Chris Westergaard TEFL

Chris Westergaard owner and director of The Language House TEFL in Prague.

Chris Westergaard has been teaching in Prague since 2002 and is the owner of The Language House TEFL in Prague. Since 2004, Chris has trained over 3000 English teachers who have gone off to teach English all of the world. At The Language House TEFL in Prague, Chris still works as a teacher trainer, but primarily assists with course organization and logistics. Chris contributes frequently to many EFL/TEFL websites, blogs and has his own author page on Goabroad.com.

My intention for TEFL Prague and Abroad is primarily to help people decide if they want to teach English abroad and give them some of my experience that I've acquired over the last 15 years teaching English and training teachers. I really like educating people, and think my story is a bit unique. I started teaching English abroad when I was 21 and created The Language House TEFL course when I was 25 in 2004. That was over 12 years ago. Today we are one of the most respected private TEFL courses in the world.

For me, everything came together in my life when I moved abroad to Prague. I'd like others to have a similar experience (or at least a rewarding experience) as I did. Teaching, whether it was language students or TEFL trainees was something I just gravitated towards. I have a lot of experience, a lot of contacts and a lot of knowledge on everything related to teaching abroad, to what it takes to be successful once you get there.

So that's my background in a nutshell. The blog itself will cover a lot of information on teaching in Prague, because that's my speciality, but I'll cover a plethora of other areas as well. I'd like to lay out my perspective on methodology and what I think what works in the classroom. I'd like to go over how to live abroad and cover things like finding work or an apartment. I'll also offer my personal lesson plans and create tailored lesson plans for anyone who wants them. I guess I just want to help and entertain people.

If you are interested in teaching in Prague or worldwide, please contact me. I have a lot of experience with all things related to TEFL and can help you decide if teaching English abroad is the right move for you.

Thanks for your time and I hope it's worthwhile.

Chris Westergaard
The Language House TEFL

ESL Lesson Plan - Passive Voice - Crime Scene

Here's a lesson for solid intermediates and up with a language focus on the passive voice and crime lexis. At the end of the lesson, students take the roles of police officers and have to give a press briefing to the media about a crime scene that they witnessed. Ideally, you will need an empty room to set up a crime scene for the activation and a language school that is ok with you trashing things around a bit. There are other ways to get around this, if this is not possible. * I create tailored lesson plans for anyone who wants them. If you want me to create you a lesson from scratch, contact me, and I'll do one for you. Please follow my blog on the right to show your support. Introduction: just a couple of min. Do any of the following. 1. Show a clip from a movie that shows a police officer giving a press briefing to the media 2. Come in and immediately address the class as if they are police officers 3. Have a picture of a police chalk outline and ask students wh...

Past Modals Intermediate Lesson Plan: "The Worst Week Ever"

Here's a lesson plan that is suitable for Intermediate and Upper Intermediate language students with past modal verbs being the focus. The lesson requires only about 15 minutes of prep to pull off and has a heavy focus on speaking. I recommend doing this lesson for groups of students who already have a decent understanding of past participles. Take a look! I also have a video demonstration of this lesson plan in action that I've posted below. Intro: 1 minute Come into class asking students how their day is going. Have a glass of water with you that you are drinking. When you they ask you about your day, spill the water all over yourself. Elicit the concept of having a bad day. Lead In: 5-7 minutes Demo out the questions and put students in groups 1. Do you often have bad days? 2. What are three things that can typically happen to make a day go wrong? 3. What are 4 bad, but funny, things that have happened to you this year? Target Language: 10 minutes Before i...

ESL Lesson Plan - Create your own Movie - Lexis

Here's a lesson for intermediate students and up that involves the students making a mock movie and pitching it to a movie studio. Introduction: just a few minutes. Come in pretending to be a director and mime filming the class. Elicit the concept of movies or film. Lead in: around 7 minutes. Demo these questions out and put students in groups to answer them. 1. Do you like watching movies? What is your favorite movie? 2. What good movies have you seen this last year? 3. Who is your favorite actor and director? Why? 4. What well known movies have been made in your country? Lexis: around 10 minutes. Elicit and CCQ the following an actor, a star, a lead role, a supporting role a director a producer a plot a cast a setting a genre a thriller a horror movie a comedy, a black comedy, a romantic comedy a drama a documentary to pitch (a movie) a twist Study 1: around 5 minutes. Matching with strips. Students match the definition with...

TEFL Prague and Abroad

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