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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Fun and Easy Word Association Games for Students

Fun and Easy Word Association Games for Students

•ESL Essentials
Whether you want students to learn new vocabulary words or just encourage them to think outside of the box, word association games can help. The main goal of a word association game is to help stu ...
Views 158,913 All
Top Gifts for English Language Learners

Top Gifts for English Language Learners

•ESL Essentials
Formal instruction is not the only component of a quality language learning program. People who are working hard to learn English can benefit from other products and resources designed to help the ...
Views 39,475
Tools for Your Students' Creativity Toolboxes

Tools for Your Students' Creativity Toolboxes

•ESL Essentials
Creativity is not just an art - it takes place within policy making, game strategizing, problem solving and lesson planning. It’s a long process that comes in many forms, starting from the r ...
Views 12,683
Strategies to Improve Student Confidence in Writing

Strategies to Improve Student Confidence in Writing

•ESL Essentials
Writing can pose unique challenges for students who are learning English. Often, the processes involved with writing differ from the processes involved with thinking. Students have to stop and thi ...
Views 22,180 All
Using GIFs and Memes in the ESL Classroom

Using GIFs and Memes in the ESL Classroom

•ESL Essentials
If you use any sort of social media sites these days, you're probably very familiar with GIFs and memes. Memes are constantly being shared on Twitter and Facebook, while GIFs now crowd the comment ...
Views 35,308 All
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Using Audio as a Teaching Tool

Using Audio as a Teaching Tool

•ESL Essentials
Want to spice up the lessons in your classroom? Try incorporating some audio. From listening to music and spoken word pieces to recording their own voices, their many ways to help students learn ...
Views 35,084
6 Lessons Using Smartphone Cameras

6 Lessons Using Smartphone Cameras

•ESL Essentials
Almost everyone has a smartphone these days, so why not start using this technology to help you teach? The best ways to get started is to use the camera feature. Getting your students talking abou ...
Views 43,966 Int
10 Puzzle Stories for your Language Class

10 Puzzle Stories for your Language Class

•ESL Essentials
Puzzle stories and riddles make great classroom activities. You can use them as warmups, fillers or cool downs. Puzzle stories help develop speaking skills and serve as a great way to practice ask ...
Views 99,384
8 Great Ways to Use Dictation with ESL Students

8 Great Ways to Use Dictation with ESL Students

•ESL Essentials
Dictation might feel a bit old-fashioned but it’s a great, interactive way to get students writing and talking. It doesn’t take a lot of preparation time or complex feedback and it can ...
Views 84,006 All
Making Films on Smartphone Cameras: 5 Language Lessons Utilizing Smartphones and Film

Making Films on Smartphone Cameras: 5 Language Lessons Utilizing Smartphones and Film

•ESL Essentials
Making films with smartphones is easy and fun. Here are five simple ways to exploit this pocket technology in your English classes. 1. Conduct a Simple Interview You could use this as part of an ...
Views 22,681
Using Traditional Games with Language Learners

Using Traditional Games with Language Learners

•ESL Essentials
Sick of technology? Why not try some more traditional games? Traditional games, such as board and card games, have a lot to offer your classroom. Here are 10 great traditional games you can use ...
Views 44,739 All
6 Ways to Use Google Maps and Smartphones in Your Classroom

6 Ways to Use Google Maps and Smartphones in Your Classroom

•ESL Essentials
With Google maps and Street View you can get your students to explore the world without ever leaving the classroom.  Here are some ways you can incorporate the technology into your lessons. ...
Views 27,538 All
Dealing with Difficult Students

Dealing with Difficult Students

•ESL Essentials
At times, we all encounter students who we find it difficult to deal with. It's easy to let those students get to you, but we have some tips to help you handle the students before they get the bes ...
Views 47,655
You've Got Talent! Using Talent Shows to Learn English

You've Got Talent! Using Talent Shows to Learn English

•ESL Essentials
We’ve all seen "America’s got Talent," "Britain’s got Talent,” or one of the many talent shows that appear on television or have viral clips on YouTube these days. But have ...
Views 61,090 ElemInt
Talking Heads: Role-Play Using Masks

Talking Heads: Role-Play Using Masks

•ESL Essentials
Role-play activities are a fun way for students to practice vital speaking skills. Give students some masks and assign them characters to play and they can "be" someone else while practicing the ...
Views 25,109 ElemInt
What's Math Got To Do With It? 5 Strategies to Connect Math and ESL

What's Math Got To Do With It? 5 Strategies to Connect Math and ESL

•ESL Essentials
Try these strategies to help students learn to speak the language of math in English. It has been said that math is a universal language. Whether you’re in China, Brazil, or the United Stat ...
Views 25,082
Mini Whiteboards: Old Fashioned Technology That Works Perfectly Today

Mini Whiteboards: Old Fashioned Technology That Works Perfectly Today

•ESL Essentials
A few weeks ago, I spent ages setting up https://getkahoot.com/ so my students could interact with an interactive whiteboard using their phones. It’s awesome, fun technology that engages th ...
Views 43,782 All
Teaching Using Anecdotes and Stories

Teaching Using Anecdotes and Stories

•ESL Essentials
An anecdote (to quote OALD) is ‘a short, interesting or amusing story about a real person or event’. They are a great way of learning English, they are fun, entertaining and whether y ...
Views 62,355 All
8 Instant No Resource Warmers and Fillers

8 Instant No Resource Warmers and Fillers

•ESL Essentials
Finished all the material for your class and have ten minutes left to spare? Need a warmer to fill up the first ten minutes and get your class engaged? Sometimes the old tricks are the best and ...
Views 31,023 All
The Illiterate Teacher: First Hand Tips for Navigating a Culture That Doesn’t Speak English

The Illiterate Teacher: First Hand Tips for Navigating a Culture That Doesn’t Speak English

•ESL Essentials
Have you ever been illiterate? That’s a crazy question, you might think. How on earth would I be reading a blog if I couldn’t read? It’s easier than you think. After completing ...
Views 14,540 All
Packing for an Overseas Classroom: Five Things You Should Make Room to Pack

Packing for an Overseas Classroom: Five Things You Should Make Room to Pack

•ESL Essentials
I will never forget lugging a briefcase packed with teaching books, seriously the thing must have weighed fifty pounds, through the airport in Newark, NJ to LAX to Tokyo to Shanghai to Beijing. I ...
Views 10,652 All
What Do Beer and Vocabulary Have in Common? Teacher Trusted Tips for Making ESL Class Practical for Career Professionals

What Do Beer and Vocabulary Have in Common? Teacher Trusted Tips for Making ESL Class Practical for Career Professionals

•ESL Essentials
How many years have you been teaching? If you’re in your first or second year, you probably remember a lot of what you have done in the classroom. Everything is fresh and new. But picture y ...
Views 13,711 All
Blessed Are the Flexible: Five Productive Activities for Unprepared Students

Blessed Are the Flexible: Five Productive Activities for Unprepared Students

•ESL Essentials
Teaching ESL isn’t your average, everyday teaching kind of gig. When someone is a math teacher, for example, you probably picture them in front of a classroom full of twenty to thirty stude ...
Views 19,279 All
9 Ways to Develop as a Listening Teacher

9 Ways to Develop as a Listening Teacher

•ESL Essentials
Professional development refers to the various ways people can improve their skills and knowledge related to their field of expertise. In ELT, there are numerous options for pursuing professional ...
Views 14,278 All
How to Talk to Your Students: Ten Tips from a Retiring ESL Professional

How to Talk to Your Students: Ten Tips from a Retiring ESL Professional

•ESL Essentials
I’ve heard it said that teachers never truly retire. The lessons of their profession lends themselves to so many others walks of life, and emerges in such a variety of ways, that they remai ...
Views 39,801 All

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