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A Summary of All English Tenses for ESL Teachers and Learners - TEFL Blog
Sun, 03 Mar 2019 Linda Dunsmore
Alumni Experiences
A Summary of All English Tenses for ESL Teachers and Learners
The tense system of English is probably one of the most daunting areas for many speakers of other languages. Multiple tenses should be taught through explaining strict grammar rules while allowing the students to practice proper structure, as well as evaluating themselves with quizzes and examples.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
1. The Past Tenses
1) Simple Past Tense
2) Past Continuous Tense
3) Past Perfect Tense
4) Past Perfect Continuous Tense
2. The Present Tenses
1) Simple Present Tense
2) Present Continuous Tense
3) Present Perfect Tense
4) Present Perfect Continuous Tense
3. The Future Tense
1) Simple Future Tense
2) Future Continuous Tense
3) Future... [Read more]
Company Fulltime TEFL - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Company Fulltime TEFL
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B.B. - Sweden said:
Accents
British accent tends to be rhotic, meaning the letter ?R? is pronounced hard, whereas American accent tends to be non-rhotic. However, within both Great Britain and the USA there are several accents so in essence it is incorrect to speak about the British or the American accents. Loosely speaking, spoken British English (?B.E.?) sounds more ?proper? and ?sophisticated? than American English (?A.E.?).
Tenses
In A.E. recent actions that have an... [Read more]
Challenges and Principles of Teaching Tenses and Conditionals - TEFL Blog
Fri, 17 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Challenges and Principles of Teaching Tenses and Conditionals
In the early lessons of the course, I was able to better understand the components of the sentence, and the knowledge about word types was expanded. It includes a definite article, adjective, noun, verb, preposition, adverb, conjunction, gerund, personal pronoun.
Table of Contents
Tenses
Conditionals
The five main conditionals are as follows:
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Phuong P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.
Tenses
In unit 4, we have started talking about tenses in English. I looked at the four present... [Read more]
Tips for Polite and Diplomatic Language - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
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Tips for Polite and Diplomatic Language
As a teacher of English as a foreign language, it's a good idea to teach students polite words and expressions right from the start. While diplomatic language often includes difficult vocabulary, it's actually not that hard to add some polite spice to a simple sentence - even for beginner students.
Of course you can make sentences a lot more polite by using the two magic phrases "please" and "thank you". However, there are a lot of other ways to use more polite language when speaking to others.
For English leaners, the problem mostly comes down to the fact that words and expressions that are considered "kind" in one language, aren't always kind in another. English uses a lot of... [Read more]
10 Exciting Activities for the Past Simple - TEFL Blog
Thu, 20 Jun 2019 Jon ITTT
Teaching Ideas
10 Exciting Activities for the Past Simple
Grammar lessons can often be quite boring for students so it is important for us as TEFL teachers to have fun activities that encourage the students to use the target language creatively and foster high student talking time. Below is a list of 10 activities that can be used for lessons on the past simple.
Table of Contents
Matching pairs
Diary
Telling Stories
Find Someone Who …
When I was young
Memory games
Irregular verb bingo?
What did you do (…)?
Past simple battleships
Good day/Bad day
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Matching pairs
The teacher creates a set of cards with present simple verbs and a set with the past simple form of the... [Read more]
Program TEFL Cert - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Program TEFL Cert
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This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned:
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F.A. - U.S.A. said:
British vs American EnglishBritish English abbreviated as BrE is the form of English used in the united kingdom and it comprises of all the English languages used within the UK. American English on the other hand is abbreviated as AmE and it?s the form of English used in the united states including all English dialects used with the US. American English and British English are the most taught English varieties in most EFL/ESL programs. There are several... [Read more]
The Challenge of Teaching English Grammar - TEFL Blog
Sun, 15 Oct 2023 Federico Riva
TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
The Challenge of Teaching English Grammar
One of the most intimidating requirements for many English teachers is teaching English grammar. This is due to the many components of English grammar, including, but not limited to, parts of speech, as well as past, present, and perfect tenses. Conditionals, direct and reported speech, modals, and phrasal verbs all fall under the English grammar umbrella.
Table of Contents
Understanding the Components of Grammar
Navigating Tenses and Verb Forms
Exploring Voices and Modals
Mastering English Grammar
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Disclaimer: The views... [Read more]
Teaching Multiple Tenses: The Past, Present, and Future Tenses - TEFL Blog
Mon, 16 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Teaching Multiple Tenses: The Past, Present, and Future Tenses
In English, varying tense forms will change the structure of a sentence and verb conjugation. When studying English grammar, learning different tenses can present a great challenge to learners as well as teachers. English language learners may have to adjust to a greater number of tenses in English than in their native tongue. According to ITTT course materials, experts will state there are twelve tenses in the English language. The changes informing English verbs which mark past, present and future tenses are a key concept for learners to grasp to communicate effectively.
Table of Contents
Peculiarities of the English Language
Present Tense
Past Tense
Future Tense
Do you... [Read more]
What is Grammar in English - Everything EFL Teachers Need to Know - TEFL Blog
Tue, 11 Jul 2023 Federico Riva
Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences
What is Grammar in English - Everything EFL Teachers Need to Know
English language grammar has a whole lot of definitions that focus on sound rules, words, sentences, and the combination and interpretation of other elements to make complete sense. To achieve this, the International TEFL and TESOL Training Lessons outline several aspects of the English language, such as parts of speech, present tense, past tense, future tense, phrasal verbs, and passive voice.
Table of Contents
PARTS OF SPEECH
Nouns
Pronouns
Verbs
Adjectives
Adverbs
Prepositions
Conjunctions
Gerunds
Articles
TENSES IN SENTENCES
The Present Tenses
Past Tenses
Future Tenses
MODAL AUXILIARY VERBS
METHODOLOGIES
Conclusion
Are you ready to... [Read more]
What Problems Do English Learners Face in China? - TEFL Blog
Fri, 03 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
What Problems Do English Learners Face in China?
In recent years, the most popular destination for EFL teachers all over the world has been China. China is the country welcoming many foreign teachers, native and non-native, and is probably the country with the most rapid development of the English teaching industry. Online teaching has become just as important as face to face teaching and has been a teacher for an online company for a long time, I have experienced a variety of students, levels, and groups. Therefore, in this essay, I will write about the most common problems Chinese students face and some ways of dealing with them.
Table of Contents
Pronunciation problems
Grammar problems
Problems outside/inside the classroom
Are... [Read more]
Telling Time in English - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
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Telling Time in English
Telling the time in English is one of the most important skills for any English learner. There are a lot of expressions and phrases used when it comes to telling the time in English and teachers need to be able to teach it in a way that makes sense to the students. Below are five simple steps for telling the time in English.
Choose which clock to use
There are two ways how you can tell the time in English: the 12-hour clock and the 24-hour clock. For the 24-hour system, you use the numbers from 0 – 23 to indicate the hours, whereas the 12-hour system useses only 1 - 12. To indicate morning or afternoon time, you use ‘am’ after the time in the morning and ‘pm’... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - English Grammar Past Continuous Teaching Ideas Tesol - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
English Grammar - Past Continuous - Teaching Ideas - TESOL
In this video we look at a TESOL teaching idea for the past continuous tense. For this activity students are put into groups and are handed pictures of people doing different activities. The pictures are placed upside down in a pile and the students take it in turns to turn them over. When they have turned over a card they must make a past continuous sentence based on the picture they have. For example: If they turn over a picture of a woman swimming they would say: She was swimming yesterday.
For more advanced students this activity can be used to compare past continuous and past simple. For example: While I was doing the washing up, I broke three plates.
Becoming a TESOL teacher enables you to travel the world... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Overview Of All English Tenses Present Tenses Present Perfect Usages - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
Overview of All English Tenses - Present Tenses - Present Perfect - Usages
The main function for the present perfect tense is to relate something in the past to the present. We can do so in a number of ways. First, we have indefinite past actions. 'I have been to Italy twice'. We're not concerned with when it happened, we just simply want to say that it has happened in the past. It's a fact of something I have done in the past but yet it's still true in the present. Unfinished past actions: 'I have lived here for three years'. I started living here in the past and it's still true now. With this usage, you will typically see time expressions. Finally, we have past actions with present results. I have lost my keys. It's implied that I still haven't found them. I lost them in the... [Read more]
British English vs. American English: Which Variation Is Better to Learn? - TEFL Blog
Fri, 21 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
British English vs. American English: Which Variation Is Better to Learn?
English is one of the most dynamic languages on the planet, which develops every day. Therefore, there are a lot of variations of the English language. Which kind of English should we learn?
Table of Contents
English Variants
There are many differences between American and British English.
Moreover, American English was formed under the influence of immigrants' pronunciation from various countries.
Now let's have a quick look at the differences in grammar.
Why should we study British English instead of American?
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What is Reported Speech? - TEFL Blog
Tue, 26 Apr 2022 Federico Riva
Alumni Experiences
What is Reported Speech?
We can quote people through what's called direct speech. In written form it would look like "Corey said we're moving house next week". We've used quotes and we've quoted Corey directly, i.e. used the exact words that he used. There is however another way we can quote people, and this is through reported speech. We don't quote their exact words, but we simply let people know what has been said.
Table of Contents
Watch the video about this topic
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Watch the video about this topic
In English we often have a need to quote people. We can do so through what's called direct... [Read more]
7 Activities for Teaching Passive Voice in the ESL Classroom - TEFL Blog
Tue, 28 Aug 2018 Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
7 Activities for Teaching Passive Voice in the ESL Classroom
Passive voice is something native English speakers can use without much thought but it can be difficult for language learners to master because the switch from active to passive voice is quite an involved process – as many EFL teachers find when they first attempt to present it. Here are some fun activities that you can use in the classroom to help your students practice using this tricky language pattern. Do remember when you adapt these games that not every verb or tense in the English language can be used for the passive voice!
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
Change the Room
Quiz
Describing a Process
Relay Tennis Game
Jenga
Roleplay; Blame it on Your... [Read more]
7 Effective Ways to Teach New Vocabulary - TEFL Blog
Wed, 29 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
7 Effective Ways to Teach New Vocabulary
Teaching new words should be organized as a vivid way for better understanding and a higher level of remembering. These activities are easy to implement with any group of students. They are also very adaptable to online teaching format.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
1. Picture it
2. Keep it Real
3. Tell it Like it is
4. Sing it Outloud
5. Introduce Couples
6. Get Physical
7. The Root of the Issue
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Listen to this blog post:
1. Picture it
The easiest way to introduce new vocabulary is to show students colorful pictures. You can use... [Read more]
Top Tips for your ESA Activate Phase - TEFL Blog
Mon, 14 Jun 2021 Shirin Sophy
Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
Top Tips for your ESA Activate Phase
Regardless of the ESA type applied in a lesson plan(straight-arrow, boomerang, patchwork, and so forth), the activation phase, when the target language is supposed to be practiced and promoted through various techniques and activities, is usually the last stage of every lesson. A well-designed activation can be an essential characteristic of a fruitful lesson which highly affects learners' level of participation during the lesson and their sense of achievement at the end of the lesson. This phase is naturally divided into some steps to facilitate the activation process, including the controlled, semi-controlled, and free practices that are briefly discussed in this post.
Table of... [Read more]
Are Games Important for Students’ Understanding in The Classroom? - TEFL Blog
Fri, 07 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Are Games Important for Students’ Understanding in The Classroom?
Playing games is not only for fun, but we can use it to make students more understand about the topic of the lesson. Games also can build rapport between student-student and teacher-class. How a game is important to make students understand the topic of the lesson?
Table of Contents
Approach 1: Using games as an additional activity in the classroom is common for English class
Approach 2: Using games for easing the material
Approach 3: Accompanying the material for special groups
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This post was written by our TEFL... [Read more]
The Importance of Learning Different Dialects - TEFL Blog
Fri, 05 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
The Importance of Learning Different Dialects
As with many languages, English has so many different dialects. When one travels to a different region of the United States, for example, one will likely encounter different accents, vocabulary and different meanings of the same words. This is also true for British English and American English. For the purpose of this assignment, we will look a little deeper into these.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
Easier to travel the world
Knowing some peculiarities in writing and speaking
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarah Jane G. Please note... [Read more]
Common Difficulties in Teaching English to Native Mandarin Speakers - TEFL Blog
Tue, 11 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Common Difficulties in Teaching English to Native Mandarin Speakers
Learning a second language can be difficult, and this is especially true when the learners L1 and their target language are completely different in structure, sound, and tones. An English as a second language student who speaks French, German, or any other European language will have an easier task than one who speaks a language that is not of European origins. One such language is Mandarin Chinese.
Table of Contents
State of The Problem
The Chinese Language Structure
Tenses
Sentence Structure
Do you want to teach English in China?
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not... [Read more]
7 Activities for Teaching the Simple Present for the ESL Classroom - TEFL Blog
Fri, 20 Jul 2018 Linda Dunsmore
Teaching Ideas
7 Activities for Teaching the Simple Present for the ESL Classroom
ESL teachers often encounter difficulties when teaching grammar patterns to students abroad. The following 7 activities for teaching the simple present for the ESL classroom will help your students pick up the tense in an easy and efficient way.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
1. Daily Routine
2. Cultural Norms
3. Classmate Interviews
4. ESP (Extraordinary Sensory Perceptions)
5. Where am I?
6. Present Simple BINGO Mingle
7. Weekend Party
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Listen to this blog post:
1. Daily Routine
This is a very good activity for when you start... [Read more]
Tefl reviews - Future Tenses Future Simple Teaching Ideas - ✔️ ✔️ ✔️ ITTT
The Future Tenses - Future Simple - Teaching Ideas
Now we'll have a look at the teaching ideas for the future simple tense. As we said earlier, the future simple tense can be used for threats or promises or, in this case, for predictions. Here, we'll have a pair of students working together. One has a prompt to say something and the other will begin it with a certain comment and then make a sentence using the future simple tense. Here, 'I'm taking my driving test tomorrow' 'Good luck. You'll pass for sure'. 'I lost at tennis again.' 'Cheer up. You'll do better next time,' so on and so forth. Of course, having a bit of feedback at the end. Some additional ideas for the future simple tense include things like horoscopes. Here you'll divide your class up into groups, provide them... [Read more]
7 Non-Trivial Online ESL Games - TEFL Blog
Tue, 15 Sep 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
7 Non-Trivial Online ESL Games
There are many famous games used by TEFL teachers that students know like the back of their hand. If you want to change up your online lessons and bring even more fun in your teaching, check out these seven non-trivial online ESL games to help you in every stage of the TEFL class.
Table of Contents
Listen to this blog post:
1. Connect The Dots
2. Simon Says
3. Online Word Chain
4. Catchphrase
5. I Went to The Market and Bought
6. Don't Say Yes or No
7. Would You Rather?
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Listen to this blog post:
1. Connect The Dots
... [Read more]
The Most Common Challenges For The Turkish ESL Learners - TEFL Blog
Tue, 23 Mar 2021 Elizaveta Pachina
TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas
The Most Common Challenges For The Turkish ESL Learners
There is nothing comfortable than being in your comfort zone, especially when speaking your language (native language). The feeling that comes with it, how you pronounce words, the use of jokes and proverbs, idioms, and other slang within it, no one can take that joy or even compensate it because it naturally comes from within. It makes you feel safe at home and confident even when speaking about topics that you have never seen or heard before simply because your brain is already rich with enough vocabulary. So it allows you to navigate, swim and tackle the issues from all possible angles.
Table of Contents
Global challenges
Sentence structure... [Read more]
How can an instructor effectively use games with adult EFL students? - TEFL Blog
Tue, 30 Apr 2019 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
How can an instructor effectively use games with adult EFL students?
When I first made the transition from primary school to university, I knew that my lesson plans were clearly going to have to change. As I began to come up with ideas for my new job, I was disappointed that most of the content I previously used had no place in the university. Games, such as Hangman and Pictionary, worked excellently in capturing the interests of my young students, but I didn't think these childish games had any place in a university classroom. I found out weeks later how wrong I was when I used Pictionary at the beginning of one of my courses to 'preview' the vocabulary we would be covering in class that day. I discovered that day that games can... [Read more]
How to Optimize Your CV for a Virtual English Teacher Career in 2023 - TEFL Blog
Fri, 23 Apr 2021 Dorian Martin
TEFL Information Teaching Ideas
How to Optimize Your CV for a Virtual English Teacher Career in 2023
To become a successful virtual English teacher after completing your TEFL course of choice is a matter of presenting your skillset as viable for teaching online.
Table of Contents
Outline your Qualifications, Competencies and Prior Experiences Properly
Do Background Research on the Platform you might Teach On
Formatting your CV Properly will make it Stand Out
Demonstrate That You're Up-To-Date on Current Trends
Attach a Supplemental Cover/Motivational Letter about Yourself
Use Keywords Related to Virtual English Teaching
Gather Testimonials, Reviews or Recommendations from Past Experiences
List of the Technology you have Available for Virtual Teaching... [Read more]
Why Learning L2 is Harder Than L1 - TEFL Blog
Wed, 26 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Alumni Experiences
Why Learning L2 is Harder Than L1
Over the past two years, as part of an international community, I've had the pleasure of meeting people from all over the world. We share the common experience of learning an L2. I've spoken to nearly 100 people now, and what I've learned about learning L2 is, well, it's hard.
Table of Contents
So why is learning L2 so much harder than L1?
L2 is challenging to learn, especially for older adults.
This makes L2 very hard to use spontaneously in certain situations.
As you can see, this lack of necessity is quite damaging to L2.
Why? Maybe I just don't possess a natural ability to learn.
Our L1 learning is so gradual.
This has become very apparent to me throughout my TEFL course.
Do you want to teach... [Read more]
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Older Posts
What Kind of Teacher Do You Want to Be?
Catia Pereira dos Santos
Teaching Ideas
What kind of teacher do you want to become? Can you picture it in your mind? Well, I did! When I first started my journey as a Portuguese and English online tutor, I asked myself this question and it landed me on a few ideas which are also present over some units of the ESL teachers course.
5 Reasons Why I Went to Teach English in China
Ulysses Brown
Destinations
China is a popular market for teaching English as a foreign language. That's why I also took the leap and moved to China to teach. Here are 5 of the main reasons why I went to teach English in China.
15 TEFL Course Testimonials You Should Watch Before Taking a Course
Federico Riva
TEFL Reviews & TESOL Reviews
For... [Read more]
Evaluation and Testing: What is the Necessity? - TEFL Blog
Thu, 16 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina
Teaching Ideas
Evaluation and Testing: What is the Necessity?
During the grammar lessons of learning English, the aspect of tenses is inevitable. Tenses could be passed, present or future which could further be broken up into simple past, simple present or future continuous just to highlight a few. The past tense is important because it gives one some background information about an event when such an event is assessed.
Table of Contents
What is testing?
What is evaluation?
Why is it important for students and teachers?
Course review
Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course!
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This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate David K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs... [Read more]