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 donts 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!
Create awesome-looking custom word searches in seconds!
Make A Word Scramble:
Instantly create custom word/sentence scrambles for your class!
Make A Double Puzzle:
Generate double puzzles your students will love - hours of fun!
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!
Bored of always using the same old games with your ESL students? Chances are, they are just as bored as you. Sometimes, the introduction of one element, just one item, will completely take your cl ...
The world is a very big place, but in today’s society the people of our world are becoming more and more connected every day. The internet and other venues for communication have opened the ...
If someone asked you, “What kinds of dreams do you have?” how would you respond? Would you talk about dreams you have while you are sleeping? Would you talk about daydreams you have wh ...
The combination of comparing and contrasting forms one of the most popular essay forms in English classes today, but comparing and contrasting in and of themselves are not purposes for writing. Th ...
Textbooks are an important part of an ESL class. They provide direction and explanations of key ESL concepts. While textbooks are of great value to the ESL teacher, the world outside the textbook ...
Did you ever have a problem that you needed help solving? Did you get any useful advice? Who did you ask for that advice? Did you follow the advice that you got? What happened?
If you want to giv ...
Stopford Brooke once said that literature is “a pleasure which arises not only from the things said, but from the way in which they are said; and that pleasure is only given when the words a ...
You see your students in the morning, and you naturally greet them, “Good morning. How are you?” How many times have you heard that same old response, “Fine, thank you. And you?& ...
The Millennial Generation, or Generation Y, is that generation born 1980-2000. They have never known a world without computers, so they are sometimes also called the “Net Generation” a ...
Do your students struggle to write with detail? Are their descriptions limited, lacking in specifics or uninformative?
If so, you can help your students write more engaging and elaborate pieces b ...
Lily Tomlin as Edith Ann once said, “I like a teacher who gives you something to take home to think about besides homework.” Besides taking this as great teaching advice, we are remind ...
Once upon a time in a land far away lived a beautiful princess. She was unhappy because her parents would not let her out of the castle, and she wanted more than anything to explore the world. One ...
Teaching is a rewarding experience, but teaching English abroad adds a new spin, providing additional excitement and opportunities. Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) position ...
We live in an age of fast-paced, frequent communication. Texting, e-mail and instant messaging often assault us from every side. Even so, the classic means of communicating, business letters, pers ...
We live in an age of fast-paced communication. Texting, e-mail and instant messaging often assault us from every side. Even so, the classic means of communicating, business letters, personal lette ...
Everybody feels. Today I feel happy. Today I feel sad. Today I feel frustrated. For young students, though, emotions can be difficult to teach because they are so intangible.
Bring emotions to a ...
Where were you born? What did you like as a child? Where did you go to school? These and other questions can get the conversation started for a successful interview, but an interview is about more ...
With summer in full swing, patriotic holidays will be inspiring the red, white and blue in all of us.
Memorial Day, the Fourth of July, Labor Day… all these holidays and more are reason to ...
Everyone is an expert on something. For some people, expertise comes with a particular job. It could be a computer-programming expert, a teaching expert or a driving expert.
For some people, expe ...
Want to get your students to write more but afraid it may be forced or boring? Did you ever pass notes in class? (Getting caught doing it is another story.)
If you answered yes to either of these ...
What is a class newsletter, why should students write one, and how can they write one? A class newsletter is a publication that informs the class of important events in their classmates’ liv ...
“Stress” is part of the rhythm of a language, the pattern of stressed or emphasized syllables and unstressed syllables of which English sentences are made up. Appropriate sentence stre ...
Discussing, debating, and writing about controversial topics has many benefits for ESL students in the development of speaking, critical thinking, and writing skills. It is also an academic expect ...
English grammar, particularly its complex verb tense system, can be confounding for ESL students. Many intermediate level students who have some level of conversational fluency have been taught th ...
Are you looking for a fresh way to teach your ESL students common weather words? Are you looking for a new way to review weather expressions and vocabulary?
Why not try one of the following games ...
362,330All
Got a great worksheet on
ESL Essentials?
Tell us about it and become a BusyTeacher contributor!
185,653![E - Exploration Exploits: Activities to Take Your Students Around the World [Teacher Tips from A to Z]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-07/1310855740_esl-travelling.png)
![D - Dream Big: How To Teach Talking About Dreams, Plans and Strategies [Teacher Tips from A to Z]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-07/1310532998_dream-big.png)
![C Comparing and Contrasting (And Writing, Too) [Teacher Tips from A to Z]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-07/1310403326_compare-contrast-essay.png)
![B Thinking Outside the Book (Textbook, That Is) [Teacher Tips from A to Z]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-07/1310272845_outside-textbook.png)
![A Giving and Receiving Advice [Teacher Tips from A to Z]](https://busyteacher.org/uploads/posts/2011-07/1310181186_a-teach-giving-teceiving-advice.png)
