This article is about restrictions and practices for teachers wanting to teach English in countries belonging to the European Union (EU). The most common question on this is one of visas and whether non-EU citizens (Americans, Canadians, Australians, etc) can work...
Teaching English in Indonesia
Indonesia is a large and heavily populated country comprising some 17,508 islands with a population of 230 million people. It consists of many diverse ethnic, linguistic and religious groups (with a majority Muslim population). Working there you'll enjoy a typically...
Bilingualism
It is often said that dreaming in a foreign language is proof of one’s complete mastery of that language. Dreams are the expression of our subconscious. If in our dreams we use a foreign language intelligibly then that can only mean that we have achieved the...
Simon Says in the TEFL Classroom
Simon Says is a very simple, very effective activity you can use in your TEFL class. It often works best with younger learners and has been adapted from the traditional English game. How it Works The game is simple. You, as teacher, give commands to your class using...
Semicolons in English Punctuation
A semicolon sits half way between a period/full stop and a comma. It has little or nothing to do with a colon, however. It is used instead of a period/full stop when we want to avoid too strong a break between phrases and instead of a comma when we need a stronger...
Checking TEFL Teaching Contracts
Teaching Contracts vary considerably; there is a different contract for pretty well every different job so it is impossible to make valid generalisations for contracts. However, when looking at a contract there are some general guidelines you should consider and...
Process Writing in English
Writing is not just a matter of putting pen to paper. It requires some thought and a certain level of language skills. We talk about good writing when the written work - be it an essay or an email, a poem or a business letter - expresses a clear point, has substance,...
English – the language we teach!
English is the reason we're here. This article is an overview of the language and explores a little of its history and statistics. English (like all other languages) isn't a pure language. It is basically a mixture, a hodgepodge of other languages which has developed...
Target Language
The Target Language or TL is the language your students are learning. In this case, English. This needs to be contrasted with a student's Mother Tongue or MT which is the language they first learned as a child. The TL is of primary importance in the classroom and...
Internet Trivia Activty for TEFL
Internet Trivia is an interesting and useful CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning) teaching activity which gives your students different kinds of practice in the different reading skills found in TEFL: scanning skimming (reading for gist) reading for detail...