TEFL Prague and Abroad

 I've decided as a challenge to create an English Lesson of the Day for (hopefully each day) for ESL/EFL. I've always been pretty fast on my feet and creative in this department and that might be more unique and interesting then linking EFL related articles or going of technical aspects of teaching. I will still be getting into that content, but hopefully this something that everyone can use. I'm going to lay out the ESA structure and tips in the next few posts and after that I'll start with some unique and handmade/created plans that yu can use. If you have any requests for lesson with specific grammar points, lexis, target language, levels...etc just leave a comment and I'll design one for you. Can you ask for anything better? Keep an eye out! TEFL Prague Courses The Language House http://www.thelanguagehouse.net

Dressing up/taking on roles is a great way to increase motivation   The concept of motivation and motivating your students is really TEFL 101, but we should nevertheless go over it briefly. It's really easy for everyone to nod their heads and say 'yes motivating students is important', but actually doing it and doing it consistently and effectively is a different matter. let's begin... There are Two main types of motivation and  an additional two that are specific for language learning. Motivation for Language Learning Instrumental/Integrative Instrumental meaning that the students are using the language to perform an outside task or duty. Perhaps they need to improve their language to complete a test for university or for their job or because they need have to travel somewhere. Integrative involves them learning the language because they have an affinity for the culture or people of that language and want to be more involved with it. What does this mea...

See, even Robin Williams gets it - wait he's bipoloar What makes a good teacher? It's a question that gets asked lot by students of The Language House TEFL/TESOL and university students that I connect with who are interested in teaching abroad. While the question is vague and definitely a bit subjective, it's not that hard to answer. Here's a list of what I think is important from my own experience in the field and watching literally thousands of lessons from other teachers. These aren't in any particular order but I have added an asterisk on some that I think are really important. 1. Creativity* Creative people will obviously have an easier time being creative in the classroom. Such a needed skill for making your lessons interesting and finding new and dynamic ways of presenting material. The props you use, the interactions you create, the role-plays you design will greatly help you in the classroom. Note - a lot of more analytical minded teachers will make...

   Most of my training experience comes on a face to face basis and I've never really had to write in depth my teaching techniques and how I really get it to all work in the classroom. It's pretty easy to list a bunch of tips, and they do help a bit, but without depth behind them, they really won't be of much use. Most of the previous posts have dealt with deciding to take a TEFL course and how to get the most out of it. What happens after that though? How do you actually teach well? It's going to be a daunting task, but I'm planning on making the next few dozens posts related specifically to getting better in the classroom. I'll try to keep all of the posts systematic and have a logical progression. That being said, don't shoot me if I jump around a bit. TEFL Prague Courses  The Language House  http://www.thelanguagehouse.net

   I gotta give a hand to all of the great graduates that let us have fun on the course. If it wasn't for them, the course just wouldn't be the same. That being said, I love making these videos. Here's a compilation video of a game we play on the first day. Thanks again everyone. TEFL Prague Courses The Language House http://www.thelanguagehouse.net

    Living in Prague for nearly a decade has given me a unique skill set that only other Prague Expats can truly achieve. The city will hone your body over the years and give you nearly superhuman attributes leaving friends and strangers back home in wonder and awe. Remember people, with greater power comes greater responsibility. If you decide to live abroad for a number of years, you too will gain these powers.  I couldn't possibly list them all, but here are the main ones. Tram Grip Strength (Raw Power): From years of riding Prague trams and giving my seat up to the elderly, my tram grip strength borders on the level of being superhuman. Nothing can break it. Whether it's holding onto a tree branch to survive a deadly tsunami or riding a bull, my tram grip strength will never fail me.  Support my efforts - Follow the blog by clicking the button on the Right or add your email here ------> Bagging Skills (Blinding Dexterity): In P...

     Challenging Higher Education in Education Many times as educators gain more experience and qualifications, the teaching game becomes less about skill work and more of an intellectual pursuit. Regardless of what advanced degree you get in TEFL or really any field of education, there is change from skill work to theory and research.  We start out as brand new teachers knowing nothing. Our TTT is horrible. We have no classroom presence. We can't lesson plan. We have zero understanding of error correction. This list could go on and on. When we start our first training in TEFL we learn some skills. I think these days probably a majority of ELT teachers begin with some form of TEFL course. These skills are great and we start practicing. We bomb our first lesson, but over the course of the training we keep improving. We practice our TEFL skills from concept check questioning, to graded language, to effective monitoring...etc. We get better, and by the end of the co...