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Integrating reading and listening skills for IELTS & ISE exams

Reading and listening requirements for IELTS & ISE exams are vital for ESL students to study abroad at English speaking universities. These skills are especially important as they’ll need to attend lectures and interact with various materials throughout their studies. Additionally, they may be living in an English environment where they will need to develop these skills for everyday communication. Reading and listening skills requires a lot of practice. However improvement… All categories, ESL activities, Teaching skills

Do points systems miss the point?

One of the first things that new teachers are taught, especially if they are having difficulty with a new class, is that in order to better manage learners’ behavior they should set up a points chart. Points systems vary from simple concepts such as adding marbles in a jar, having a classroom chart on the wall or even online e-platforms where points can be stored and remembered. Whilst sometimes being efficient and visual, points can stir up quite a lot of… All categories, Teaching skills

Incorporating the 4 C’s into Chinese classrooms

As 21st century skills become a hot topic in the world of ESL, teachers regularly face the challenge of integrating the 4 C’s (creativity, collaboration, critical thinking and communication) into an often already busy curriculum and perhaps more importantly, the challenge of making them accessible to their students. This is where culture, or more specifically, students’ educational philosophy comes into focus, as their beliefs and prior experience shape how easily these skills can be taught.… Teaching skills, ESL activities

Top 10 reasons to teach English in Hong Kong

Working as a TEFL / TESOL teacher in Hong Kong is one of the most rewarding experiences you could ever have. In Asia, Hong Kong is often overshadowed by other teaching destinations such as Thailand, China, Japan and Korea. This blog aims to highlight why Hong Kong should be number one on your list. 10. Results happen fast One of the most rewarding experiences as a teacher is watching your students improve. While teaching English in Hong Kong you may be surprised to see just how fast they… All categories, Careers in TESOL

Top TEFL teaching destinations

You may be considering giving up your 9-5 and taking a year (or more) out to teach abroad. You might have also completed an initial certificate in TESOL or a CELTA and be contemplating your next step. It can be quite overwhelming trying to decide what your next step should be. The world is so large that it can sometimes seem like the possibilities are limitless, and although choice is largely a positive thing, this may at the same time seem a little daunting. As a teacher who has… All categories, Careers in TESOL

Top 10 grammar mistakes in Hong Kong (part 2)

Continuing on from our part 1 article which highlighted five major English grammar problems faced by Cantonese speakers, here are another 5 common problems, with some explanations and teaching ideas to address them in class. 6) Can you cooking? / play tennis is fun What's the problem? Cantonese speakers have problems using gerunds (-ing forms) correctly, either overusing them inappropriately, or reverting to basic infinitive forms incorrectly, as in the examples… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Teaching skills

Beyond single words: working with meaningful lexical chunks

As a brand new teacher, I found myself teaching supply to a class of eight year olds. I had just completed a Cert TESOL a month prior, but I still didn’t have an overwhelming bank of ‘go to‘ vocabulary activities to draw from. The games that I remembered from my own childhood were “I Spy” and “Hangman”, so I decided to give them a whirl. The kids responded positively at first; a game is a game, and kids like games, right? But after playing hangman at the end of numerous… All categories, Teaching skills, ESL activities, How to...

Top 10 grammar mistakes in Hong Kong (part 1)

Users of English from different language backgrounds have specific issues with language for a variety of reasons. Sometimes patterns of grammar or pronunciation get carried over from their first language (L1 transfer issues), and sometimes a feature exists in English that is not present in their first language. This article focuses on the most common errors found in English as used by Cantonese speakers in Hong Kong. We will think about the errors in terms of where they come… All categories, How to..., ESL activities, Teaching skills

Unqualified EFL teachers are doing themselves and their students an injustice

With so much global demand for English teachers, and with such a broad range of different TEFL, TESOL and TESL certificates out there, it can be difficult to decide how, or even whether to get qualified before signing up for an English teaching job. Any teacher who has done a 120-hour, face-to-face course will tell you that it is worth it, yet thousands of teachers worldwide continue to work unqualified and uncertified. The simple fact is that until you take… All categories, Certificate courses, Careers in TESOL, Teaching skills

Phonics, phonetics or phonology? What’s the difference?

Informed pronunciation teaching is a challenge for new and experienced teachers. It involves a minefield of technical knowledge, confusion over accents and varieties of English, and when related to reading, involves a lot of fighting against the horrible spelling rules that English has held onto over the centuries. To get things straight, it is important to define the different interpretations of how the mechanics of pronunciation can be understood, with a view to addressing the sounds of… All categories, Certificate courses, Teaching skills, ESL activities, Careers in TESOL

5 essential websites that every English teacher needs

As a Cert TESOL tutor, I work with trainee teachers every day who upon finishing the course go out to teach in the real world. One of the biggest challenges facing new teachers in particular is planning. Whilst experienced teachers may have a bank of readily available lesson planning ideas which they can select from quickly and efficiently according to their lesson context and aims, new teachers do not have this and often have to look to other sources for inspiration. Everybody… All categories, How to..., TESOL Masters, Five ways to, ESL activities

Why the English Language Teaching industry needs a #MeToo campaign

Not long ago, I stumbled across a game that went viral on Facebook, which most language teachers will know as ‘Two truths and a lie’. For anyone who doesn’t know this game, you tell 2 truths about yourself and make up one lie. The person that you are playing with needs to decide which ones are the truths and which one is the lie, for example you might say: I once went Skydiving. When I was 16 I spent a year in Russia. I am fluent in 6 languages. Your partner will ask you questions which you… All categories, TESOL Masters, Five ways to, Careers in TESOL