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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8 MORE Ways to Use Photos in the ESL Classroom

8 MORE Ways to Use Photos in the ESL Classroom

ESL Essentials
A picture is worth a thousand words, and though your ESL learners may not come up with a thousand words, they can certainly come up with plenty. If you’ve read and enjoyed What You Can Do w ...
Views 31,971 All
3 Outdoor Activities for 3 Types of Directions

3 Outdoor Activities for 3 Types of Directions

ESL Essentials
Directions are something every ESL teacher will have to address at some point. Asking, understanding, and giving directions is such an important skill that it really can’t be overlooked. As ...
Views 30,696 All
Make Them Want to Write: 6 Journaling Activities That Teens Will Love

Make Them Want to Write: 6 Journaling Activities That Teens Will Love

ESL Essentials
Journaling is a powerful educational tool for language learning as it 1) connects reading with writing, 2) encourages cognitive development in the foreign language, and 3) facilitates practice of ...
Views 24,750 All
Top 10 Benefits of Learning Centers in ESL Classrooms

Top 10 Benefits of Learning Centers in ESL Classrooms

ESL Essentials
I don’t know if everything I needed to know I learned in Kindergarten, but that experience did introduce me to learning centers. Scattered around the edges of our classroom were simple stat ...
Views 77,966 All
These, This, That, or Those: 4 Fun Ways to Reinforce “Th” Pronunciation

These, This, That, or Those: 4 Fun Ways to Reinforce “Th” Pronunciation

ESL Essentials
“Th” pronunciation is extremely difficult to master for EFL students. When tongue twisters and other tricks are failing and you need a change in strategy, try one of these four activi ...
Views 43,041 All
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10 Ways to Invoke St. Valentine to Teach Prepositions

10 Ways to Invoke St. Valentine to Teach Prepositions

ESL Essentials
Prepositions are complicated for even native English speakers to use correctly, and we know that constant reinforcement with examples is the only way to master correct usage. ESL/EFL students get ...
Views 19,638 All
I Know…That There Are At Least 5 Ways To Teach Noun Clauses

I Know…That There Are At Least 5 Ways To Teach Noun Clauses

ESL Essentials
Noun clauses are typically taught in advanced level English as a Second Language Courses, and students will need carefully-designed practice in order to use this form correctly. This is an advanc ...
Views 77,222 All
6 Activities to Use TV to Teach When Slang is Appropriate

6 Activities to Use TV to Teach When Slang is Appropriate

ESL Essentials
Native speakers, even the most educated and refined, regularly use slang in conversation. In fact, we unconsciously hone slang depending on the cultural situation in which we are. Demonstrating t ...
Views 18,420 All
10 Baste and Batter Basics: Translating American Cooking Terms for EFL Learners

10 Baste and Batter Basics: Translating American Cooking Terms for EFL Learners

ESL Essentials
Americans have a very unique way of describing cooking terminology, and their antiquated measurements and onomatopoeia words have infiltrated the English language and taken on additional meanings ...
Views 7,555 All
What’s Up Boss? 5 Situations to Use Informal English in the Workplace

What’s Up Boss? 5 Situations to Use Informal English in the Workplace

ESL Essentials
New English speakers, especially those that learn ESL for the workplace, can embarrass themselves easily by using informal language at the wrong times. With professional pushing for bosses to be ...
Views 17,868 All
Are Your ESL Students Making These 10 Speaking Mistakes?

Are Your ESL Students Making These 10 Speaking Mistakes?

ESL Essentials
ESL students practice speaking, reading, writing and listening, but let’s face it. It’s the speaking that puts them on the spot. Whether they are foreign executives or stay-at-home mo ...
Views 71,572 All
Leveling The Playing Field: 7 Question Strategies for Mixed-ability Classes

Leveling The Playing Field: 7 Question Strategies for Mixed-ability Classes

ESL Essentials
The teacher asks the whole class a question. Within moments, the familiar few hands shoot up as if spring-loaded. Does this sound familiar? The majority of the class responds hardly at all, leavi ...
Views 14,463 All
ESL Nightmare! What to Do If You’re Called to Teach a Class at the Last Minute

ESL Nightmare! What to Do If You’re Called to Teach a Class at the Last Minute

ESL Essentials
You’re sipping tea in front of the TV hoping to catch up on some of your favorite shows. You’ve already taught your lessons for the day and have the rest of the afternoon off – o ...
Views 11,563 All
Are You Feeling Blue? 4 Ways to Use Color to Teach Other Concepts in English

Are You Feeling Blue? 4 Ways to Use Color to Teach Other Concepts in English

ESL Essentials
Students always seem to remember colors easier than almost any other vocabulary concept. Why? It is probably because we attach so many other meanings to colors, like emotions. Here are four activ ...
Views 29,171 All
English Immersion Camp Outline: 5 Days of Tourism

English Immersion Camp Outline: 5 Days of Tourism

ESL Essentials
Many ESL teachers are required to run English immersion camps during school holiday periods. Although requirements vary based on the school and the students involved, the general idea is usually ...
Views 11,226 All
Get Up and Go: 6 Active Ways to Learn Language in the English Classroom

Get Up and Go: 6 Active Ways to Learn Language in the English Classroom

ESL Essentials
They say that teachers make the worst students, and it might be true. Maybe that’s why I dread sitting through a lecture. Of course, my stir crazy seat could also be an issue of learning st ...
Views 15,048 All
4 Fun Ways to Challenge Advanced Learners with the Present Simple

4 Fun Ways to Challenge Advanced Learners with the Present Simple

ESL Essentials
The present simple is the most basic tense in any language and it is the first tense that learners of English will learn and use, starting with the verb ‘to be’. Curiously, however, n ...
Views 47,508 All
Survey Says…Using Comparatives and Superlatives to Talk about People

Survey Says…Using Comparatives and Superlatives to Talk about People

ESL Essentials
English speakers use comparative adjectives to talk about everything and everyone around them. We compare adults and children, native speakers and internationals, northerners and southerners. Eve ...
Views 38,171 All
Relatively Speaking: 5 Strategies for Teaching Relative Clauses

Relatively Speaking: 5 Strategies for Teaching Relative Clauses

ESL Essentials
Some grammar topics are best taught within the context of writing, and relative clauses is among these. By moving from noticing, to guided practice, to production, students can begin to incorpora ...
Views 95,552 All
But I …: 4 Activities for Teaching Excuses

But I …: 4 Activities for Teaching Excuses

ESL Essentials
Given the difficulty of pinning down students who arrive late to class, don’t finish their homework, or commit any of the other transgressions that teachers must address on a daily basis, it ...
Views 58,397 All
It Takes Two to Tango: 10 Steps to Good Co-teacher Relations

It Takes Two to Tango: 10 Steps to Good Co-teacher Relations

ESL Essentials
Many ESL teachers, especially in Korea and other areas of Asia, share their classroom with an English teacher from that country. These co-teachers help translate in class, share the marking, help ...
Views 10,401 All
If I Could Turn Back Time: 4 Ways to Use Pop Music to Teach Conditionals

If I Could Turn Back Time: 4 Ways to Use Pop Music to Teach Conditionals

ESL Essentials
Teaching conditionals is difficult for any ESL/EFL teacher, so try using an interesting subject matter to engage your students! Here are four strategies to integrate pop music into your condition ...
Views 112,997 All
I Have a Problem with That: Teaching 7 Situations When Complaining Means Something Else

I Have a Problem with That: Teaching 7 Situations When Complaining Means Something Else

ESL Essentials
English speakers probably seem to complain a lot to EFL learners. What we natives may not realize is that we do complain more often than other cultures. We do not realize because we are not alway ...
Views 22,517 All
7 Tips to Help Your New Elementary ESL Students Survive and Thrive

7 Tips to Help Your New Elementary ESL Students Survive and Thrive

ESL Essentials
For elementary school ESL students, learning English isn’t the only mountain they have to climb. These students are getting used to a new culture at an age when it is so important to know t ...
Views 10,105 Elem
Ahhhh, Exams!: 'Monster Review' and 3 Other Pre-Exam Review Games

Ahhhh, Exams!: 'Monster Review' and 3 Other Pre-Exam Review Games

ESL Essentials
Every term, teachers watch their students’ stress levels rise as the shadow of looming exams reaches out and wraps them in its icy embrace. But never fear, review games are here! At least t ...
Views 14,051 BegElemPre-Int

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