Minimal Pairs are pairs of words (and sometimes phrases) which differ in their sound by just one element. They are an incredibly useful tool in the TEFL teachers' bag and if you haven't started yet, you should learn about them and use them! Mostly minimal pairs...
Almost any teacher experiences sooner or later a time in their teaching career when due to lack of preparation, misjudgement of their students’ language ability, or simply laziness they ran out of material, activities and even ideas before the end of their lesson. Not...
Simply put, Syntax is the collection of rules which go together to form sentences and phrases in a language. For example, the rules of syntax say that an English sentence can be formed thus: {subject} + {verb} + {object} Michael + rowed + the boat The rules of syntax...
To form a regular adverb we simply add -ly to the corresponding adjective. slow > slowly woman > womanly autonomous > autonomously However in some cases adding -ly is not a straightforward matter and a few changes are required. Spelling Rules -ic With...
Argentina is a huge, diverse country. In recent years it has had its fair share of political and economic problems and for many years was in a very poor financial state. There was some recovery but with the current global downturn Argentina is not thriving...
A typical English statement has this form: {subject} + {verb} + {object} Churchill + enjoyed + breakfast. We + considered + his answer. The object comes last. If we add a word or phrase to the object to add some more information or describe it further, then this is...
Saudi Arabia (or officially, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) is often touted as one of the highest paying destinations for English teachers. This article looks at what it's like to teach there, how to get work, what you need and what the conditions and rewards are like....
The UAE or United Arab Emirates is a federation 7 small states or emirates in the Middle East, namely Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The UAE have a cosmopolitan population with many nationalities here for business and...
TEFL/TESOL in Qatar Thanks to its large oil and gas fields - it possesses more than 15% of the world's proven gas reserves - Qatar is one of the richest countries in the Gulf region. Qatar is an emirate with a small population largely made up of foreigners from...
In linguistics, the term Language Register is used to talk about the type of language a person might use in a certain social context, in other words, how formally they will speak. For example: A speaker might say I never done nuffin' when talking to their friends,...
