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
View our latest knowledgebase articles that will help you become a better English teacher. Learn from
professional teachers and put a bit of your own creativity into it!
Are you thinking about teaching continuous/progressive tenses?
Are you looking at your lesson plans and not sure exactly how to tackle the subject? Are you simply wishing you could take a differe ...
Apply These Ideas for Literacy Biography Writing
1
What
What is a literacy biography? It is, like most biographies, a chronological discussion of the author’s life, or some as ...
“I have a group of very nice, polite adult learners, who meet the basic requirements for the course, but I would love it if they would participate more actively and with greater enthusiasm. ...
“Sometimes I feel my students could be learning a lot faster. They would accomplish a lot more if only I could guide them better towards increased English fluency. What can I do to become a ...
How well do your students read?
Do they use good pronunciation and read with fluency? Are they quick to go through the words on the page and finish long before the other members of the class? Not ...
Have you ever taught a lesson and walked away just feeling like some students weren’t getting it?
In fact, have you ever had a student who just didn’t seem to connect to the way you w ...
Every ESL teacher finds themselves going over verb tenses whether they have beginning level students or post advanced students.
Verbs are always something worth reviewing with your English studen ...
Beginnings are hard, especially with a new process.
Even knowing where to begin can difficult, especially when dealing with the unfamiliar. In writing, fortunately, there are some strategies that ...
Are you looking for an easy way to incorporate speaking activities into your ESL classes?
Busy teachers all over the world have voted these 10 worksheets as their favorites. All you need to do is ...
Often composition classes are booooring.
The students are bored; the teacher is bored. The curriculum is boring: predictably a series of readings on predictable issues with predictable written re ...
“I love playing card games with my ESL students, but I find it hard to stray from the classic Go Fish or Snap. What are some other card games I can play with my class?” *
There probab ...
Have you ever tried to jump right into a sequel long after reading the first book or seeing the first movie?
It takes some time to get your bearings, doesn’t it? To really get the most out ...
Have you ever wondered how well you are doing your job?
This is a question we all have to ask ourselves. Though feedback from our students is very useful, we shouldn't always rely on them to prov ...
People have been learning second languages for ages.
English hasn't always been the popular choice. Once upon a time those who were considered “cultured” learned Latin and/or Greek. S ...
Summer is in full swing, but it’s no time to let up on language learning.
Here are some activities just perfect for midsummer classes.
Have a Wonderful Summer Using These Ideas in July
...
Manipulatives are great for the ESL classroom.
Getting your students’ bodies connected with their language learning helps them retain more information and remember it more easily. So any ti ...
"My ESL students can communicate clearly and make few mistakes. The problem is they always use the same words and stay within a 'safe zone'. How can I help them expand their vocabulary so they don ...
The ESL classroom is as great a place for new knowledge about the world as it is for practicing language.
I find that almost every topic we cover has a factual element, and that often, students a ...
One of the first challenges facing newly minted English teachers, especially when teaching in a foreign country, is finding a way to introduce themselves to their new class.
Although it may vary ...
As teachers we know what we expect from our students, but many teachers are not fully aware of what students expect from them.
This happens for different reasons. Mostly because many teachers thi ...
We all know controlling people and perhaps deal with them on a daily basis: those people who need to be in charge, in control, and refuse to share leadership is the simplest definition of “c ...
Picture this.
You just spent 40 minutes presenting and practicing a bunch of new vocabulary to your students. They seem to have understood and can answer questions using these new words. But, how ...
If you’ve never made a recording of a class you’ve given, I urge you to give it a try.
I first tried this during my CELTA qualification, way back in 1999, and was amazed at what I fou ...
I had a really disastrous semester earlier this year.
I inherited a group of students of a very low level, and all from the same country. I thought, ‘No problem!’ I’d handled la ...
Do you feel you've fallen into a rut with your ESL class?
Are you and your students simply going through the motions? Well, if you want to spice things up and get their minds working, tasks are t ...
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