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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Top Teacher Types: 5 Qualities Every Great ESL Teacher Should Have

Top Teacher Types: 5 Qualities Every Great ESL Teacher Should Have

ESL Essentials
Not every teacher will earn a teacher of the year award. In fact, most of us never will in our lifetimes. But that doesn’t mean we aren’t great teachers. The best teachers don’t ...
Views 34,565 All
Specific Needs for Specific Occupations: How to Find and Incorporate Specific Vocabulary and Adapt Your ESL Material

Specific Needs for Specific Occupations: How to Find and Incorporate Specific Vocabulary and Adapt Your ESL Material

ESL Essentials
We all know our students have different needs. The question is how different. Sometimes these differences are simple and mostly related to how you practice. For instance, whether to practice spea ...
Views 8,333 All
We Want to Learn, But It’s Summer!: 10 Principles for Summer Learning Activities to Engage ESL Students

We Want to Learn, But It’s Summer!: 10 Principles for Summer Learning Activities to Engage ESL Students

ESL Essentials
There’s something about a summer class: the sun is always out, and students tend to be more relaxed. They don’t have as much anxiety and depression that may occur in the regular schoo ...
Views 9,004 All
Mistletoes and Jolly Holly: A Simple 5-Step Print and Go Christmas Vocabulary Lesson (Only If You’re Dreaming of a White Christmas!)

Mistletoes and Jolly Holly: A Simple 5-Step Print and Go Christmas Vocabulary Lesson (Only If You’re Dreaming of a White Christmas!)

ESL Essentials
Christmas is such a fun and festive time of year. Get your students in the spirit of the season with this vocabulary lesson on Christmas decorating. Vocabulary List The holidays have so many int ...
Views 17,716 All
MASSIVE Christmas and New Year BusyTeacher Collection

MASSIVE Christmas and New Year BusyTeacher Collection

ESL Essentials
Christmas and New Year are wonderful times of year but as they are major school holidays in many countries, you might find that your students are less focused leading up to the holiday period. The ...
Views 30,768 All
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Jingle Bells Rock: 5 Christmas Songs to Use in Class and Language Activities to Go with Them

Jingle Bells Rock: 5 Christmas Songs to Use in Class and Language Activities to Go with Them

ESL Essentials
Christmas is coming; the goose is getting fat. Okay, you may not have an actual goose nearby, but Christmas is coming, and it’s coming sooner than you think. That makes now the perfect time ...
Views 40,770 All
High Tech Teaching: 8 Technologies You Should Be Using in Class

High Tech Teaching: 8 Technologies You Should Be Using in Class

ESL Essentials
To say we live in a world of technology is an understatement. Technology surrounds us from the moment our IPhones' alarms wake us up until we fall asleep reading our kindles. So why is it that we ...
Views 17,568 All
Students on the Move: 5 Quick Games to Practice Verb Use

Students on the Move: 5 Quick Games to Practice Verb Use

ESL Essentials
Eat. Pray. Love. They’re more than the title of a Julia Roberts movie. They are verbs, and we couldn’t form a single sentence without them. (Okay, there are exceptions, but you know w ...
Views 82,506 All
Around the World in 80 Classes: 7 Must-try Language Lessons Based on Maps

Around the World in 80 Classes: 7 Must-try Language Lessons Based on Maps

ESL Essentials
Oh the places you’ll go! Have you discovered what a great jumping off point maps are for interesting and engaging ESL lessons? You can use them to get students talking, evaluate their liste ...
Views 13,780 All
Every Level Listening: What Your Students Need to Know and How to Practice It

Every Level Listening: What Your Students Need to Know and How to Practice It

ESL Essentials
No matter what level ESL you teach, your students need to practice their listening skills. For international students, their at home language instruction often downplays the necessity of listening ...
Views 14,621 All
Instagram = Instant Fun: 10 Simple Ways to Get Students Talking with Pictures

Instagram = Instant Fun: 10 Simple Ways to Get Students Talking with Pictures

ESL Essentials
I hope you know how valuable pictures are for the ESL classroom. Pictures can be the starting point of all kinds of language activities from creative writing to dialogue development to practicing ...
Views 20,224 All
Teen Troubles? 6 Strategies to Engage and Motivate Teenaged Students

Teen Troubles? 6 Strategies to Engage and Motivate Teenaged Students

ESL Essentials
When most people picture teenagers, they imagine sullen, uncooperative kids who want nothing to do with school. Your class most likely isn’t like that, but there is something special to tea ...
Views 28,610 All
In Tonight’s Broadcast…8 Fun Ways to Use the News in Class

In Tonight’s Broadcast…8 Fun Ways to Use the News in Class

ESL Essentials
Turn on any major network at six p.m. and you’ll find the same thing. The nightly news. There’s one thing that’s true about most human beings. We want to know what is going on. ...
Views 57,112 All
Seven in One Blow: 5 Simple Steps to Incorporating 7 Learning Styles in One Lesson

Seven in One Blow: 5 Simple Steps to Incorporating 7 Learning Styles in One Lesson

ESL Essentials
Learning styles…you’ve heard the word. You’ve thought about how to include them. But if you’re anything like me, when it comes to incorporating every learning style into ...
Views 15,422 All
You’re Never Too Old to Listen: 7 Super Fun Listening Activities for Adult Learners

You’re Never Too Old to Listen: 7 Super Fun Listening Activities for Adult Learners

ESL Essentials
If you teach adults English as a second language, you know the unique challenges and rewards that come with working with older students. Adults are often self-motivated to learn. They know that t ...
Views 87,566 All
6 Fun and Simple Games to Help Your Shy Students

6 Fun and Simple Games to Help Your Shy Students

ESL Essentials
We all know shy people. We might even be shy ourselves. Talking to others can be intimidating. What if I don’t have the right things to say? What if I sound stupid? Imagine your worst fears ...
Views 64,281 All
SLAP Happy Students: 4 Steps You Should Have in Every Language Lesson

SLAP Happy Students: 4 Steps You Should Have in Every Language Lesson

ESL Essentials
Have you ever felt so overwhelmed you didn’t know where to start? Perhaps you had taken on a big project or a lofty goal and you couldn’t see the steps it would take to get you to the ...
Views 18,137 All
Make It Magical and Practical: What Your ESL Kids Classroom Needs to Have

Make It Magical and Practical: What Your ESL Kids Classroom Needs to Have

ESL Essentials
Among the many things teachers have to face every year there is one in particular most of us dread, how to decorate our classrooms. There is nothing worse than staring at a bare classroom with bl ...
Views 21,893 All
Pump Up the Vocab: 7 Simple Tips for Getting Students Past Simple Vocabulary

Pump Up the Vocab: 7 Simple Tips for Getting Students Past Simple Vocabulary

ESL Essentials
Don’t you just love it when your students use new words? When they expand their vocabulary? When their lexicon is growing and growing? I know I do. I get so excited when a student uses Engl ...
Views 12,295 All
When the Book Is Not Enough: 6 Simple Ways to Supplement Your Textbook Lesson Plans

When the Book Is Not Enough: 6 Simple Ways to Supplement Your Textbook Lesson Plans

ESL Essentials
Don’t you love it when you have the perfect lesson plans simply given to you? When you can follow along in the book and just do the exercises the curriculum’s author set forth? When y ...
Views 32,316 All
Are Your Adult ESL Students Learning What They Need to Learn? Use This Survey and You'll Know

Are Your Adult ESL Students Learning What They Need to Learn? Use This Survey and You'll Know

ESL Essentials
Why are your students interested in studying a second language? If you don't know the answer to this, you should. Understanding what motivates your students to learn a second language is, in fact ...
Views 19,175 All
We Successed at the Manifestation: Teaching Word Form/Word Choice to ESL Students

We Successed at the Manifestation: Teaching Word Form/Word Choice to ESL Students

ESL Essentials
In addressing second language issues in student writing, most often considered are concerns such as run-on sentences and fragments. These are indeed problems—actually for both the native sp ...
Views 21,612 All
If It’s Tuesday, It’s ESL 215: Time Management and Teaching Multiple Classes

If It’s Tuesday, It’s ESL 215: Time Management and Teaching Multiple Classes

ESL Essentials
One of the challenges of teaching is teaching multiple classes within your discipline rather than multiple sections of the same class. Teaching multiple classes means having different class prepa ...
Views 9,898 All
For More Than Popcorn: 10 Language Based Activities You Can Do on Movie Day

For More Than Popcorn: 10 Language Based Activities You Can Do on Movie Day

ESL Essentials
Whether it’s VHS or the digital version of your favorite film, everyone loves movie day. Movies are entertaining. If they weren’t Hollywood wouldn’t be the big business that it ...
Views 38,388 All
From the ESL Grammar Files: Everything You Need to Know about Teaching Gerunds

From the ESL Grammar Files: Everything You Need to Know about Teaching Gerunds

ESL Essentials
Are you ready to tackle the subject of gerunds in your ESL classroom? Here is everything you need to know to teach these verbish nouns to your students. What Is a Gerund? Simply put, a gerund i ...
Views 35,946 All

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