Assuming you’re interested in be a professional teacher – as opposed to a backpacker that has no actual interest in teaching but needs to pay off student loans back home – then here are a few thoughts on different TESOL qualifications and how useful they may be.

First up, I may as well point out that [...]

What are the aims in the classroom when we teach pronunciation? Or more importantly, what should the aims be?

Many a school policy is designed to teach the “native” model of pronunciation, but is this a realistic notion? Not only does research suggest that the so-called “native” models of English are amongst the least intelligible but [...]

Age old advice has been to keep a diary or journal as a way to improve your writing and general language skills. The problem with this advice has often been the inability to find someone to offer you corrections. Meaning that you’re quite often reinforcing errors.

That’s kind of a problem!

How to solve this mild [...]

When you think about it, the vast majority of people learn a language to speak it. It’s pretty obvious that that’s a big motivator. But a question that is commonly asked (”how can I improve my speaking?”) gets the all-too-often reply of “to improve your speaking you have to speak”. Sounds crazy right?

It’s not as [...]

Krashen introduced the theory that we acquire language via comprehensible input. That is to say that if we are exposed to language at a level we understand then we can begin to acquire it. This ties in with my strong support of Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development, which can be basically broken down by saying [...]

This is a difficult question to answer. As teachers we like to think that we know, but do we actually know?

Personally, I have my doubts. I mean sure, we know how we are supposed to teach and what we are supposed to teach, but each student is an individual and pleasing everybody all of the [...]

There are numerous scales for assessing language proficiency, with three of the most widely known being the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), the American Council for Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the Interagency Language Roundtable (ILR).

Typically, formal testing takes place to ascertain your true level, but nothing is stopping you from [...]

Want to see the world while you work? Join the military.
What to see the world while you work and give someone a skill that will change their life? Become a teacher.

That look on the kids’ faces when they run into class to tell you about their day. The thrill from watching a student gain confidence [...]

Planning a lesson can be hard work. It may even take longer than teaching the lesson itself when you’re still a novice teacher. For example, my first ever week of teaching took me around 3 hours of preparation each day for just 5-7 hours of class.

Imagine having to work 9-10 hour days just to [...]