It's been a while but I'm back with another TEFL Tip Tuesday. This post was inspired by a recent Q&A we held at the language centre I work in. It was for new teachers arriving in Myanmar and teaching English for the first time, we were asked to give them one piece of advice about the job and well without even hesitating I said "Your first day will most likely be a complete disaster, but that's half the fun!" and speaking from personal experience it's the most honest advice I could give!
TEFL Tip Tuesday: A Year of Teaching English, What Has it Taught Me?
A year ago today I landed in China, I had no idea what to expect. My original plan was to spend six months teaching in China and then move onto Vietnam. There I would spend another six months teaching and move onto Australia for a year before finally heading home to the U.K. It’s safe …
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TEFL Tip Tuesday: Cultural Differences and How to Handle Them
If you are a TEFL teacher then you are probably about to move to a completely new country with completely new and sometimes confusing cultural differences. The first thing I want to say is; don’t see this a bad thing. It can be and is a wonderful learning experience and a way to open your …
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TEFL Tip Tuesday: The Power of Pictionary
Pictionary; the Christmas day family games sesh is never complete without it but in the classroom it becomes more than a party game, this is where Pictionary becomes a powerful tool for learning. Pictionary is great for teaching English because it requires the whole class to participate. It is the perfect game to get students …
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TEFL Tip Tuesday: Laughter is the Best Teaching Method
It doesn’t matter if you are teaching six-year olds, teenagers or adults; if your lessons are entertaining then your students will be engaged from the word Hello. One of the easiest ways to make a lesson entertaining is to use material that will get them laughing. How you do this is really up to you …
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TEFL Tip Tuesday: Back it Up!
Computers are unreliable. Computers in Chinese schools are extra unreliable! There will be times when you arrive in class only to be told by a student that the computer is not working today. What are you going to do?! You spent a whole hour on your lesson plan, you have funny videos to show them …
TEFL Tip Tuesday: Thinking Outside Box.
Welcome back to TEFL Tip Tuesday! This week I've been experimenting in my classroom and it has completely changed the way I think about teaching. These posts usually come from something I learned last semester and now use in class but if there is one thing I know about life, it's that you never stop …
TEFL Tip Tuesdays: Speak Their Language.
Welcome back to TEFL Tip Tuesdays, this week I want to focus on speaking the same language as your students. I know this sounds counterproductive, but stick with me… When introducing a new topic in English it is important to keep students interested and the easiest way to do this is to make it relatable …
TEFL Tip Tuesday: Confidence is key!
For the first TEFL Tip Tuesday let’s start at the beginning; confidence! Confidence is key, even if you don’t think you have any. Being outnumbered is never a fun experience, the first time you walk into a classroom it might just feel like that dream you had as a teenager, the one where you realised …
TEFL Tip Tuesday: What’s it all about?
I had a thought recently that maybe I could share what I've learnt over the past year on my blog for people who are looking into teaching English as a foreign language. Coming into a classroom as a new teacher can be daunting and sometimes it is nice to feel like there is someone right …
