fun, Fabulous Activities for Practicing Adjectives

10 Fun, Fabulous Activities for Practicing Adjectives

ESL Essentials
heAre you looking for some fun and unusual ways to give your students practice with adjectives? Here are some easy activities for practicing adjectives or doing a quick review.   ...
Views 932,516 All
10 Simple Teacher Involved Activities for Becoming an Active Participant in Your Lessons

10 Simple Teacher Involved Activities for Becoming an Active Participant in Your Lessons

ESL Essentials
One common rule given to new English teachers is to keep things student-centered. Limit teacher talking time. Be the guide on the side, not the sage on the stage. While there are many good reason ...
Views 37,181 All
7 Best Games for Your Next Vocabulary Class

7 Best Games for Your Next Vocabulary Class

ESL Essentials
Try These 7 Best Games for Your Next Vocabulary Class 1 Charades Write vocabulary words on individual index cards. Break your class into two teams, and have one individual from each team ...
Views 665,906 All
How to Teach Present Perfect: Activities and Examples

How to Teach Present Perfect: Activities and Examples

ESL Essentials
Most ESL teachers come to this hard realization. Most students who have learned English as a second language, effectively use only three tenses: present, past, and future. And they will most l ...
Views 1,057,351 All
Teaching English Vocabulary: 10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

Teaching English Vocabulary: 10 Fabulous Ways to Teach New Words

ESL Essentials
Did you know that a student needs to encounter a new word 10 to 16 times to effectively "learn" it according to recent research?
Views 1,003,302 All
More Than Words: 10 Ways to Promote Language Learning through Art

More Than Words: 10 Ways to Promote Language Learning through Art

ESL Essentials
As budgets decrease and funding disappears, so are many art classes. It’s no wonder when administrators look at art as just a fun elective or a way to give the brain a break. But art is mor ...
Views 29,709 All
Risky Business: An ESL Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Basic Business English

Risky Business: An ESL Teacher’s Guide to Teaching Basic Business English

ESL Essentials
In over a decade teaching English as a second language, I’ve had my share of business English students. They’re like other students in that they want to learn English, but they’ ...
Views 15,185 All
Give Them a Pat on the Back: 5 Simple Ways to Celebrate Student Achievements in Your Classroom

Give Them a Pat on the Back: 5 Simple Ways to Celebrate Student Achievements in Your Classroom

ESL Essentials
Remember back to your school days. Most Mondays through Fridays were the status quo – text books, quizzes, group work, etc. But there were other days, too. Greater days. Days filled with fu ...
Views 17,508 All
Notetaking, Diagramming, and Pictures: The Lost Art of the Chalkboard and Whiteboard

Notetaking, Diagramming, and Pictures: The Lost Art of the Chalkboard and Whiteboard

ESL Essentials
We’re all addicted to our phones today: in line anywhere, at home, at work, while driving. Sometimes the use of the phone is legitimate, even in class. One way is the ease with which one ca ...
Views 13,713 All
When an A Isn’t Good Enough: How to Motivate Your ESL Students by Ditching Your Grade Book

When an A Isn’t Good Enough: How to Motivate Your ESL Students by Ditching Your Grade Book

ESL Essentials
Have you ever thought that giving an A on an assignment might actually be hurting your students? It is possible. In fact, a recent study shows that even when you give students feedback about thei ...
Views 12,132 All
When They Don’t Want to Play Ball: 4 Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement

When They Don’t Want to Play Ball: 4 Strategies for Increasing Student Engagement

ESL Essentials
We all have bad days. Whether it’s because the coffee didn’t brew fast enough or we hit an unexpected traffic jam on the way to school, there are days when we just don’t feel li ...
Views 13,022 All
The Adrenaline Infused Classroom: Why You Should be Taking a Risk and How It Will Benefit Your Class

The Adrenaline Infused Classroom: Why You Should be Taking a Risk and How It Will Benefit Your Class

ESL Essentials
Have you ever gone skydiving? Bungee jumped? Travelled overseas to teach? If so, you might be a risk taker. Some people are born with an innate drive to take chances. They know the thrill of atte ...
Views 12,544 All
The Socratic Seminar: What, When, and How

The Socratic Seminar: What, When, and How

ESL Essentials
Class discussions, although rewarding in the exchange of ideas if they go well, can also be difficult to navigate. There is the problem of discussions being too controlled and structured, the con ...
Views 13,233 All
Beyond Read-and-Answer-the-Questions: 12 In-Class Reading Strategies for Higher Level Thinking

Beyond Read-and-Answer-the-Questions: 12 In-Class Reading Strategies for Higher Level Thinking

ESL Essentials
Reading activities can be the most difficult to construct because the entire reading process is so internal, going on largely in the student’s head. Discussion, which is external and betwee ...
Views 28,650 All
Speak Up: 6 Fabulous Games to Get Your Students Speaking

Speak Up: 6 Fabulous Games to Get Your Students Speaking

ESL Essentials
Many ESL teachers find that their students are timid speakers or reluctant to participate in class discussions. It’s only natural. After all, they are trying to talk in a language they a ...
Views 1,112,344 All

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