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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How To Teach Past Simple VS Present Perfect

How To Teach Past Simple VS Present Perfect

•ESL Essentials
When using the Present Perfect you should call the students’ attention to the consequences generated by an action, rather than just the action itself. The tense is always formed by conjugati ...
Views 349,267 All
How to Teach English Using Role-Plays, and When (Not) to Use Them

How to Teach English Using Role-Plays, and When (Not) to Use Them

•ESL Essentials
Role-plays give students the opportunity to demonstrate how to use English in real life situations and make them focus more on communication than on grammar. Role-play activities can be a lot of f ...
Views 111,649 All
How To Teach Basic English Using Games: The Original Hangman

How To Teach Basic English Using Games: The Original Hangman

•ESL Essentials
This all-time favorite is for complete beginners or elementary students. It is useful for spelling, dictionary work, student interaction and empowerment, familiarization with prefixes and suffixes ...
Views 45,402 BegElem
How to Teach Word Order: Help Them Remember the Patterns

How to Teach Word Order: Help Them Remember the Patterns

•ESL Essentials
Correct word order is often the difference between beginner and intermediate students. When moving on to more complex structures, students may find word order confusing and struggle to remember al ...
Views 173,059 All
How to Teach the Past Perfect Tense

How to Teach the Past Perfect Tense

•ESL Essentials
“My dad got home late from a meeting last night. By the time he came home, we had already had dinner.” The two hads in the same sentence is not only confusing for ESL students, it's al ...
Views 308,008 All
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How to Teach the Simple Future Tense

How to Teach the Simple Future Tense

•ESL Essentials
Who knows what the future will bring? However, it does look promising, particularly for our ESL students, because once they master the major verb tenses, they’ll be better equipped to comm ...
Views 377,328 All
How To Motivate ESL Students: The 10 Best Ways to Increase Teenage Student Motivation

How To Motivate ESL Students: The 10 Best Ways to Increase Teenage Student Motivation

•ESL Essentials
Ah, the joys of teaching! Young learners are so full of energy that most activities you propose are met with loads of enthusiasm. Adult learners are focused on meeting their language goals and hav ...
Views 232,944 All
Teaching Adults How-To: Advantages and Challenges

Teaching Adults How-To: Advantages and Challenges

•ESL Essentials
Teaching adult learners can be very rewarding, but very challenging as well. We mustn’t forget we’re dealing with individuals who have their own lives outside of school, some with very ...
Views 147,347 All
Becoming A Teacher: What Makes A Good Teacher

Becoming A Teacher: What Makes A Good Teacher

•ESL Essentials
Some people are born to teach, whilst others must constantly strive to reinvent themselves and recreate their lessons in the perpetual pursuit of perfection. It is an ever evolving yet challenging ...
Views 93,982 All
How To Use Printable Flashcards For Teaching ESL

How To Use Printable Flashcards For Teaching ESL

•ESL Essentials
Flashcards can be an excellent learning and teaching tool especially when introducing new vocabulary or drilling familiar words. Besides being used by the teacher, they can also be used in a varie ...
Views 118,783 All
How-To: Teaching One On One

How-To: Teaching One On One

•ESL Essentials
It is of paramount importance to make a good first and lasting impression through your physical presentation and behavior. After that the one-to-one methodology will largely depend on the student& ...
Views 64,721 All
How To Teach Time: Telling Time Activities And Games

How To Teach Time: Telling Time Activities And Games

•ESL Essentials
Telling time can be tricky for some students so it is important that they have a very strong grasp on numbers before trying to proceed with this lesson. Depending on the age of your students, the ...
Views 533,022 All
How To Teach Days Of The Week

How To Teach Days Of The Week

•ESL Essentials
Days of the week are generally taught very early on in ESL courses so it is important to incorporate recently studied material into your lessons without overwhelming your students. For this exampl ...
Views 347,768 All
Why Use The Internet In TEFL/TESOL?

Why Use The Internet In TEFL/TESOL?

•ESL Essentials
In the pre-Internet world most dialogue in the classroom was between the teacher and the student, but with the advent of the Net we now have a choice of writing and communicating to a wider audien ...
Views 60,658 All
9 Cool Classroom Management Tricks: Are You Using Them?

9 Cool Classroom Management Tricks: Are You Using Them?

•ESL Essentials
Try these fresh classroom management tips and tricks with your class - they do work! Tell us about your experience with them in the comments, we would love to hear your thoughts!
Views 59,225 All
How To Teach

How To Teach "R" and "L" Sounds

•ESL Essentials
How To Teach R and L 1 I begin by demonstrating the difference between the two sounds. First I introduce the ‘r’ sound. I make a growling noise like a dog and point to the letter ...
Views 78,343 All
3 Fresh Classroom Management Tricks For Your ESL Classroom

3 Fresh Classroom Management Tricks For Your ESL Classroom

•ESL Essentials
This is a list of three nice and fresh classroom management tricks that will help you establish proper discipline in your ESL classroom. Special Mailbox A cute idea for the classroom is to mount ...
Views 17,954 All
How To Praise Your ESL Students: The Magic of Verbal Praise

How To Praise Your ESL Students: The Magic of Verbal Praise

•ESL Essentials
You do not always need to give away a treat. Learning verbal praise is not as easy as it sounds. Yet, the more you praise, the easier it gets to put this tactic into your teaching. A healthy dos ...
Views 105,739 All
How To Communicate With Parents. Turn Your Enemies into BFFs.

How To Communicate With Parents. Turn Your Enemies into BFFs.

•ESL Essentials
If you want to establish good communication with the parents of your students, call each one at the beginning of the year. Talk about his or her child and say some positive things. Having good c ...
Views 20,401 All
How to Teach the Past Simple Tense – Verb to Be

How to Teach the Past Simple Tense – Verb to Be

•ESL Essentials
“To be or not to be?” is the question pondered by the melancholy Hamlet. On the other hand, an ESL teacher might ask: how do I teach the simple past of the verb to be, without needless ...
Views 248,364 All
Teacher-Tested Tips for Student Behavior

Teacher-Tested Tips for Student Behavior

•ESL Essentials
Good discipline does not just happen all at once. Managing student behavior is a learned skill, but classroom control will begin before the students ever get into the room. It is no easy task. Eac ...
Views 20,285 All
Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Sure-fire Ways to Boost Your Students’ Listening Skills

Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Sure-fire Ways to Boost Your Students’ Listening Skills

•ESL Essentials
Weak listening comprehension is one of the things that discourages students the most. Young learners who don’t understand what they’re hearing will just tune out and not participate. F ...
Views 43,656 All
Inspire Creativity and Impromptu Speaking with ESL Games

Inspire Creativity and Impromptu Speaking with ESL Games

•ESL Essentials
Getting original responses from students can be difficult when you’re teaching ESL, but speaking unscripted English is one of the most important things for students to practice on a regular ...
Views 77,760 All
Teaching English One-on-One: Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Lesson

Teaching English One-on-One: Tips and Tricks for a Perfect Lesson

•ESL Essentials
Teaching English one on one offers numerous benefits to both teacher and student.
Views 369,941 All
Teaching ESL with Music: Creative Ideas for the Classroom

Teaching ESL with Music: Creative Ideas for the Classroom

•ESL Essentials
Music is an effective and enjoyable way to add some fun to your ESL classroom.
Views 55,484 All

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