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!
Teaching Countable and Uncountable Nouns is a grammar point that beginners will learn early on and it can take multiple activities to solidify the correct usage.
I have taught this topic hundreds ...
It’s a pretty common scenario in a teacher’s life: you get to work, already running late and with a set of copies to run before class—only to find a group of other teachers crowd ...
Teaching adverbs doesn’t have to be as complicated as everyone seems to think.
The basic instruction of them is pretty simple, but it does get more complicated when you are looking at more ...
Business English is a unique but rewarding subject to teach.
Students have specific needs and look for a very practical application of their newly learned language skills. When it is your job to ...
It is imperative that ESL students get lots of good listening practice. A sure way to do that is to get them really tuned into one another, and increasing their skills by utilizing one another.
I ...
I’m going to put the topic of Hitler and the Nazis on my short list of forbidden topics in my composition classes.
Not that I find the topic unbearable; on the contrary, there is a lot of f ...
We’ve all experienced the all-too-familiar blank stare right after giving what you thought were amazingly clear and concise directions.
The blankness is then followed by whispers, confused ...
Vocabulary is a subject that every ESL teacher has to handle in class, but not every teacher knows all the top moves for introducing and practicing that vocabulary with his or her students.
This ...
At least once a semester, around a major holiday or near the end of a term, a student usually proposes, “Let’s have a party!“ I used to cringe inwardly, change the subject, and h ...
Writing can often get overlooked in the beginner ESL classroom. This may be because students are focused on their speaking and listening skills first, and their reading and writing skills second. ...
Teaching adults has its own set of challenges and rewards for the ESL teacher.
Adults have more experience on which to draw, are usually less hindered by shyness, and often have a real need when ...
The topic of -ED and -ING adjectives can be a refreshing one as it gives you the chance to introduce a higher level of new vocabulary as well as open up a whole new world of expressing opinions an ...
There’s a high mortality of my students’ extended family members at the time of finals. Uncles get sick, grandparents die; sometimes there’s a burial in a distant country requiri ...
You’ve experienced it: you’re in the midst of explaining some complicated grammar point, perhaps having to do with the different tenses of the passive voice, writing on the board as yo ...
Regardless of student background or proficiency level, nearly all students love a good fight—with words that is.
Nothing gets students more motivated to speak English than by having the opp ...
ESL teachers who focus on reading may have greater struggles than other language instructors since communicative strategies do not come as naturally for reading class.
These BusyTeacher articles ...
Let’s take a trip down memory lane… When we were children what was the best thing about buying large, household appliances?
Were we even remotely interested in the new refrigerator o ...
Being an effective speaking teacher requires more than just talk.
You need to know how to encourage your students to speak when they may feel too vulnerable to do so, you have to teach pr ...
Writing can be difficult to learn, and even more difficult to teach. For many, the rules of grammar and spelling can be complex and overwhelming.
Learning how to organize thoughts and create a co ...
Writing prompts can be like the quiet kid in the corner; they are often expected to behave in a particular way by those around them, and their true potential remains forever unfulfilled.
Writing ...
For English as a second language teachers, deciding on the best type of assessment for your students can be complicated.
On the one hand, standardized tests and district requirements want statist ...
For a long time, as a child, I didn’t know what a “Yankee” was.
Sometimes, as in the phrase “Damn Yankees!” it seemed to refer to the people from the Northern states ...
Last semester in my reading class, we were discussing the session’s reading, Kate Chopin’s “Story of an Hour,” her classic short story about the joy a young woman feels on ...
A lot of Americans are phobic about singing and singing publicly; some are even convinced they are “tone deaf” (there actually is no such thing; a truly tone-deaf person would not be a ...
Recently my teen-aged daughter and I were watching TV, an old sitcom from the 1970s (one of the mixed blessings of cable networks is old TV programs.)
In this story, the situation had the head of ...
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