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Category Archive: Teaching English Blog

How would you promote your English academy in Spain?

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Imagine you had your own English language academy in Spain. What would you do to promote it and […]

February 15, 2018 Teaching English Blog

Do you need business experience to teach Business English?

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Have you thought about teaching Business English? Don’t you need business experience to teach Business English? Is it […]

February 14, 2018 Teaching English Blog

20 ELT Activities for Short Texts

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In this post, I’ll look at what activities you can do with a short text in your English […]

November 2, 2017 Teaching English Blog

5 Key Questions to ask before an Observed Lesson

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You’re going to be observed. How do you react? At some point this year, you are likely to […]

September 6, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Questions You Need To Ask At Your TEFL Interview

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If you don’t ask any questions at an interview for a TEFL job, you may regret not doing […]

August 30, 2017 Teaching English Blog

10-step guide to Teaching Effective Conversation Classes

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In this post, I’ll present my 10-step guide for teaching effective conversation classes to adult English learners. Many […]

August 22, 2017 Teaching English Blog

16 Ways to Play The Hot Seat Game

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One of the most popular TEFL activities for practising and reviewing vocabulary is called ‘The Hot Seat’ game. […]

August 8, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Do you Teach the Communicative Functions of the First Conditional?

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The first conditional is used for more than just talking about future events. We need to explore common […]

August 4, 2017 Teaching English Blog

How to Use the Board Effectively in ELT

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In this article and accompanying video, I will talk about using the board effectively in ELT (English language […]

July 31, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Why you Should Use Digital Storytelling in ELT

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From Storytelling to Digital Storytelling Throughout human history, stories have been used to share ideas, opinions and experiences. […]

July 11, 2017 Teaching English Blog

7 Must-Listen Podcasts for English Language Teachers

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Podcasts are a great resource for English language teachers interested in professional development. Teacher trainers on TESOL courses […]

June 30, 2017 Teaching English Blog

The one book you need before starting your Trinity Cert TESOL

Book Review: Jason Anderson: Trinity Cert TESOL Companion Disclaimer: The author of this Trinity Cert TESOL guide is […]

June 28, 2017 Teaching English Blog

10 Reasons Why You Should Teach English in Spain

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There are many reasons why you might want to teach English here in Spain. Read on… If you […]

June 28, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Thinking about teaching English in Spain?

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Are you thinking about teaching English in Spain? There are thousands of English teachers working in Spain. Why […]

June 22, 2017 Teaching English Blog

10 Guiding Principles of TEFL

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The 10 Guiding Principles of TEFL An Accidental Manifesto By Dylan Gates Introduction This was a post I […]

June 20, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Supportive Observations in ELT

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Observations in ELT should be supportive not just evaluative, but how often is this the case? When I […]

May 10, 2017 Teaching English Blog

Simple Tips for Choosing a Coursebook for your EFL Class

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Walk into any bookshop selling English language materials and you’ll be met by a bewildering array of options. […]

October 20, 2016 Teaching English Blog

15 Reasons Why You Should take a TEFL Course

The reason why I took a TEFL course in 1996 (imagine, smartphones didn’t even exist then) was the […]

October 19, 2016 Teaching English Blog

13 TEFL Observation Tasks

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It’s amazing how much you can learn from observations. Unfortunately, in my experience, many language schools use observation […]

August 26, 2016 Teaching English Blog

10 Tips To Help You Pass Your TEFL Course

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So, you have spent a considerable amount of money on taking a TEFL course. You’ve heard that everybody […]

June 9, 2016 Teaching English Blog

10 Board Games for EFL Teachers

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How often do you play board games with your English learners? With a little bit of imagination, you […]

July 13, 2015 Teaching English Blog

What is TEFL anyway?

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What is TEFL anyway? TEFL, TESOL, ESOL, ELT, CELTA, EAL, EAP, ESP etc. The list of acronyms (abbreviations […]

February 4, 2015 Teaching English Blog

10 Dictation Activites for EFL classes

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Why write things on the board for the students to write in their notebooks when you can dictate […]

April 7, 2014 Teaching English Blog

Last-minute Love Lessons

Whoops! You’ve completely forgotten that Valentine’s Day is round the corner and you haven’t planned anything with a romantic […]

February 11, 2014 Teaching English Blog

5 things to do before starting your TEFL course

So, you’ve been accepted onto a TEFL course. How are you feeling? Relaxed because you are a fluent […]

February 2, 2014 Teaching English Blog

10 Things you shouldn’t say in an interview for a TEFL job

Over the years, I’ve interviewed about 50 TEFL teachers. Some people walked through the door and I automatically […]

January 28, 2014 Teaching English Blog

Can non-native speakers of English become good TEFL teachers?

This is a source of constant debate in the TEFL world. Here in Spain, many Spaniards (employers and […]

January 27, 2014 Teaching English Blog

Reasons why 3 is the magic number in ELT

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Throughout human history, the number three has been seen as something magical. Stories have a beginning, a middle […]

January 23, 2014 Teaching English Blog

Am I the right age or nationality to get into TEFL?

I’ve worked with and trained recent graduates who were able to manage classes without raising their voices and […]

November 1, 2013 Teaching English Blog

The Minimalist One-to-One Classroom

  Sometimes I think the ideal one-to-one class is just two people talking about things that matter to […]

October 31, 2013 Teaching English Blog

What kind of people become TEFL teachers?

  I’ve been in the business since 1996 and I’ve watched a wide range of people enter a […]

October 31, 2013 Teaching English Blog

5 Quick and Easy ways to use YouTube in class with the sound turned off!

YouTube is a wonderful resource for language teachers and learners. When I mention this to trainee teachers, many […]

October 23, 2013 Teaching English Blog

One-to-One Teaching: “Getting to know you” Questionnaire

Asking a series of questions to a new private student has many benefits as you get some idea […]

October 22, 2013 Teaching English Blog

Coffee, biscuits and the Past Participle

I’m sitting here, drinking a cup of coffee and eating a chocolate biscuit and thoughts pop into my […]

October 11, 2013 Teaching English Blog

The Curse of Knowledge

Do you ever despair of your learners and wonder why they can’t understand your explanations of grammatical structures? […]

September 26, 2013 Teaching English Blog

Rolling Dice: Speaking Games for TEFL teachers

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All you need for these fun speaking games are some dice. I recommend you buy a few sets […]

September 15, 2013 Teaching English Blog

The Pixar Pitch Lesson

What do these animated movies have in common? Toy Story, A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc., The […]

September 11, 2013 Teaching English Blog

English teachers are now in the improvement business

The times they are a-changin’ Back in the old days of TEFL, learners could count themselves lucky if […]

September 4, 2013 Teaching English Blog

Teaching One-to-One: Stop teaching, start coaching!

Do you find one-to-one teaching frustrating? Do you find it hard to keep your students interested and motivated? […]

September 4, 2013 Teaching English Blog

15 ways to use ‘post-it notes’ to teach English

Although they may not be great for the environment, the humble ‘post-it note’ is one of my favourite […]

August 15, 2013 Teaching English Blog

How should I correct errors and mistakes?

First of all, it is common in ELT to establish a difference between an error and a mistake. […]

May 24, 2013 Teaching English Blog

What is eliciting?

Back in the good old day, teachers would stand in front of a blackboard with a piece of […]

May 24, 2013 Teaching English Blog

What is monitoring?

Once we have instructed our learners, they can begin doing the task or activity we have set them. […]

May 24, 2013 Teaching English Blog

What are Instruction Check Questions?

As well as presenting, explaining and defining new language, teachers also have to give students plenty of activities […]

May 24, 2013 Teaching English Blog

What are Concept Check Questions?

Concept check questions, also known as CCQs, are used extensively in English language teaching. They are used when […]

May 21, 2013 Teaching English Blog

10 Fun Activities for Business English classes

Summer is on its way here in Southern Spain but the 10 teachers on the TEFL in Spain […]

April 16, 2013 Teaching English Blog

Bad English

I’ve recently participated in an online discussion about “corruptions in the English language”. Here are a few of […]

January 16, 2013 Teaching English Blog

5 reasons why Spanish are (or could be) good at learning English – according to an English teacher

As ’tis the season to be jolly‘, I’d like to begin this post on a positive note: Actually, […]

December 27, 2012 Teaching English Blog

What to ask at a TEFL interview

You sit back, take a deep breath and relax. The person sitting opposite you has asked all of […]

November 26, 2012 Teaching English Blog

5 best books for TEFL teachers

A former trainee asked me which TEFL books she should buy to improve her teaching. Naturally, I admonished […]

January 26, 2012 Teaching English Blog
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