Instruction Checking

As English teachers, we give instructions of all kinds to our students every day. But how often does it happen that after we have given our instructions, the students don’t do what we want or expect?

Lessons Learnt The Hard Way – Part One

This is the first in a short series of articles in which I invite you to learn from my mistakes! I will discuss some of the experiences that helped me to become a better teacher and share what I learned from them. You may even spot some learning opportunities that I didn’t see myself.

Concept Checking

As teachers, we are probably familiar with the idea of concept checking questions (CCQs). In short, concept checking means checking the learner’s understanding of difficult aspects of the target vocabulary or structure we are teaching, in terms of form, function and meaning. 

Ten warm-up and filler activities for the English classroom

Warmer and filler activities are such a useful classroom tool. In this free download, I have offered a short explanation of the reasons why we use them as part of our EFL toolkit and then given some ideas that can be used in the classroom and adapted to the level of your students.

Christmas in the UK

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We have put together a short quiz on British culture and traditions related to Christmas. Use in the classroom or with your friends and family.

English Presentations For Lower Level Learners

The aim of this post is to examine some of the common problems students have when making oral presentations in English and to suggest ways to overcome them. In particular, this will cover presentations for beginners in the A1/A2 (CEFR) ability range.

Essay Structure

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Here we look at what constitutes good essay structure and suggest ways in which teachers of English can emphasise this aspect of writing more fully. It will highlight the importance of creative brainstorming and planning and discuss some of the pros and cons of the PEEL method.

British Politeness and Social Etiquette

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Britain is known around the world for its politeness and rules of social etiquette. Some of these rules are historical or class-based and can be seen in period dramas, films and television programmes which attract huge audiences and have influenced the perceptions of viewers worldwide.

A Sea of Well-being

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The last 18 months have been challenging for even the strongest of people and it hasn’t just been the threat of the virus causing people’s stress levels to soar. First, there were the ever-changing rules, which also brought a whole set of new vocabulary for us to get our heads around with words like furlough, social-distancing and track-and-trace.