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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Eavesdropping Encouraged: 6 Methods of Monitoring Students

Eavesdropping Encouraged: 6 Methods of Monitoring Students

•ESL Essentials
When you hear the word monitoring, do you think of nerdy teenagers patrolling the halls of your high school? Or maybe you think of large television-like monstrosities that used to plug into your ...
Views 10,698 All

"I Wanna Know What They Really Know": 15 Easy Techniques to Elicit English from Your ESL Students

•ESL Essentials
What is Eliciting? Though the phrase eliciting techniques may be a little off putting, it’s really quite a simple thing. Eliciting means getting students to use specific language skills y ...
Views 52,270 All
Just Say No to Yes and No: the Why's and How's of Avoiding Closed Questions

Just Say No to Yes and No: the Why's and How's of Avoiding Closed Questions

•ESL Essentials
Do you know the expression “closed question?” It refers to a question that only requires a yes or no answer. And closed questions can be the bane of an ESL teacher’s existence. ...
Views 35,303 All
In Your Face: 6 Simple Tips for Teaching Advertising [ESL Business Students]

In Your Face: 6 Simple Tips for Teaching Advertising [ESL Business Students]

•ESL Essentials
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge. My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Views 30,445 All
Making Friends and Influencing People: Teaching Interpersonal Skills for ESL Business

Making Friends and Influencing People: Teaching Interpersonal Skills for ESL Business

•ESL Essentials
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge. My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Views 13,622 All
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A Better Boss: Management and Leadership for ESL Business Students

A Better Boss: Management and Leadership for ESL Business Students

•ESL Essentials
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge. My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Views 21,433 All
Money Matters: 10 Key Financial Topics for ESL Business

Money Matters: 10 Key Financial Topics for ESL Business

•ESL Essentials
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge. My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Views 27,989 All
The 2008 Financial Crisis: Resources for ESL Business Teachers

The 2008 Financial Crisis: Resources for ESL Business Teachers

•ESL Essentials
After teaching ESL for twelve years, I felt like a new challenge. My school was struggling to hire ESL Business teachers, so I volunteered. I’m not trained in business or economics, but I f ...
Views 11,482 All
Pump up the Vocabs: 5 Simple Techniques to Increase Student Vocabularies

Pump up the Vocabs: 5 Simple Techniques to Increase Student Vocabularies

•ESL Essentials
Your ESL students can know all the grammar in the world but not be able to speak a word of English if their vocabularies are not developed enough. Knowing a large number of words is key for being ...
Views 26,800 All
Teacherless Troubleshooting: 6 Keys to Students Solving Language Struggles on Their Own

Teacherless Troubleshooting: 6 Keys to Students Solving Language Struggles on Their Own

•ESL Essentials
Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime. That’s the basic mindset behind self-correction – teaching students to recognize and fix their ...
Views 11,755 All
More Than a Syllabus Robot: 6 Things You Can Do Today to Make Class More Meaningful for Your Students

More Than a Syllabus Robot: 6 Things You Can Do Today to Make Class More Meaningful for Your Students

•ESL Essentials
You’re the teacher. You’re in charge of your class, what subjects you study, and what materials you use. But when students have input in to their own learning, they are more successfu ...
Views 11,424 All
Keeping It Real: How to Organize Realistic Practice for Trainee Teachers

Keeping It Real: How to Organize Realistic Practice for Trainee Teachers

•ESL Essentials
When I think about professional development, some of the most useful – and certainly the most nerve-wracking – experiences I’ve ever had were during the handful of practice lesso ...
Views 8,136 All
Crack the Books Open: 6 Reasons You Should Schedule Reading Time in Class

Crack the Books Open: 6 Reasons You Should Schedule Reading Time in Class

•ESL Essentials
If you are like many teachers, you may feel that if you aren’t talking the whole time in class, your students aren’t getting their money’s worth from you. While that may be true ...
Views 24,434 All
The Biggest and Baddest of Them All: 5 Fun Activities for Practicing English Adjectives

The Biggest and Baddest of Them All: 5 Fun Activities for Practicing English Adjectives

•ESL Essentials
Whether you are talking about the big, bad wolf or Little Bo Peep, adjectives are everywhere! They are a basic building block of the English language, and one that’s worth practicing with E ...
Views 23,360 All
The Gang’s All Here: 10 Super Easy Tips for Teaching Large Classes

The Gang’s All Here: 10 Super Easy Tips for Teaching Large Classes

•ESL Essentials
Are you teaching a large class? Here are ten tips to make sure it is a success for both you and your students. 10 Tips for Teaching Large Classes 1 Establish Routines When you have a larg ...
Views 12,486 All
Get A Little Closer: 11 Fantastic Tips for Making Your Small Classes Great

Get A Little Closer: 11 Fantastic Tips for Making Your Small Classes Great

•ESL Essentials
I’ve worked with plenty of students one on one, but my smallest actual class was only three people. It was challenging for many reasons, not the least of which was simply the number of stud ...
Views 10,037 All
When Kids Struggle, Get Parents Involved: How to Help Parents Help Their Kids

When Kids Struggle, Get Parents Involved: How to Help Parents Help Their Kids

•ESL Essentials
Before we start a new course we often make the same kind of consideration. We plan overall objectives for that year, choose our material and start planning our individual lessons. It seems so sim ...
Views 7,829 All
Teacher Training 105: How to Train New Teachers in Student-Centered Methods

Teacher Training 105: How to Train New Teachers in Student-Centered Methods

•ESL Essentials
Imagine for a moment that you had a time machine, and could return to speak to your past self during your teacher training period. There would probably be a lot you’d want to say – ad ...
Views 21,526 All
Teacher Training 104: Training ESL Teachers in Good Review Methods

Teacher Training 104: Training ESL Teachers in Good Review Methods

•ESL Essentials
I gave myself rather a shock the other day. I noticed, for the first time, that twenty years have now passed since I graduated from high school, back in England. Where on Earth all that time has ...
Views 12,793 All
Getting Smart: Helping ESL Students Stay Informed of Progress

Getting Smart: Helping ESL Students Stay Informed of Progress

Robyn Scott
•ESL Essentials
Learning a second language is a long process where students will experience different levels of fluency. The most important thing students can do is keep their head in the game and persevere thro ...
Views 15,735 All
In the Mix: 10 Tips for Having a Great Mixed Level Class

In the Mix: 10 Tips for Having a Great Mixed Level Class

•ESL Essentials
If you are new to teaching ESL or if you have years of experience and classes under your belt, teaching a mixed level class can still be a challenge. Having students at different skills and profi ...
Views 50,615 All
Good Morning, Sunshine: 12 Fantastic Ways to Start Your ESL Class

Good Morning, Sunshine: 12 Fantastic Ways to Start Your ESL Class

•ESL Essentials
Let’s start at the very beginning. A very good place to start. It’s true for more than just classic musicals. Where else would your ESL class start but at the beginning? Whether a be ...
Views 41,751 All
Make Them Wiggle, Make Them Move: 4 Activities for Small Classrooms with Limited Space

Make Them Wiggle, Make Them Move: 4 Activities for Small Classrooms with Limited Space

•ESL Essentials
Have you ever had a hard time including some activities in your ESL lesson due to lack of space? If you have, your aren't the only one. Sadly , lack of space in the classroom is a common issue an ...
Views 20,737 All
Going Beyond –ER: 5 Advanced Techniques for Comparing and Contrasting in English

Going Beyond –ER: 5 Advanced Techniques for Comparing and Contrasting in English

•ESL Essentials
Whether you are deciding what to eat for lunch or you are making a recommendation on what movie to watch on a Friday night, you are always making comparisons. Comparing and contrasting are a part ...
Views 55,432 All
Are You Ready to Roll? a Simple 4-Step Lesson on Travel for Busy ESL Teachers

Are You Ready to Roll? a Simple 4-Step Lesson on Travel for Busy ESL Teachers

•ESL Essentials
What is one thing international students all have in common? Travel! Students studying English overseas have all travelled from their home countries to study English abroad. You may teach English ...
Views 26,461 All

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