Teaching adult ESL with no materials or time?
Here’s what works when nothing else does.
Most recent posts:
- Your Adult ESL Students Have Gaps and That’s Completely Normal
I need to tell you something that might make your day easier. You know those gaps your students have? The ones where you’re teaching present perfect and suddenly realize half the class is shaky on simple past? Or you’re doing passive voice and someone raises their hand to ask what a past participle is? Those… Read more: Your Adult ESL Students Have Gaps and That’s Completely Normal - I Found My Old Gratitude Post…And Then I Found What Came After
I’ve been going through all my blog posts, fixing where images exploded into huge sizes and formatting got weird after I changed my site theme when I found this “gem” from September 2017: “3 Ideas for Inspiring Shared Gratitude in the Classroom.” I cringed while reading it. Not because it’s badly written or because the… Read more: I Found My Old Gratitude Post…And Then I Found What Came After
Older Posts:
Goal Setting for Adult ESL Students: Why “I Want to Learn English” Isn’t Enough
“What’s your goal for this class?” “I want to learn English.” Cool. Super helpful. That’s like saying “I want to get healthy” and then wondering…
Giving Directions in ESL: Getting Lost Without the Right Vocabulary
Picture this: Your student Mahmoud has been in the country for six months. His English is pretty solid in class. He can talk about his…
4 Engaging Movie-Based Activities for Adult ESL Learners
Lights, camera, ENGLISH! Movies work in adult ESL classes. Or rather, movie clips do. They give students authentic language input. They’re engaging. Students hear vocabulary…
Winter Activities for Adult ESL Students: Why You Need In-Class Snow Days
Winter happens whether we acknowledge it in our classrooms or not. And sure, we could pretend it doesn’t exist because we’ve got Chapter 7 of…
5 Health-Themed Activities That Won’t Make You Want to Fake Being Sick
If you’re looking for a theme that won’t make your adult ESL students groan and check their phones, try “health.” I know, I know. It…
7 Fun Activities for Opposite Adjectives
Years ago, I had this quirky Korean student who assigned friendship and enemy status to words when he couldn’t remember the English term he wanted….
Teaching Body Vocabulary: Why It’s Not as Basic as You Think
So there I was, day three in a hospital in a foreign country where I didn’t speak the language. Nurses kept asking me questions I…
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…
Future Perfect: The Future is Now, But the Past is Also Now
Future perfect activities require no time travel. I promise. Though for real, wouldn’t a time machine make this whole thing easier? You could just zip…
4 Fun Simple Past Activities for Adult ESL
You’ll want to try these four fun simple past activities with your adult ESL students! Whether your students are just now dipping their toes into…
Why Aren’t You Teaching Grammar Vocabulary?
No math teacher would try to teach math without using math terminology, right? You wouldn’t expect a physics teacher to explain gravity without ever saying…
Talking About Stress in Adult ESL: Why It’s Worth the Awkwardness
Most teachers avoid stress as a discussion topic. Too negative and uncomfortable and definitely likely to bring down the mood. But here’s the thing: your…
Two Ways to Teach Pronunciation in Adult ESL Classes
“Socks.” That’s what the presentation showed. A nice, innocent picture of socks. “SEKS!” my new Saudi student yelled out, loud and enthusiastic, so proud he…
Put Cooking Verbs on the Menu in Your Adult ESL Classes
I once had a low-beginner student from Saudi Arabia who lived with a homestay family. He wanted to cook with them—both to share dishes from…
Summarization: The Reading Strategy Your Adult ESL Students Need, But Nobody Taught Them
I’ll never forget the day I brought in a stack of university textbooks to show my reading class what was eventually waiting for them. Fahad…
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