The Present Simple is usually one of the very first verb forms to be taught in English. We use it mainly to talk about situations which are always the same or at least consistent for a long time. This includes habits, facts and so on. My name is Joe and I am from...
The Present Perfect Simple verb form is used to talk about a past event which has very strong meaning and connection with the present. As you might imagine, it is sometimes difficult to define well as there are many exceptions to its use; different people will use it...
The IPA or International Phonetic Alphabet is an alphabet of sounds (not letters). It is used to show how to pronounce words. Using the IPA in your class is a useful tool to give your students. It will help them understand the pronunciation of English words they...
A Conditional is a kind of sentence which uses a word such as if. It talks about situations which are not real and imagines what might happen. There are 3 main types of conditional sentences each used in a slightly different situation. First Conditional We use the...
A Past Participle is a verb form which indicates a past or completed action or time. If you see some, you'll recognize them: walked frozen done watched typed cleaned Quite often you'll hear people talking about the past participle as the -ed Form. This is because with...
We use the Present Continuous (also called Present Progressive) in three ways in English: 1. to talk about a situation that is happening right now as we speak. What are you doing? I am reading 50 Shades of Gray! Why is he in bed? He is not feeling well today. Can...
Comics are an excellent way to introduce your TEFL students to current, everyday English, in a non academic format. Comics are ideal because they are simple to understand (because they're accompanied by pictures which often help explain) they are hugely popular in...
Grammar is the way in which words come together to form sentences (or utterances in spoken language). It is difficult to define this word accurately because people use it in different ways. Some definitions include: the branch of linguistics which deals with...
Parts of Speech (often abbreviated to PoS and sometimes known as Word Classes) are the different categories of words in English. They refer to the way in which those words are used grammatically. For example, if you look at the following sentences you can see that...
Japan has one of the lowest scores on international English tests and has taken steps in recent years to improve English language teaching at schools with increased instruction and greater use of native English speaking teachers alongside Japanese teachers in the...
