39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities: For Teenagers and Adults Sometimes even experienced ESL teachers get stuck in a rut. It’s time to find some fresh ideas! Tired of Wasting Time Looking for ESL Speaking Activities? Whether you’re a first-time English teacher, an experienced but perhaps overwhelmed instructor with not much…
There are various ways for language teachers to do an ESL speaking test, all of which have their positives and negatives. I will give only the most basic of overviews of three different speaking test methods for English as a Second Language students. If you want to dive deeper into…
How to Teach English Conversation Many foreign ESL teachers abroad, especially in places like South Korea, teach predominantly English conversation classes. Some teachers (and students too!) have the perception that teaching English conversation involves just “talking” to the students. Free-talking does have a role in helping students learn English. However, it…
An advanced ESL conversation class can be a bit tricky to teach because it’s sometimes hard to see any improvement in your students. Compare this to beginners who you may teach how to read! Or, learning all the vocabulary about weather for the first time. It’s certainly motivating! Advanced Students:…
Many native English speakers when they go somewhere like China or South Korea teach “English Conversation.” Many people teach it poorly. Few do it well. Tip: It’s more than just talking to your students! Check out my #1 tip for doing English conversation a bit better. #1 Tip for Teaching…
A reader question from Katrina about how to get her low level middle school students to participate in class when the last thing they want to do is speak English. I’ll start with this: It’s not easy! Engaging very apathetic students to speak in another language is a thankless job.…
Okay, so you want to know how to teach English to Korean adults. You’ve most certainly come to the right place! I’m going to share six of my lesson plans that I designed while teaching in Korean universities. While I used them for university students, you could certainly adapt them…
It’s common that native speaker English teacher have to teach “conversation classes.” This is not always easy to do with lower level students, especially kids who might be a little bit shy. I like to start off my classes with one of these interesting discussion starters for kids. Or, you…
If you teach kids and are struggling a bit with how to make your ESL speaking classes for kids interesting and engaging, here are some of my favourite fun activities that I use in my own classes. The key is to mix things up a bit. Nobody (kids or adults)…
A common question that I get from people is how to evaluate an ESL Speaking test. Although there are different ways to conduct ESL speaking tests, I do the 1-1 conversation with a random partner style. Simple vs Complicated There are also a million and one ways to evaluate speaking…
If you’re looking to get your semester started off on the right foot, then you’ll need to use a few of these ESL icebreakers. They’ll help the students get to know each other and you as well. By starting your classes off with some ESL icebreakers, you’re setting yourself up…
ESL Speaking Lesson Plan I have to confess that I didn’t really know how to plan an ESL lesson that well until I took the CELTA. I kind of knew the steps that should be in there, but I was pretty fuzzy on how they all fit together. Sometimes even…
Side Gigs: The New Job Security Are you ready to change your life by starting some side gigs? Then you’ll need to check out this book, “Side Gigs for Teachers: Ways to Actually Make Money.” You will learn how to make money in your spare time with practical, simple ideas.…
ESL Speaking Tip: How to Express your Opinion Another very common question type of speaking exam question is expressing an opinion. For example, part six of the TOEIC speaking test shows a question on the screen. You then have 15 seconds to prepare, and 60 seconds to answer the question.…
