I have another tip for the aspiring English teacher in you - don't think you will always know more grammar than your students! When were you last at school, studying English? Probably a very long time ago. Your students may well have been studying it for the last 10 or 20 years. Fear not, this … Continue reading TEFL Tips – No and Not →

I can't say this is a really serious tip, but I came across this story, and just had to pass it on. Needless to say, it's an example of what not to do! If you come across troublesome students, what should be the course of action you take? I'm not sure I can help you … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Discipline →

It's a sad fact that an awful lot of English teaching is a complete waste of time. There are several factors for this, but a major one is when a student has unrealistic expectations and goals. A fellow teacher once suggested that 80% of all he does is a waste of time. I looked back … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Motivation →

There are lots of tenses and lots of bits of tense related jargon to confuse both you and your student. But really, 90% of the time you'll be using one of these five tenses - present simple, past simple, future, present continuous and present perfect. The first four are really pretty easy and sink in … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Present Perfect Tense →

There are some letters of the alphabet that Mexicans really struggle with. "I had a bery nice joghurt today at the cafe down the roadth. I saw a hiraffe at the ospital" When I was a kid, we learned the alphabet differently to how most non natives are taught. They learn a as in angel, … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Pronunciation →

Everyone loves music. And students of foreign languages love to learn about songs sung in the language they are learning. They often want to know what they mean. Unlike a lot of music in Spanish, where the song is a story with accompanying music, British and American rock and pop tends to be about the … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Music Lessons →

Starting out teaching English? It can be a bit daunting - I remember the first class well. Preparation helps, but you're probably going to be 'winging it' a bit. So here's ten top TEFL tips from me. They'll work on native Spanish speakers, and I imagine a few other languages too. They are, in my … Continue reading TEFL Tips – Past Tense Pronunciation →