Rike Neville | Teaching Adult ESL

Why Aren’t You Teaching Grammar Vocabulary?

No math teacher would try to teach math without using math terminology, right? So why don’t grammar teachers teach grammar vocabulary by using it right from the start? You’re not teaching little kids. Your students already have quite a few tools in their kit and can use what they already know about their own language… Read More
2 Powerful Techniques to Increase Student Engagement with Academic Vocabulary Part 1

Help! My academic vocabulary students just don’t get it that a substantial vocabulary is necessary for more than passing English proficiency exams! This was an issue that came up over and over, and my co-workers and I were constantly hashing out just how we could convince students that passing the TOEFL wasn’t enough to guarantee… Read More
Clothing Vocabulary: 3 Important Reasons to Dress up Your Adult ESL Lessons

Why is clothing vocabulary a must-have for your adult ESL lessons? As an adult ESL teacher, you know that vocabulary is the backbone of any language-learning journey. But let’s face it, sometimes vocabulary lessons can be a bit…boring. That’s where clothing vocabulary comes in! Clothing is a fun and engaging topic that can spice up… Read More
Discover Two Ideas for Cultivating Insightful Discussion Questions for ESL

Did the dropped pin echo in your speaking class? Was that a heavy sigh, a set of rolled eyes, or the clink of students mentally disengaging? Cultivate lists of discussion questions for ESL that are tailored to the needs of your adult learners, and you’ll rarely have a quiet moment again. So where do you… Read More
3 Practical & Fun Telling Time Activities for Adult ESL

Is telling time really that important? With a clock on every phone, why do our adult ESL students need to know how to ask for the time? Even if we HAVE a phone on us, sometimes we need to ask what time an event begins or ends. Sometimes Google DOESN’T have the answer, and navigating… Read More
Gestures: The Secret Language You’ve Been Unaware of

I’d been teaching Saudi students for almost a YEAR when I finally found out that they’d been trying to communicate a crucial bit of information to me with gestures. For a year, I’d obliviously ignored my students’ pleas for more time to think. It looked like I refused to give them more time to formulate… Read More
Emotion Vocabulary: Why It’s Important and How to Teach It

Emotion vocabulary is not often taught in adult ESL classes, but it should be! As language teachers, we know that vocabulary is crucial to communication. But beyond just naming objects and actions, our students also need to have a rich emotional vocabulary. After all, being able to describe and express emotions accurately is essential to… Read More
All About Me Worksheets for ESL Adults: Here’s Why You Should Use Them

All About Me worksheets for ESL adults help you design your class to meet their needs! I always loved that back-to-school time occurred more than once a year when teaching adult ESL, and once I stopped trying to decorate my classroom like I was personally representing all of Pinterest, I enjoyed it even more! Who… Read More
4 Easy Long Vowel Activities for Adult ESL: Spelling Patterns & Pronunciation

My long vowel activities were a labor of love for my students. When I first taught a “true beginner” class, it was full of Saudi students. This was a class not shy about speaking, having fun, or making mistakes. Some of them were also pretty vocal about not wanting to continue making the same mistakes… Read More
3 FUN Vocabulary Games for Adult ESL

“GAME.” When I say “game” in my adult ESL vocabulary classroom, the air crackles. Spines extend, eyes brighten, pulses increase. “GAME” they repeat to each other, and smiles break out. I smile, too, knowing that the next words out of my mouth have already grabbed their complete attention before even being spoken. I doubt I… Read More
12 Exciting Ways to Use TED Talks with Adult ESL

Stop thinking TED Talks are just for high-level adult ESL students! I’ve successfully used them with students from high-beginner and up, and you can, too! I’m going to share with you twelve ways you can use TED talks to help your students develop their proficiency in the four language domains, make connections to their lives,… Read More
Are Connectives the Basic Missing Links in Your Adult ESL Writing Classes?

You’ve read the paragraph three times, and you still have no idea what’s going on. As this student is relatively articulate in class, the meandering of the paragraph has you stumped–why can’t she write a coherent paragraph? Without connectives & transition signals, the writing meanders like a lost child in a toy store. So why… Read More
Jobs and Careers: Creative Conversations in the Adult ESL Classroom

Incorporate real-world themes and topics, such as jobs and careers, into your lessons to make them relevant and engaging for your adult learners. Jobs and careers can be a particularly useful and relevant theme. Most adults can relate to and have experience with it, and it also provides numerous opportunities for speaking practice and vocabulary… Read More
Vocabulary Bingo: The Playful Way to Review in Adult ESL Classes

Why vocabulary bingo? Here’s why! Are you looking for a fun and interactive way to review vocabulary with your students? Look no further than vocabulary bingo! When playing vocabulary bingo, students have the opportunity to see, hear, and use the new vocabulary in context, which can help them better understand and remember the words. This… Read More
6 Fun Simple Present Activities for Adult ESL

Try these simple present activities in your adult ESL classes! My students always struggled more with the simple present than they did with the simple past or simple future. Using simple present activities was a fun way to review this concept to help them master it. If you already have the basic simple present rules… Read More

Tag Questions: 2 Fun Activities They’ll LOVE!

I didn’t even know what tag questions were until I had to teach them! I wasn’t always a grammar goddess (she says modestly). The first time I had to teach a grammar class, I nearly puked (the night before, the morning of, and during the class). I’m still not sure how I made it through it. Native …
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Quickly Prepping for Grammar Classes

Prepping for grammar classes during a time crunch has never been easy. Now many teachers are teaching online as well as in-person. Who has the time to prepare EVERYTHING needed for a grammar class? I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Sometimes, I used to let YouTube teach my class, and now …
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Linguistic Investigations: an Incredible Way to Build Student Self-Reliance

Do your students immediately ask you for help when they don’t understand something? That they feel comfortable asking you is one thing. Relying on you to explain EVERYTHING to them is another. You need linguistic investigations. One of the toughest aspects of teaching adult ESL is, the better you are at it, the less your …
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Teaching the Months of the Year: Fun and Practical Ideas for Adult ESL

The months of the year are a fundamental aspect of the English language and have practical applications in everyday life. In this article, let’s discuss why we need to teach this topic to adult ESL students (and not just sing a song to memorize the order). I’ll provide examples of real-life situations where this knowledge …
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Stop Pre-Teaching Vocabulary All the Time!

None of my professors EVER told us to stop pre-teaching all the vocabulary, but I’m telling you to do just that. Here’s why. While I was getting my master’s in TESL in the early 2010s, the strategy of pre-teaching vocabulary words was all the rage. Perhaps it still is? This wasn’t something I had done …
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3 Legitimate Reasons Commonly Confused Words Often Confuse Us

Do your students ask for your advise in learning vocabulary? Its a common question, right? You might want to take a brake in your lessen to insure your students have a through knowledge of commonly confused words. But first, what causes this confusion? Exactly why are commonly confused words so confusing? While some of the …
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Lights, Camera, English! 4 Engaging Movie-Based Activities for Adult ESL Learners

Movie-based activities are a fantastic way to liven up adult ESL classes and provide opportunities for language practice. Whether using movie posters, trailers, soundtracks, or creating a student-led game, there are endless possibilities for using movies to enhance your adult ESL classes. Not only do these movie-based activities provide a welcome break from traditional classroom …
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Eco-Minded Conversations: Using Environment Discussion Questions to Engage Your Adult ESL Students

Why use environment discussion questions? As an adult ESL teacher, you have the opportunity to engage your students in meaningful discussions about a variety of topics, including the environment. Discussions about the environment can be especially beneficial for your adult ESL students because they can help to improve their language skills, expand their knowledge about …
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The Power of Stress Discussions in Adult ESL Classes: Unlocking Growth and Language Proficiency

In the world of adult ESL teaching, cultivating engaging and meaningful discussions is a cornerstone of effective language teaching. While many teachers may shy away from topics perceived as negative or discomforting, making a compelling case for incorporating stress as a discussion theme in the classroom is possible. Contrary to popular belief, stress discussions can …
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Improve English Pronunciation with 4 Strategies to Overcome Strong Accents

Your highly-motivated student is eager to talk and capitalizes on every opportunity to speak. The problem? You can’t understand what she says. Bigger problem? Neither can the rest of your class! Time to tackle English pronunciation challenges! The Otherwise Perfect Student No One Understood “Shimin,” a 19-year-old, started in our lowest level class, but it …
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The Intense Power of Minimal Pairs in Teaching Pronunciation to Adult ESL Students

If you want to tempt some of your feistier adult ESL students into throwing their pencils at you, introduce them to minimal pairs during some pronunciation lessons. Okay, so Afaf deliberately missed me when she pitched her pencil in my direction, but using minimal pairs in pronunciation exercises will certainly engage your students! What are …
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4 Surefire Strategies for Refining R/L Pronunciation

When you teach Korean, Chinese, or Japanese students, you know you’re going to run into R/L pronunciation blunders. Before I knew about this common pronunciation error, I wondered why I kept hearing people talk about eating lice. I assumed it was a cultural dish because I hadn’t yet trained my brain to immediately switch r/l …
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