C1 CAE, Holiday classes, New Year

Your year in preview

Let's forget about the past and start looking into the future! In my time teaching, I've taught the New Year's resolutions class one too many times! That's why I decided to switch it up just a notch. This year I dove into 2022 predictions about the world. I mean, the world is so unstable right… Continue reading Your year in preview

B1 PET, Holiday classes, New Year

Your year in review

Happy New Year everybody! I hope you all had a lovely winter break and enjoyed your time off work. When everyone else is planning their resolutions and different ways of achieving them, why don't we look back at 2021 and analyse it month by month. I present you with a lesson plan for adults, levels… Continue reading Your year in review

Teaching Experience

These are a few of my favourite things (2021)

The year is coming to an end! It's been a difficult year, full of changes and new beginnings. I'm happy that it also marks my six months of blogging. Over 2000 of you have entered my website, and hopefully, found in here some useful information. In this last post of 2021, I'd like to share… Continue reading These are a few of my favourite things (2021)

B1 PET, Christmas, Holiday classes

Christmas-themed B1 speaking

The stress of the exam preparation doesn't take any days off. That's why when you want to take a breather and spend some fun and quality time with your B1 students, you may want to kill two birds with one stone. Have a chat about Christmas time, while practising all parts of the PET speaking… Continue reading Christmas-themed B1 speaking

B1 PET, Christmas, Holiday classes

Have yourself a sustainable little Christmas

It's the most wonderful time of the year once again. The time to be jolly, spend time with your loved ones, and of course, give presents. It's so wonderful that most of the time we forget about the dark side of it - increased waste production. In this Christmas oriented lesson, we look at the… Continue reading Have yourself a sustainable little Christmas

Teaching Experience

Videoconferencing software

Once you decide to work online, you are faced with one of the most important questions. What is the best video conferencing software out there? The choice is endless and it seems that every day, it gets bigger. My platform of choice is Zoom, but I adapt to the students and academies I work for.… Continue reading Videoconferencing software

Christmas, Flyers, Holiday classes, Movers, Starters, Young Learners

The Christmas Countdown

If you live and teach in one of the European countries, it's almost impossible to avoid Christmas-themed lessons. A year ago, when I worked at an academy in Alicante, I was asked to prepare a short Christmas video or project with some of my younger groups. With my Movers group (ages 7-9), we spent about… Continue reading The Christmas Countdown

Teaching Experience

Technical language vs. ESL

ESL teachers are expected to know all about the language. Of course, we have no problems explaining grammar, preparing for the exams and of course, going over the most commonly used vocabulary. What happens when you have to teach something you have no expertise on? Should ESL teachers have any other educational background to be… Continue reading Technical language vs. ESL

Teaching Experience

How to teach irregular verbs?

Teaching ESL as an afterschool activity is often seen as a job in which your primary task is to entertain and keep the students engaged. More often than not, teaching and testing aren't the main focus of the class. Some topics are quite difficult to make fun, especially if they are complex and essential. Irregular… Continue reading How to teach irregular verbs?

B2 FCE, C1 CAE

Where do babies come from? – question forms

The other day, I was preparing a C1 level lesson plan on question forms. It's an exam preparation group, so we follow a coursebook. As always, I started the preparation by checking the approach in the teacher's book and as always, I decided to put a spin on it. I thought of a class that… Continue reading Where do babies come from? – question forms