Author: gustavorernesto

Why ESL teachers are the best – I’ve had many jobs in the last many years on the road but the one that I could always rely on was ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher. I worked in Spain, France, Italy, Germany, Brazil, and Ireland as an English teacher for non-natives and found it to be very satisfying work.

However, what I have also found is that the process of teaching English has also helped me to refine my language learning strategy and learn the local language better.

As well as this, I take great satisfaction in the fact that I was successful in helping even the weakest students to speak English and dramatically improve the level of many of those I taught. My success in teaching English is a huge part of why I am so confident in giving advice about learning languages in general on this blog (as well as my own experience in learning to speak them of course).

In meeting other ESL teachers, I can see this is true for many of them. There are plenty of exceptions, but I have found that ESL teachers make better teachers than traditional academic ones, as well as having an edge themselves for learning a language.

ESL teachers are forced to step outside of their idea of a failed academic system that never helped them learn to speak a language when they were at school and to do things completely differently.

Seeing others struggle with their own progress directly can also help as you give them words of encouragement and start to believe these words yourself. Even though I don’t teach English right now, encouraging others via this blog and the many e-mails people send me, reinforces my own enthusiasm in my language learning journey. Giving encouragement can encourage the person giving it too.

Learn more about this topic by reading on FluentIn3Months.

After reading “Why ESL teachers are the best” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

Ranking Countries by English Skills – This edition of the EF EPI is based on test data from more than 2,200,000 test takers around the world who took the EF Standard English Test (EF SET) or one of our English placement tests in 2019.

More than a billion people speak English as a first or second language, and hundreds of millions more as a third or fourth. For expanding businesses, young graduates, scientists and researchers, and international tourists, English proficiency broadens horizons, lowers barriers, and speeds information exchange. The incentives to learn English have never been greater.

And yet, the demand for English proficiency far outpaces supply. Education systems founded in response to the first industrial revolution have yet to adapt to the demands of the fourth. A front-loaded culture of learning leaves adults little time to reskill. The growth of the gig economy asks people to transition quickly from declining to emerging opportunities.

We often see English proficiency presented as a competitive advantage, but our analysis suggests that it is equally significant for the connections it enables. These connections may help individuals find better jobs or
start their own businesses, but they are also intrinsically valuable. Connection is one of the defining characteristics of the global citizen—curiosity, contact, and a sense of shared responsibility beyond one’s own borders—and speaking English today is all about connection.

This report investigates how and where English proficiency is developing around the world. To create the 2020 edition of the EF English Proficiency Index, we have analyzed the results of 2.2 million adults who took our English tests in 2019.

Europe has the highest English proficiency of any region by a wide margin—even more so if only EU and Schengen Area countries are included in the regional average. This success reflects decades of effort by national education ministries and the EU itself to promote multilingualism. Fast and easy communication strengthens ties between Europeans, as does student exchange, travel, and transnational work. Even as growing nationalism challenges the EU project, the opposing forces of European cohesion appear robust.

Learn more about this topic by reading on EF.

After reading “Ranking Countries by English Skills” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

To be honest, I LOVE teaching English online.

Sure, there are some small challenges with working from home.

There are the occasional feelings of loneliness and I may never wear non-stretchy pants again (OK, that part I’m good with!).

But the downsides are easy to overcome. Teaching online is beyond worth it!

Want to know the best part?

Flexibility! Which means more time for myself.

Learn more about this topic by reading on TeachAway.

After reading “Learning an L2 in a troubled world” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

This website brings ideas for activities and games in the English language classroom. Ideas for activities that you can adapt and use at different levels. Imperatives used for instructions; vocabulary for food and cooking; adverbs of sequence; practices for vocabulary building. 

he games contained in this section will also provide you with a great source of ideas for your classes. These tried and tested games provide practice in reading, writing, listening and speaking. The games are also categorized to help you easily find the type of game you are looking for. There are games for young learners, teenagers and adults. Each game comes with full teacher’s notes and most of the games take very little preparation and are easy to set up and play.

The games can be used to introduce new vocabulary, reinforce a language point, practice words or language structures, teach or practice grammar and improve core skills. You can also use these games to warm up the class when the lesson begins, during the lesson to re-energize the class or at the end of class to finish on a positive note and round off the lesson.

Using games and fun activities in class is an important part of teaching ESL. Playing games is a fun way to help students make connections between words and grammar. These connections quicken the process of building language skills. These ESL games can help both native and foreign speakers of English improve their language ability. Playing games in class also helps to focus attention, improve interaction, increase energy levels and build confidence. Furthermore, shy or quiet students begin to open up and speak English when playing games in class. We are sure you will find our games section a useful tool in improving your students’ English language ability.

Learn more about this topic by reading on EnglishClub.

After reading “ESL Activities” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.

Essential ESL Activities that are Fun, Relevant and Engaging

ESL Activities for Engaging Classes – Fun, relevant and engaging ESL activities are the nitrous of every successful lesson. Through hundreds of successful ESL classes, we know what does and does NOT work.

ESL exercises are a controlled way to practice a particular language aspect. Instead ESL activities engage in discussion and communication focused on a goal.

For example, you can cut our ESL discussion topics into bite-size papers and have them communicate in pairs. And this is just 1 of 17 ideas waiting for you to build these ESL activities into your classes and to perfection.

These ESL activities give students a chance to use what they have been studying and make it ‘theirs,’ so they can draw on it when needed in their lives. They provide a variety of guided and more independent practice.

Most of these activities can be adapted to many different lessons.

Several are especially useful as icebreakers or warm-ups. Others provide a break or a quick review when there’s a little time left near the end of class. Some emphasize listening or speaking; others reading, writing, or vocabulary.

Icebreakers help classmates get acquainted at the start of a new class.

Warm-ups are good at the start of a lesson, especially if not all students arrive on time. They can review the previous day’s lesson or help students switch their thinking to English.

It’s also very helpful to have a few quick activities in your toolkit for when students get bored or discouraged.

Learn more about this topic by reading on AllESL.

After reading “ESL Activities for Engaging Classes” you can check important issues for ESL teachers on the section PDFs, and visit my YouTube channel.