Category: Teaching Resources

English is a tough language for anyone to learn. While every ESL learner has his or her own unique challenges with the language’s sounds, spelling, and generally nonsensical grammar rules, there are certain challenges that you’ll find are more common than others.

If you have decided to teach ESL abroad, there are bound to be a lot of questions running through your mind. It is important to ask as many questions as you think are necessary, but some questions are more important than others. Whether you are already getting to know your students or just applying for your visa, here are answers to some of the top questions that new ESL teachers have.

With each near year comes new goals and aspirations. All of us aiming to become a better version of ourselves than last year. As we usher in 2016 we should take some time to really think about who we want to become and ponder the steps we can take to get there.

It can be a rough couple of weeks when you start in a completely new classroom but building rapport with your students will benefit both you and them. It can be nerve-wracking for both the student and the teacher at the beginning of a new semester, but here are some tips to build rapport with your new classroom.

We’ve all experienced the frustration of talking to someone who clearly has a good working knowledge of English but still seems almost unintelligible. Maybe you’ve been that person, too, struggling to master the unfamiliar sounds of a foreign language.

As teachers, all of us bring something of ourselves to the classroom, which comes from our socio-economic, cultural, education, and familial backgrounds. These experiences that we bring can create amazingly positive effects in the classroom and can, at times, create tension as well. In this article, I will detail a couple of the cultural differences between Western teaching styles and styles I have seen in Taiwan.

When we were babies we learned through the constant exposure to language and environment. How many times do you think our parents said “mama” or “daddy” to us before we finally said something? Just because our students are older than babies doesn’t mean the same principles don’t apply. Teaching in an immersion environment is actually proven to be the MOST effective means of language education.

The easiest way to understand your students’ lives a little better and get some insight into things they might be struggling with, is to meet and communicate with their parents. Communicating with parents can be intimidating, especially the parents of students that you consider to be difficult.