Famously there is an old adage, there is no such thing as a boring lesson, just a boring teacher. It may be a little harsh, but all teachers will sooner or later come across a bored class. However, you have it within your power to change that. There are many ways in...
Teaching English in Poland
TEFL/TESOL in Poland Poland joined the European Union (EU) in May 2004 therefore if you are an European Union national you can visit Poland as a tourist and stay up to 3 months on your (valid) EU Passport, without having to provide any other formal documentation....
Teaching English in Greece
Greece has traditionally been a popular destination for first time teachers. Although some years ago there were thousands of British and Irish teachers in the country (plus a few other nationalities) due to the recession and declining birthrate the number of teachers...
Miming in Class
Miming in Class is a simple activity which can be used with almost any level to learn and practice vocabulary. Of course miming is acting out a story or word with the body only and without using any language. This has advantages in the classroom (especially with...
What is a Subordinating Conjunction?
Let me start by saying that I think the name Subordinating Conjunction is wrong. It doesn't really describe what they do. When we use one of these so-called subordinating conjunctions we're not saying they make a phrase subordinate to another; we're saying they make a...
Lingua Franca
Here's a scenario for you: a ship sinks at sea and 10 survivors manage to struggle to a desert island. Each survivor comes from a different country and speaks a different language. And none of them speak any other language other than their own. Ten years later a...
Prepositional Phrases in English Grammar
Generally speaking, a Preposition tells you where something is or when something happened: at, in, on, by... As you might guess, a Prepositional Phrase simply means a preposition and what it is talking about known as the object: {preposition} + {object} by + the light...
Intensifiers in English Grammar
An intensifier is a word, usually an adverb, that has little meaning in itself but provides force, intensity or emphasis to another word, again usually an adverb. The basic and most common intensifier in English is very. He's good; he's very good. They're late;...
Total Physical Response in TEFL
Total Physical Response (TPR) is a teaching method based on the idea that a new language can be learned through actions and that movement can help students learn and understand. It was first developed by James J. Asher over 30 years ago. We all have preferences for...
Subjunctives in English Grammar
The Subjunctive is a verb mood used in dependent clauses to express wishes, commands, emotion, possibility, judgement, necessity, or statements that are contrary to facts at present. Basically we use the subjunctive to talk about events that we want to happen, we...