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Fluentize Is a Game Changer - Get 20% off Your Membership

 Fluentize is one of my favorite resources for ESL English teachers. This resource will streamline your lesson-planning workload, saving you hundreds of hours yearly. I teamed up with them, and if you use my code, CHRIS20, you'll get 20% their entire site.  Watch the video to learn about Fluentize and why it is my #1 resource for English teachers. Fluentize is hundreds of video lesson plans on demand I'll let the video do most of the talking for me, but essentially, Fluentize is a growing library of ready-to-go lesson plans all built around real-life videos. You can either buy lessons in packs or get a year's membership that offers you unlimited access to the entire library. I have a very close personal relationship with the creator of the company. He's an awesome teacher and created the majority of the lessons himself over the years. As of July 2023, they have over 410 lesson plans on their site, with 80-100 new lessons being created every year.  A membership will save...
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What to Expect from The Language House Prague in 2020

Taking a TEFL certification course is a great start on the road to teaching abroad. There's lots of information related to The Language House TEFL Prague online, but let's take a look at some of the changes in 2020 and what to expect in with the new year. It's easy to look at previous reviews of The Language House Prague, but what will the course be like when you attend? Let's pull back the curtain a bit and delve into some of the features that make this course stand out in 2020. Prague is such a great place to get your TEFL certification  You're going to be busy Training at The Language House Prague is quite intense. Expect to be busy most of the day learning all of the ins and outs of teaching English. Class begins each morning at 9:30. In the morning, there are two 90-min sessions covering all things related to methodology and teaching techniques. We move fast, so make sure to take notes and get the most out of these input sessions. Even the little things...

Teaching English to Beginners with Chris Westergaard - Demo Video (A1) Seasons

I've got a new demonstration video with a group of A1 (beginner) students. This was obviously shot in Prague where I'm located. The focus of the lesson is 'Seasons' and the various different activities you can do during different seasons. Just an FYI to readers, this was a brand new class. I had never met them before and it was their first time in the classroom together. In these situations, you are really starting from scratch with your training and techniques. You'll see this in the video that things start off a bit slow and there are some bumpy sections. I had to constantly control for L1 and use a lot of behavioural techniques to get them to do what I wanted. Check out the video below. I've included a bunch of tips regarding beginner methodology in the video. I really do love this level because it requires absolutely pure teaching techniques. Take a look! Let me know your thoughts!

A Day in the Life of an English Teacher in Prague

What's it like to teach English in Prague? I've probably been asked this question nearly a hundred times over the last 15 years. To give you a feel of the daily day to day life, we shot a video with a couple of graduates of The Language House TEFL . Take a look below and follow both of them on a typical day in this beautiful city.  No two English teachers have the same kind of work or schedule. There's so much variety between all of our graduates and we really help our teachers find a job and schedule that works best for them. I hope you like the video!

Teaching for VIPKID

Online teaching is becoming a great way for English teachers all over the world to supplement their income and create their own schedules for online teaching. If you are interested in making some extra money, I highly recommend checking out VIPKID. The pay is great and they offer you a lot of control over your own hours. VIPKID especially shines if you are working overseas where getting paid well in USD goes a long way. Want to get started? Check them out here and enroll. They are pretty selective with who they hire, but if you can land a job with them, you will be pretty much set regardless of where you find yourself in the world. Teach for VIPKID NOW  

"The Best Hotel" Free ESL Lexis Lesson for A2 (Pre-Intermediate)

Here's a fun lexis lesson for lower level students. The vocabulary around the lesson deals with hotels. At the end of the lesson, students will create their own type of hotel (in groups) and try to determine which pair/group has the best hotel in the class. Introduction: about 2 minutes Start the class by role-playing checking into a hotel. Play both the guest and the front desk. Elicit from the students what you're doing. Lead in: 5-7 min Demo out these questions and put students in pairs/groups to answer them. 1. Do you like to travel? Where are some interesting places you have been to? 2. Where do you like to stay when you travel? 3. What’s the best/worst place you have ever stayed at? Target Language: under 10 minutes Elicit, CCQ and board these words. a hotel, a bed and breakfast, a resort, a hostel, a guest, a maximum capacity, to be located, a location, a single/double/suite/dormitory, facilities, a quality, staff/the staff, various potential lexis related to...

Prague Public Transit Do's and Don'ts

Check out the short video by Language House graduate, Chris. Chris goes over some helpful tips on how to use Prague's public transportation.