Teaching adult ESL with no materials or time?
Here’s what works when nothing else does.
Most recent posts:
- Teach Vulgar Vocabulary to Your Adult ESL Students
C’mon. You know this. Your adult ESL students are not living in a sealed, expletive-free terrarium. They’re at work, on public transit, watching TV, scrolling social media, and hanging out with native-speaking friends. They hear things. They just don’t always know what those things mean, or whether the person who said it was being friendly or terrible. - Hey TpT Buyers, Are You Leaving Perks on the Table?
Teaching adult ESL and getting great resources from TpT? Here are some TpT tips for buyers that you might not know but really should.
Older Posts:
Teaching Time Clauses to Adult ESL Students: Make It Fun with Photo Captions
You know how some of your adult ESL students write everything in these tiny, disconnected bursts? I’m talking about short sentences with no flow…just fact…
Why Do We Avoid Teaching a-an-the in Adult ESL?
I’ll never forget the day Yuki raised her hand in my intermediate class and asked, “Teacher, why do we say ‘the United States’ but not…
Teaching Adult ESL in Intensive English Programs: The Real Pros and Cons Nobody Tells You About
It’s 10 am on a Monday. Your intermediate reading class has 15 students from 9 different countries. They’ve already been at the language school since…
The Mixed-Ability ESL Classroom Fix Nobody Talks About
“Ming” finished his paragraph before I could finish writing the instructions on the board. He looked up, grinned, and pulled out his phone. Across the…
When Your Students Want to Reduce Their Accent (And Why That’s Okay)
“Teacher, I need to fix my accent. Nobody understands me.” Zara pulled me aside after class, frustrated and exhausted. She’d been in the US for…
5 Health-Themed Activities That Won’t Make You Want to Fake Being Sick
If you’re looking for activities that won’t make your adult ESL students groan and check their phones, try health-themed activities. I know, I know. It…
2 Vocabulary Games That’ll Get Even Your Skeptical Adult ESL Students Excited
The first time I announced we were playing SWOOSH!, my student Saleh crossed his arms and said, “I didn’t pay for this class to play…
How to Create Everyday Role Plays Your Adult ESL Students Truly Need
Let me tell you about my (first) year of disasters in South Korea. There was the time I insisted on buying a fish at the…
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…
“Learn English” Isn’t a Goal: 6 Things Your ESL Students Are Missing
“What’s your goal?” I asked the class on the first day. “Learn English!” they chorused back, smiling like I’d just asked a stupid question. “Graduate…
5 Smart Ways to Use Music in Adult ESL
Using music in adult ESL classrooms gets reactions. Even the grumpiest student with their arms crossed and their hood up is still listening. And when…
2 Fun Superlative Adjective Games That Don’t Feel Like Grammar Class
Looking for superlative adjective games that actually engage adult ESL students? I’ve got two for you – one that feels like a game show, and…
Teaching Frequency Adverbs: Strategies for Adult ESL Success
I will ALWAYS love… grammar. Okay, that’s a lie. I don’t always love grammar. Sometimes I love it. I often tolerate it. Rarely did I…
Gestures: The Secret Language You’ve Been Missing
I’d been teaching Saudi students for almost a YEAR when I finally figured out that they’d been trying to tell me something crucial with gestures….
Stop Selling Academic Vocabulary. Start Selling This Instead.
My co-workers and I used to hash out the same problem over and over: How do you convince students that passing the TOEFL or IELTS isn’t…
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