MT Influence or Mother Tongue Influence is when the grammar or vocabulary of a student's Mother Tongue influence the way in which they use their Target Language or TL. For example, in Greek (and a number of other languages) people say open or close a light...
When teaching beginners you should always work on the principle that any detailed grammar explanation will be too complicated for them. In TEFL it is always wise to keep things as simple as possible. This means that when you need to explain a new grammar item like...
Italian (= italiano or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by another 10 million Italian descendants in the world, particularly in Argentina, Uruguay, southern Brazil and Venezuela where they form a very strong...
Hangman is a traditional, simple game which is useful as a five minute filler for practicing vocabulary. Variations of the game and played in many different countries so one advantage is that some students will already know the game in their own language (see...
Beginners is a general term teachers use to describe students who are just starting out to learn English. It is rare to find complete beginners in the classroom. Almost everyone has had some exposure to English - however minor - and knows at least a few common...
Moving to a new country or location can often be a daunting experience for people. Not only are you likely to be starting a new job, you'll probably be surrounded by a completely new culture and with people speaking a completely new language to you. It's easy to...
TEFL/TESOL in Egypt Egypt is situated in North Africa. It has a population of 83 million and much of its income derives from tourism where English is required. Finding Work Demand for English teachers is high in Egypt but finding a teaching job for a foreigner is no...
Graded Readers are books which have been simplified, adapted, or written for a specific learner level of English. They can be fact or fiction, new works or older classics. They are ideal for the TEFL classroom as they allow students to read exciting, interesting...
My Grandmother went to Market is a quick and simple traditional game which can be used in the TEFL classroom to practice various semantic fields. It is useful at the end of the class for a five minute filler to practice vocabulary learned earlier. Once the class are...
A Syllable is a unit of spoken language which typically consists of a vowel, optionally with a consonant before and/or after it. The number of letters in a syllable is not important as it is the sound of the syllable which matters. One way to think of syllables is...
