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!
Traditionally, ESL instruction has focused on teaching the grammar of the language, with a lot of concentration on the verb tense system.
Recently more attention has been given to vocabulary, oft ...
There are several sports that are popular in many areas of the world.
Football is not one of them. Still, with Super Bowl Sunday coming up your students will still have fun with these fun activit ...
For citizens of the United States, our freedoms are an important characteristic of our lives. Most everyone knows that the freedom of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are part of the Ame ...
There are times we are absolutely stunned to see a lack of dictionaries being used to teach English as a second language.
For us, a dictionary is the core of any teaching program and needs to be ...
If you teach elementary school children, smoking may not be an issue you need to address very often in your classroom. However, if you are teaching adults from around the world you may find that t ...
In today’s world, innovation is king.
People everywhere are continually making things better, faster, smaller and easier whether their products are computers or refrigerators. King Gillette ...
Vocabulary development and use is a consistent topic that ESL teachers and students must focus on. Vocabulary can sometimes be the most difficult aspect of language development since language rule ...
Most ESL teachers, at one point or another, review with their students how to write personal and business letters, but that alone is not enough.
Your students should have an opportunity to practi ...
When the weather turns cold there is nothing quite like curling up in front of a fireplace with a hot drink and a slice of spicy, brown gingerbread. Your classroom may not have a fireplace, but th ...
Whether students and teachers realize it or not, physics can make for some of the most memorable classes in a school career. Anyone who has ever designed a machine to protect an egg as it falls fr ...
It happens to every teacher at some point. Sometimes it is with the first class. Other times a teacher gets a few good years under his or her belt before it hits. Sometimes it seems like it happen ...
Your current unit has come to a close, and you have put your heart and soul into your classroom activities over the past weeks. Your students have had a good time and have learned, too, and now co ...
For students studying English as a second language for career purposes, job applications will be waters they will have to navigate. There is no need to throw them to the sharks, though, once they ...
Fire prevention week happens each year in October, but there is no need to wait until the fall to help your students stay safe when it comes to fires. The winter season is just as likely a time fo ...
Students cannot learn what they cannot understand. For ESL students, there is a greater challenge when content material is the target knowledge. For native speakers, learning the content itself ma ...
Identifying the job for which you would like to apply is only the beginning of the job search process, and when that search has to be conducted in a second language, confusion, frustration and dis ...
If you teach elementary ESL, you may not have much motivation to teach your students about looking for a job, but if your class is made up of high school students, college students or adult studen ...
In a world where number two pencils and bubbles on an answer sheet often determine a student’s grade, what criteria does the writing teacher use to evaluate the work of his or her students? ...
Where did Humpty Dumpty sit? Who helped put him back together after his tragic fall? If you know the answers to these questions, it is because you’ve repeated the famous nursery rhyme countl ...
Vincent Van Gogh is a world-renowned artist, but he was not what most people would define as successful during his lifetime. In fact, he only sold one painting before he died though today his piec ...
Your students study English for many reasons. Some study for educational purposes, some because they have moved to a location where English is the dominant language, still others because they feel ...
Junk…it can mean the items you throw away during spring-cleaning. Junk can refer to what gathers at the edge of a public sewer grate. Junk can be bits and pieces of old cars and machines wa ...
People celebrate different things every day of the week. Some days, people celebrate a birthday or holiday. Other days people celebrate religious or political events. Still other days personal acc ...
What is it that makes someone or something award worthy? What criteria should individuals or committees use when doling out awards? Who should decide what awards should be given and who should rec ...
Anyone - whether they are an ESL teacher or student – will tell you the four main skills you need to develop when learning a second language are speaking, listening, reading and…writi ...
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