ESL

Social media has become a popular way to learn and practice English. But it seems punctuation has taken a hit as a result.

Metacognition is the act of thinking about thinking, and we can use this technique to gain better results from our students.

How effective are classroom debates in learning a language? A common way to practice conversation skills in the classroom is through debate. Some would argue that the nature of debates encourages disagreement. In my opinion, disagreement is exactly what we need to build conversation skills. Let me explain.

We all know how it goes; we set a goal and make little steps towards it. It can be hard to stay motivated sometimes though. In the case of learning a language, the end result is usually to be at least conversational in that language. Students often lose sight of their goal, and motivation wanes, […]

Many people are turning to the internet to learn new skills, including English and for good reason. There are many benefits to studying online, and this post is going to let you know the 5 best reasons why you should be learning online too.

Learning a new language can be a really difficult thing to accomplish, especially if you don’t have the proper support. It’s important to have guidance; a good teacher is necessary. When learning as part of a large class, it can be difficult to address all issues students face. Unless the rest of the class is […]

We often hear another language, and it sounds so very different from what we’re used to. The sounds, the way vowels are used, the intonation and stress; it can sometimes feel like learning a language is impossible. How different are languages really? Are there similarities between languages that we don’t recognise? In the beginning When […]

Many students become weighed down by language anxiety; preventing them from communicating even simple phrases.

The great thinkers and lecturers in many disciplines all have different accents. Whether it’s the great philosopher, Noam Chompsky’s American accent or Lawyer and human rights activist Amal Alamuddin Clooney’s British sounding speech, the fact is, English doesn’t actually have an “English sound”. In fact, many people from around the world who give talks and lectures sound intelligent and powerful and well-spoken.

There are an abundance of resources online for learning and practising English grammar. The internet is saturated in it. But is teaching grammar really necessary? Is it the key to becoming a fluent speaker? I would argue no. There is so much more to teaching English than the many; sometimes complicated and obscure grammar rules. […]