ESL Teacher Training Tips:

• Understanding your profession / your students.
• Lesson / Instruction Management & Presentation for Success
• On Textbooks, Supplements and Digressing....
• Keeping students tuned in to you (in case you ask them NEXT).

  • By keeping students on their toes utilizing a "socratic" type of ESL method in your classroom, the students will usually be more ready, as students do not like to be embarassed in front of the other s
• DON'T, B.S. your students on a question they ask you!

  • Students will bust you if you try to give a BS answer, especially about grammar. Simply admit that you don't know AND will indeed look for the answer (Then tell them next class or by email - they will really respect you for this).
• All questions from language learners are appropriate to their unique language learning progression regardless of your opinion on what their particular level is at present.
  • one of the worst things a teacher can do is tell a student that the question is not appropriate for their level, or that they should focus on "easier" things now. Each student learns at an individual pace dependent on thier experiences and if they are curious about something enough to ask, by all means teach them! You may even learn something new yourself (a characteristic of a good teacher).

Articles Submitted by ESL Teachers around the world

NEW: Desperate Liaisons in Riyadh's Diplomatic Quarter: There is a lot of loose information exchanged on the back channels at embassy parties. Harry Nicolaides, an Australian writer in Saudi Arabia, lives in the diplomatic quarter of Riyadh where today’s gossip – like the location of the 15 British Royal navy personnel abducted by Iranian forces - is often tomorrow’s headline.

Cyprus : The Road to Re-unification: In 1958, when the first barbed-wire barricades were rolled out by the British colonial government across Ledra Street in the capital of Cyprus it seemed inevitable that the seeds of division would yield a bitter harvest of inter-communal conflicts, regional tensions and finally the partition of the whole island.

Saudi Arabia : Breaking the Curse of Black Gold: Many years ago, the chairman of the First City Bank of Texas was visiting the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. The topic of discussion was economics. The chairman asked the crown prince where he would prefer to live: a large country with a temperate climate, pristine peninsulas, islands, lush vegetation and abundant natural resources or a small country with no natural resources, sparse vegetation and an inhospitable climate.... read the full article here...

Saudi Students Seize the Day: The Beginning of a Cultural Revolution: On the night of the 27th November 2006, while millions of Saudis were sleeping, a handful of students in the capital unknowingly started a cultural revolution. Life imitated art when a stage play, “Wasati Bila Wasatiya” (A Moderate without Moderation) at Al Yamamah, an international college in Riyadh, triggered a violent confrontation between the Islamic religious police, the Mutawa and hundreds of students, read the full article here...

Staying Fit On the Road: ESL Teacher Health & Fitness Pro, Stefan Ferron gives great advice for staying Healthy and fit whilst teaching English in Korea... read more...

Cunning Linguists - The arrest of John Karr for the murder of JonBenet Ramsey has raised questions about the types of expatriates working in Thailand's education system. Harry Nicolaides, a Melbourne-born teacher who has taught English in Thailand for the last three years reveals that he sometimes felt he was sharing an office with Hannibal Lector.   

ESL Teachers: In this section you will find resources from teachers, for teachers. In the ESL teaching profession, there are many wonderful and helpful professionals who are always more than happy to share ideas and tips on how to be a better teacher, how to improve your skills, credentials and how to deal with new situations that you have been presented with in class.

ESL teachers come from all different backgrounds. There are some who have education degrees, other with business backgrounds and entered this professison upon retirement, some who graduated university with history degrees (etc) and some who ended up teaching by pure accident.

Teachers of English are largely travelers. Teaching English is a great way to see the world and get paid for it. The goals and motivations have to be considered carefully before deciding on which country to go and teach in. For example, Korea or Japan are great places to go and live a fun life and make a respectable amount of money and are accessible markets to almost any university graduate who wants a new experience. Hong Kong and the middle East are higher paying but not as easy to get hired. China, Thailand, Mexico, South America are all great places to live but the money is relatively little if you have home country bills to pay (ie students loans).

ESL Lesson Plans / ESL Lessons Online

• How to write a cheque/check
• Irregular Verbs - Huge List
• Take off Eh? (Canadian Stereotypical slang)

Online ESL Lessons

ESL Lessons Index 

• How to write a cheque/check
• Irregular Verbs - Huge List
• Take off Eh? (Canadian Stereotypical slang)
• Break the Ice: Conversation
  Starter
• Yes/No Conversation Activity
• How to write a cheque/check
• Irregular Verbs - Huge List
• Who Am I - Conversation game for ESL class
• The used cars Lesson
  (advanced reading)
• Freak out
• Lets head
• How come
• Punch drunk
• Speak of the Devil
• Dating Slang
• Check it out

Business English Lessons

• Creative Entrepreneurship
• What is Direct Marketing?
• The Sole Proprietorship in Canada
• Finding a Business Idea
• Interview with a Canadian Businessman in Asia