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When you think of teaching English as a Foreign Language, you probably see yourself teaching a class of thirty ten year-olds in a Beijing primary school. It’s true that the majority of EFL positions are teaching English to children in a non-English speaking country, but a lot of people don’t realise there is more to … ...[Read More]

The Middle East is a sticky topic in the TEFL world. On the one hand teaching in the Middle East is known to offer amazing salaries with incredible perks. On the other hand the Middle East is an unknown entity for most people and it has a reputation for being unfriendly to foreigners and especially … Continue reading &...[Read More]

Being a TEFL teacher generally means you suffer from itchy feet. If all we wanted to do was teach English we could do that in our hometown. Instead we do a TEFL certificate and find a TEFL job somewhere outside our postal code so that we can teach and travel. Most people enjoy travelling with … Continue reading “...[Read More]

The past simple tense in English can seem pretty straightforward. Besides the irregular verbs, there’s not much to it. Until you come to the pronunciation. If you are a native speaker, you’ve probably never given the pronunciation of regular past simple verbs much thought. But for English language learners, their pronu...[Read More]

For sale: baby shoes, never worn. Six words, one story. Legend has it that this six-word story was written by Ernest Hemingway. Apparently he bet his friends he could write an entire story in six words. Needless to say, he won the bet. Whether or not the story is true we’ll never know. What we do … Continue reading ...[Read More]

If we’re honest, we know that EFL writing is not our students’ favourite part of learning English as a Foreign Language. Writing even in your own language is not enjoyable for everyone and writing in a foreign language is that much more difficult. In order to write effectively in English learners need to consider their...[Read More]

Being an English as a Foreign Language teacher is not like other jobs. We have staff meetings and resource libraries in the staff room but often everyone in our schools is too busy teaching to focus on development. Though your employer may offer in-house development workshops or EFL-related lectures, it is often up to ...[Read More]

The first activity for your English as a Foreign Language lessons is surprisingly important. Your lesson might be the first time that day that your students are speaking English, or maybe even the first time that week. Your warmer activities need to be something that will get them into English mode but that is also … C...[Read More]

Content and Language Integrated Learning lessons can be valuable additions to any English as a Foreign Language curriculum. They can provide an alternative lesson structure to your teaching repertoire. This will help prevent boredom for both learners and teachers. However, planning and carrying out  good CLIL lessons i...[Read More]

These days English as a Foreign Language teachers regularly use authentic materials from popular culture in the EFL classroom. Movies, songs, magazines, novels and newspapers can all be found in the EFL classroom, but one of the most well-liked creations is often ignored: sitcoms.  How about using sitcoms in the EFL cl...[Read More]

If you’re a TEFL teacher, your focus is mostly on teaching English. You will immerse yourself in theories of teaching and learning and you will become familiar with the ins and outs of the English language. You will prepare and plan engaging lessons in the hopes that your learners will walk out of your classroom … Cont...[Read More]

Teaching skills in the English as a Foreign Language classroom can be tricky. Teaching vocabulary and grammar, in contrast, is pretty straightforward if somewhat challenging at times, but teaching listening, reading, speaking and writing is a whole other ball game. Shadowing is one technique which can be used in the EF...[Read More]

There aren’t many jobs that provide you with an assistant to help you do your job, but being an English as a Foreign Language teacher is one of them. Not all TEFL positions will provide you with a teaching assistant but if you are teaching English in a non-English speaking country then you very well … Continue reading ...[Read More]

When most people think of a classroom setting, they envision a teacher standing at the front of the class with a textbook and a whiteboard behind them, lecturing to the students. The TEFL classroom is quite different as learning a language requires a more communicative and interactive method of teaching where the stude...[Read More]

While the thought of teaching a class full of students who are hungry to learn the English language may excite you, don’t forget you’ll need to secure yourself a job first. Interviews can be nerve-wracking for some, but if you do your research and know what to expect, you’ll be prepared for the array of … Continue read...[Read More]

There’s a distinct feeling everyone gets when they pull their suitcase out of the cupboard and open it up on their bed to pack for an overseas trip. It may be a feeling of dread of not knowing where to begin, or excitement about the upcoming trip, but it’s important to be sure you’ve packed … Continue reading “FO...[Read More]