tefl · south korea there is currently a great demand for native english speakers happy to go to...

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The Job Pack

TEFLTraining College

Introduction to Finding Work

This book is going to help explain the best ways to find work as a TEFL teacher. We will try to make it clear where the jobs are available, how you apply, how to prepare for the interview as well as we will provide information about Visas and conditions you should expect. Along the way, we will also give you some tips and point out the pitfalls you may want to avoid.

One of the most important things to remember is that you need to manage your expectations. 99% of experiences are positive but if you are going to a Third World country or a culture that is very different from what you are used to, things are going to be different. It's likely that living conditions may be different than those from the West. It is also very probable that the culture you're going to will have a completely different way of perceiving things, you might find it strange! But then, for many TEFL teachers, that is the attraction. If you are going somewhere completely different, then you need to embrace the changes, not fear them. Or else you will not enjoy the experience.

Let's start with some of the basics about TEFL. We are going to start by giving you a brief look at the history of TEFL and then we will look at the different job markets.

Historically, TEFL was something you did if you were a backpacker looking to earn some quick cash before you set off on the next leg of some exotic adventure. The schools were poorly organised, the money was terrible, there were no real expectations other than turn up and speak English to the locals.

These days TEFL has a completely different face. With the introduction of daily flights to pretty much anywhere on the planet, suddenly the world feels a lot smaller and with the huge increase of global tourism and international business, for many people in the world the need to speak English has become essential. This has seen an explosion of schools opening in almost every country and equally the demand for English natives willing to come and teach English has also boomed.

With the increase in opportunities comes an increase in expectations. The conditions, pay and support are infinitely better but schools are no longer satisfied with just any native speaker stopping over to earn some cash. School owners expect their natives to be professional, conscientious and have at least a good grasp of the basics.

With 80,000 – 100,000 TEFL jobs available annually from Beijing to Bratislava, Go-TEFL is your first step to your new life. Where to go first?

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LOCATIONS

Western Europe

Traditionally, some of the more popular destinations have been countries such as Italy and Spain. This is for a variety of reasons.

• They are closer to home• The have a quality and way of life that is not too dissimilar to 'home'.• They are absolutely beautiful countries• Some people like what they know• They may have learnt the language at school

Language schools in these countries are really well developed and you will actually find plenty of schools that have British owners. This actually makes little difference because a bad owner is not one nationality or another, there are just as many bad British bosses as Italian bosses but, understandably, it just feels safer.

Due to the social system in such countries, a lot of schools are registered as UK businesses and you might be paid into a UK bank account. This is often to get round really worker friendly employment laws and is completely above board. Countries like Italy still have a lot of bureaucracy so obviously owners try to get around it. It's easier on both sides if the contract is written within English law.

It's normal that you should expect 800 – 1500 Euros per month with or without accommodation. Often accommodation is arranged for you and a lot of the time it is taken directly out of the salary. Be sure to check exactly what you need to pay and what is paid for you. The cost of living is not cheap in Western Europe so make sure you are being paid enough to live comfortably.

Eastern Europe

Learning English has always been important but in the last 10 years there has been a huge increase. For many international companies, having a European head office in Eastern Europe is a really attractive proposition, it's cheaper than in western countries and education is taken really seriously so there are many skilled workers available. Consequently, more international companies equates to more need for good English skills.

East European cities used to be described as ”hidden gems” but, with the introduction of cheap flights, the secret is out and more and more people are heading East to experience some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, competitive prices and friendly people.

There are plenty of jobs for teachers as nearly everyone wants to learn English because it is becoming increasingly more difficult to get a job without English. Schools are generally well organised and professional. As a teacher you should expect to earn 600 – 800 Euro per month (in hand). Often rent has already been taken out so even with the cost of living increasing, it is a comfortable lifestyle.

There are a lot of schools that use one of the direct methods. Often, these schools require very little qualifications as they provide their own training and they are great for new teachers to build confidence.

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Asia

This area of the world is the most popular destination for new TEFL teachers. With globalization and the change in policy for countries such as China, Thailand and Taiwan there are quite literally more jobs than applicants.

ChinaThese days there are huge opportunities in China, including preschools, universities, private schools and institutes, companies, and tutoring. Organisations such as Teach For China offer great opportunities for ambitious teachers who want to stay in China a while and develop their teaching skills. The provinces and the Ministry of Education in Beijing have strict control over the public schools while private schools have more freedom to set pay and requirements. Outside of Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou, salaries range between 3800 to 6000 yuan per month with an average of 4500 yuan. Public schools tend to offer fewer hours per week (12 to 18), with low pay but free on-campus housing while private schools usually require more than 22 hours a week and may offer higher pay without free housing. Preschool and elementary schools may ask the teacher to work more hours, just as the Chinese teachers do.

Some schools pay for some travel expenses to and from China, they may pay the airfare for a one-year contract (usually 10 months) but these days you won't receive the money back until the end of the contract. Public schools usually pay for public holidays but not for the summer break (you may get it if you have renewed your contract for a second year).

Housing provided by private schools located in the bigger cities is hit-and-miss but most private schools outside Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou provide housing.

JapanIn Japan, the JET Programme employs assistant language teachers and teaching assistants to work in Japanese high schools and elementary schools. Other teachers work in eikaiwa (private language schools). The largest of these chains are Aeon and ECC. The sector is not well-regulated. Nova, one of the largest chains with over 900 branches, collapsed in October 2007, leaving thousands of foreign teachers without income or for some, a place to live. Other teachers work in universities. Japan is notorious for paying well but expectations have also risen as well as the cost of living.

South KoreaThere is currently a great demand for native English speakers happy to go to South Korea. Conditions vary massively and it can be a little hit-and-miss. The expatriate English teachers in Korea have formed the Association for Teachers of English in Korea to provide support for teachers. This organisation is complemented by Korea TESOL (KOTESOL) which was established in 1992 and focuses on professional development for teachers of English in Korea. As with Japan, Korea is also nurturing a government-run program for teacher placement called English Program in Korea (EPIK). In March 2009, EPIK reported that it recruited 3,377 foreign teachers into Korean public schools.

Institutions commonly provide round trip airfare and a rent-free apartment for a one-year contract. (airfare paid upon the conclusion of the contract). In 2008 visa rules changed. Prospective teachers must now undergo a medical examination and a criminal background check, produce an original degree certificate and provide sealed transcripts. On arriving in South Korea, teachers must undergo a further medical check before they receive an ARC card (medical card for the medical insurance).

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There are four main places to work in South Korea: universities, private schools, public schools

and private language academies (known in South Korea as hagwon). Private language academies, the most common teaching location in Korea, can be for classes of school children, housewives, university students (often at the university itself) or businesspeople.

TaiwanIn the Republic of China (Taiwan), most teachers work in crammed schools, known locally as bushibans or buxibans. Some are a part of chains, like Hess and Kojen. Others operate independently. Such schools pay around US$2,000 per month. End-of-contract bonuses equivalent to an extra month's pay are not mandated by law as in South Korea and are uncommon in Taiwan.

ThailandThailand has a great demand for native English speakers and is a popular destination for travellers attracted by the local lifestyle, despite relatively low salaries. Teachers can expect to earn a starting salary of around 25,000 baht. Besides teaching, Thailand doesn't really allow foreigners to work in Thailand, neither in non-skilled nor skilled jobs. Therefore, many foreigners teach English for a living to be able to stay in the country legally.

Thailand is well known for being quite relaxed in their requirements but more recently there has been a shift. Sure there are still plenty of schools willing to give a few months work and happy to find ways around visa requirements but also there are more and more professionally run schools that are more demanding. These school also pay better.

Middle EastBecause of the oil industry, countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are the main locations for teachers to work in this region. Positions in these countries have a reputation for often paying very high salaries but also require more qualifications and experience. Private academies and university programs are the main venues of training. More and more primary and secondary schools start to recruit foreign English instructors. The great thing is that the salaries are tax free!

South AmericaThis region is one of the biggest growth areas for TEFL teachers. The salaries are relatively low as the industry seems to be based more on the concept that it is a two-way process. They set you up to be able to live and get around, put a bit of cash in your pocket and you give them 20 hours a week teaching in return. The biggest problem for UK teachers is that most schools are geared towards attracting US TEFL teachers due to the location, business partnerships and governmental links. It's not impossible to get a job over there but it is strangely very competitive.

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VISA'S

The world of visas is a tricky one. There is a lot of contradictory information. We have tried our best to sift through the rubbish and leave you feeling a little clearer. The problem lies in the fact that the TEFL industry has less teachers then jobs. This has meant that some schools are becoming creative at finding ways around visa requirements. Our plan is not to advise you of what you should or shouldn't do. We are only here to explain some of the options that are available to you so that you know where you stand and consequently feel as though you can make an informed decision.

It would take forever to go through each country listing their visa requirements. We have decided to concentrate on some of the more popular locations with the understanding that their neighbours often have very similar visa requirements.

China

We will start with the most popular TEFL destination, China. There are numerous possible Visas but, officially, according to the Peoples Republic of China, there are 8. Quoted from the Chinese government website, they are:

(1)Tourist and family visit Visa (L-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for tourist purpose, family visit or other personal affairs.(2) Business Visa (F-visa ) is issued to a foreign citizen who is invited to China for visit, research, lecture, business, exchanges in the fields of science, technology, education, culture and sports, or attending various kinds of trade fairs or exhibitions, or short-term study, intern practice for a period of less than 6 months.(3) Student Visa (X-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China for the purpose of study or advanced study for a period of six or more months.(4)Work Visa (Z-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who comes to China to work and his or her accompanying family members, or to give commercial performances in China.(5) Transit Visa (G-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who is to transit through China on his or her way to a third country (or region).(6) Crew Visa (C-visa) is issued to crew member performing his/her duties on board an international train, or on an international airline, to a sailor on board an international ocean-liner or freighter, and also to their accompanying family members.(7) Journalist Visa (J-visa) is issued to foreign journalists. J-visa has two categories: J-1 visa and J-2 visa. J-1 visa is issued to resident foreign journalists in China and their accompanying spouses and under-age children, J-2 visa to foreign journalists who visit China for temporary news coverage.(8) Permanent Residence Visa (D-visa) is issued to a foreign citizen who has been approved by China’s public security authority to reside in China permanently.”

For TEFL teachers, the golden ticket is the Z-VISA. It requires a lot of documentation and official government stamps, plenty of checks and approval but it is the visa of choice for government schools and institutions and is normally issued for 12 months. Government institutions prefer the Z-visa because it is longer (12 months) and for them it is easier to navigate Chinese bureaucracy to obtain official documentation than it is for a private school.

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According to the Chinese government, to be able to get a Z-visa you need:

For foreigners who come to China to take up employment as experts, scholars, teachers, managerial personnel and as personnel working in related state or local organizations should provide:1.Permit for Foreign Experts Working in China (original) issued by the State Bureau of Foreign Experts (original)2.An invitation letter of Duly Authorized Unit or a confirmation letter of invitation (should be used within 6 months since its issuing date) issued by an authorized unit in China (original).

So, basically, you need to get yourself an employer, they will organise the 'Foreign Experts' permit and you are on your way to getting a shiny new 12 month Z-visa.

The Twist

Many government schools require a university degree to obtain the permit they are applying for. They will require an original or an officially stamped copy of the degree certificate for verification. This has lead to a lot of non-degree holders opting for other options such as working on a tourist Visa.

Tourist Visas

Studies have shown that you can easily find work on a tourist visa, it's almost guaranteed. But the same studies show that you will probably be paid less and get poorer conditions. You will get 90 days, then you will have to leave the country, normally visiting somewhere like Vietnam, to renew it. The problem is that you will probably be fine renewing it once, maybe even twice or three times, but the Chinese government are getting tighter and tighter with controlling people with tourist Visas and more and more people are not being allowed back into China after 1 Visa renewal. Some are even being blacklisted.

Some good news

Because of the large shortage of TEFL teachers in China, more and more schools are being allowed to get permits for their teachers without needing to show degrees. The Chinese government are said to be relaxing the rules a little. For instance, if you have a TEFL certificate and can show a minimum of 1 year experience, then you can be eligible to get a Z-visa.

South Korea

The right Visas for teaching in South Korea are E1 and E2 Visas. An E1 is for teachers working at higher level government institutes whereas E2 are classified as conversational instructor but pretty much mean anyone not teaching at colleges and universities.

To obtain an E1 or E2 visa you will need to jump through the following hoops:

1. Original diploma or copy notarized by a lawyer

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2. Contract signed by the employer and employee3. University transcripts, in a sealed official university envelope4. Copy of your resume5. Copy of your passport information page6. Two or three passport-size photos

Introducing the Visa run

Many teachers would enter a country like South Korea on a tourist visa. In reality, by law you are not even allowed to look for work on a tourist visa - but many people do.

Once you have found yourself an employer and the contract is signed, you need to be able to get the correct Visa for work so leave the country and go to a neighbouring country. Once there, you visit the embassy of the country in which you hope to work and apply for the correct visa. Now you can go back and work.

This is great, all be it a bit long winded, if you are able to meet South Korea's exacting criteria. Sadly, some teachers don't have the degree so they take another route.

Continuous Visa Runs

In countries like South Korea, where work Visas are hard to come by, some teachers do visa runs every month. For them, it is just a part of life. Sometimes visa runs are an annoying fact of life but these days, because the problem is common, businesses have been set up to help you make your visa runs as easily and as inexpensively as possible.

Thailand

The main Visa for teachers is the “non immigrant” B Visa. Visas in Thailand are very similar to South Korea. It is well known to be extremely difficult and tiresome to get any type of working Visa here. You need:

1. Original diploma or copy notarized by a lawyer 2. Contract signed by the employer and employee3. University transcripts, in a sealed official university envelope4. Copy of your resume5. Copy of your passport information page6. Two or three passport-size photos

As in South Korea, there is never a straightforward answer regarding degrees. Officially you need one but everybody knows somebody working for a state, school or government institute who doesn't have one. It seems that the world of having the right friends in the right places is very much alive and well in Thailand. For this reason, the continuous Visa runs for renewing tourist Visas is very popular and many private schools are more than happy to pay under the table.

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Japan

For a traditional work Visa in Japan you pretty much have the same requirements as China, Thailand and South Korea. Degree in any subject, signed contract, current passport etc. But with Japan yo now have the possibility of getting a new type of Visa.

Working Holidays Visa

Open to people under the age of 30 years old, the working holiday Visa is available for nationalities such as the UK, Canadian and Australian. The theory is that it allows you to work part-time whilst truly experiencing Japan. In reality, TEFL schools and teachers have used it as a way for non-degree holders to get teaching jobs because it is so rarely policed. The Visa normally lasts 6 months to 1 year and can be extended to 18 months.

Visa Applications

You are often going to need an original or an authenticated copy of a degree certificate. Your passport is going to need at least 6 months to 1 year left until expiry. You may have to have reference letters at hand but you should never ever pay for the administration process if you are coming from the UK to teach. If they are inviting you over, you should expect to see a signed copy, a letter of invitation and possibly a work permit. You should not have to put your hand in your pocket. Normally, the school or recruitment company pays for everything. If you have gone over on a tourist Visa looking for work, then it is more open to negotiation.

Warning!

We have tried to educate you in the official requirements for Visas using official government websites. We have also discussed how TEFL teachers have managed to find work in countries which are not as conventional. Some of these methods are not as legal as others. In every case, if caught, you are likely to be asked to leave the country and perhaps blacklisted from getting back in. Our idea is just to give you the facts and allow you to decide what route is best for you.

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WORK

Where to search for work

We don't want to teach anyone to suck eggs but there are some good places to start looking for teaching jobs. Our favourite sites with jobs are:

www.tefl.comwww.eslcafe.comwww.eslbase.com

These are the 3 largest job sites, they have good reputation, they conduct checks on the advertisers so they are a good place to start. We are pretty sure there are other sites out there that offer good quality sites with jobs but these are the current major players.

How to be proactive

If you are specific in where you want to work, then be proactive, sell yourself. On the sites mentioned above, as well as on search engine searches, you can find whole lists of TEFL schools per location. Just type in “language schools in ….....”. Applying for jobs is a numbers game, especially if you don't have any experience yet. There are many schools that would love to have you on board, they just don't know about you yet. So, if you can't find many vacancies in your specific area, find a list of schools and contact them directly. It is not guaranteed but it pays off time and time again.

Be educated

The TEFL industry as a whole is not governed. That means, amongst the great school and employers out there, we age going to come across plenty of ' bad apples' because there is nobody to check up on them. This is pretty worrying when you are going to travel half way round the world on the strength of a few emails and a Skype call. The TEFL community has developed it's own way of keeping others informed – basically, through using forums. It is critical that when going through the recruitment process you research the school on forums.

TEFL teachers are pretty excellent at commenting on their experiences of a school. By putting the name of the school in search engines, TEFL blacklist sites or TEFL forum sites you should nearly always get some hits. You should be careful of any school which has a high number of negative comments, is completely whiter than white, where the language of the post is with mistakes or there are no comments at all.

By nature, we like to complain about the smallest things so we would worry if a school was completely without a negative comment, unless there are loads of comments everywhere and the language is entirely native. If the language is a little simple or full of silly mistakes, then it is possible the school owner is writing the posts himself. Do you want to work for someone who is dishonest? Finally, unless the school is very new, I would really worry if the school has no comments because, as a TEFL community, we really try to look out for each other. No comments for no good reason would be a little fishy!!

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http://www.eslbase.com/

http://www.eslcafe.com/

http://www.tefl.com/

Applying for Work

There are TEFL jobs the whole world over and the whole year round. However, there are some times of the year that are really good for applying for jobs. These are: during the summer break or between the end of a semester and the beginning of the next. So, basically, July and August, moving in to September are great times to apply. Almost as good is mid-January, February leading in to March. This is when there are more jobs available.

As a new teacher, there are two schools of thought. One is apply when there are a lot of jobs. Obviously it makes sense, it's like shooting fish in a barrel! The idea is to apply for jobs when school terms/semesters have started. What often happens is that many new teachers get a job in love with the idea of travelling the world and experiencing different cultures, after a few weeks or months they realize it is not for them and they either hand in their notice or they simply run away! Well, Chinese employment law doesn't really affect you if you have no plans to return there ever!

So, schools have all the students paying good money but nobody to teach them. What often happens when you apply for a job mid-semester, you receive a phone call or email begging you to book a flight to come over today or tomorrow. You don't even have to go through the interview process. As new teachers, this is great because the school just wants someone with a British passport and a pulse and you are really nervous about having interviews on a subject that still confuses you. The answer is there is never a bad time to apply. You are either lucky or unlucky that the time you apply is the time that there are jobs available in the place you are most interested in.

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THE C.V.

Each C.V. is different but there are some standards.

• It almost always must have a passport photo in one of the corners at the top of the page • It should be a maximum of 2 pages• It should come with a covering letter• It should be tailored to target the employer• Make sure the language is simple, the reader may not be a native English speaker

If you have little or no experience, you can't hide the fact. Don't be ashamed. Many TEFL teachers only teach for 6 months or a year because it is a gap year or a little career break. That means every year there are literally thousands and thousands of inexperienced teachers, just like you, just about to start their TEFL careers.

Your job is to show in your C.V. how your previous experience can be used to show qualities necessary in a teacher. If you handled money you are responsible, TEFL teachers should be responsible. The fact that you may have opened or closed the office / shop shows you are reliable and trustworthy. Did you do inductions, health and safety, deal with the public, customers? All really positive experiences for new TEFL teachers. For your potential boss it means you will turn up to work when you should, know how to treat his/her customers. Put yourself in you potential bosses shoes when you write your C.V.

The interview

You should expect the interview to normally take place over the phone or via Skype. If you are in the city, it may well be face-to-face or, if you are going through a recruitment company, they may well want to meet you first.

Again, remember that if you are new to teaching, it is not something to be ashamed of. The message you want to give your potential boss is that

• You are fun and energetic• You want to develop into a good teacher• You will turn up to work on time• You will treat his customers with respect• If you don't like it, you wont just leave, you will give them time to find a replacement

The last point is absolutely critical. Most of the time, potential employers just want a smiling face with good energy and someone who is reliable. They will possibly give it all up if they can be sure you will not leave them without a teacher. What happens is that they often lose students when a teacher disappears and they can't replace them quickly. Students equal money so they are understandably pretty desperate to avoid this at all costs.

Therefore, if you show that you are reliable, will turn up on time with a smile on your face AND you won't leave without warning, then you are going to find work pretty easily.

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Note

On the whole, TEFL schools treat you well, students are welcoming and there are more jobs than applicants. The skill is maintaining a 'happy go lucky' attitude which is by definition the very nature of a TEFL teacher whilst also going through the process of protecting yourself. You protect yourself and set yourself up for wonderful experience by being informed on the Visa requirements, by checking other teachers experiences of the school and by understanding the way of life and standard of living in a given location. By doing all this, you will be prepared and ready to have the time of your life.

Enjoy!


A Beginners Guide to Teaching Grammar


CONTENTS

1. Terminology explained 3

2. Introduction 7

3. Verb 'be' 8

4. Present Simple 10

5. Present Continuous 12

6. Present Perfect 14

7. Present Perfect Continuous 16

8. Past Simple 18

9. Past Continuous 20

10. Past Perfect 22

11. Past Perfect Continuous 24

12. Future Simple 26

13. Future Continuous 28

14. Future Perfect 30

15. Future Perfect Continuous 32

16. Additional Structures – 'Be going to'; 'Used to'; 'Would' 34

17. Modal Verbs 38

18. Passive Voice 40

19. Reported Speech 43

20. Conditionals 46

21. Wishes / Unreal Past 47

22. Nouns (singular / plural; countable / uncountable) 49

23. Adjectives and Adverbs; Comparisons 53

24. Articles 57

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TERMINOLOGY EXPLAINED

TENSE indicates whether a certain sentence is describing actions or states from the past (which already happened), present (happening now) or future (will happen). In English there are 12 tenses – 4 present, 4 past and 4 future, we will look into each of them separately.

SUBJECT the main part of a sentence, there is no English sentence without it! Subject is an object or a person around which an action happens, e.g.:

She is a nurse.I don't like my English teacher.My mum is going to Italy.

As you can see, without the subject, the rest of the sentence wouldn't make sense.

VERB a word used to describe an action. The verb is another crucial part of each sentence, describing an action. So we have a subject of a sentence – we know who or what the sentence is about. Now we want to know what happens to that object / person – that's when the verb comes in! Let's look again at the sentences:

She is a nurse.I don't like my English teacher.My mum is going to Italy.

Again, it is pretty clear that without a verb, there would be no sentence. Each word describing an action or state is a verb.

OBJECT now object is something that occurs very often in a sentence. Although it's not completely necessary in order for a sentence to exist, we are pretty limited in what we can say without it. There are some short sentences which can consist only of a subject and a verb, e.g.:

I am sleeping. She was running. He will come.

However, it happens very often that we want to say more than that. Whenever we want to complement the verb with another object or a person which is affected by the action but doesn't actually perform the action, that's when we use an object, e.g.:

I met her. She was speaking to me.He will come home.

PRONOUN in English there are 4 types of pronouns. The most important are: subject pronouns and object pronouns. Now that you know what subject and object are, it is easy to explain what role a pronoun plays in a sentence. Pronoun is a short word that we use instead of a noun (naming a thing or a person) so that we don't repeat ourselves. Subject pronouns play the part of subject in a sentence, they are:

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I, YOU, HE, SHE, IT, WE, YOU, THEYLook at these two sentences:

Margaret doesn't like oranges. She actually doesn't like fruit at all.

(If we used Margaret in a 2nd sentence it would be too much and would sound silly).

.Object pronouns play the object role in the sentence and they are as following:

ME, YOU, HIM, HER, IT, US, YOU, THEM

Again, we can say:

I met Paul yesterday. I told Paul you missed him.but it sounds weird! So instead:

I met Paul yesterday. I told him you missed him.

INFINITIVE is the word we use to describe the most basic form of each verb, without any endings, changes, in 'a raw condition', the way you can find it in a dictionary, e.g.:

COOK, SLEEP, WALK, RUN

sometimes you can see in a book term 'bare infinitive' and it's exactly that – a verb in it's purest form, with no additives

FULL is also the basic form of each verb, with no endings but with TO in front of it, e.g.:INFINITVE

TO COOK, TO SLEEP, TO WALK, TO RUN

GERUND is another form of a verb, this time it describes a verb with the -ing ending, e.g.:

COOKING, SLEEPING, WALKING, RUNNING

if you understand this, then it's much easier to understand certain rules in English grammar, for example there is a rule which says that:

„after the verb 'deny' we can only use gerund”

sounds really scary but once you know that gerund means any verb with -ing ending, then you realize that all this rule says is: after 'deny' each verb must have -ing

so it is correct to say: She denied killing him but it's not correct to say: She denied to kill him or She denied kill him etc.

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SINGULAR refers to anything in number 1, it tells us there is only 1 of something, e.g.

an apple, a baby, a house – these are all singular nouns (there is only 1 apple mentioned, 1 baby and 1 house)

The term singular is very helpful when talking about pronouns, we can refer to them as:

I 1st person singularYOU 2nd person singularHE 3rd person singularSHE 3rd person singular all 3 rd person because they only differ by gender IT 3rd person singular

PLURAL on the other hand refers to anything in number bigger than 1, it tells us there is more than 1 of something, e.g.:

apples, babies, houses – these are all plural nouns (there are few, more than 1 apples, babies, houses)

Again, we use this term a lot with reference to pronouns:

WE 1st person pluralYOU 2nd person pluralTHEY 3rd person plural

COUNTABLE describes something that can be counted and would be linked to the question 'how many'. The answer to that question could be number itself, with no extra words, e.g.:

How many bottles are there? - 5 (bottles are countable)How many men are here? - 10 (men are countable)

UNCOUNTABLE describes something that can't be counted with just a number, it requires extra information, i.e. unit of measurement. Uncountable is linked to the question 'how much' and the answer to that question is a number plus a unit of measurement, e.g.:

How much sugar do you need? - 5 (just doesn't make sense)How much sugar do you need? - 5 kilograms (now it makes sense)

How much water shall I buy? - 10 (just doesn't make sense)How much water shall I buy? - 10 bottles (now it makes sense)

ARTICLES these are short words carrying no meaning, yet sometimes necessary in a sentence. They are: A / AN or THE

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INVERSION means reversing the order of words, e.g.:

YOU ARE ---> ARE YOU

VERB I this is the general expression we use to describe a verb in the present, e.g.:(1st form) look, eat, write, love. We have learnt it is also called the bare infinitive but for

the sake of learning tenses we also call it Verb I.

VERB II this is the verb form we use to describe the past structure of the verb, e.g.:(2nd form)

looked, ate, wrote, loved

VERB III this is the form of the verb that is used in perfect tenses. It is often connected (3rd form) with the 'have' family (have, has, had) and is used in passives, e.g.:

looked, eaten, written, loved

Example of verb forms:

VERB I VERB II VERB III sleep slept slept drink drank drunk go went gone play played played

REGULAR / as you can see from the examples of verb forms, there are two mainIRREGULAR VERBS categories of verbs. Those that add '-ed' for the second and third form

(play, look, love) and those that change completely (eat, write, drink, go). The ones that add 'ed' are called regular verbs and the verbs that change completely are called irregular verbs.

REGULAR VERBS these verbs have rules. You normally add 'ed'. If they end in 'y', then you need to change the 'y' to 'i' and then add 'ed', e.g.: study – studied. Also, make a note that when the word finishes with a vowel and then a consonant, then we need to double the consonant, e.g.: stop–stopped

IRREGULAR VERBS if there is no pattern to how the Verb I changes to Verb II and Verb III, then it is called an irregular verb. Even though irregular verbs seem to have no pattern, they usually act in one of 3 ways: one, where each verb form changes, another where there is one change and finally a pattern where there is no change, e.g.:

Verb I Verb II Verb IIIeat ate eaten (2 changes)sit sat sat (1 change)cut cut cut (no change)

6

Introduction

When explaining each tense structure, it's best to go separately, first through positive sentences, then questions and at the end negations (when the sentence is negative, e.g.: He doesn't like fish) Also, it's always important to analyse the structure of each tense by showing what it looks like for each pronoun (I/you/he etc.). That's why, with each sentence or structure in this book, we've presented them for all the pronouns, one after another. It may seem dull and hideous for you but you need to bare in mind, this is not as tedious for somebody who isn't English. The best advice for the teacher is to always try and put yourself in your students shoes – how would you like to have it explained in another language. The answer is always the same – slowly, clearly, step by step.

Have you ever started a new job when the person showing you around talks so quickly and uses so many acronyms and technical jargon that you are completely disheartened and you worry that you will never get the hang of it because it looks and sounds so complicated? That's probably how you feel now and it is definitely how your students will feel. Just as much as it is our job to explain it slowly and clearly to you, trying to avoid technical jargon, it is your job to try and do exactly the same to your students.

Once your students understand how to build a sentence, question and negation with each given structure, then you may introduce the usage, i.e. why we use it, what is the need for it, what are the most characteristic situations for it to be used in. The higher the level of your students, the more you can say. Naturally, if it's the first time they've ever heard of it, there is no need to give more than one usage. Whereas with a group that is familiar with a given structure, it is OK to go into more detail so that they learn something new. You will find that most of it follows common sense and you will quickly get the hang of it.

You have familiarized yourself with our terminology. There is one more thing that is important before introducing tenses. That is understanding the word order typical for the English language. Again, for you it may sound obvious but there are students from other cultures, speaking completely different languages who may naturally try to translate their language into English, following their language's rules of word order. It is important that your students understand that in English any basic sentence will follow such order:

SUBJECT → VERB → OBJECT (noun / pronoun) (action) (noun, pronoun)

I LIKE YOU

Remember, it's going to be complicated because you are going to be introduced to a lot of new terminology and to some pretty foreign concepts. We will try our best to explain it in as straightforward a fashion as possible but there is no way we can avoid the terminology completely. Take each bit step by step and try to keep in mind that you know the answer, all you are trying to do is understand why and how.

Good Luck!

7

VERB 'BE'

In our dictionary of terms we explained what a verb is – the word describing action or state. There are obviously plenty of words in English, yet some deserve a closer look than others. One of such verbs is the verb BE. It is very important for your students to understand its structure, how it acts in a sentence because this verb plays a crucial role in forming some of English tenses. To be able to build the tense correctly, they need to understand the verb BE itself.

First of all, the verb BE takes different forms depending on the pronoun as well as on the tense. Let's first look at all the forms of the verb BE in present:

Positive

I am = I'm a teacher.You are = You're my student.He is = He's very tall.She is = She's Kathy.It is = It's a table.

We are = We're in the classroom.You are = You're good students.They are = They're happy.

As you can see, there are 3 forms of the verb BE in the present: AM / ARE / IS. It's that simple, welcome to the verb BE!When introducing them to your students, it's always good to teach the short (I'm) and full forms (I am), like above, so they're not confused when they see a shorter form of a given phrase and perhaps don't recognize it.

Questions

Am I a teacher?Are you my student? Is he very tall?Is she Kathy?Is it a table?

Are we in the classroom?Are you good students?Are they happy?

We form questions with the verb BE by means of inversion – we swap the order of words from 'I am' to 'Am I?'

8

Negations

I am not = I'm not a teacher.You are not = You're not = You aren't my student.He is not = He's not = He isn't very tall.She is not = She's not = She isn't Kathy.It is not = It's not = It isn't a table.

We are not = We're not = We aren't in the classroom.You are not = You're not = You aren't good students.They are not = They're not = They aren't happy.

We form negations of the verb BE by adding NOT. Again, it's important to show all possible short forms.

Analogically, it works the same in the past. Let's have a look:

Positive

I wasYou wereHe wasShe wasIt was → There are 2 forms of the verb BE in the past: WAS / WEREWe wereYou wereThey were

Questions

Was I?Were you? Was he?Was she? → InversionWas it?Were we?Were you?Were they?

Negations

I was not = I wasn'tYou were not = You weren'tHe was not = He wasn't.She was not = She wasn'tIt was not = It wasn'tWe were not = We weren't → BE + NOTYou were not = You weren'tThey were not = They weren't

9

PRESENT SIMPLE

Structure

Positive sentences

VERB I

I like tomatoes.You like potatoes.He likes broccoli.She likes fruit.It likes milk.We like chocolate.You like dark bread.They like onion and garlic.

We form positive sentences in Present Simple by using the 1st form of the verb. The only element requiring extra attention is the -s ending which we add to the verb following he/she/it (3rd person singular).

Questions

DO / DOES + INFINITVE

Do I like tomatoes?Do you like potatoes?Does he like broccoli?Does she like fruit?Does it like milk?Do we like chocolate?Do you like dark bread?Do they like onion and garlic?

We use DOES (and not DO) for he/she/it and at the same time there is no –s ending with the verb (because it's been transferred to DO => DOES).

Negatives

DON'T / DOESN'T + INFINITVE

I do not = don't like tomatoes.You do not = don't like potatoes.He does not = doesn't like broccoli.She does not = doesn't like fruit.It does not = doesn't like milk.We do not = don't like chocolate.You do not = don't like dark bread.They do not = don't like onion and garlic.

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Again, like with questions, it's important to stress that we use DOESN'T (and not DON'T) for he/she/it and, again, there is no –s ending with the verb (because it's been transferred to DON'T => DOESN'T).

Usage

We use Present Simple when talking about:

1. routine actions, happening with certain regularitye.g. She goes to the cinema once a week. / He often calls me.

2. permanent states (not likely to change) e.g. I live in Bristol / They work together.

3. feelings, emotions, rules, instructionse.g. I love fish and chips! / Water boils at 100°C.

4. future plans presented in the form of timetables, charts, programmes etc.e.g. The film begins at 8. / The train leaves in 5 minutes.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Present Simple:

alwaysusuallyoftensometimesfrom time to timerarelyseldomneverevery (day/week/month etc.)in the morning / afternoon / eveningat nighton Mondays / Tuesdays etc.

11

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

BE + -ING (be in present form = am/are/is)

I am reading a book.You are sitting on the sofa.He is playing the piano.She is making dinner.It is drinking water.We are laughing at her.You are learning English.They are listening to the music.

We form positive sentences in Present Continuous by using the present form of the verb BE (am/are/is) and by adding the -ing ending to the verb.

Questions

INVERSION

Am I reading a book?Are you sitting on the sofa?Is he playing the piano?Is she making dinner?Is it drinking water?Are we laughing at her?Are you learning English?Are they listening to the music?

We form questions in Present Continuous by means of inversion (that is by reversing the word order). In this case, the verb BE swaps places with the pronoun = > I am … becomes Am I ...? The -ing ending remains the same.

Negatives

BE + NOT

I am not reading a book.You are not = aren't sitting on the sofa.He is not = isn't playing the piano.She is not = isn't making dinner.It is not = isn't drinking water.We are not = aren't laughing at her.You are not = aren't learning English.They are not = aren't listening to the music.

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We form negatives in Present Continuous by adding NOT to the verb BE. The -ing ending remains the same.

Usage

We use Present Continuous when talking about:

1. actions that are temporary, not permanent or routinee.g. She is watching a film now. / I'm looking for a job.

2. actions planned for the futuree.g. He's going to France next month.

Extra

Time expressions most commonly associated with Present Continuous:

nowat the momentcurrentlypresentlyat presentthese daysnowadays

13

PRESENT PERFECT

Structure

Positive sentences

HAVE / HAS + III

I have spoken to him.You have seen her.He has contacted me.She has painted the room.It has drunk the whole bowl of water.We have argued 3 times this week.You have lived in Cardiff for 10 years.They have been teachers since 2008.

We form positive sentences in Present Perfect by using HAVE or HAS plus the verb in the 3rd form. It's important to stress that we use HAS with he/she/it (3rd person singular).

Questions

INVERSION

Have I spoken to him?Have you seen her?Has he contacted me?Has she painted the room?Has it drunk the whole bowl of water?Have we argued 3 times this week?Have you lived in Cardiff for 10 years?Have they been teachers since 2008?

We form questions in Present Perfect by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word HAVE / HAS swaps places with the pronoun = > I have … becomes Have I ...? The 3rd form of the verb remains the same.

Negatives

HAVE / HAS + NOT

I have not = haven't spoken to him.You have not = haven't seen her.He has not = hasn't contacted me.She has not = hasn't painted the room.It has not = hasn't drunk the whole bowl of water.We have not = haven't argued 3 times this week.You have not = haven't lived in Cardiff for 10 years.They have not = haven't been teachers since 2008.

14

We form negatives in Present Perfect by adding NOT to HAVE or HAS. The 3rd form of the verb remains the same.

Usage

We use Present Perfect when talking about:

1. actions that happened in the past, but we don't know or it's not important when they happenede.g. She has sorted it out.

2. actions completed in the past but having effect on the presente.g. I have broken my leg (→ I can't walk).

3. actions that started in the past and continue till presente.g. I have lived here since I was little.

4. recently completed actione.g. I have just finished my homework.

5. life experiencese.g. I have never been to Australia.

Extra

Many new teachers often get confused with Present Perfect because they automatically know that it describes a past action so naturally they want to call it a past tense. Unfortunately, the name of the structure and how we use it doesn't always make sense. Just remember that because we use 'have' or 'has' (which we use in the present) it is Present Perfect.

Time expressions mostly associated with Present Perfect:

sinceforhow longnevereveryetalreadyjustso farrecently

15

PRESENT PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

HAVE / HAS + BEEN + -ING

I have been writing this essay for 5 hours.You have been waiting for us for a while.He has been speaking to them since the morning.She has been dancing for 2 hours.It has been standing here since we moved in.We have been discussing this matter for too long.You have been arguing since last night.They have been working here for years.

We form positive sentences in Present Perfect Continuous by using HAVE or HAS plus BEEN plus we add the -ing ending to the main verb.

Questions

INVERSION

Have I been writing this essay for 5 hours?Have you been waiting for us for a while?Has he been speaking to them since the morning?Has she been dancing for 2 hours?Has it been standing here since we moved in?Have we been discussing this matter for too long?Have you been arguing since last night?Have they been working here for years?

We form questions in Present Perfect Continuous by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word HAVE / HAS swaps places with the pronoun = > I have … becomes Have I ...? The rest of the structure (been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Negatives

HAVE / HAS + NOT

I have not = haven't been writing this essay for 5 hours.You have not = haven't been waiting for us for a while.He has not = hasn't been speaking to them since the morning.She has not = hasn't been dancing for 2 hours.It has not = hasn't been standing here since we moved in.We have not = haven't been discussing this matter for too long.You have not = haven't been arguing since last night.They have not = haven't been working here for years.

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We form negatives in Present Perfect Continuous by adding NOT to HAVE or HAS. The rest of the structure (been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Usage

We use Present Perfect Continuous when talking about:

1. actions completed in the past but having visible results in the present, especially when we want to express the cause for the current situatione.g. I have been cooking dinner. (→ It smells of fried onion).

2. actions that started in the past and continue till present, especially when we want to put emphasis on the duration of the actione.g. I have been waiting for you for an hour!

Extra

The usages of Present Perfect Continuous seem a little grey when you first try to understand them. The fact is, there are many times when it can overlap with Present Perfect. The idea is to not stress about it too much. Teach the usage as it is explained here and over time both you and students will start to get a feeling for the difference.

Time expressions mostly associated with Present Perfect Continuous:

sinceforhow long

17

PAST SIMPLE

Structure

Positive sentences

VERB II

I went to the cinema yesterday.You spoke to her 2 days ago.He finished this project last night.She drove home the other day.It stopped raining 2 hours ago.We ran 5 miles yesterday.You flew to India last month.They split up 5 months ago.

We form positive sentences in Past Simple by using the 2nd form of the verb.

Questions

DID + INFINITIVE

Did I go to the cinema yesterday?Did you speak to her 2 days ago?Did he finish this project last night?Did she drive home the other day?Did it stop raining 2 hours ago?Did we run 5 miles yesterday?Did you fly to India last month?Did they split up 5 months ago?

In order to form a question in Past Simple, we use DID at the beginning of a structure. It is very important to stress that the verb form changes from 2nd to infinitive, e.g. He went → Did he go?

Negatives

DIDN'T + INFINITIVE

I did not = didn't go to the cinema yesterday.You did not = didn't speak to her 2 days ago.He did not = didn't finish this project last night.She did not = didn't drive home the other day.It did not = didn't stop raining 2 hours ago.We did not = didn't run 5 miles yesterday.You did not = didn't fly to India last month.They did not = didn't split up 5 months ago.

18

We form a negative structure by adding NOT to DID → DIDN'T. Again, it's very important to note that the verb form changes from 2nd to infinitive, e.g. I went → I didn't go.

Usage

We use Past Simple when talking about:

1. actions that happened in the past and we know exactly when they happenede.g. I read this letter 2 days ago.

2. actions that happened in the past and will never happen againe.g. He wrote 20 books in his life. (he's dead → will not write another book)

3. actions which were our habits in the past but aren't any longere.g. I went to school by bus when I was 7.

4. actions which happened one after another, in chronological ordere.g. He came in, bowed, introduced himself and waited for my questions.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Past Simple:

yesterdaylast (week / month etc.)agothen

19

PAST CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

BE + -ING (be in past form → was /were)

I was reading a book for 2 hours last night.You were sitting on the sofa when I came home.He was playing the piano when she rang.She was making dinner while I was washing up.It was standing here when I saw it.We were laughing at her for 20 minutes.You were learning English and we were learning Spanish.They were listening to the music last night.

We form positive sentences in Past Continuous by using the past form of the verb BE (was/were) and by adding the -ing ending to the verb.

Questions

INVERSION

Was I reading a book for 2 hours last night?Were you sitting on the sofa when I came home?Was he playing the piano when she rang?Was she making dinner while I was washing up?Was it standing here when I saw it?Were we laughing at her for 20 minutes?Were you learning English whilst we were learning Spanish?Were they listening to the music last night?

We form questions in Past Continuous by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the verb BE swaps places with the pronoun = > I was … becomes Was I ...? The -ing ending remains the same.

Negatives

BE + NOT

I was not = wasn't reading a book for 2 hours last night.You were not = weren't sitting on the sofa when I came home.He was not = wasn't playing the piano when she rang.She was not = wasn't making dinner while I was washing up.It was not = wasn't standing here when I saw it.We were not = weren't laughing at her for 20 minutes.You were not = weren't learning English whilst we were learning Spanish.They were not = weren't listening to the music last night.

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We form negatives in Past Continuous by adding NOT to the verb BE. The -ing ending remains the same.

Usage

We use Past Continuous when talking about:

1. actions that were happening in the past at a given point of time (were happening and not happened)e.g. He was dancing all night long.

2. actions that were happening and were interrupted by another action.e.g. She was speaking to me when he rang.

3. two actions happening simultaneously in the paste.g. He was cooking while I was reading.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Past Continuous are the same as the ones associated with Past Simple (in both tenses we know exactly when something happened / was happening).

yesterdaylast (week / month etc.)agothen

21

PAST PERFECT

Structure

Positive sentences

HAD + III

I had spoken to him before you came.You had seen her before she left.He had contacted me before they rang.She had painted the room before she moved in.It had barked at me before it walked off.We had argued 3 times before we split up.You had lived in Cardiff before you moved to London.They had been teachers before they decided to become singers.

We form positive sentences in Past Perfect by using HAD plus the verb in the 3rd form. Please note that the structure is the same for all the pronouns (no exception for he/she/it).

Questions

INVERSION

Had I spoken to him before you came?Had you seen her before she left?Had he contacted me before they rang?Had she painted the room before she moved in?Had it barked at you before it walked off?Had we argued 3 times before we split up?Had you lived in Cardiff before you moved to London?Had they been teachers before they decided to become singers?

We form questions in Past Perfect by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word HAD swaps places with the pronoun = > I had … becomes Had I ...? The 3rd form of the verb remains the same.

Negatives

HAD + NOT

I had not = hadn't spoken to him before you came.You had not = hadn't seen her before she left.He had not = hadn't contacted me before they rang.She had not = hadn't painted the room before she moved in.It had not = hadn't barked at me before it walked off.We had not = hadn't argued 3 times before we split up.You had not = hadn't lived in Cardiff before you moved to London.They had not = hadn't been teachers before they decided to become singers.

22

We form negatives in Past Perfect by adding NOT to HAD. The 3rd form of the verb remains the same.

Usage

We use Past Perfect when talking about:

1. actions that happened in the past before another action in the past (when we want to highlight which action was first). In that situation we will use Past Perfect for the action that happened first (deeper in the past) and Past Simple for the action which happened afterwards.

e.g. I had cooked dinner before I went to school. She contacted me after she had picked up the letter.

Extra

This tense is often used when telling a story. Normally a story is told in the past. So, you are telling your story and you want to talk about something that happened before that point in the story. It's the past of the past!

Time expressions mostly associated with Past Perfect:

before → Past Perfect → before→ Past Simplee.g. He had left before I came.

after → Past Simple → after → Past Perfecte.g. She watched that film after she had read the book.

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PAST PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

HAD + BEEN + -ING

I had been writing this essay for 5 hours before you came.You had been waiting for us for an hour when you realized you got the day wrong.He had been speaking to them for an hour before he realized it wasn't their fault.She had been dancing for 2 hours, that's why her legs ached so much.It had been raining a lot before summer came.We had been discussing this matter for 2 days before he decided to drop the case.You had been arguing for a while before you heard my point.They had been working here for years before they were fired.

We form positive sentences in Past Perfect Continuous by using HAD plus BEEN plus we add the -ing ending to the main verb.

Questions

INVERSION

Had I been writing this essay for 5 hours before you came?Had you been waiting for us for an hour when you realized you got the day wrong?Had he been speaking to them for an hour before he realized it wasn't their fault?Had she been dancing for 2 hours before she felt the pain?Had it been raining a lot before summer came?Had we been discussing this matter for 2 days before he decided to drop the case?Had you been arguing for a while before you heard my point?Had they been working here for years before they were fired?

We form questions in Past Perfect Continuous by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word HAD swaps places with the pronoun = > I had … becomes Had I ...? The rest of the structure (been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Negatives

HAD + NOT

I had not = hadn't been writing this essay for 5 hours before you came.You had not = hadn't been waiting for us for an hour when you realized...He had not = hadn't been speaking to them for an hour before he realized...She had not = hadn't been dancing for 2 hours before she felt the pain.It had not = hadn't been raining a lot before summer came.We had not = hadn't been discussing this matter for 2 days before he decided...You had not = hadn't been arguing for a while before you heard my point.They had not = hadn't been working here for years before they were fired.

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We form negatives in Past Perfect Continuous by adding NOT to HAD. The rest of the structure (been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Usage

We use Past Perfect Continuous when talking about:

1. actions completed in the past and having visible results in the past, especially when we want to express the cause for the past situatione.g. I had been cooking dinner. (→ It smelled of fried onion). She had been running. (→ She was tired a lot).

2. actions that were happening in the past before another action happened in the past, to emphasize the duration of the first action.e.g. I had been waiting for an hour before you arrived!

Extra

This is not the easiest concept to get your head around. Fortunately, we teach this to students with a higher level of English who already have a good understanding of English grammar so don't worry.

Time expressions mostly associated with Past Perfect Continuous are the same as the ones typical for Past Perfect (both express actions that happened or were happening before another action in the past):

beforeafter

25

FUTURE SIMPLE

Structure

Positive sentences

WILL + INFINITVE

I will go to school tomorrow.You will get to know me better.He will learn how to ski.She will climb that mountain.It will fall down.We will be happy forever.You will meet a lot of great teachers.They will pass this exam.

We form positive sentences in Future Simple by using WILL plus infinitive of the verb. The structure is the same for every pronoun.

Questions

INVERSION

Will I go to school tomorrow?Will you get to know me better?Will he learn how to ski?Will she climb that mountain?Will it fall down?Will we be happy forever?Will you meet a lot of great teachers?Will they pass this exam?

We form questions in Future Simple by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word WILL swaps places with the pronoun = > I will … becomes Will I ...? The rest of the structure remains the same.

Negatives

WILL + NOT

I will not = won't go to school tomorrow.You will not = won't get to know me better.He will not = won't learn how to ski.She will not = won't climb that mountain.It will not = won't fall down.We will not = won't be happy forever.You will not = won't meet a lot of great teachers.They will not = won't pass this exam.

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We form negatives in Future Simple by adding NOT to WILL. The rest of the structure remains the same.

Usage

We use Future Simple when talking about:

1. future actions planned spontaneously, at the moment of speakinge.g. 'What are your plans for tonight?' 'I'm not sure really, I think I will go to the cinema'.

2. predictions, beliefs, hopes (not based on specific evidence)e.g. I hope he will come. / I think it will rain tomorrow.

3. promises, warningse.g. I promise I will be home by 12. If you don't come home, I will change the locks!

4. actions planned for future, without being specific when they will happene.g. We will get married one day.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Future Simple:

tomorrowthe day after tomorrownext (week / month etc.)tonightsoonin a (week / month / year etc.)

27

FUTURE CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

WILL + BE + -ING

I will be reading this book.You will be sitting on the sofa.He will be playing the piano.She will be making dinner.It will be raining tomorrow.We will be laughing at her.You will be learning English.They will be listening to the music.

We form positive sentences in Future Continuous by using WILL plus BE and by adding the -ING ending to the verb. The structure looks the same for all the pronouns.

Questions

INVERSION

Will I be reading this book?Will you be sitting on the sofa?Will he be playing the piano?Will she be making dinner?Will it be raining tomorrow?Will we be laughing at her?Will you be learning English?Will they be listening to the music?

We form questions in Future Continuous by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the verb WILL swaps places with the pronoun = > I will … becomes Will I ...? The rest of the structure remains the same.

Negatives

WILL + NOT

I will not = won't be reading this book.You will not = won't be sitting on the sofa.He will not = won't be playing the piano.She will not = won't be making dinner.It will not = won't be raining tomorrow.We will not = won't be laughing at her.You will not = won't be learning English.They will not = won't be listening to the music.

28

We form negatives in Future Continuous by adding NOT to the verb WILL. The rest of the structure remains the same.

Usage

We use Future Continuous when talking about:

1. actions in progress at a certain time in the futuree.g. This time tomorrow I will be taking my driving test.

2. future arrangements (already planned), instead of Present Continuouse.g. I will be going to Leeds this weekend.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Future Continuous are the same as the ones associated with Future Simple:

tomorrowthe day after tomorrownext (week / month etc.)tonightsoonin a (week / month / year etc.)

29

FUTURE PERFECT

Structure

Positive sentences

WILL + HAVE + III

I will have spoken to him...You will have seen her...He will have contacted me...She will have painted the room...It will have finished playing...We will have argued 3 times...You will have lived in Cardiff...They will have been teachers...

We form positive sentences in Future Perfect by using WILL plus HAVE plus the verb in the 3rd

form. The structure looks the same for all pronouns.

Questions

INVERSION

Will I have spoken to him...?Will you have seen her...?Will he have contacted me...?Will she have painted the room...?Will it have finished playing...?Will we have argued 3 times...?Will you have lived in Cardiff...?Will they have been teachers...?

We form questions in Future Perfect by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word WILL swaps places with the pronoun = > I will … becomes Will I ...? The rest of the structure remains the same.

Negatives

WILL + NOT

I will not = won't have spoken to him...You will not = won't have seen her...He will not = won't have contacted me...She will not = won't have painted the room...It will not = won't have finished playing...We will not = won't have argued 3 times...You will not = won't have lived in Cardiff...They will not = won't have been teachers...

30

We form negatives in Future Perfect by adding NOT to WILL. The rest of the structure remains the same.

Usage

We use Future Perfect when talking about:

1. actions planned to take place by certain point in the futuree.g. I will have read this chapter by tomorrow morning.

2. 'anniversaries' at certain point in the futuree.g. Next month they will have been married for 10 years.

Extra

Time expressions mostly associated with Future Perfect:

by beforeuntil

31

FUTURE PERFECT CONTINUOUS

Structure

Positive sentences

WILL + HAVE + BEEN + -ING

I will have been writing this essay...You will have been waiting for us...He will have been speaking to them...She will have been dancing here...It will have been standing here...We will have been discussing this matter...You will have been arguing with her...They will have been working here...

We form positive sentences in Future Perfect Continuous by using WILL + HAVE + BEEN plus we add the -ing ending to the main verb.

Questions

INVERSION

Will I have been writing this essay...?Will you have been waiting for us...?Will he have been speaking to them...?Will she have been dancing here...?Will it have been standing here...?Will we have been discussing this matter...?Will you have been arguing with her...?Will they have been working here...?

We form questions in Future Perfect Continuous by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word WILL swaps places with the pronoun = > I will … becomes Will I ...? The rest of the structure (have + been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Negatives

WILL + NOT

I will not = won't have been writing this essay...You will not = won't have been waiting for us...He will not = won't have been speaking to them...She will not = won't have been dancing here...It will not = won't have been standing here...We will not = won't have been discussing this matter...You will not = won't have been arguing with her...They will not = won't have been working here...

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We form negatives in Future Perfect Continuous by adding NOT to WILL. The rest of the structure (have + been + -ing ending) remains the same.

Usage

We use Future Perfect Continuous when talking about:

1. duration of an action at a certain point in the futuree.g. By next Monday we will have been renovating this house for 3 months.

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ADDITIONAL STRUCTURES

There are some discussions among the experts how many tenses there actually are in English. Is it 12 or should we treat structures that are used for the same purpose as tenses? Regardless of classification, the structures discussed below are very important to the English language and are always introduced to students with the same emphasis as tenses are. There are 3 structures we would like to discuss here: GOING TO DO STH (STH = something), USED TO DO STH, WOULD DO STH

GOING TO DO STH

Structure

Positive Sentences

BE + GOING TO + INFINITIVE

I am going to wash my hair tonight.You were going to call him on Tuesday.He was going to study tonight.She is going to see her doctor in 2 days' time.It is going to fall down.We are going to meet them later.You were going to go to America next week.They are going to visit Japan next year.

As you can see, the structure is only correct when we use the verb BE with the unchangeable GOING TO followed by infinitive of the verb. We can use this structure in many tenses, hence the examples above are in present and past tense (not normally used with future tenses). What is important is to make sure the verb BE is in the right form, present or past. It is only the verb BE that will change depending on the person and tense. The structure GOING TO DO will always look the same.

Questions

INVERSION

Am I going to wash my hair tonight?Were you going to call him on Tuesday?Was he going to study tonight?Is she going to see her doctor in 2 days' time?Is it going to fall down?Are we going to meet them later?Were we going to go to America next week?Are they going to visit Japan next year?

The most important part of this structure is the verb BE. Hence, we form questions by means of inversion, that is by reversing the word order. In this case, the word BE swaps places with the pronoun = > I am/was … becomes Am/Was I ...? The rest of the structure (going to do) remains the same.

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Negatives

BE + NOT

I am not going to wash my hair tonight.You were not going to call him on Tuesday.He was not going to study tonight.She is not going to see her doctor in 2 days' time.It is not going to fall down.We are not going to meet them later.You were not going to go to America next week.They are not going to visit Japan next year.

We form negatives by adding NOT to the verb BE. The rest of the structure (going to do) remains the same.

Usage

We use the structure GOING TO DO STH when talking about:

1. actions planned for the future, when the decision was made before the moment of speakinge.g. I'm going to visit my cousin in Canada next summer. She was going to buy this ticket but he told her she wouldn't get a day off.

2. predictions about something happening in the future which are based on solid evidencee.g.: I think it's going to rain soon. (we can see the dark clouds etc.) She is going to have a baby. (we can see the belly etc.)

USED TO DO STH

Structure

Positive Sentences

USED TO + INFINITIVE

I used to stay up late when I was 18.You used to tell me you love me once a day at the beginning of our relationship.She used to be very naughty when she was a teenager.He used to drive his sister mad when they lived together.It used to stand in the living room.We used to be best friends a few years ago.You used to pick me up on your way to school when we studied together.They used to go to work by train.

As you can see, the structure is very simple – the same for all the pronouns (I, you, he...). All you need to remember is that after USED TO we use the infinitive of a verb.

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Questions

DID + USE TO + INFINITIVE

Did I use to stay up late when I was 18?Did you use to tell me you love me once a day at the beginning of our relationship?Did she use to be very naughty when she was a teenager?Did he use to drive his sister mad when they lived together?Did it use to stand in the living room?Did we use to be best friends a few years ago?Did you use to pick me up on your way to school when we studied together?Did they use to go to work by train?

It is important that your students understand that the structure 'used to' is nothing different than the verb 'use' with the -ed ending typical for Past Simple. As such, we create questions (and negations) the same way as in Past Simple – by means of DID plus infinitive form of a verb → here USE to (instead of USED to). The rest of the structure remains the same.

Negatives

DID + NOT + USE TO + INFINITIVE

I didn't use to stay up late when I was 18.You didn't use to tell me you love me once a day at the beginning of our relationship.She didn't use to be very naughty when she was a teenager.He didn't use to drive his sister mad when they lived together.It didn't use to stand in the living room.We didn't use to be best friends a few years ago.You didn't use to pick me up on your way to school when we studied together.They didn't use to go to work by train.

Again, following Past Simple tense rules, we form negatives by adding NOT to the verb DID, that is by means of DID NOT = DIDN”T. Remember that the ending -ed disappears from 'used to' leaving the phrase 'use to'. The rest of the structure remains the same.

Usage

We use the structure USED TO DO STH when talking about:

1. actions and states that were typical and happened regularly in the past but are not happening any more (old habits etc.)

e.g.: I used to like him. (I don't any more) I used to smoke. (I don't any more)

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WOULD DO STH

This structure has the same meaning as the structure USED TO. That's why, they are always introduced to students together. However, there is a difference in the amount of contexts they can appear in. Structure 'would do sth' is much more limited:

1. it is used to talk only about actions (i.e. activities) that were typical and happened regularly in the past but are not happening any more. We can not express states from the past by means of 'would', e.g.:I would swim a lot when I was young. = I used to swim a lot when I was young.BUTI used to love him a lot. (we can't say that sentence with 'would')I used to be a real trouble maker. (we can't say that sentence with 'would')

2. if we want to use 'would' instead of 'used to', we can only do that in positive sentences. When we want to ask questions or negate something from the past we can only use 'used to'. Would in questions and negatives has a completely different meaning reserved for other parts of grammar.

As you can see, the structure would is reserved only for positive sentences and only for those expressing the real actions. Just to make sure the structure is clear, let's have a quick look at it:

Structure

Positive Sentences

WOULD + INFINITIVE

I would play a lot of tennis when I was 18.You would tell me you love me once a day at the beginning of our relationship.She would take my clothes all the time when she was a teenager.He would drive his sister mad when they lived together.It would stand in the living room.We would act as best friends few years ago.You would pick me up on your way to school when we studied together.They would go to work by train.

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MODAL VERBS

Among all the aspects of grammar, modal verbs seem to be the easiest to teach. All you need to make sure your students understand is that there is a group of verbs which act differently from other verbs.

They are used to give the sentence extra meaning. Structurally, they are also much easier than other grammatical points - they have the same form for all the pronouns, they form questions by means of inversion and negations by means of NOT (with few exceptions which we mention below).

To start with, let's introduce some of the most important modal verbs:

CAN is used to describe the ability to do somethinge.g.: I can swim. / I can't do my homework.

It is also used to make a polite request.e.g.: Can I have a glass of wine?

COULD We use could to describe a past ability to do something (could is the past of can). e.g.: When I was young, I could play computer games for hours.

It is also used to make a very polite request.e.g.: Could I have a glass of wine?

BE ABLE TO like 'can', means to have the ability to do something. Sadly, 'CAN' can't be used in the future (we can't say I will can) so we use 'ABLE TO' (I will be able to)Note that here the form changes depending on the pronoun – it's different for I, you, he etc. (the verb 'be' which is part of the expression changes)e.g.: I am able to do it. / You are able to swim. / She is able to speak German.

MUST we use this when we are obliged or required to do something. It is a very strong word that normally means there should be no other choice or option. e.g.: You must obey the law.

Make sure you explain to your students that we do not create the negative of MUST by means of adding NOT. If we want to negate a sentence with MUST, we have to change MUST to HAVE TO and negate that structure.e.g. I must see him tomorrow. → I don't have to see him tomorrow. I must do this research. → I don't have to do this research.

The negative, MUSTN'T, has a completely different meaning and is used when we are not allowed to do something. e.g.: You mustn't drink and drive. You mustn't smoke in here.

HAVE TO is pretty much the same as 'must' but not quite as strong, see the following example: You must drink water or you will die. You have to clean your room.

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SHOULD We express moral obligation or the right thing to do by means of 'should'. It's notas strong as 'must'. e.g.: I should stop smoking. You should tell him the truth.

We also use 'should' when we want to suggest something. e.g.: You should stop smoking.

MAY/ When we want to suggest that something is possible or we haven't decided yet,MIGHT we can use MIGHT or MAY.

e.g.: I might / may go to the pub tonight. It may / might be raining later.

NEED expresses a requirement or urgent want, something that has become necessary. e.g.: We need to stop for petrol. I need to see him!

NoteThere are other modal verbs, such as: Ought to, Shall, Will, Would, Had better and Used to. They are either less important (because they are not used as often) or they are explained on their own or as part of a different grammar point.

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PASSIVE VOICE

Structure

Students often like passive voice because it is logical. If we were to introduce a pattern for the structure of Passive Voice, we would have to identify 2 of them, depending on the form:

1. BE + III verb form → for all the structures which are not continuous

2. BE + BEING + III verb form → for those structures which are continuous

Regardless of which pattern we need to use, one thing is common for all passive voice structures -we change the word order plus we change the form of a verb (into verb III).

subject-> verb → object to object → verb → subject As we learnt before, in an active sentence (a standard sentence) the subject does the action to the object - Subject → Action → Object e.g.: I drive the car.

In a passive sentence, we change the sentence order putting the object at the beginning of the sentence - Object → Action → Subjecte.g.:

The car is driven by me.

Let's back it up with examples showing active and passive for each tense / structure:

NOT CONTINUOUS STRUCTURES

Active Sentence Passive Sentence

Present Simple

She writes a book every day. → A book is written (by her) every day.

Past Simple

She wrote a book yesterday. → A book was written (by her) yesterday.

Present Perfect

She has written a book. → A book has been written (by her).

Past Perfect

She had written a book before she met me. → A book had been written (by her) before she met me.

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Future Simple

She will write a book tomorrow. → A book will be written (by her) tomorrow.

Future Perfect

She will have written a book by then. → A book will have been written (by her) by then.

Modal Verbs

She can write a book. → A book can be written (by her).She should write a book. → A book should be written (by her).

'Going to' Structure

She is going to write a book. → A book is going to be written (by her).

CONTINUOUS STRUCTURES

Present Continuous

She is writing a book now. → A book is being written (by her) now.

Past Continuous

She was writing a book yesterday. → A book was being written (by her) yesterday.

Present Perfect Continuous

She has been writing a book for 2 months. → A book has been being written (by her) for 2 months.

Past Perfect Continuous

She had been writing a book before then. → A book had been being written (by her) before...

Future Continuous

She will be writing a book tomorrow. → A book will be being written (by her) tomorrow.

Future Perfect Continuous

She will have been writing a book for 2 → A book will have been being written (by her) formonths next Sunday. 2 months next Sunday.

Modal Verbs

She may be writing a book. → A book may be being written (by her).She should be writing a book. → A book should be being written (by her).

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Usage

We use Passive Voice in order to:

1. shift the emphasis from who performed the action into action itself (because we don't know who performed it or because it's obvious or not important)

e.g. My car has been stolen. (we don't know who did it) It is said that she is very talented. (it's not important who says it)

2. be more polite / formal

e.g. It's requested that you do not smoke in here. My cake has been eaten.

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REPORTED SPEECH

We use Reported Speech when we want to say (report) what has been said without quoting the exact words somebody used in the original content. The exact quoting of somebody's statement is called Direct Speech whereas Reported Speech is also known under the name Indirect Speech which literally means we're indirectly saying what has been said.

When talking about Reported Speech, we need to divide it into 3 categories:

1. statements (positive and negative sentences)2. questions3. commands and requests

We will look at each category separately:

Statements

The most common verb we use to introduce somebody's statement is SAY.

Direct speech Indirect (Reported) speech

e.g. „I like you”, she said. → She said that she liked me.

When using Reported Speech, it is important to change tenses / structures accordingly. Think about it, when you are telling somebody what was said by someone else, then they must have said it in the past, so you need to make sure your sentence shows this. Let's have a closer look:

Present Simple → Past Simple„I play the piano”, he said. He said that he played the piano.

Present Continuous → Past Continuous„She is waiting”, he said He said that she was waiting.

Present Perfect → Past Perfect„I have bought this house”, she said She said that she had bought that house.

Present Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous„You have been waiting too long”, I said. I said that they had been waiting too

long.

Past Simple → Past Perfect„I went to see her yesterday”, she said. She said that she had gone to see her the

day before yesterday.

Past Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous„I wasn't cooking when you came”, he said. He said that he hadn't been cooking

when I had come.

Past Perfect → Past Perfect (no change)„I had been there before”, she said. She said that she had been there before.

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Past Perfect Continuous → Past Perfect Continuous (no change)„She had been cooking before then”, I said. I said that she had been cooking before

then.

Will → Would„I will never leave you”, he said. He said that he would never leave me.

„She will not be working tomorrow”, I said. I said that she wouldn't be working the next day.

„They will have been together for 9 years She said that they would have been on Saturday”, she said. together for 9 years on Saturday.

„We will have been building this house for He said that they would have been2 months tomorrow,” he said. building that house for 2 months the

next day.

Can → Could„She can't do it,” he said. He said that she couldn't do it.

May → Might„It may rain tomorrow,” we said. We said that it might rain the next day.

Questions

When reporting questions, we need to remember about the same change of tenses and structures as in statements but, on top of that, we need to make sure that we change the question structure into a positive sentence structure (because when reporting, it stops being a question and becomes a sentence).

To introduce the question we use the verb ASK.


„Can I see you later?”, she asked. → She asked if she could see me later.

„How old are you?”, he asked. → He asked me how old I was.

„Do you have any brothers or sisters?, she asked. → She asked if I had any brothers or sisters.

„Did you do it?”, he asked. → He asked me if I had done it.

As you can see, there are two forms that can follow the verb ASK when reporting questions:

1. ASK IF – when reporting general questions

„Have you seen that movie?”, she asked. → She asked if I had seen that movie.

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2. ASK WHAT / WHEN / HOW etc. - when reporting detailed questions

„When is he coming?”, he asked. → He asked when he was coming.

Commands and requests

In order to introduce commands, we use the verb TELL (followed by TO or NOT TO depending on the message) and to introduce somebody's request, we use the verb ASK (followed by TO or NOT TO), e.g.:


„Open the window', he said. → He told me to open the window.

„Don't touch it”, she said. → She told me not to touch it.

„Please make me coffee”, she said. → She asked me to make her coffee.

„Please don't mention his name”, she said. → She asked me not to mention his name.

As you can see, commands and requests are the easiest to report as you do not have to focus on the change of tenses. It is enough to decide if a certain statement is more a command or a request, use accordingly the right introductory verb and follow with the rest of the message.

Extra

Apart from changing tenses and structures, there are also few words/phrases which require a change when reported. The most important words that your students should know are:

HERE → THERE

THIS / THESE → THAT / THOSE

YESTERDAY → THE DAY BEFORE YESTERDAY

TOMORROW → THE NEXT DAY

TONIGHT → THAT NIGHT

TODAY → THAT DAY

NOW → THEN

LAST (night) → the night BEFORE

NEXT → THE FOLLOWING

AGO → BEFORE

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CONDITIONALS

In general, conditionals are the structures which express something happening under certain conditions / if certain conditions take place. There are 4 main types of Conditionals:

Type 0

Structure: IF + Present Tense, Present Tense

e.g. If you heat ice, it melts.If you heat water, it boils.

Usage: to describe a fact, rule, there is no hypothesis, we just say what is bound to happen under certain conditions

Type 1

Structure: IF + Present Tense, WILL

e.g. If I pass my driving test, I will buy a car.If she calls me, I will help her.

Usage: to describe a situation which is quite realistic to happen in the future if a certain condition is fulfilled. (It's possible I will pass my test and when I do then I will buy a car.)

Type 2

Structure: IF + Past Tense, WOULD

e.g. If I won a lottery, I would buy a big house.If she called me, I would help her.

Usage: to describe a situation which is less possible to happen, it's more of a hypothetical situation, the speaker is aware there is very little chance for it to come true.

Type 3

Structure: IF + Past Perfect, WOULD + HAVE + III

e.g. If I had stayed with her, this accident wouldn't have happened.If she had called me, I would have helped her.

Usage: to describe a hypothesis for the past situation, we know it is impossible to change the past so we say it just to express what we think would or wouldn't have happened in certain circumstances, we are fully aware it's just for the sake of hypothesizing

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WISHES / UNREAL PAST

If we want to express our wishes or regrets about something, the most popular phrases in English are: WISH and IF ONLY. There are strict rules regarding what follows these two and what meaning they carry depending on the structure, see below:

1. WISH / IF ONLY + PAST TENSE

We use this structure if we want to express our wishes / regrets about a given present situation, e.g.:

I wish we were in Italy now. (but we are not in Italy)If only she didn't call me all the time. (but she calls me all the time)I wish I could speak five languages. (but I can't)

2. WISH / IF ONLY + PAST PERFECT

We use this structure if we want to express our wishes / regrets about a given past situation, e.g.:

I wish we hadn't gone to France. (but we went to France)If only she hadn't told him the truth. (but she did tell him)

3. WISH / IF ONLY + WOULD

We use this structure if we want to express our complaint, regrets or requests about a given present situation, especially when we don't think it is likely to happen, e.g.:

I wish he would stop criticising me. If only it would stop raining!

Now, if we want to talk about unlikely (unreal) situations, not necessarily expressing our wishes or regrets, then we can use one of the following structures:

4. I'D RATHER / I'D SOONER somebody

I'd rather you didn't speak about me behind my back. (present situation)I'd rather you hadn't spoken about me behind my back. (past situation)I'd sooner she said it to my face. (present situation)I'd sooner she had said it to my face. (past situation)

5. SUPPOSE / SUPPOSING

Suppose she couldn't speak English, what would you do? (present situation)Suppose he hadn't got that job? (past situation)Supposing he was you uncle? (present situation)Supposing they hadn't committed that crime? (past situation)

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6. AS IF / AS THOUGH

He acts as if he owned that car! (present situation)She speaks as if she had done it before. (past situation)He behaves as though he was my brother. (present situation)She looks as though she had been to sunbed too much! (past situation)

7. `IT'S ABOUT TIME, IT'S HIGH TIME

It's about time he sold his flat. (present situation is the only It's high time we got married. possible with the expression)

The above listed structures as well as Conditionals type 2 and 3 (which we described in detail in a previous chapter), they all have one thing in common – they all use Past Tense to express situations in the present and Past Perfect to discuss situations from the past. That's why, they are all classed into one field called Unreal Past.

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NOUNS

There are lots of definitions of a noun in English grammar, some are more accurate or detailed than others. Your goal, as a teacher, is to introduce this term in the easiest way possible. The simplest way to describe a noun is to explain that a noun is a word which names one of the following:

a person → a singer, an actorthing → a table, a chairplace → a restaurant, a parkanimal → a dog, an elephantabstract idea → friendship, sadness

Regardless of whether it is an animal or a place, it will always be an answer to a question what or who, e.g. :

What is it? → It's a lamp / It's a sheep / It's an office / It's a promise

Who is it? → It's my dad / It's my boss etc.

Singular

Nouns can have two forms: singular or plural. If a noun is describing one thing, then we call it singular. If there is more than one of something, we say it's plural, e.g.

an egg, a cup, an orange, a machine, an actress → SINGULAR

2 eggs, some cups, 4 oranges, 2 machines, few actresses → PLURAL

Plural

In order to create the plural of a noun, we need to add '-s' to its singular form. The '-s' can require a change in spelling, depending on the last letters of the noun. We create plural form of a noun according to the following rules:

1. if the noun finishes with a consonant + y, then we change 'y' into 'i' and add 'es', e.g.:

a ferry → 2 ferriesa lady → 3 ladiesa baby → 4 babies

2. if the noun finishes with a vowel + y, then we simply add 's', e.g.:

a boy → 2 boysa play → 3 playsa toy → 4 toys

3. if the noun finishes with 's', 'ss' 'ch', 'sh', 'x', 'o', then we add 'es', e.g.:

a bus → 2 busesa kiss → 3 kisses

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a brush → 4 brushesa sandwich → 2 sandwichesa box → 2 boxesa potato → 3 potatoes

*** when it comes to nouns finishing in '-o', unfortunately, there are some exceptions to that rule, e.g.:

radio → radiospiano → pianosvideo → videos

4. if the noun finishes with 'f' or 'fe' , then the ending changes into 'ves', e.g.:

a life → 2 livesa knife → 3 knivesa loaf → 4 loaves

*** again, there are some exceptions to that rule, e.g.:

giraffe → giraffesroof → roofs

5. if the noun finishes with any other letter / combination of letters, then we simply create the plural by adding 's', e.g.:

a bike → 2 bikesa car → 3 carstable → 4 tables

There are also some nouns which have a 'so called' irregular plural form. That means that the plural form is different from singular and not created by adding '-s'. The most important nouns with irregular plural form are:

child → childrenman → menwoman → womengoose → geesetooth → teethmouse → micefoot → feetsheep → sheep

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When talking about nouns, it is also important to mention that we can divide them into 2 groups: countable and uncountable nouns:

Countable Nouns

All nouns are basically countable but we classify countable nouns as those nouns which can be counted without any units of measure, i.e. their amount can be expressed directly with a number, e.g.:

1 car, 2 phones, 4 menCountable nouns have both singular and plural form.

In singular, they are preceded by a (if the noun starts with a consonant) or an (if the noun starts with a vowel).

a book, a train, a room, a policeman, a lesson

an orange, an apple, an office, an employee

In plural, they can be preceded by a number or expressions such as: some, few, many, a lot of, e.g.:

There are few cars in the car park.There are 5 tables in this room.Do we have a lot of boys in our group?There are many trees in here.

If we want to ask about the amount of countable nouns, we always use the question form how many?

How many rabbits can you catch?How many girls do you know in here?How many plates shall I bring?

Uncountable Nouns

Uncountable nouns are those nouns which can't be counted without any units of measure, i.e. their amount can't be expressed directly with a number only but they need an extra phrase to describe their amount, e.g.:

1 carton of milk, 2 kilograms of sugar, 3 spoons of honey

Uncountable nouns have only singular form.

In singular, they are preceded by nothing or the following phrases: some, a lot of, much, any, little, no, e.g.:

There is some wine in the cellar.There is a lot of traffic today.Is there much noise inside?

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Do you have any chocolate?I'd like a little sugar please.There is no smoke in here.

Or, if we want to describe a more precise amount, then we use expressions such as:

a jar of I'd like 2 jars of marmalade, please.a bottle of Can I get a bottle of water?a slice of Could you pass 3 slices of ham, please?a bar of I ate 3 bars of chocolate yesterday.a glass of I've only had 3 glasses of wine.a carton of Please get us 2 cartons of milk. a piece of I need a piece of advice.

If we want to ask about the amount of uncountable nouns, we always use the question form how much?

How much milk would you like?How much noise can they make?How much petrol does it take?

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ADJECTIVES & ADVERBS

Adjectives

Adjectives are words describing nouns and sometimes verbs in a sentence. They answer questions: What is it like? / What kind of? If they describe nouns, they appear right before the noun, e.g.:

This is a nice house.She is a pretty girl.They are really handsome boys.I need a very long table.

Typical verbs which go with an adjective are:

look, feel, smell, taste, sound

He looked weird.I feel horrible.They smell nice.It tastes awful.They sound pleasant.

As you can see, adjectives describing a verb instead of a noun come second, after the verb.

Adverbs

Adverbs are those words which describe the verb, we can distinguish a few types of adverbs:

• Adverbs of manner → answering the question How?e.g., She runs fast. / He writes slowly.

• Adverbs of place → answering the question Where?e.g., He lives opposite. / They come from abroad.

• Adverbs of time → answering the question When?They are coming soon. / She came yesterday.

• Adverbs of frequency→ answering the question How often?She always goes by bus. / He never swears.

• Adverbs of degree → answering the question To what degree?She is really intelligent. / I disagree completely.

We usually create adverbs from adjectives, by means of the ending -ly, e.g.:

slow → slowlyhappy → happilyhuge → hugelyincredible → incrediblycomfortable → comfortably

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There are some adverbs which are not formed by means of the ending -ly and they are called irregular adverbs. The most important ones are:

good → wellfast → fasthard → hardearly → earlylate → late

Comparisons

Both adjectives and adverbs are used when we want to compare things. Sometimes we want to compare two things (bigger than) and other times we need to define one thing from a group (the biggest). These structures are called comparatives and superlatives. For example:

Comparatives - comparing 2 thingsMy brother John is older than me.

Superlatives – singling one thing out of a groupMy brother John is the oldest.

Comparisons with adjectives

There are two ways to form a comparative or superlative form of an adjective:

1. by means of endings -er and -est 2. by means of more and the most

Let's have a look at few adjectives and how they change into comparative or superlative:

Positive = I Comparative = 2 Superlative = 3

small smaller the smallestshort shorter the shortestfast faster the fastestlong longer the longestfunny funnier the funniestsloppy sloppier the sloppiestdirty dirtier the dirtiesteasy easier the easiesttolerant more tolerant the most tolerantcomfortable more comfortable the most comfortableexpensive more expensive the most expensiverealistic more realistic the most realistic

As you can see, there are few simple rules we need to remember when explaining it to our students:

1. adjectives that consist of 1 syllable (i.e. are very short) require the ending -er in comparative and 'the' + the ending -est in their superlative form

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2. adjectives which consist of 2 syllables (i.e. are not very short but not very long either) and which finish with -y also require the ending -er in comparative and 'the' + the ending -est in their superlative form (notice that -y becomes -i in spelling)

3. adjectives which consist of 2 syllables not ending in -y or more (i.e. longer words) require the use of more and the most

Comparisons with adverbs

The rules for creating comparative and superlative form of adverbs is exactly the same as the one for adjectives. Again, there are two ways to form a comparative or superlative form of an adjective:

1. by means of endings -er and -est3. by means of more and the most

Let's have a look at few adverbs and how they change into comparative or superlative:

Positive = I Comparative = 2 Superlative = 3

late later the latesthard harder the hardestfast faster the fastestearly earlier the earliestclearly more clearly the most clearlyrapidly more rapidly the most rapidlyrealistically more realistically the most realistically

As you can see, the rules are pretty much the same:

1. adverbs that consist of 1 syllable (i.e. are very short) require the ending -er in comparative and 'the' + the ending -est in their superlative form

2. adverbs which consist of 2 syllables (i.e. are not very short but not very long either) and which finish with -y also require the ending -er in comparative and 'the' + the ending -est in their superlative form (notice that -y becomes -i in spelling)

3. adjectives which consist of 2 syllables or more (i.e. longer words) and which were created from adjectives by means of ending -ly require the use of more and the most

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Irregular Adjectives and Adverbs

As usual, nothing is ever simple or straightforward, there are some adjectives and adverbs which have a comparative and superlative form that does not follow the rules described above. Actually, they do not follow any logical rule! Your students will just have to accept this is another exception to the rule and learn the forms listed below by heart. The most important irregular adjectives and adverbs are:

good better the bestwell better the bestbad worse the worstbadly worse the worstmuch more the mostmany more the mosta lot of more the mostlittle less the leastfar further / farther the furthest / the farthest

Usage

We use comparative form of an adjective or adverb when we want to compare two things or people. In such situation we will use the word THAN after the adjective, e.g.

He is faster than me.She is more beautiful than my sister.He came earlier than you.

We mostly use the superlative form of adjective or adverb with the words IN or OF, e.g.:

She is the tallest in the class.He is the richest man in the world.They are the most arrogant of all the boys here.

We use the positive form of adjective or adverb when we want to say something is or isn't similar or the same as something else, to do that we need to use the structure: AS... AS, e.g.:

He is as short as me.My mum isn't as stubborn as yours.

Extra

If we want to form a comparative or superlative of an adjective which consists of 1 syllable (i.e. is very short) and the last 3 letters follow the pattern: CONSONANT + VOWEL + CONSONANT, then before adding the ending -er or -est we need to double the last consonant, e.g.:

BIG → BIGGERFAT → FATTERMAD → MADDER

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ARTICLES

In English we can find the following articles: A, AN, THE and the so called 'zero article' which we will explain later on. Looking at the above listed articles you can probably guess that articles are those little tiny words which we so often use before nouns and which actually carry no meaning on their own. That's why they are one of the most difficult parts of grammar to teach – they mean nothing, yet are important for the correctness of the language. In lots of languages articles do not exist, which makes it even more difficult for students to understand – their language does not incorporate such a concept!

Let's have a look at the most important rules concerning articles.

Indefinite Articles = A / AN

In the chapter discussing nouns we have already explained what the choice is between A and AN (whether the noun starts with a consonant or vowel). Now let us focus on when we use these two articles:

1. with countable nouns in singular (i.e. when we can count a noun and there is only one of it) when the noun has been mentioned for the first time in the context, that is the person you are communicating it to had not heard about it from you before e.g.:My mother has a brother and a sister. I saw a nice bike today.

2. with names of professions, e.g.:I'm a teacher.She is a painter.

Definite Article = THE

This article can be used with both singular and plural nouns. We use THE in the following situations:

1. when we have already mentioned that thing/person before, it's not news to the listener, e.g.:My brother has a big car. The car is red and white.There are 3 girls in my group – a singer, an actress and a painter. The actress is very tall.

2. with superlative forms of adjectives (already discussed in previous chapters), e.g.:She is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen.

3. with objects that are unique, specific enough so that everybody knows which one we mean, even if we mention them for the first time in the context, e.g.:The sun is shining and the sea isn't rough – what a beautiful day!They are doing research on the possibility of life on the moon.

4. with musical instruments, e.g.I play the piano and he plays the guitar.

5. with nationalities and family names (when we refer to the whole family), e.g.:the French, the British, the Smiths, the Fords

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6. with names of rivers, oceans and seas, e.g.:the Indian Ocean, the Thames, the Mediterranean

Zero Article

We talk about zero article when we mean that nothing should be used with a noun, neither 'a/an' nor 'the'. We use zero article (i.e. nothing) in the following situations:

1. with uncountable nouns and nouns in plural when we mention them for the first time, e.g.:I don't believe in friendship between a man and a woman.There were plenty dogs in the park.

2. with names of meals, e.g.:I haven't had breakfast yet.Have you had lunch?

3. with names of countries or cities, e.g.:We went to London yesterday.Have you ever been to Egypt?

*** however, if the name refers to collective name then we use THE, e.g.: the USA, the UK

Extra

Remember to show your students that articles can change their position in a sentence – they naturally precede a noun, however if the noun goes with an adjective describing it, then the article precedes the adjective, e.g.:

I have a friend called Peter.I have a nice friend called Peter.I have a very nice friend called Peter.I have a very nice and intelligent friend called Peter.


Teacher's Handbook


Introduction

Welcome to Go–Tefl's Teacher's Handbook. We remember vividly how nerve racking standing in front of a group of students can feel, especially in the first few months. Like you, we also went through our own struggles coming to terms with the terminology and the dreaded grammar but we got there in the end and you will too. The emotions and feelings that you have as fledgling teachers (or even thinking about teaching) have been felt by hundreds of thousands of teachers before you. Like them, especially with our help, we are sure you will overcome all the obstacles you are currently worrying over and develop into good teachers who will go out and have great experiences. And you never know, you may even enjoy teaching!

So we have been in your position and have shared the feelings you have, that is why we have decided to put together a Teacher's Handbook. It's a kind of “bible” or guide book for new teachers who are in the process of getting certified or who are out in the first year and coming across problems they are not sure how to solve.

Most teachers find it difficult to remember everything that was taught during their TEFL training. This tool often acts as a quick reminder, it covers all aspects of the course and it's designed to be user-friendly, the idea being you can just pick it up and find the chapter you need within seconds. So enjoy!

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CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

When we talk about classroom management, we usually mean how we control the students generally in the classroom and how we control them when we set up and deliver exercises.

Teaching English as a foreign language has the added complication that students may not have the English skills necessary to understand explanations. Unfortunately, confusion from students can often lead to the teacher losing control of the class, your students will start to ask other students questions in their native language to find out what they should be doing, some may become bored because they don't understand and start chatting or playing with their phones etc. Obviously, trying to regain control of a class is stressful and a lot more difficult than never giving it away, especially for new teachers, so let's focus on keeping it. What is easier? to never smoke or to give up smoking?

If you get into the habit of using our tips, then you will be able to stop a lot of problems before they arise and you will be able to move effortlessly from one exercise to the next, feeling in control the whole way.

Set Up

When you want to start an exercise that involves the students working in smaller groups or pairs, then you need to be able to explain what you want from them. The first part of the process is to assign a letter or number to each student (for example A's and B's or group 1, 2, 3 and 4).

To avoid confusion, walk directly in front of each student, stand still, make eye contact and, once you have their attention, point to them and say “A” or “B” or the group number etc. Most importantly, slow the process down, make sure you make eye contact so they are sure you are talking to them. It may be that you will have to wait a few seconds before they realize you are waiting for them to look at you, that's fine.

Now ask your students to confirm understanding by asking A's to raise their hand (you do this by raising your own hand and saying “A”, then you move to the first A and signal for them to raise their hand).You likewise ask B's (group 2, 3 etc.) to raise their hands.

Movement

The next stage is to get the students to move into their new groups. This is done by moving to the first student (usually an A or group 1) and miming exactly what you want from them whilst explaining in simple words. You then ask them to copy you, making sure that all the other students are paying attention.

Once the first person has moved correctly, you have pretty much just given a demonstration what you want, you then go to the second student and go through the same process. This time, you will see that naturally the other students have understood and so you allow them to start to move into their new positions.

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Topic

In most other situations in life (school, work etc.), we are told to explain exactly what is going to happen and the objectives for doing it. Bad example:“Today, I am going to introduce some grammar, then we are going to practise it with some exercises, then we will have some fun playing some games that involve the grammar. By the end of the lesson, you should be able to understand and have an idea how to use this new piece of grammar. Any questions?”

Unfortunately, with TEFL students this can create confusion. It is a lot of words they may or may not understand or forget so potentially it's going to cause them to get lost along the way or will cause you to lose control.

In TEFL, we much rather prefer to concentrate on giving 'bite-sized' pieces of information. We trim away all the fat and give just enough information they need to be able to complete the next task. Even if the next task is just to move to the other side of the room and sit elsewhere. Once this bite-sized piece is completed, we move on to the next and the next etc. breaking it up into as small a piece of information as possible.

Good example:“OK, A's will speak for 2 minutes about their plans for the weekend”.

Check Understanding

Having successfully assigned and moved the students into their new groups and having explained the next part of the task, the next stage is the most important and one that most teachers form bad habits with.

We want to check that the students understand what we want from them. Naturally, we want to simply ask the question

Bad example:“Do you understand?”

but the problem is that many students feel that they are to blame or are embarrassed if they don't understand so they all nod their heads in affirmation or just look blankly at you. Some will even look you straight in the eye and say “yes” convincingly. Unfortunately, as soon as the exercise or task starts, they will either immediately switch into their native language and ask the other students or they will sit there quietly doing nothing. Either way, the teacher is losing control and productivity and will have to gain control back and waste time re-explaining the task and consequently will lose even more productivity.

The solution is to ask open questions rather then closed questions. So, rather than asking “Do you understand?” where the answer can only be Yes/No (therefore a closed question), we ask questions where they must form their own answers (open questions).

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Good example:

Teacher So who is going to be speaking?1st Student A is going to be speaking

Teacher And what are they going to be speaking about?2nd Student Plans for the weekend

Teacher And how long will they speak for?3rd Student They will speak for 2 minutes.

This way, the students answering the question are confirming they understand but they are also giving the other students a second opportunity to hear the instructions broken down into bite-sized pieces of information.

Timing

Always give a time limit. Students like to know what is expected from them and how long they have to complete the task. But you can be flexible, if you find that your students are still in deep conversation, then you may decide to allow the exercise to continue longer than the 2 minutes. Likewise, before the time is up, you may have a silent room and decide to shorten the time of the exercise.

Give time markers. It is important to give markers as to how much time has passed or is left. It can take a long time for a student to decide what they want to say, translate it (in their head) from their native language into English and get it to their mouth. If you stop before they have time to say what they wanted, it can leave students feeling frustrated. By giving time markers, they are able to manage their own time.

Note: When deciding on how much time to allocate for an exercise, please remember to take into account that lower levels require much more time to say anything so in a 2 minute period a higher level may have exhausted 10 points whereas a lower level student has only managed to say 4 or 5.

Repetition

When you are learning to do something that is complex, one method is to learn through repetition. You can take advantage of this by setting up your classes and exercises in exactly the same way every time. By doing this, your students will understand what you want from them, even if they don't understand the language, because they have done the same thing 3 times before.

Starting & Stopping

When starting or stopping an exercise you should give your students a countdown.

Start: '3, 2, 1, Start'By starting the task this way, you are giving the students an opportunity to 'start switching on' to speaking English rather than abruptly just saying 'Start'.

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Stop: '5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Stop' This is extremely important, especially when it is a speaking task. There may be a lot of people speaking at the same time so the classroom is very noisy. You should never try to compete with your students by shouting so by counting down you give the students 6 opportunities to hear they are about to stop. By walking round the room whilst you are doing it, you also increase the chance that every student has heard they should be stopping.

Seating Arrangements

Most seating arrangements designed for the TEFL classroom have two clear objectives - to help support communication and to help the teacher maintain control.

Objective 1- supporting communication

At the end of the day, we learn a language to be able to communicate in that language. Whether that is by reading, writing, speaking or listening, it still comes down to giving and receiving information. In our classrooms, we teach new words and grammar but also, just as importantly, we want our students to practise their language skills so we set up our classroom to help support that. We need our students to be able to have eye contact with each other and the teacher.

Objective 2 – maintaining control

In any normal classroom maintaining control is important, but in a TEFL classroom we often have the added difficulty that many of our exercises are communication exercises, which means giving away a little of the control to the students. To help manage such situations, it is easier for the teacher if they have set up the lesson where they are able to keep visual contact on the class so that they can quickly see any problems and be able to gain control back easily.

It is especially important to new teachers because, with so many new things to try and think about and all at the same time, having to fight to keep control or even get it back is one less stress we could do without. So with the classroom seating set up in the right way, you are just making your life easier!

Some useful seating plans:

The horseshoe or U-shape

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In an ideal world, we would always have the horseshoe shape. The teacher can easily walk around the middle area, keeping eye contact with all students whilst it also encourages communication and makes everybody feel as though they are equals. You also have middle space to take advantage of.

Sometimes, the shape we set out the classroom is not determined by us. It can be determined by the school you are working in or simply by the size and shape of the room. However, if you are able to keep in mind the objectives and add a healthy dose of common sense, then you are going to be OK.Here are some other good alternatives:

Alternative seating arrangements

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LESSON PLANNING

Lesson planning is the most important tool a TEFL teacher has! Every teacher pretty much goes through the same process, even if they don't know it.

• Some teachers like to write out a formal lesson plan for each lesson. All very structured and organised. If you store each lesson plan in a filing system, possibly on the computer, you are building your own resource bank to refer to in the future rather than having to reinvent the same lesson every time. It saves time!

• Others decide to use course books (or their school does), but guess what - course books are written by experienced teachers using pretty much the same methodology for lesson planning as all teachers use. So, even though the teachers may not be conscious of it, they are planning a lesson when they decide which part of the book they are going to use.

• Some teachers actually believe they don't plan a lesson but in fact they do. They simply go through the mental process of putting a lesson together, using the same format as the first two. The only difference is that it's not written down anywhere, it's done in their head. This is not recommended for teachers unless you are experienced and even then it is good to come up with fresh ideas to keep it interesting.

The planning process is critical to every teacher because it makes sure that your lesson is effective and fun. It also makes you look professional and organized in front of the students. Most importantly, it gives you the confidence to go into the classroom and teach!

The lesson plan

There are 2 lesson plan structures we want to be able to use. The lesson plan that allows us to teach vocabulary and grammar and the skills lesson plan that allows us to practise English skills.

The lesson plan for teaching vocabulary and grammar

The actual methodology behind the basic lesson plan is based on common sense. There are millions of variations on teaching methodology but no matter what terminology you want to use, it pretty much all comes down to the same thing:

We warm our students up, we teach them some new grammar or vocabulary, we practise until we think our students have it nailed and then we give our students an exercise where they can use their knowledge with the language they already have.

Here is a lesson plan example that also shows the various different stages of a lesson and how they are put together to create an effective lesson:

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Time: 45mins

Level: Beginner

Group: Small group of 7-9 year old children

Main theme: Teach body parts

Potential problems: Young students have concentration problems

Solutions: Have a lot of exercises and games planned to be able to change things every 4-5 minutes

Stage Activity Explanation TimingLead-in /Warmer

Simon says – Make the class stand.

Give simple instructions to the class such as “hands on head” by saying and demonstrating the action.

If you start the instruction by saying “Simon says”, then they must copy you but if you don't say “Simon says”, then they must not copy the action.

This exercise gets the children to release energy.

This exercise allows the children to be introduced to the names of body parts they are about to learn. Without needing to understand them, the children are able to play the game.

Once the children have learnt the rules to the game, it can be used regularly.

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Presentation With the students standing, point to a part of the body and say the body part getting the whole group / individuals to repeat.

Point to a part of the body and ask them to tell you what it is. As a group and individually.

The teacher introduces the written name of the body part on the board.Get the students to write them and draw a picture next to them.The students close their books. The teacher points to a word and the students point to the body part and say it.

By showing and repeating, students have a clear visual. Repeating allows them to practise the pronunciation of the word.

This checks how much the student has absorbed. If needs be, you can go back to the previous stage.

This shows that they can link the written word to the body part. You continue until you are happy that most students understand most of the written words.

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4Practice(Controlled)

Matching exercise – in pairs or small groups.

With cards placed face down on the floor, the students must turn 2 cards over and try to match the card with a picture of the body part and the card with the written word of the body part.

If they fail to do so, then both cards are turned back over.

This exercise clearly demonstrates that they understand the pictures and understand how they are written. It's also a fun way of practising.

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Perform(Free)

Draw a monster. Show a monster on the board and ask how many legs, arms, eyes etc. the monster has.

List all the body parts that have been learnt with a number next to each part. Ask the students to draw a monster with that number of body parts.

Head shoulders knees and toes. Sing the song asking the students to point to each part as they sing. Simon says. Repeat the game now they understand the words.

Great fun. And being able to draw the correct number of body parts, they are clearly demonstrating that they understand.

By asking them questions as they are drawing, you can elicit verbally the new words they have learnt.

Fun game to play where they sing along and point.

Teacher doesn't need to point, now the game can be played verbally.

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Lead-in / Warm-up / Icebreaker

Switching from the students' native language to English doesn't happen immediately so we need to give them an opportunity to do this before we start teaching new material.

We may want to revise some material the students should know because we are going to need them to use it later in the lesson.

We sometimes use games, quizzes and fun dynamic exercises to allow the students to release energy or move around, especially if they have been stuck at school or in an office for a long time before the lesson.

Icebreaker examples:

'I went to the shop'

Student 1 starts by saying “I went to the shop and I bought” something that begins with the letter A. Then the next student repeats the sentence including the word chosen by the first student and adds something beginning with the letter B. The next student does the same repeating A, B and then adds C... and so on and so on.

Example:

1 I went to the shop and I bought an apple.2 I went to the shop and I bought an apple and a banana.3 I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a banana and a cat.4 I went to the shop and I bought an apple, a banana, a cat and a dinosaur.

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The game can be made more challenging by adding an adjective also starting with the relevant letter.

For example: an aggressive alligatora barking beavera crazy cat

'Famous people'

You will soon learn that inspiration for English exercises can come from all weird and wonderful places. A regular warm-up game is the classic students' beer drinking 'post it' game. Students write the name of a famous person on a 'post it' and stick it on the forehead or back of the person to their left (it's obviously important they make sure the person hasn't seen what they have written). Each person has to ask other people 'yes or no questions' until they are able to guess the name.

Example:

Student 1 Student 2

Am I a man? YesAm I British? NoAm I American? YesAm I an actor? YesAm I handsome? Oh yes.Am I Brad Pitt? Yes, well done!!

'Name game'

The students stand in a circle. The teacher introduces a ball which he throws to the first student. When the student catches the ball, he says his name and then throws it to another student who says their name as they catch the ball and so on.

Change 1When the students are more comfortable with the names of the group members, the goal is to say the name of the person you are going to throw the ball to.

Change 2The change is that when you catch the ball you must say the name of the thrower of the ball.

'Contacts'

With all the students standing a safe distance from each other, the teacher shows that he or she has two contacts with the ground i.e. 2 feet. The teacher then demonstrates 7 contacts by placing one hand down and showing 2 feet and 5 fingers. The teacher then asks the students to show any number of contacts with the ground. The teacher can make the rules as tight or as imaginative as they want. Do we count hair? It's up to you!!

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'Call my bluff'

The teacher writes 3 interesting facts about their life. Depending on your preference, 2 of the facts can be true and one false or 2 of the facts are false and one is true. The students then must interrogate the teacher and collectively decide which sentence is true or false.

Once the students understand how the game is played, they can create their own facts and each warm-up the teacher can invite a student to present their facts and ask the other students to guess.

What is important for this game is that the sentences are as interesting as possible.”I have a cat called Tom” will not provoke much interest from the students.

'Hot seat'

The teacher splits the students into equal groups (2 or more groups depending on the number of students). The teacher then places chairs (one for each team) facing away from the white board. Once the classroom is set up, the teacher invites students to gather around their assigned chair and have one student sat in the chair (the hot seat).

The teacher then asks each group to come up with a team name. Once each team name has been written on the board, the teacher explains that they will write a word or a sentence on the board. As soon as they hear 'Go!', the group has to explain the word to the team member sat in the hot seat who is not able to see the white board.

The rules are that they are not allowed to say part or all the word on the board. They are not allowed to use actions, they are only allowed to try and explain it using words. The winner is the team that gets the team member in the hot seat to say the word.

Keep score and make it competitive by changing the value for the last point so that each team still has the opportunity to win – therefore is motivated to keep playing.

'If I won the lottery'

With students sat in one large group. The first person starts by saying a sentence starting with “If I won the lottery”. They finish the sentence however they want. The next student has to start their sentence with the end of the previous student's sentence. As the students pass the sentences from one to the next, eventually a story appears, being told by the students.

For example:

Student 1 If I won the lottery, I would buy an exotic island.Student 2 If I bought an exotic island, I would build a big expensive mansion.Student 3 If I built a big expensive mansion, I would invite lots of famous people to stay.Student 4 If I invited lots of famous people to stay, I would have parties all night.Student 5 If I had lots of parties with famous people, I would become famous.Student 6 If I was famous, my mansion would appear on MTV Cribs.

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Analysing each warm-up

You will each find that each game and exercise, including icebreakers and warm-ups, have their benefits and concerns depending on a variety of factors. If you know which question to ask yourself when designing your lesson, then you will find most of it is common sense. Some example questions:

What level of students am I teaching?Quickly check that the difficulty level of the language used is suitable for the level of students.

What age of students am I teaching?Will my children be bored playing Call my bluff or will my adults be embarrassed to play Contacts?

Will it create safety issues?Is the amount of movement involved in the warm-up suitable for the size of classroom and amount of students. Does the age of students play an issue?

Will it be difficult to control?Will I lose control of the classroom with this group of students and this game. How will I make sure I am in control?

How will I explain it?Is it easy to explain? Can I use examples or pictures? will the students understand the words I need to use to be able to explain it?

Are there any cultural issues to be aware of?Will the exercise make my students feel uncomfortable or embarrassed by participating?

Presentation Stage

The presentation stage has two key parts. The introduction of the new words or grammar and the necessary drilling to be sure that students understand and/or can clearly pronounce the new material.

Introducing material is the key to being a good teacher. It is the same as most things in life. If you don't get it right the first time, then the student might end up confused about something or if you are not careful, they might start to develop a bad habit which becomes so much more difficult to correct later on.

The good news is that if you are well prepared and you apply common sense, then being a good presenter is actually not too difficult.

The most important thing to remember is that many of our students don't really have that much English to be able to understand verbal explanations. Think about it. Try to explain one word using very simple words. What happens is that if you are not careful, then you end up confusing the students with the complexity of the explanation and digging a hole for yourself.

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Bad example:

Happy “Happy is an emotion” or “ Happy is what you are feeling “ (Oops! they definitely won't understand emotion or feeling if they don't know happy yet!)

As you can see, a simple word, such as happy, becomes a minefield. That is unless you apply some common sense and don't rely on words for explanations.

Good Example:

Happy They are happy

The example shows that if you rely on common sense, then common sense would tell you that the easiest way to explain happy is clearly not by a verbal explanation but to mime being happy or to show a picture of someone being happy.

That is the simple key to being good at introducing new material. Before each lesson, you decide on the new material you want to teach. Then, you decide on what would be the best way to explain the new material and you prepare for it.

Here are some of the more common ways in which we introduce new material:

Mime

Verbs or “action words” are often best introduced through mime. It is always much easier to show driving as an action than to explain it. Words are often very difficult to remember on their own. But, science has proven, if you are able to link the word to something like an action, picture or emotion, then they are memorized easier and for longer.

Mime also has the added advantage that it is easier to get the students involved. With you acting out the mime the student often feels more comfortable doing the same.

Pictures

The saying “a picture paints a thousand words” is never truer than in a TEFL classroom. Previously, you would have to have a good library of books or develop an artistic flair for drawing. These days though, with tools such a Google images, you are able to jump on the internet and in 10 minutes have clear pictures that explain clearly the material you are trying to introduce. It's not cheating, it is just common sense!

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Realia

Sometimes the easiest way to explain something is to show it or a prop of it. Some groups of words are easier if you just show them.

When I want to explain under or on , then I take a pen and first put it under the book and say “The pen is under the book”. I then move the pen onto the book and say “The pen is on the book”. The method is very, very clear and difficult to confuse the students.

Words

Please don't think you absolutely can't use words to explain something. Just be aware that it should be used more as a last resort. Some words are impossible to show by mime or picture because they are not physical objects but abstract concepts. This is when we use words.

Using simple words to explain another word is a skill. It doesn't come over night, it takes practice to perfect it. Even really experienced teachers don't get it right every time. They learn to read the student and if they think their explanation failed, they are comfortable to try again and again. They remember the best way to describe the word for next time they are in the same situation.

Most importantly

Nobody says you have to decide on one method to introduce new material. It could be that the first new piece of vocabulary is easier to explain using a picture but the next word is best described by miming. That is completely fine.

Even more importantly, you can use more than one method to introduce new material. You could combine a picture, a mime and a verbal explanation to explain the word.

For example:Driving – Show a picture of a man driving, mime a man driving a car (whilst making noises)

whilst giving a verbal explanation.

Drilling

Drilling is a fundamental part of introducing new material, especially when teaching students who are of a lower level. Drilling is the process of getting the students to repeat the word until you are satisfied they can pronounce it correctly and they understand it. Students of higher levels may not need to be well drilled, simply repeating a few times may be enough. Over time you will be able to judge how much drilling is needed.

Important warning

Drilling has the possibility to be really enjoyable to the student or equally mind numbing. There are some simple rules to follow that can help you steer on the side of fun and avoid boring.

Tempo and energy – You should drill as fast a possible whilst still maintaining control. You need to use lots of energy. One tip is to keep varying the order in which you ask the question so that you keep the whole group on their toes and listening.

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Know when to finish – Drilling should be challenging as well as high energy. As soon as the students find the material you are drilling easy, then it quickly becomes boring and perhaps tedious. Keep an eye out for how easy the students are finding it. Even if your lesson plan says 5 minutes and they have got it after 2 minutes, move on!

The process for drilling is similar whether you have introduced the word with a picture, realia or mime:

• Introduce the first word• Start by getting the group to repeat the word in chorus• Pick students individually to repeat the word• Introduce the second word• Start by getting the group to repeat the word in chorus• Pick students individually to repeat the word• Add the first word and pick students to repeat either word by showing the relevant mime,

picture or realia associated with the word• Introduce the third word• Start by getting the group to repeat the word in chorus• Pick students individually to repeat the word• Add the first and second word and pick students to repeat the word by showing the relevant

mime, picture or realia associated with that word

And so the process continues until you have 5-8 words being revised and drilled at the same time.

Another alternative is for one student to say the word and the selected student has to connect the relevant mime, picture or realia object to the word

Practice Stage

The practice stage pretty much explains itself by the title. We have introduced the material and drilled it until we are happy, they understand it and know how to use it (including pronunciation). The next stage is to practise using this new material correctly.

What we want from this stage is to provide the students with an exercise or two that allows them to practise the material in a controlled way. It is important that there is a right and wrong answer so the students have something concrete to hold on to. By completing the exercise well, the teacher will be left in no doubt that they digested and understood the material and, more importantly, a successful controlled practice helps build the confidence of the students so they feel they can use it.

There are many different types of exercises we can use for this stage but, as long as the students are directly challenged on the new material, your imagination is your only limitation. Listed over the next few pages are some of the more standard exercise types that can be adapted and manipulated in a variety of ways to better suit your needs.

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Gap fill

The gap fill. This is something you may remember from your own language lessons. It is pretty universal. It may seem a little boring and dry but many students enjoy it because they understand exactly what they need to do to be successful.

All you need to do is give each student a copy of the exercise (or sometimes you want them to work in pairs).

You explain what they need to do, checking that they understand all the words in the text before they start. Very often you do not need to spend a lot of time on the instructions because the students quickly get used to such exercises so they know what they need to do.

Once they have completed the exercise, you need to go through each answer. Ideally, you want to ask a student to read the whole sentence with the answer in place.

Example:

Please put the highlighted words into the sentences below.

waiter bill reservation tip dessert main course

1. It was John's birthday so Sophie made a ________________ at his favourite restaurant.2. The service was very good so they gave the waiter a ___________ of $10.3. John ordered soup for his starter and spaghetti for his _______________.4. The_____________ brought the drinks to the table. 5. Because it was John's birthday, Sophie paid the __________________.6. John ordered strawberry ice cream but Sophie didn't want ___________ because she was

full.

Matching

Matching is a very valuable exercise for TEFL teachers because it is very flexible. It is easily adapted to the age and level of the student. It can be designed as an exercise to be completed individually, in pairs or even in small groups.

The standard matching exercise has a column of words on the left side of the sheet of paper and a second column on the right side. Very simply, the student is required to draw a line from the word in the left column that matches the word in the right column.

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Example:

waiter sweet food you eat after the main course

dessert a man who serves food in a restaurant

tip food eaten between starter and dessert

make a reservation to book a table before you arrive at the restaurant

main course a piece of paper that tells you how much money the meal cost

bill money you give to the waiter when you are happy with the food and service

Example for children:

sun

rain

wind

Variations:

• for younger students you can have the words in the left column and a picture of each object in the right column

• you could replace the definition in the right column with examples

• you can put each word and definition on cards and play Pairs. This is the game where all the cards are turned face down. Each participant takes a turn to turn 2 cards over. The idea is to remember what other participants turned over and try to turn over the 2 matching cards.

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Scripted role play

Splitting the group into pairs, you give one student in the pair a card to play the waiter's role and the second person in the pair the card to play the role of the customer in the restaurant. You then ask them to “act out” a situation in a restaurant.

Depending on the level of the students, you can even add a little challenge by putting the information in random order so the students show understanding by being able to pick the correct question and answer to go next (example customer’s card).

Waiter's card

• Good evening.• Do you have a reservation?• Here is your menu.• Would you like any drinks?• What would you like for starter?• What would you like for main course?• Would you like a dessert?

Customer's card• Can I have pizza and lasagne.• (will you leave a tip?)• Can I have soup and salad.• Can I have the bill, please.• Can I have strawberry ice cream and chocolate cake,

please.• Can I have a table for 2, please.• Good evening.

Perform stage

Now that we have introduced new material, practised to make sure our students know how to use it properly, then the next step is to consolidate this newfound knowledge. We want to integrate it with the knowledge we already have and whilst we are at it, we can improve confidence and fluency. This is the main role of the perform stage.

Differing from the other 2 stages, the teacher moves away keeping control of the class and starts to give the students some freedom. Before we tried to make sure everything was clearly right or wrong, whereas here we want more fluidity.

As a teacher, you want to be able to give the students an activity for them to control and manage whilst you can become the assessor or facilitator.

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Some examples of the types of exercises that could be included in this stage are:

Role play

Rather than telling the students exactly what they need to say (like a scripted role play), here we only give them the premise or the situation and allow them to take the role play in whichever way they seem fit. Often people try to be funny or it may turn out different to how you originally planned. As long as they are using English, using the new material and not being rude to anyone, then you can allow it.

Example:

After a lesson looking at vocabulary relating to character traits, I set up a role play situation of job interviews. I make one group the interviewers and the other group the interviewees. Sometimes I decide to twist the story to make it an interview for the job of evil dictator. Normally everyone has fun, speaks English and even uses the new material.

Create / Design

Putting the students into groups you can give them the task of designing something and presenting their idea to the class. Depending on the age, their likes and the theme of the lesson you can be creative.

Some Examples:

Create an idea for a Hollywood blockbuster.Create your fantasy island.Create a new chocolate bar.Dragons den - create a new invention.

Hierarchy exercises

These kinds of exercises are great for increasing fluency. They involve giving the students a list of things and asking them to pick the most important or to rank them from least to most important. People naturally have different opinions and start expressing them with this kind of exercise. This exercise can be organised for pairs, small groups or even the class as a whole. It normally finishes with the ideas being presented to the whole class.

Example:

You tell the students they have crashed on a desert island. As the plane is burning they have the opportunity to go back and take things that may help them escape or survive on the island. You give a list of 12-15 items such as knife, rope, compass etc. Because they can't be sure how much time they have until the plane explodes, they must take the list an decide on an order of most important to least important.

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Skills based lessons

Here is the biggest secret in TEFL and one of the reasons why it is the best job in the world. Sometimes you don't even have to teach anything!! Think about it. What use is learning new words and grammar all the time if you don't have speaking, listening, reading or writing skills good enough to be able to use them effectively? So, to keep the balance, we design lessons that focus on improving these skills.

The problem often is that we feel as though we are conning our students. They pay a lot of money to have English lessons and learn new things. But it's not a con, you are not cheating anybody, skills based lessons are as legitimate as any other lesson.

There are 3 main parts to learning a language. Without all of these parts developed, it is difficult to be an effective English user. The parts are:

Accuracy Using the right vocabulary and grammar in the right way. Including pronunciation.

Fluency The speed it takes for the student to get what they want to say from the brain to the mouth. It is often very difficult to listen to people when they are continuously pausing mid-sentence or stuttering.

Confidence If a student is not confident, then they will go out of their way to avoid situations where they might have to use English. All that knowledge will be wasted as the student will be reluctant to use it.

Normal vocabulary and grammar lessons are mostly based around accuracy. The presentation and practice stages are about explaining it, pronouncing it and making sure the student uses it correctly. This pretty much takes care of the accuracy part to learning a language but the fluency and confidence aspects are just as important. Sure the perform stage helps, but it isn't enough on its own. That's the beauty of skills based lessons, not only do they help improve the skills but they help with confidence and fluency.

The 4 skills are:

Receptive ProductiveReading WritingListening Speaking

Generally speaking, students often find writing and reading the easier of the skills because they have more time to think about it and analyse. Whereas the listening and speaking skills are immediate and there is usually no chance to prepare.

Although we base a skills based lesson around one skill, naturally the other skills come into play. If I set a reading exercise, then I will naturally explain the task verbally and ask my students questions, incorporating the speaking skill.

When planning skills lessons, we try to avoid writing lessons unless our students are preparing for exams that will ask them to write. It would be a waste of your valuable time if your students are sat there writing rather than doing it for homework and you correcting it for them. Keep to the other skills.

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The skills lesson structure:

Lead-in

Everything in a skills lesson is going to be themed. In the lead-in, we try to introduce the context that the main lesson will have. For example, if the theme of my lesson was films, I would ask my students to tell me their favourite genres of films and then their favourite film.

Pre-teach

Although the main goal for the lesson is not to teach anything new, we have to make sure the students have the knowledge to be able to complete the task.

In the pre-teach, we try to elicit information from the students and ask them to explain things because our goal here is not ultimately to teach them but to make sure they know it and fill in the gaps if they don't.

Set up / Check understanding

During the set up, we explain the main task, issuing the relevant questions they have to answer at the end of the task (if there are any). Get the students to read the questions aloud if possible.

Checking understanding is key. Make sure the students know what you want them to do. The same as with a concept check, it requires open questions. Get them to repeat the questions they might have to answer to confirm they understand them.

Do activitySet up the activity and control the class depending on what the activity dictates. It could mean controlling the CD player or laptop or moving around the classroom, making sure the students are 'on task'. You may need to think about corrections as well. The more active and interactive the teacher is, the better the activity will flow.

Feedback If there are any questions we gave the students to answer, this is the stage that we go through the answers and discuss them. Alternatively, it could be when we ask the groups to present the results of their task to the class and we decide on a winner.

Follow-on activity This activity should be themed with the rest of the lesson. It doesn't need to be the same skill as the main activity and very often is based around speaking.

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Ideas for Reading Lessons

There are no limits to the resources you could use for your reading lessons. Just always remember to apply a little common sense when deciding what is suitable. The hardest thing to start with is that, as new teachers, you are not yet fully up to speed with being able to look at a text and being able to assess if it will be suitable for a certain level. This will come over time and to start with there are plenty of resources where that has been already done for you.

Where to get suitable texts for reading

The BBC - http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

The BBC have a pretty good program for English learners. On their site, you will find various current news stories delivered through a complete range of media – text, video podcast. They are great because they have already graded the language in the story to suit a specific level.

One Stop English http://www.onestopenglish.com/

Whether you decide to pay and become a member or just access the free lessons they offer, this site is fantastic for reading lessons. They take fairly current stories and design a whole lesson around the article whilst making sure the language suits a specific level. Ideal for the lazy teacher and even better as a back-up to keep in a file in case something goes wrong in a lesson and you need something to turn to.

Other sources:

Newspapers – obviously broad sheets may have too difficult English and the ”red tops” may be a little sensational for some groups. As a general rule, local newspapers that also try to report on national and international news are pretty middle of the road and a TEFL teacher's best bet.

Articles – The internet is full of ezines or article sites. In fact, some of the more popular sites really control the quality of content allowed on them and are a great resource. All you have to do is choose a relevant topic.

Lyrics – there is no better place to practise using very natural language than the lyrics of songs. Be careful on the songs you choose and be aware that you are going to have to explain the odd metaphor or deal with the fact that some song writers take a lot of artistic license, hence the language they use may not always be grammatically correct. But it's fun and students enjoy it.

Books – If you take your standard Hollywood cop book, then you will usually find that, besides some of the technical terminology, the book is probably readable at intermediate (B1) level and above.Penguin publishers http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com// have great books. They basically take the latest book and some of the classics and they change the language to adapt it for the various language levels. So you could be getting your pre-intermediate students to read 'Crime and Punishment'.

The most important thing is to understand that it is actually only your imagination that is stopping you. Take the time to look on the internet and you will find a whole world of opportunity.

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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/

http://plrcatalogue.pearson.com//

http://www.onestopenglish.com/

Ideas for Listening Lessons

Listening exercises have advanced drastically over the last few years. The idea has finally taken hold that what students need isn't standard English, the Queens English or simple English. What is most important is that they hear natural English. That means giving them the opportunity to listen to the variety of accents we have in native English-speaking countries. Think of the accents in the UK alone!!

But it's not just that, these days it is just as important for your students to practise hearing French, Indian or Chinese people speaking English. The world is a small place and English is the language of science, business, medicine and tourism. For example, a German person will use English to communicate with his/her Spanish contractor. Most nationalities have their own issues and quirks with English pronunciation so it is important your students become accustomed to them.

Similar to reading lessons, there are an abundance of different resources to build a listening lesson around. Be open-minded and take the time to look on the internet. Technology is starting to play a more and more significant role in the classroom so resources such as YouTube become really useful.

Some ideas

Standard recorded scenarios / conversations Incorporated into nearly every course book are the standard recorded scenarios. The difference is these days they are actually pretty good! They are great because they are real situations, they have already started to use different accents and they have even added realistic background noise to add authenticity.

Songs WINNER WINNER WINNERI don't think I have met many students who don't like using songs as listening exercises. The skill is finding a song the students are interested in but also matches the language level of the students. Remember it is not what you like. For kids think of Shakira, for older students go back in time to songs they were interested in during their youth.

Using one of the million lyric sites on the internet, you can take the lyrics and put them onto a Word document (please make sure you pick the lyrics that match the exact version of the song you are going to be playing). Then, you blank out words in the text, replacing them with a line for the student to write the word into. Normally, one space on each line or one every 2-3 lines, depending on the level of students and the complexity of the song. Then, you play the song 2-3 times, asking them to fill in the missing spaces.

Films / SeriesUsing YouTube and similar sites, you have access to short films. Here you can find clips of comedy sketches or classic movie scenes. There is actually more relevant content than you have ideas for, it's just a matter of researching and testing what will work.

These days publishing companies have caught on and have started to produce special packs for TEFL classrooms. You can have the DVD box set of popular or classic TV series together with the script already partitioned into lessons and accompanying comprehension questions and tasks associated with the part of the episode they have just watched. It's both enjoyable and realistic.

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Ideas for speaking lessons

The fact that the only criteria for a speaking lesson is that the students communicate together and hopefully have fun, means the possibilities are endless. There is a skill to designing a speaking lesson. You have to remember that a lot of students don't really like speaking in the classroom, it's the fear of having no time to prepare or for their peers to hear them make mistakes and worse still get corrected. The skill is making the theme to the lesson something that is going to interest them or at least provoke them. If you manage to take their focus away from the fact they are speaking English and divert their attention to what they want to say, then you are on to a winner.Remember that there is little difference between the perform exercises that we have covered and a speaking skills lesson.

The re-enactment of real life situations

Some of the best exercises are taken from real life situations. Why not set up an exercise at the doctors when patients come in with made up symptoms and, with one of the students playing the role of doctor, they have to make up a diagnosis and treatment. A form of speed dating is a great game. Each person makes up a list of 5 questions whilst you set the classroom up to mimic speed dating. Then the students take it in turns to answer each others' questions and then move on to the next. The exercise can finish with each person deciding who gave the best answers to the questions they asked.

The Alibi game

An absolute classic game that works for any student who has started to learn how to speak in the past or who just needs the practice. The teacher starts by splitting the students into groups (as equally as possible). The teacher then explains the game. One person from one group is suspected of committing a serious crime last night. The suspect has said they were in a restaurant with their friends at the time of the crime (the rest of the group the suspect is in, are the friends the suspect was allegedly with at the restaurant). The other group are now told that they are the police and are about to interview the suspect and friends to try and find out if their alibi is true.

You then give each group time to come together as a group. The suspect group tries to come up with the perfect alibi whilst the Police try to come up with a list of questions that are going to spot the lies in the story (it is important that you tell the suspect group that at no point can they say they don't remember or they were too drunk). Once each group is adequately prepared, you then get the Police to spread out around the room and have 1 person from the suspect group sit opposite them. All interviews take place at the same time. Once the interviews are finished, then the Police get back together, compare answers and report to the whole class if they have found any holes in the stories.

The news

You can simply get the group to make a news program as a class. They must assign roles for the anchorman and woman, who is going to prepare the news stories, who is going to be the sport journalists and weather forecaster. Perhaps there are outside journalists who are interviewing people for the various news stories? Basically, you sit back and facilitate as they come up with the complete news and then perform it to you at the end of the lesson.

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MAKING CORRECTIONS

Don't be fooled, correcting mistakes is a fundamental part of being a teacher. The essence of a TEFL teacher is to be able to teach new stuff as well as to practise the stuff they should know and to make sure they are using it and saying it correctly.

The first thing you need to do is to get comfortable with the concept of correcting. Correcting is not rude, it's your job. Your students actually want you to correct them and start to get upset if they feel a teacher is not correcting them enough. So you don't need to worry, you are not offending anybody.

You need to start tuning in. In the UK, with such a variety of nationalities and with a wide spectrum of English ability, a lot of us have got used to hearing imperfect English. Literally, as long as we understand what's being said to us, we sometimes don't even register any mistakes.

There is a slight difference between a mistake and an error. A mistake is something we all make, even in our own language. You can recognise a mistake by the fact that we clearly know that it's wrong and as soon as someone highlights it, we are able to self-correct. An error, on the other hand, can be classified as:

• a mistake that the student thinks is actually correct• a mistake the student makes because they don't know the correct form so they just guess• a mistake the student often makes. They know the correct form in theory but they can't seem

to use it correctly in practice.

What to correct

When teaching a PPP lesson, the teacher should focus on correcting the structures being taught. Remember, it is much harder to change a bad habit than it is to create good habits. You also need to keep an eye on mistakes that really make it difficult to understand the speaker, e.g. because the wrong word is used or the pronunciation is too poor to be able to recognise what is being said.

When to correct

During a PPP lesson, when we correct is important. There are two main types of correction:

Instant We immediately correct the mistake. This is vital during the present and practice stages, where the students are learning the new material and learning how to use it correctly. Here it is important that students are accurate.

Delayed We wait until the exercise is over before we correct. This is the main strategy used during the perform or production stage. Here, we are trying to improve the students' fluency and confidence and we think that interruption will cause them to lose their thought process and confidence.

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How to correct

During the presentation and practice stages of a PPP lesson, we focus on teacher correction because we are pretty sure they don't know the material or are just learning it. But, during the perform part of a PPP lesson and during a skills lesson, we have more correction methods available to us. Generally, the method we use to correct depends on the type of mistake.

If we feel that our student believes they are speaking correctly or guessing the correct word or structure, then we rely on either teacher correction or peer correction.

If we are confident that the student knows or should know what the correct word or structure is, then we use self correction techniques.

Self-correction prompting

Stage 1 – the face

When we want the student to self-correct, we look at the student, making eye contact, and then we 'make a face'. The face should signal to the student that something they said wasn't quite right. Often, the face can be described as similar to unexpectedly eating something sour like a lemon. If you make the face every time the students make a mistake, then they will quickly learn what it represents and will replay what they have just said (in their head).

Stage 2 - repeat the mistake

Next we repeat the sentence with the mistake in but make the tone questioning. If the student is not sure, we repeat the sentence again, this time really emphasizing the word that is wrong.

Stage 3 – breakdown the word

Once we have given our look and repeated the sentence accentuating the mistake, we then start to give the word each syllable at a time, waiting for the student to jump in and finish the word. For example, the teacher says “ My father likes pho.......to..........gra..........phy”

You will find that nearly every student has the odd word or structure they just can't seem to learn or use properly. They understand what it is and how it's said but it just doesn't seem to stick and the student can't seem to remember. You can help them by identifying the problem every time they say it so they get plenty of practice at correcting it. Things to look out for are:

3rd person S He like_ fishHe/She (my father) she likes fishHave/ Has (my father ) he have a fish

Written corrections

The idea that self-correction, rather than teacher correction, is the most effective stands to be true when correcting written work. You start by taking a pen that is of a different colour than the colour the work was written in. (Red is obviously traditional but these days some people consider red to be

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too aggressive and have taken to using friendlier colours). Ideally, you want to be able to highlight the mistake by underlining the word or sentence (perhaps writing a hint in the margin) and giving it back to the student to self-correct. Then you correct the corrections they have made.

Bear in mind that a page full of red ink is pretty disheartening to a student. It may be that you decide to select some of the more important or bigger mistakes and leave some of the smaller ones to pick up next time.

WarningIf you have a class of students that are comfortable with each other, then you may rely on peer correction for both verbal and written corrections. It is a great tool as they learn to analyse themselves and each other. Please be aware that there are some cultures that are really uncomfortable being corrected by their peers as well as that some people will feel uncomfortable correcting someone they consider to be in a position of respect or authority (a boss or an older student).

Correcting pronunciation

With so many things happening at the same time, it can often be difficult, especially in the first few months, to keep on top of everything. One of the things that often get lost in the confusion is correcting. A tip to prepare yourself for being able to correct is to have in your head the kind of mistakes you are going to hear. This is really easy to do when it comes to pronunciation problems. Most nationalities have their own battles with English pronunciation. As a teacher you can help yourself by researching on the internet what the normal problems are. Simply type in the search engine “Chinese pronunciation problems” and you will get plenty of information. It is the same as most things. The minute you are aware of it, you will hear it all the time.

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DISCIPLINE

Discipline in a TEFL classroom in many ways is easier but in some ways it also comes with extra problems. It's easier because TEFL lessons are normally really expensive, because of that parents take their children's learning seriously and will not be happy to hear that their children are not behaving as they should. In many cultures, children and teenagers are just not as unruly as in UK schools. They generally have more respect for their elders as well as for teachers.

To balance this we have the added problem that our students can't understand us. They literally may not have the English to understand what we are telling them they are doing wrong. Also, what is considered right and wrong differs from culture to culture and country to country.

Overall, we have very little problems in the TEFL classroom compared to other teaching classrooms. Our discipline problems come from normal situations such as overexcitement, boredom or teenagers trying to push boundaries.

Most of the tips to help keep control are based on common sense:

1. Be consistent. The most important thing is to be consistent. If you threaten or warn of a consequence, then you should follow through every time. You students will learn that you mean what you say. If you give countless warnings, your students will not believe you and will ignore you.

2. Give a firm “NO”. Sadly, explanations are not really helpful because your students don't have the English to understand. A good, serious “No”, delivered in the correct way, is a clear message that their behaviour is not acceptable.

3. 3 strike system. Use a 3 strike system with the result of 3 strikes being that the student is to leave the class and/or their parents are contacted. Once you have thrown them out of the classroom, normally the owner or school secretary will take over.

4. Have a set of rules on the wall. Either with pictures for lower levels or for higher levels get the students to create a set of rules that they seem is fair. Then they will start to 'police' each other.

It is important to remember that people don't normally misbehave if they are enjoying the lesson because they are focused on the task. It could be that they don't like the material or the way you are delivering it and are simply bored.

Also, remember that it is not personal. If they are misbehaving, it is not a personal attack on you or on you as a teacher. Also remember that sometimes students like to push buttons. If you learn to not take it personally or to at least act like you don't, then it is also likely the students will stop misbehaving. For teenagers the target is sometimes to get a reaction.

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How to give a firm no:

• Make sure your body language is upright and authoritative.• Move to stand in front of the student you want to correct.• Make and hold eye contact for an extended amount of time until it becomes uncomfortable.• Make sure your face is serious (even if what they have just said or done is hilarious).• When you say “No”, make it a little quieter and firmer than your normal speaking voice

(who is scarier - the screaming and shouting mother constantly scolding her kids or the quiet psychopath living next door?).

• Maintain eye contact for a short time after the “No”, make sure they understand you are serious.

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LEVELS

These days we have 2 ways to label a student's level. The more traditional method involves a group of level scales starting at beginner and ending at proficient. This method is by far the most popular and is how course books classify the level of material the book is aimed towards. More recently, we have the New CEF (Central European Framework) classification. This was designed by the European Union so that an employer can assess exactly what language abilities a potential employee has by standardizing it across all languages. It has a scale starting at A1 and finishing at C2.

The most important thing to remember is that the levels are not a rigid concept. It is possible that a student is near the top of elementary (or A1) for speaking and listening but his accuracy is at pre-intermediate (or A2). Being able to assess a student's level comes with time and experience and is not an exact science so don't panic, it will make more sense over time.

LEVEL CLASSIFICATION

Level DescriptionBeginnerA1

Student will either be complete starter or have a few words they picked up from TV, films and music. Sometimes we have 'false' beginners. These students learnt English a long time ago but have forgotten most of it.

ElementaryA1

The student will start to come to grips with the tenses they have learnt and start to use them properly with less mistakes. Due to the continued push with vocabulary, students start to feel confident because they are able to express simple ideas.

Pre-intermediateA2

The student has a good grasp of the basics so is introduced to the next level of grammar, including tenses and structures such as conditionals. Now a lot of areas of vocabulary are revisited but in more detail.

IntermediateB1

This level of student is a very competent English speaker. They have good knowledge and generally only make small mistakes. Fluency is sometimes a problem. They often feel as though they have reached stagnation because it is difficult to see the improvement. Now they are properly introduced to idioms and phrasal verbs.

Upper IntermediateB2

At this level the student is able to communicate on a wide range of subjects. The students start to use idioms and phrasal verbs but from time to time they will use them incorrectly or get the context slightly wrong. For example, they may use a formal phrase in a conversation with a friend.

By now, this student will have great fluency and vocabulary but there will be small pockets of information missing or information related to more specific subjects. There will be pieces of complicated grammar that they use incorrectly.

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AdvancedC1

This level describes students who are of near-native ability. This is the highest level a student can be without ever spending time in a country where English is the first language.

Proficient This level describes the person whose English is as good as it can be without actually being a native English speaker, usually it means the person has been in English speaking environment.

Levelling and placement testing

When a new student arrives to join the school, the school will need to test his English ability to better understand which group would be best suited for him. To do this, the school normally starts by giving the student a grammar test. It's known as placement test. The test covers most aspects of grammar, ranging from questions for beginners to questions for advanced students. The result normally is a good gauge to the level of the student.

Unfortunately, assessing a student's level doesn't stop there. Many students communicative ability differs from their ability on paper. There are as many students who are better on paper as there are that are better communicators. It is often the native teacher's job to help level the student by carrying out a levelling interview. The interview involves you asking questions about the students life, their plans and their experiences looking for signals to their level.

The levelling interview

The interview normally lasts 5-10 minutes. You should cover present, past and future tenses as well as present perfect, idioms and conditionals. Examples of some of the questions you could ask:

Present• Where do you work / What is your job?• What is your favourite …......?• Describe a normal day

Past• Describe your last holiday• Explain you life history

Future• What are your plans for next weekend?• What are you plans for your next holiday?

Conditionals• If you won the lottery, what would you spend it on?• If you were having a dinner party and could invite anybody dead or alive, who would you

invite?

Present perfect• Have you ever been to..... ?• Have you ever...?

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SOME EXTRAS

Accents

Your accent

We no longer teach standard English, it is preferred to teach natural English. Natural English includes accents. You shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed if you have a particularly strong accent. You just need to slow it down a little and make sure you are speaking using correct English and not slang.

Incorporating accents into teaching

Just as students need to become familiar with your accent, they equally need to get used to other accents in English. Remember, English is the chosen language for most things so it's normal that your students may come in contact with a whole host of nationalities speaking English. It may be that they will deal with Irish, French or German people speaking English. As a teacher, you should look to develop their listening ability using various accents. Many course book listening exercises have started to use varying accents so take their lead and try to incorporate it into your lesson planning. Remember to use tools like YouTube!

Stress

Word Stress

When teaching English as a foreign language, we have to teach how the word sounds. Generally when a word has 2 or more syllables, we have to put extra stress on one of the syllables.

Think of the word PRESENT, it is both a verb and noun. Think how we pronounce the word present in the 2 following sentences.

When I grow up, I want to present the X-factor.

Tomorrow I am going to the shop to buy my sister a present.

There is a small difference in how we pronounce the word present as a verb and noun that helps the listener understand which one we are using.

To explain to students how we pronounce words we use dots above words. Each word has one stress in it, for example:

Present (noun) Photography Computer

Present (verb) Photograph Hippopotamus

33

Sentence Stress

As well as word stress, we also need to take into account sentence stress when teaching. By adding additional stress to one specific word in a sentence, we can change the meaning slightly.

For example, if I say:

“You like him, don't you?” By stressing the don't it becomes a question.

“You like him, don't you?” By stressing like it becomes teasing.

“You like him, don't you?” By stressing him the sentence suggests that out of more than one person, this is the person that is liked.

“You like him, don't you?” By stressing you, the sentence suggests that maybe someone else doesn't like the person but you do.

Intonation

Think how many ways you can say “Excuse me” in English, where different intonation changes the meaning.

Role play saying Excuse me when:

1. Someone stands on your foot.2. You are told some shocking information.3. Someone has dropped something.4. You are trying to push your way through a crowd.

Sometimes, when you listen to someone making mistakes in English, you know something is not quite right. It could be that the student hasn't put the stress in the right place or doesn't fully understand the correct intonation. Don't be afraid to stop and explain it.

Functions

Functional English is when we teach everyday English that has a specific practical value. This often needs to be taught as a phrase because the sentence doesn't make literal sense.

Some examples of functions are:

Offer Would you like....?Request Could I have........?Ability I can.....................Apology I am terribly sorry...Disagreement I'm afraid I don't agree.Agreement I see your point.Interruption Can I have a quick word?

34

Functions and functional structures are as important to teach as grammar and vocabulary. You must remember that the goal to learning a language is to be able to use it in real situations. For that reason, it is important to not only teach functional English but to practise 'real life' situations as often as possible. The only way for your students to feel confident when going to a restaurant or when asking directions is to have practised the situation before. That's where you come in!


Bonus Lesson Pack


CONTENTS

Lesson Title Level Student Page

1 Directions Elementary Kids 42 Agreeing and Disagreeing Intermediate Teens / Adults 63 Present Simple Beginner Adults 84 Past perfect Intermediate Teens / Adults 95 2nd conditional Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 116 Past simple questions Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 137 Films Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 148 Shopping for clothes Elementary Teens / Adults 159 Will vs Going to Elementary Teens 1710 Music Elementary Teens / Adults 1911 Present Perfect Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 2012 Name the Tense Intermediate Teens / Adults 2213 Household furniture Elementary Kids / Teens 2314 Introductions Beginners Any 2415 Food Related Idioms Intermediate Teens / Adults 2616 Story Telling Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 2717 The News Intermediate Teens / Adults 2818 Sporting Heroes Intermediate Teens / Adults 3019 Desert Island Intermediate Teens / Adults 3320 Adele Listening Pre-int / Intermediate Teens / Adults 3421 Personality Pre-intermediate Any 3622 Passive Intermediate Adults 3823 Animals Beginners Kids 3924 Telling the Time Beginners Kids 4025 Emailing – Business English Pre-intermediate Adults 4126 Classic Songs Intermediate Teens / Adults 4327 Bucket List Pre-int / Intermediate Teens / Adults 4428 Accents Intermediate Teens / Adults 4529 Ghost stories Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 4630 Sports Beginner Kids 4931 Finding Love Pre-int / Intermediate Teens / Adults 50

2

32 London Riots Advanced Teens / Adults 5333 Coca Cola's recipe revealed Intermediate Teens / Adults 5634 Coca Cola's recipe revealed Elementary Teens / Adults 5835 Computer Games Intermediate Teens 6036 'Rare Exports' Intermediate Teens / Adults 6137 Christmas Pre-intermediate Kids / Teens 6238 It's a Man's Life Intermediate Teens / Adults 6339 Clothes Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 6440 London Slang Upper intermediate Teens / Adults 6641 Life story Pre-intermediate Teens / Adults 6842 Flying Elementary Teens / Adults 6943 Business idioms Intermediate Adults 7144 Holidays Elementary Teens / Adults 7545 Comparatives Pre-intermediate Any 7646 Recipes Pre-intermediate Any 7747 Song writing Intermediate Teens / Adults 7848 TEFL Angels Intermediate Adults 8049 Pronunciation Idol Pre-intermediate Any 8150 Questions Revision Elementary Any 82

3

Lesson 1

Lesson Objective DirectionsLevel ElementaryStudent ChildrenTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker N, S, E,W game. Labelling walls

as 1 - North2 - South3 - East4 - West

T shouts out words and S run to the correct wall

Exchange North, South, East, West for Butcher, Library, Greengrocer, Pub

Make sure you clear the room so the game is safe.

Could make it competition, last person is out.

Point in one direct but say another (extra challenge).

5

Present Go Straight StopTurnRight / LeftNext to / OppositeBridge

Use pictures and mimes. 10

Practice PairsWith a map - A gives B verbal instructions how to get from one place to another. B follows directions on the map.

Swap over. 10

Perform In pairs students design their own map.They then write directions from one location to another location.They write 3 different sets of directions.Each student presents their map and directions to the class.

(Extra activity) blind man's buff. Blindfold one student and have his group give him instruction to move around the obstacles

Students have to follow verbal directions and say where they arrive at.

20

4

Lesson 2

Lesson Objective Agreeing and DisagreeingLevel IntermediateStudent 16/17 - AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Group discussion on cultural

stereotypes 10

Present Phrases on worksheet 10

Practice Pairs - Ordering Each pair is given worksheet where they must number the sentences in order of strength

10

Perform Debate – Subject: “Should immigrants adapt to traditions of their new country or should they maintain their own national culture?”

Make sure S try to use the sentences they have learnt

15

6

Language for agreeing and disagreeing

The following phrases are used to agree and disagree. Please put them in order from the strongest agreement (1) to most negative / the strongest disagreement (12)

You make a valid point, however... ____

I agree in principle but ____

I partly agree but ____

I am afraid I can't agree ____

Unfortunately, I am of the opposite opinion. I think... ____

I wholeheartedly agree ____

Although I see your point, I feel/think... ____

Unfortunately, I am afraid I completely disagree ____

I am of the same opinion as ____

If I was in your position, I would be of the same opinion but... ____

I completely agree ____

I agree up to a point, however... ____

7

Lesson 3

Lesson Objective Present SimpleLevel BeginnerStudent AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Pairs

A tells B 5 things they like and don't like and write them down

Swap roles

5

Present + I like / he likes- I don't like / He doesn't likeQ Do you like? / Does he like?

On the board with plenty of drilling 15

Practice Groups. Using the likes and dislikes from icebreaker ask each other questions.

Want answers such as:I don't like fish but I like cheese.He doesn't like fish but he likes cheese.

15

Perform Memory gameClass

Each student must repeat what the previous student answered and then give their own answere.g.:T -S1 Do you like fish?S1 Yes, I like fishT -S2 Do you like cheese?S2 He likes fish, I don't like cheese

10

8

Lesson 4

Lesson Objective Past perfectLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Groups.

Each person tells a funny story – present the funniest to the class.

Give a funny story as an example. 10

Present Past Perfect 10

Practice Past Perfect vs Past Simple gap fill 15

Perform Class tells a story with each student telling a paragraph at a time – when T says so, student must try and add a sentence in Past Perfect

You may need to give the first sentence to start them.

10

9

Past Perfect vs Past Simple – Gap fill

Put the verbs in brackets into the space in the correct tense, either Past Perfect or Past Simple.

Example: John had worked (work) as a fireman before he became (become) a postman.

1. After John ______________________ (spend) holiday backpacking around Spain, he

immediately _____________________ (want) to learn Spanish.

2. John _____________________ (to be) exhausted because he ________________________

(study) too much.

3. John and Alice _______________________ (go) for a walk before they

____________________ (meet) Mike.

4. Before Alice_________________________(sit) down for a rest she

_________________________ (feed ) Milo the dog.

5. Alice ____________________ (turn up) the radio so the guys ____________________

(can't hear) the football on TV.

6. John____________________(live) next door to Alice before they

_______________________ (start dating) last year.

7. Alice ___________________________ (always prefer) cats to dogs but then she

_____________ (meet) Milo and _____________________ (change) her mind.

8. John ___________________________ (arrive) at the bank before

it__________________________ (open).

9. Mike_________________________________ (always, eat) meat but after watching a

documentary last year he ____________________________(decide) to become a

vegetarian.

10. Mike ________________________ (buy) a house before he _______________________

(lose) his job due to the recession.

10

Lesson 5

Lesson Objective 2nd conditional Level Pre-intermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Get the students to tell a story

starting their sentence with the end of the previous student's. Each sentence must use 1st conditional

S1 If it stops raining, I will go to the pub.S2 If I go to the pub, I will get drunk.S3 If I get drunk.... etc.

5

Present 2nd conditional 10

Practice Matching exercise Match the parts of the sentence so they make sense.

10

Perform In groups discuss and agree how you would spend 10 million lottery win.

Get each student to present their plan for the group.

20

11

Second Conditional Gap Fill

Did you hear about that couple who won 100 million Euros on the Euro lottery? If I (win)

_________________________ that much money, I (quit)_________________my job in an

instant. I (travel)____________________ around the world and (stay)______________________ in

the most luxurious hotels. If I (want)____________________anything, I (ask)_________________

my new servant to get it. If I (see) ____________________a beautiful Porsche that I wanted, I

(buy)___________________________it. If I wanted to stay in a beautiful hotel and the hotel

(be)____________________full, I (buy)_________________________the hotel and make them

give me a room. I (can)____________________do anything I wanted if I won the lottery. Of

course I would not only be materialistic, I (do) _____________________good things with the

money as well. If my family (need)_________________help, I think I (give) ________________

them a little money to help them out. I know I (donate) ______________________ money to many

worthy charities. If I met any talented kids, then I (give)____________________________ them

money to help them get an education. If I (win)________________________ that much money, I

wouldn't know what to do, my life would never be the same. What (you do) __________________

if you (win) ________________ the lottery?

12

Lesson 6

Lesson Objective Past Simple question structures Level Pre-intermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 60 mins


Tell me about your last holidayBoth people tell each other about their last holiday.

5

Present Past Simple question structures 10

Practice Pairs – rather than tell me about your holiday, this time students 'interview' each other.

10

Perform Alibi game 1 group are the police – 1 group are the suspects (sometimes you make 4 groups and have 2 groups of police and 2 groups of suspects).

Police group – Create a list of questions to ask the suspects to find the holes in their alibi.

Suspect group – Create an alibi.

Each S in the Police group interviews 1 S from the the Suspect group (all interviews take place at the same time).

Police then report to the class the holes they found.

35

13

Lesson 7

Lesson Objective Films Level Pre-intermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Name your favourite film 5

Present Movie genreComedyHorror RomanceThrillerDramaMusicalAnimation

Actor / ActressDirectorto starto set

10

Practice Pairs

S tell their pair about their favourite movie, going into details about the type and who stars in the movie.

Change partners 10

Perform GroupsDesign a movie idea.

S present ideas to the class and pick the winner.

20

14

Lesson 8

Lesson Objective Shopping for clothesLevel ElementaryStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker I went to the shop and bought.... S1 starts by saying they went to the

shop and bought something beginning with the letter A, S2 then continues by saying they went to the shop and bought S1's object starting with 'A' and then something beginning with 'B'. For example:

S1 ”I went to the shop and I bought an Apple”S2 ”I went to the shop and I bought an Apple and a Ball”

10

Present Teach Vocabulary:

Can I have...What size is it?How much is it?CustomerShop assistantWaist – Leg – S/M/L/XLTill

10

Practice Pairs Ordering exercise

A script of a customer buying some clothes in a shop is mixed up. The pairs must put the conversation in the correct order.

10

Perform PairsRole play – buying clothes

World's worst customer / shop assistant

S role play going into a shop and buying clothes using the vocabulary from the lesson. Can be developed to include acting as the world's worst customer / sales assistant.

15

15

Clothes Shopping Script

Please put the conversation in the correct order. Number the sentences from 1 to 15. No 1 is already completed as an example.

Customer: Can I try it on? _____

Shop Assistant: Thank you very much, please come again. _____

Customer: Yes, what size is this shirt? _____

Shop Assistant: Let me see, oh its size M. _____

Shop Assistant Of course, the changing rooms are on the left. _____

Shop Assistant No problem. _____

Customer: Can I have a size L. _____

Customer: The size is perfect. I want it... but how much is it? _____

Shop Assistant: (at the till) How would you like to pay? _____

Shop Assistant: It is $40. _____

Customer: I will take it. _____

Customer: Cash please. _____

Shop Assistant: Great, when you are ready please come to the till. _____

Shop Assistant: Can I help you? 1

Customer: Thanks, goodbye. _____

16

Lesson 9

Lesson Objective Will vs Going toLevel ElementaryStudent TeensTime 45 mins


Decide your dream holidayPairsS discuss and decide what would be their dream holiday. They then present their ideas to the class

Present Will vs Going to Not including making predictions

Practice Gap fill Will vs going to gap fillStudents must complete the sentences with the correct structure.

Perform Groups Bucket List

Explain that at bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die. They are normally really exciting things and they don't need to be realistic.

Create a list of 20 popular things people want to do before they die and hand out to the students.

Ask S to decide in groups on top 5 things (in order of preference) and also add one extra thing that is not on the list.

17

Will vs going to – Gap fill

Please use the correct form of the verb in the brackets to fill in the gaps.

Example.:John is going to visit (visit) his brother in France.

1. What ______________________________(do) in the summer holidays?

2. It's a little hot here, I think ___________________ (open) the window.

3. How long ____________________________ (stay) in Barcelona?

4. Oh my god, so what ______________________ (do) now the shop is closed?

5. Oh there is no milk, I ______________________ (get) some from the shop.

6. Next month I ___________________ (buy) a laptop.

7. I have an appointment at the dentists, _____________________ (you come) with me?

8. Sorry I can't come, I _____________________ (pick) my aunty from the airport.

9. Oops, my phone battery is dead, I ________________ (charge) it before I leave.

10. My darling, ______________________ (marry me)?

18

Lesson 10

Lesson Objective Music Level ElementaryStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Famous Singers Class

S1 starts by saying a famous singer or band. Then S2 takes the last letter of the singer or band chosen by S1 and uses that letter as the first for their singer or band. For example:

S1 ElvisS2 ShakiraS3 Abba

5

Present JazzPopClassicalDanceSoulRockHeavy metalBluesLyricsMelodyRhymeRhythm

Make sure to explain how rhythm works.

5

Practice Matching exercise

Gap fill

PairsS must match Bands to music genres.

S are given a song with the rhyming word missing, they must put the correct word in the correct space

15

Perform Create a Blues Song GroupsS must create a blues song with at least 5 lines. They must try to make it rhyme.

20

19

Lesson 11

Lesson Objective Present Perfect Level Pre-intermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class – Call my Bluff Class

T writes 3 sentences (all in present perfect) on the board.2 sentences are correct 1 sentence is false.

S must ask questions to try to find 'holes' in the teacher's story. The S must decide as a class which sentence is false.

5

Present Present Perfect • Life experiences• Time still open• Time not specified

20

Practice Gap fill

Gap fill

Present Perfect structure

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

5

5

Perform Class – 'I have never' game Students must say what they have and have not done. T starts by stating: “I have done something”. Those who also have done what T said stand up /move forward one place (depending on size of the classroom). For example:

T ”I have never worn my T-shirt inside out by accident”

(Students who also have never worn a T-shirt inside out stand up)

10

20

Present Perfect

Gap Fill

1. I _________________________(lived) in Paris for 6 years.

2. John ________________________ (never visit) his sister in Japan.

3. Dan Brown _______________________(write) 3 books that ______________ (become) films.

4. I am so hungry, I ____________________________ (not eat) a thing since breakfast.

5. Sally loves this film, she ___________________________ (watch) it hundreds of times.

6. I am looking for Milo, ___________________________( you see) him anywhere?

Present Perfect vs Past Simple

Gap Fill

John : Last year I _________________ (go) to Australia.

Ben : Really? I ______________________(never / be) there. I ___________________ (dream) about going. How____________________it ? (be)

John:Well, it _______________________ (go) quite well. I ___________________________(see)

many beautiful places and _________________________( meet) many interesting people.

Ben: Where _____________________________________ ( you / visit )?

John: We ______________________ (see) Bondi beach, I don't think I _________________ (see) such a beautiful beach before.

Ben: ______________________________ (you / visit)Ayer Rock?

I ____________________ (watch) a program on it last month, it looks great

John: Yeah we visited there, but I _______________________ ( not like) it as much as Sydney

Ben: It sounds like you ________________(have) great time.

21

Lesson 12

Lesson Objective Name the TenseLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Groups

Game – Hot Seat1 S from each group sits in a chair that has been placed so that the person sitting cannot see the white board. The rest of the group gather around so they can see the white board but also the student sitting in the 'hot seat'.

T writes a word on the board and the S have to explain the word to their group member who is sat in the 'hot seat'. They obviously can't say the word or even part of it.

10

Present Name the tenses Teach students how to be able to name the tenses.

25

Practice Sentence creation Using the verb 'break' S must create 1 example sentence for each tense.

10

Perform Groups Pairs - Matching

S are given cards. Each card either has the name of the tense or an example of a tense being used.

S must match the tense name and the example sentence. Each group to present results to the group.

15

22

Lesson 13

Lesson Objective Household furnitureLevel ElementaryStudent Kids / TeensTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Contacts T shouts out a number and the S have

to make that number of contacts with the ground using different parts of the body.

5

Present FurnitureKitchenCookerFridgeLiving RoomSofaCoffee tableBedroomBedWardrobe DrawersBathroom ShowerBathSink

10

Practice House Plan S must draw a plan of their house labelling the rooms with the vocabulary just learnt

10

Perform Pairs / Groups TEFL Cribs!

S design a dream / fantasy house in their groups / pairs. They then present their ideas to the class and a winner is chosen.

20

23

Lesson 14

Lesson Objective IntroductionsLevel BeginnersStudent AnyTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Name game Option 1. S stand in a circle. T throws

a ball to S. When they catch it, they say their name and throw it to a different S.

Option 2. T throws a ball to S but this time S says the name of the person they will throw the ball to or the name of the person who threw the ball to them.

Present HelloMy name is........What is your name?Nice to meet you too.I am from...Where are you from?I live in... Where do you live?Goodbye

Practice Matching

Pairs – Scripted role play

S must put the correct answer with the correct question.

A's must ask the questions and B's must answer. Change roles.

Perform Class - Walkabout S walk around the classroom meeting other S. They must introduce themselves and find out where the other S are from and where they live.

24

Matching

Students must put the sentences in the correct order:

Student 1 Student 2

Hello. Hello.

Nice to meet you. I live in Manchester.

What is your name? My name is Martin.

Where are you from? Nice to meet you too.

Where do you live? I am from England.

Goodbye. Goodbye.

1S1:_________________________________Hello____________________ _____

S2 _________________________________Hello____________________________

2S1:__________________________________________________________________

S2 __________________________________________________________________

3S1:__________________________________________________________________

S2 __________________________________________________________________

4S1:__________________________________________________________________

S2 __________________________________________________________________

5S1:__________________________________________________________________

S2 __________________________________________________________________

6S1:__________________________________________________________________

S2 __________________________________________________________________

25

Lesson 15

Lesson Objective Food Related IdiomsLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - National idioms S must think of an idiom from their

own language and translate it into English. They must present the idiom to the class and explain to T what it means.T may have to explain what an idiom is and give few examples.

10

Present IdiomsMy cup of teaNo picnicApply of the eyeFish out of waterLike sardinesPiece of CakeEgg on the faceMy bread and butterOut of the frying pan into the fireCool as a cucumber

20

Practice Sentence creation S must make 1 sentence for each idiom. T asks each S to present 1/some/all sentences created (depending on the size of the group).

10

Perform Groups - Obsessions In groups S must decide on a topic they are obsessed with. They then have a conversation as a group and must try to steer the conversation to the topic they are obsessed with.

They get extra points if they manipulate the conversation and add correctly used idioms into the conversation.

T can choose winner from each group and have a final.

20

26

Lesson 16

Lesson Objective Story TellingLevel Pre - intermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead In Class -T tells a story S must listen to the teachers story and

answer verbal comprehension questions at the end

10

Pre- Teach N/A 0

Task Groups S must tell stories of :One of the funniest moments in their lifeOne of the Saddest moments in their lifeOne of the most embarrassing stories of their life

The stories don't need to be the student's story or even true.

20

Follow on Class- Grand final Each group must decide on the best story in their group. 1 group member will stand and tell their story and the class will vote on the best story.

15

27

Lesson 17

Lesson Objective The NewsLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-in Class - Discussion Ask S to list different types of TV

programs. When the news is mentioned ask S what are the elements of a news program (news, outside reports, sport, weather etc.)

5

Pre-teach Vocabulary from article Look through the news article and decide on any vocabulary you think they may possibly not know or they must know to understand the text.

10

Task Reading – News Article S must read news article and answer comprehension questions.

30

Follow-On ClassDesign a news program

S have to work together to design and present a news program. T is only facilitator, S have complete control.

45

28

The FBI release Film of Russian Spies

The FBI has released images of a group of Russian spies who were expelled from the United States last year.

The group included Anna Chapman who is now a model and television presenter in Russia.

Much of the material released by the FBI follows the classic Hollywood formula for espionage.

We see agents exchanging identical bags as they brush past each other, while another undercover spy retrieves a package hidden in the Washington undergrowth.

The glamorous Anna Chapman is filmed shopping in a department store, and having coffee with a man who she believed to be a Russian handler but who in fact was an FBI infiltrator. That was the moment Ms Chapman suspected her cover as an estate agent in New York was blown.

Soon afterwards, the FBI broke up the spy ring. Ten defendants pleaded guilty to acting as foreign agents, before being exchanged last July for four Russians who'd been jailed in their own country for spying for the West.

Members of the US-based group had gathered public information and networked on behalf of Moscow, while leading suburban middle-class lives often assuming the identities of Americans who had recently died.

The FBI case file offers an intriguing glimpse of 21st Century espionage. But it remains to be seen whether the images prove as popular as others of Anna Chapman. Now a successful television presenter, the former spy has appeared with very little cover in men's magazines.

Countdown to seven billionth baby

Today begins the one-week countdown to 31st October when the world population is predicted to reach seven billion.

That's a rise of two billion in less than a quarter century.

Seven days from now the world's seven billionth baby will be born. That's according to the UN's projections, and it's using the milestone to take stock of trends in population growth.

The big question is how long the planet can continue to satisfy the voracious appetite of its growing number of human inhabitants.

In fact, over the past six decades, the global fertility rate has been cut in half. Statistically from five children per woman to 2.5. But 78 million babies are still being born every year, almost all of them in developing countries.

The UN says women in these countries are having so many babies because of poverty, lack of education, income and access to birth control.

Not only that, they and their children face a high risk of poor health, and early death. So the UN is highlighting the need to boost education and employment opportunities for poor women: in other words, address the poverty, and the demography will look after itself, as it did in Europe.

29

Lesson 18

Lesson Objective Sporting HeroesLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Describe sporting

moments and sporting greatsS discuss and explain some of their countries greatest sporting moments and some of their greatest sporting heroes

15

Pre-Teach Vocabulary from article 15

Task Read article - US Sporting Greats S must read US Sporting Greats article and answer comprehension questions.

30

Follow-On Groups Create a sporting commentary

S decide on a great sporting moment – real or fantasy. S must prepare and present their commentary for their sporting moment.

30

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Article US Sporting GreatsThey're the best of the best, exemplifying all the courage and nobility and genius and hard work and modesty and ambition and humility and grace that can be displayed in modern American sports. They're the ones we really want to be like when the going gets tough, they're the ones we want to show our sons and daughters and say, "See? See?" They all had flaws, we know -- they were, despite some signs to the contrary, human. And they're The US's greatest sports heroes of all time.

1. Jackie RobinsonIt wasn't what Jackie did as much as the way Jackie did it -- bearing up under the pressure of breaking baseball's color barrier with dignity and class and some damn great ball playing. And, like few others before or since, he became bigger than the game itself, an American treasure in his own right. Said AL President Gene Budig in 1997, "He led America by example. He reminded our people of what was right and he reminded them of what was wrong. I think it can be safely said today that Jackie Robinson made the United States a better nation."

2. Babe RuthBabe was, quite simply the American sports icon of The American Century, a mythic hero who would have had to be invented had he not been flesh and blood. Out of the mouth of Pete Rose, in 1992, came the truth: "If Babe Ruth had been a soccer player, soccer would be our national pastime."

3. Jessie OwensYou speak of Jackie Robinson in glowing terms, which is how he should be spoken about. Robinson was a professional who had to face an overwhelmingly racist America. However, Jessie Owens was an amateur who traveled to Berlin at the height of the Nazi regime and embarrassed Hitler with his incomparable talent. He lifted up America and its people. It was an act not just for African Americans but for the world against intolerance.

4. Muhammad AliAli was "The Greatest" during his boxing career, but it was after his boxing days were done that he secured his legend as a great American man. Was there ever a more moving moment in sports than when he lit the flame to open the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta? Ailing with Parkinson's, Ali has faced his long physical decline with the kind of courage and grace and humor that have made him not just admired, but truly beloved. Said Pres. Bill Clinton to Ali after the torch-lighting ceremony, "They didn't tell me who would light the flame, but when I saw it was you, I cried.'"

5. Johnny UnitasA great quarterback, we all know. The greatest ever, probably. But more simply, an admirable man who honored the sports world by being part of it. "He was the kind of man," said Cardinal William H. Keeler at Unitas' funeral, "who would shake the hand of a homeless person and say to that person it was an honor to shake his hand."

6. Nile KinnickWe're reminded of the legacy of a young man who died too young at the start of every Big 10 football game. The coin that's tossed bears Kinnick's likeness, and it's only one of many tributes to the great Iowa football star and war hero that are scattered around his home state. When he won the Heisman in 1939, he said, famously, "I thank God I was warring on the gridirons of the Midwest and not on the battlefields of Europe." A few years later, Kinnick was killed on a training flight, serving his country in that same war. He had turned down a lucrative pro contract from the NFL's Brooklyn Dodgers to attend law school, and many expected him to eventually become president.

"This country is O.K. as long as it produces Nile Kinnicks," wrote Bill Cunningham in the Boston Globe, shortly after Kinnick took home the Heisman. "The football part is incidental."

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7. Magic Johnson and Larry BirdThese men made their pro basketball homes on opposite coasts -- one in glamorous L.A., the other in old, work-a-day Beantown, but the 3,000 miles didn't separate them in our minds. Take your pick -- Magic's infectious good humor and enthusiasm and, when it all came crashing down, courage. Larry's hard-scrabble, Midwest, get-it-done can-do everyman attitude. It's impossible. They're heroes bound together by time, and by a sport, and by exhibiting complementary qualities that added up to greatness both on and off the court

8. Joe DiMaggio"Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio, our nation turns its lonely eyes to you … "Would any other player, in any sport, have worked in that great line from Simon and Garfunkel's "Mrs. Robinson"? No way. Even though lots of ugly things about Joe's life have come out lately, his fame and heroic stature may be equalled, but never topped. DiMaggio, wrote Page 2's David Halberstam in "Summer of '49, " was "the perfect Hemingway hero, for Hemingway in his novels romanticized the man who exhibited grace under pressure, who withheld any emotion lest it soil the purer statement of his deeds."

9. Billie Jean KingShe was the best tennis player of her time, and one of the all-time greats. She fought for equal prize money -- and got it. She created an entirely new format for tennis competition -- World Team Tennis -- and it worked. And she creamed Bobby Riggs in the "Battle of the Sexes," a more important event than the circus-like atmosphere surrounding it foretold. Wrote Neil Amdur of the New York Times after King defeated Riggs, "Most important perhaps for women everywhere, she convinced sceptics that a female athlete can survive pressure-filled situations."

10. 1980 U.S. Olympic Hockey TeamAt a time when things looked pretty bleak for the U.S. -- mind-boggling inflation, hostages in Iran, a seemingly endless "energy crisis," and a president who spoke of a "national malaise" -- this team made everything look brighter, at least for a while. By beating the Soviets in the "Miracle on Ice" and going on to win the Gold Medal against the longest odds, the young team of amateurs reminded lots of folks what the best of America was all about.

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Lesson 19

Lesson Objective Desert IslandLevel IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S tell the class their favourite TV

series and why they like it. T finishes by asking about the TV series 'Lost'.

5

Pre-Teach Vocabulary of objects they could use on the desert island

BibleBulletGunKnifeVodkaMatchesBlanketFlare GunBook (Edible Plants)Umbrella1litre of waterAir mapFirst aid kitFishing hook

T explains that in the first episode of lost a plane crashes on a desert island and they have the chance to rescue things from the burning plane.

15

Task Groups Survival

S must choose the most important 8 objects from the list in order of importance (from 1 -8). S must also explain their strategy.

40

Follow-On Groups Create TV show

S must create a new idea for a TV show to replace lost. Each group presents their idea to the class and the class decides on the winner.

30

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Lesson 20

Lesson Objective Adele ListeningLevel Pre-intermediate / IntermediateStudent Teens / AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S discuss singers and bands that have

defined a generation or changed music.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary from song T explains any words they feel the S may or may not understand.

10

Task GroupsListening - Adele

S listen to the song and fill in the missing spaces on the lyrics sheet.T may need to explain the meaning of some of the lyrics if they are not literal.

25

Follow-On GroupsDesert Island Discs

S must decide as a group which 7 songs they would take on to a desert island and why. Groups present their ideas to the class,

15

34

Adele - Listening

There's a fire starting in my ____________,Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the __________.Finally I can see you crystal __________Go ahead and sell me out and I'll lay your ship ________.

See how I'll leave, with every piece of youDon't ______________ the things that I will do.

There's a fire starting in my _________,Reaching a fever pitch and it's bring me out the _____________.

The ____________ of your love, remind me of us.They keep me thinking that we almost had it allThe scars of your love, they leave me ____________________I can't help _______________We could have had it allRolling in the deepYou had my heart ___________ your handAnd you played itTo the beat

Baby I have no story to be toldBut I've heard one of you and I'm gonna make your head__________,Think of me in the depths of your _____________Making a home down there as mine sure won't be shared

The ____________ of your love, remind me of us.They keep me thinking that we almost had it allThe scars of your love, they leave me ____________________I can't help _______________We could have had it all

Rolling in the deepYou had my heart inside your ___________And you played itTo the beat

We could have had it allRolling in the ____________You had my heart inside your handBut you ______________ itWith a beating

Throw your soul ___________ every open doorCount your ______________ to find what you look forTurn my sorrow into treasured goldYou pay me back in kind and reap just what you __________

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Lesson 21

Lesson Objective PersonalityLevel Pre-intermediateStudent AnyTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class / Groups

DiscussionS explain what they like and what they would change about themselves.

5

Present VocabularyHard-working – LazyTidy – MessyOptimistic – PessimisticEasy-going – UptightStubborn - Open-mindedAmbitious – UnambitiousPatient – Short-temperedAdventurous – ConservativePassionate - Calm

15

Practice Matching – Personality Opposites S must match the opposite personality traits.

10

Perform Groups Role play

S must choose a job and create a role play where they interview each other for the position. Each group will choose a winner and explain why.

15

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Personality Matching Exercise

Please match each character with its opposite by drawing a line

For example: intelligent is the opposite of stupid

Hard-working Short-tempered

Passionate Optimistic

Conservative Uptight

Pessimistic Stubborn

Patient Adventurous

Ambitious Tidy

Messy Calm

Easy-going Unambitious

Open-minded Lazy

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Lesson 22

Lesson Objective PassiveLevel IntermediateStudent AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Discussion S discuss whether it is better to be

diplomatic or direct.5

Present Passive structures for main tenses 30

Practice Creating passive sentences S choose one simple 'active' sentence and change into 'passive' for each tense.For example:The fish is eaten byThe fish was eaten byThe fish will be eaten byThe fish is being eaten by....etc.

10

Perform Role Play- giving opinions Each S is given a card with a role to play. The cards explain their opinions on the subjects they will discuss as a group. S must use passives and other structures they know to discuss subjects diplomatically.

15

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Lesson 23

Lesson Objective AnimalsLevel BeginnersStudent KidsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Head Shoulders Knees and

Toes - songS stand in a circle and sing Head Shoulders Knees and Toes whilst completing the actions.

5

Present Animals Vocabulary:

CowHorsePigDogCatElephantSnakeMonkeyBird

20

Practice Groups Matching

S must match the card showing the picture of the animal with the card showing how it is written.

10

Perform Class – Animal Musical Statues S must act like the animal the T shouts out whilst the music is playing. When the music stops the S must freeze. The last S to freeze is out of the game. The winner is the last S left.

10

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Lesson 24

Lesson Objective Telling the TimeTime 45 minsStudent Kids Level Beginners

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Numbers S run in a circle or jog on the spot.

The T calls numbers and the S must do the action that corresponds with the number. For example:

1 - touch head2 - touch toes3 - jump4 - clap handsetc.

5

Present Telling the time in English. 15

Practice Clock fill in S must either write the time under some clocks or draw the clock so it shows the correct time.

10

Perform Class – Mr Wolf S play the game where S ask the T what the time is and when T says „Dinner time” S must escape and T must try to tap one on the shoulder. The S that is tapped becomes the chaser for the next round. Example:

S- What's the time Mr Wolf?T- 1 o'clockS- What's the time Mr Wolf?T- 4 o'clockS- What's the time Mr Wolf?T- DINNER TIME!!!!

15

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Lesson 25

Lesson Objective Emailing – Business EnglishLevel Pre-intermediateStudent AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Discussion S discuss different reasons for sending

emails at work. Which emails are easy to send and which are more difficult.

5

Present Emailing phrases:To whom it may concern,Dear Sir / Madam,Hello,I am writing to....I am writing regarding..I would like to...Unfortunately, I'm afraid...Please find attached...If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact me.Kind Regards,Yours Sincerely,Yours Faithfully,

20

Practice Gap Fill S have an email where they must fill in the missing key phrases.

10

Perform Class – Write an email S must write an email of complaint using the key phrase presented in the lesson.

25

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Email gap fill

Fill the following text with one of the phrases listed below. Note that not all the phrases are to be used.

To whom it may concern,Dear Sir / Madam,Hello,I am writing to....I am writing regarding..I would like to...Unfortunately, I'm afraid...Please find attached...If you require any further information then please do not hesitate to contact me.Kind Regards,Yours Sincerely,Yours Faithfully,

Dear _____________________

I ______________________________________ a problem I have with the chocolate cup bought from your company.

_______________________to make you aware of a problem in the design. I received the chocolate cup as a birthday present. __________________ when I made a cup of tea using the chocolate cup it melted spilling tea everywhere. ____________________a photo of the chocolate cup melted.

______________________it doesn't say anywhere in the instructions that it cannot hold hot water. I am really unhappy because it was a present from my nephew. I _________________ ask for a replacement to be sent or a full refund.

_______________________________________________________________

____________________________

Robert Builder

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Lesson 26

Lesson Objective Classic Songs Level IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S discuss bands their parents listened

to whilst they were growing up.10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T checks vocabulary in the song for any words they feel the S will not know.

10

Task Listening – 'Hotel California' T takes the lyrics to 'Hotel California' by the Eagles and blanks 1 word per line leaving a space.

S listen to the song 2-3 times and fill in the missing spaces.

T goes through the correct lyrics and discusses the meaning of the lyrics.

30

Follow-On Groups Come up with a list of 5 things that aren't what they seem (like Hotel California).

10

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Lesson 27

Lesson Objective Bucket List Level Pre-intermediate / IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S speak about their favourite reality

TV shows. S discuss what they like and don't like about reality TV etc.

5

Pre-Teach N/A

Task Groups - Make a bucket list T explains what a bucket list is. S must make a bucket list with 10 things on the list. S present their list to the class.

25

Follow-On Groups – An Idiot Abroad S in Groups must choose 5 things on their bucket list and think how they can turn a dream activity into a nightmare like on the TV program.

30

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Lesson 28

Lesson Objective AccentsLevel IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S speak about their experience with

accents, listening to the various British and US accents as well as foreign speakers of English.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T plays the YouTube clips and points out any words they are not sure if the S will know.

5

Task Class – Listen to comedy clips S listen to clips of comedians with accents. They must answer comprehension questions on each clip.

Some example of clips to use:Rhod Gilbert – Luggage ProblemsScouse AlphabetCatherine Tate Show (Lauren Cooper)The Italian who went to Malta.

45

Follow-On Groups – Make a stand-up show S in groups must make a 1 minute comedy sketch or stand-up show. S perform to the class and a winner is chosen by the T or class.

30

45

Lesson 29

Lesson Objective Ghost stories Level Pre-intermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Tell a Ghost story S1 tells a few lines of a ghost story,

S2 continues telling the story by adding a few lines. The story is then passed to S3 to continue etc.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary related to the article T pre reads the article and chooses some vocabulary that they are not sure if the S will know.

10

Task Class Listen to a ghost story T gives S some comprehension questions to answer about the ghost story.T tells the ghost story and gets feedback on the answers.

20

Follow-On Groups –Create a ghost story S in groups must create their own ghost story and must present their story to the class. T or classes chooses best story.

20

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Ghost Story Listening

Sally, Jennifer and Britney were all thirteen years old. They had known one another since the fourth grade and were best of friends. Sally lived off a country road outside of town in a house surrounded by dense forest. There were no neighbours around for at least five square miles, with the nearest being Sally's grandmother and the home of an elderly couple. Sally always looked forward to going to school so she could have friends her own age.

One day, Sally had the idea of camping out in those woods and from her previous explorations, knew the perfect site far from the prying eyes of parents. It was in a pine grove where the ground was very soft, with a nearby clearing that would retain their camp-fire. Sally got the excited agreements of her two friends, who in turn got permission from their parents.

The camp out was a plan.

It was a Saturday in late September. The weather was still warm but being early autumn, the nights were chilly and dark. They set up their tent in the afternoon. They also constructed their fire ring, gathered firewood and carefully selected branches hat would hold their hot dogs and marshmallows. At dusk, they took their sleeping bags, torches, and a cooler full of snacks and headed down the path to their tent.

They joked and shared stories while they started their camp-fire. Once the flames were to an acceptable level, they formed their chairs into a circle and pulled out the package of hot dogs as well as their pre-made sticks. They were sitting in their chairs, roasting their frankfurters and talking. The night had arrived and a chill was setting in.

If you've ever sat around a camp-fire, you know that the area outside the glow of the fire is pitch black. It was from this blackness that the sounds of snapping twigs and the rustling of leaves came.

Jennifer was the first to hear the sounds and exclaimed in a loud whisper, "What's that? Shhh--listen!"

Britney froze mid-sentence and Sally leaned forward in her chair, straining to hear.

For a long moment, there was nothing but the crackling of the fire.

Then Sally chided Jennifer for her outburst, "Jennifer, it's nothing. You're scaring us. Now cut it out!"

As soon as she uttered those words, a tremendous wind whipped through the woods, blowing a cloud of pine needles and leaves into the air. The debris hit their faces and stung their eyes. The wind blew their hair and upended their gear. It was so fierce and so abrupt that it almost put out their fire. Sally fell out of her chair in order to avoid being hit by the gust of flames that leaped in her direction. Then the wind stopped as suddenly as it started.

The girls were terrified. They sat motionless for a moment, not knowing what to do next or what to expect. The woods were completely silent.

Then, from the direction of the deepest part of the forest came a wailing so loud and so tormented, it was horrifying. The girls covered their ears with their hands and tried to block out the lamenting shriek. It was a sound they had never heard before and they knew it was not of this world.

Jennifer was the first to break the reverie. She sprang from her position in the direction of the house. Seconds later, Sally and Britney did likewise. Their reaction was so instantaneous they didn't think about grabbing a torch. They darted through the inky forest tripping over logs and lumbering through the grass. If they stumbled, they quickly righted themselves. Mindless of the tears in their clothing or the scratches they suffered, their only objective was the safety of Sally's house.

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They finally made it to the back porch and were met with the confused, sleepy gaze of Sally's mother who stood in her bathrobe. Out of breath and shaking, the girls gradually described in broken sentences what had happened. Sally's mum listened while her dad, hearing the noise, got out his bed and joined them in the kitchen.

After listening to their story, he quickly dressed and went out to the campsite to investigate the matter and to extinguish their fire. He was gone for over an hour.

When he returned, his face was white. He was nervous and seemed distracted. He didn't say a word, and would not comment on what he had found, no matter how many times Sally or her mum begged to know.

The girls were sent home to their parents and it would be weeks before any of the girls would be able to sleep soundly. They all vowed they would never camp again.

The next day, Sally's family received news that her grandmother had passed away. In the next few days, the incident in the woods was dropped from conversation.

As time passed, the family moved on.

The girls remain friends to this day, but the memories of their camp-out are stuck in their minds. That night will never be forgotten.

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Lesson 30

Lesson Objective SportsLevel Beginner Student Kids Time 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - 'Simon says' T shouts and does an action. If T starts

sentence with 'Simon says' S must copy. If T doesn't start sentence with 'Simon says' then students ignore it.

5

Present Vocabulary:

Basketball FootballGolfTennisSwimmingVolleyballSnookerHorse Riding

10

Practice 1 – Matching

2 - Matching

S must match the picture of the sport to the name of the sport

S must match the sport's star to the name of the sport.

15

Perform Class – Ladders Game. S are split into 2 teams. Team 1 sits in a line with their legs flat on the floor. Team 2 sit opposite with their legs also flat and with their feet touching their opposite number.

Each person in each team is given a specific sport. When T shouts the name of their sport, the S connected with that sport (1 from each group) stands up, run to the front of the class, run down the ladder of student legs, around the back and return to their sitting position. The first to get back wins a point for their team.

15

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Lesson 31

Lesson Objective Finding LoveLevel Pre-intermediate / IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S speak about places people meet

their partners. What are the new ways to meet people etc.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T will pre-read the Lonely Hearts articles and will decide if they think there are some words that the students will not know. They will teach or check at this point.

10

Task Class – Listen to Lonely Hearts article

T reads out a Lonely Hearts article. S listen and answer some comprehension questions they were given before the reading.T then checks their answers to the questions about the listening.

30

Follow-On Class – Speed Dating S are split into 2 teams. They move their chairs so they are sat opposite someone from the opposite group.

They take it in turns to answer each others questions. After 1 minute S then move to the next person and complete the same task.

At the end each S decides who they would 'date' depending on who gave the best answers to their question.

40

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Lonely Hearts Article

With their abbreviated dialect - WLTM, GSOH, SWF - and cliched appeals, personal ads these days can appear anything but personal. But it doesn't have to be that way.

It's always fun scanning through lonely hearts sections in newspapers and magazines. Whether we're looking for love, or just a little curious, or idling away the time on a train journey, there's something intriguing about small ads. They are windows into other people's lives and many make for compulsive reading.

The first newspaper personal ads started appearing in the 19th Century and many magazines have had thriving columns for decades. Today, lonely hearts are big business.

Agencies that run small ads sections make fortunes by using premium rate phone lines and helping callers to formulate adverts. By asking a couple of choice questions an agency is able to create a brief statement about you that is then used to make your small ad. It's a good way of getting the job done, but is it effective?

Such ads invariably come across as a little formulaic and cold. And to the casual browser, they can be just a bit dull.

Readers of the London Review of Books (LRB) - the fortnightly British literary magazine - like to do such things differently.

LRB readers would sooner read the entire back catalogue of Jeffrey Archer novels than place an off-the-peg advert.

"Safety first. Dignity second. Trousers last. Rubbish wok-cooked foods enthusiast and flammable materials-wearing loon (M) WLTM F to 45 with fire-blanket and no small amount of knowledge regarding the correct batter-frying procedures of tempura. Bicester. Box no. 2006."

Instead of the standard "blonde hair, blue-eyed, likes theatre" formula of other lonely hearts sections, LRB advertisers use their 30 words to create bizarre hiakus of longing.

What is more peculiar is that the ads sometimes work. Admittedly they don't have a huge success rate (a handful of marriages, a couple of children, at least one divorce), but, if nothing else, they are original.

It's hard, for example, to ignore the unexpected presence of the German Reichstag in this typically untypical advert:

"Woman, 38. WLTM man to 45 who doesn't name his genitals after German chancellors. You know who you are and, no, I don't want to meet either Bismarck, Bethmann Hollweg, or Prince Chlodwig zu Hohenlohe-Schillingsfürst, however admirable the independence he gave to secretaries of state may have been. Box no. 2102."

If you're thinking of placing a small ad, you could do worse than to take a leaf out of the LRB readers' book.

Announcing to the world you're single and looking for love is not an easy thing to do and having fun is an important aspect of the dating game. Bear in mind, though, there are several important things you need to take into consideration.

Timing is always important. When is a good time to place your small ad? I often get e-mails time-stamped in the early hours of a Sunday morning. You can almost hear the glug of a wine bottle being emptied in the background.

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In my experience, a solo drinking session probably isn't the best time to tell the world you're ready for love.

When you are ready, don't rush into penning your ad. It's a certainty that whatever you think is great about yourself is less impressive to others:

"The only item you'll find in my fridge is soup. Forty litres of the stuff. Beat that. M, 46. Box no. 7524."

Perversely, this ad got a whole raft of excellent responses but, as a rule, no-one is interested in a failed attempt to enter the Guinness book of records in 1978.

Many ask their friends to help. It'll do for starters; just be aware that friends make poor romantic partners and will like you for very different reasons than a prospective lover might.

But if you'd rather begin with the help of someone who knows you quite well, try getting them first to write a brief synopsis of your most appealing qualities.

Be careful of breaking the very few protocols of the personals' column. Rule one: don't mention money. In those first lonely hearts back in the 19th Century it wasn't uncommon for gentlemen to specify their annual income.

In those days, the Personals were market places for the upper-classes to advertise their business acumen and secure marriages into equally wealthy families. Mercifully, this is no longer the case.

Honesty is a good policy at all times, but when you only have 30 words to sell yourself, it's a good idea not waste valuable wordage reliving your divorce:

"Save it - anything you've got to say can be said to my lawyer. But if you're not my ex-wife, why not write to box no. 5377. I enjoy vodka, canasta, evenings in, and cold, cold revenge."

My main piece of advice to all lonely hearts is to relax a little. Be prepared for the possibility of not getting any replies. Getting no replies or not getting the right sort or reply is no reflection on your qualities as a person nor is it the end of the world.

Don't be scared to try again. Be positive, be concise, and be bold. Even the ads quoted here struck gold eventually.

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Lesson 32

Lesson Objective London RiotsLevel AdvancedStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S speak about some of the biggest

news stories in their country over the last year or two.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T pre-teaches any vocabulary that they think the S may not know.

10

Task Read the Article S must read the article and answer comprehension questions raised by T.

30

Follow-On Groups – Debate S in groups must debate whether they think it is OK for people to express their opinions to the government. Should people be able to protest, riot, march in the capital city?

40

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London is Burning - Reading

London riots: frightened and angry, Tottenham residents seek answers. The reasons behind the violence and looting in London are complex and deep-rooted. Night. The smell of smoke, and angry young men moving with makeshift weapons. There are cars and buildings ablaze and the threat of violence. For years, I have been confronted by such scenes as this abroad: Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans. But now it was on my own high street in Tottenham, a seven-minute walk from where I live.

Two days later, I am confronted by more violence in Hackney, 100 metres from the place where, until a few weeks ago, my son went to school. Then, I discovered the answer to a question I have long asked myself about violence – what it feels like to run from where you live because you are afraid – when arsonists torched the council depot behind my house, and my wife and I were woken by the sound of gas canisters exploding, a column of dark smoke glittering with orange flame rising above our home.

It would be easy to write that I know these communities in north and east London where I have lived for more than 20 years. But that would not be true. There is another London I always knew existed, a place more familiar to my own teenage children who know its rules – the places that are dangerous, the streets to avoid. What I know about the other London, I have read, learning about it as if a foreign place: reports about the social consequences of multi-generational urban poverty, the sociology of gang membership on UK estates. But being white, middle-aged and middle class, this has never been my London.

Now, after the events that have unfolded, it is a London that I cannot ignore and have been forced to confront. It is easy enough to describe the visible manifestation of recent events: the high street lit giddily by flames; the line of police made visible only by blue lights flashing on riot shields in the distance; the sensation of feet crunching on glass around the shell of police cars burned to paintless, tyreless shapes by those angry at the killing of Mark Duggan by Police. But even as I watched on that first night, a crucial negotiation was unfolding, a turning point almost utterly obscured by all that followed across London and other English cities, as those protesters who felt their point about Duggan’s killing had been made were superseded by those with a different agenda. It was a group, some of whom had been part of the protest, defined not by anger but by self-interest.

What happened in the next few hours would set the pattern for the days that followed as more came from outside to join the violence. But what is harder to describe is ‘why?’ Every explanation seems unsatisfactory, designed to conform to an ideology or a theory. I hear social deprivation blamed, yet there are other poor areas of the country that didn’t riot. Others blame atheism and the lack of morality. Yet I have never lived in a community in London where so many of my neighbours go to church. Even the simplest explanation of Conservative ministers that it is simply “criminality” is meaningless.

I meet Lorna Reith, my local councillor whose ward covers half of the High Road most badly affected by the rioting, who is also responsible for children’s services. We are on a corner not far from Bruce Grove station. Ahead of us the road is still cordoned off as a burned-out building is demolished. There was a jeweller’s once on the ground floor and flats above. Reith has met many residents, people both frightened and angry. She is quick to dismiss the easy answers that some have attempted to supply to explain what happened first in Tottenham. “It is complex. There were

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different groups of people with different levels of involvement, many of them overlapping. There’s the 13-year-old kid who heard about something happening on the High Road, who wouldn’t usually get involved with criminal gangs. There were those with a more articulated political agenda, including those angry about police stop and searches. But the looting was not about politics, it was about consumerism – about people helping themselves to what they think they wanted.”

It explains, she believes, why the shops targeted were ones most familiar, where they choose to shop, such as Aldi and JD Sports. The places where some of them might work. While she is firm that those responsible should be punished, she is also worried that some caught up in a moment of opportunistic looting will be criminalized. What worries her most is not only those who looted while failing to think of the consequences, but others involved in more serious crimes such as arson.

But there is something else beyond all the social and political issues. “It was exciting for some of these kids, what happened. It turned into a giant playground. When you have anger and then add to it looting it all gets so much worse.”I catch youth worker Alvin Carpio, 23, on the phone as he is leaving a hastily organized meeting at Methodist Central Hall to discuss the implications of the riots. He says that while a lot of the debate has focused on self-discipline and responsibility, what it has failed to acknowledge is that within the groups at the forefront of the trouble – criminal street gangs and local groups of youths who describe themselves as being in “gangs” – a sense of responsibility and loyalty does exist; it is simply misdirected.

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Lesson 33

Lesson Objective Coca Cola's recipe revealedLevel IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins


brands in the world and why they are successful.

10


10

Task Read the Article S must read the article and answer these questions:

1. Is cocaine still in Coca Cola?2. Where is the original recipe kept?3. Who is the creator of Coca Cola?4. What fruit juice is an ingredient?5. Who was Pemberton's best friend?

30

Follow-On Groups – Create a new drink S in groups must create an exciting new drink including the ingredients, the name and the slogan. S will present their ideas to class and the best idea is the winner.

40

56

Coke's secret recipe

Coca-Cola secret recipe revealed? It’s the real thing, says radio host Ed Pilkington in New York 16 February, 2011 For almost 125 years, the recipe for Coca-Cola has been a secret and this has been a very successful marketing strategy for the company.

According to the story, the fizzy drink's famous ‘7X’ flavourings have remained unchanged since they were first blended in 1886. Today, only two Coke executives know the recipe, neither of whom can travel on the same plane in case the secret dies with them. Now, one of America’s most famous radio broadcasters says he has discovered the Coke secret. Ira Glass, presenter of the programme This American Life, says he has found a copy of the recipe. The original is still supposedly kept in a bank in Atlanta, in a burglar-proof room.

The formula was created by John Pemberton, an Atlanta chemist who made cough medicines and other drinks in his spare time. In 1887, he sold the recipe to a businessman who immediately placed it in the Atlanta bank for safe keeping. Glass came across a recipe that he believes is the secret formula in a back issue of Pemberton’s local paper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, while he was researching an entirely different story.

On an inside page of the 8 February 1979 edition, he found an article that claimed to have discovered the secret 7X formula. The article was based on information found in an old notebook that belonged to Pemberton’s best friend, RR Evans. Glass was intrigued and, after some investigation, found that the notebook had been passed from generation to generation until it reached a chemist in Georgia called Everett Beal, whose widow still has it.

The rediscovered recipe includes the following ingredients: extract of coca leaves, caffeine, plenty of sugar, lime juice, vanilla and caramel. The all-important 7X flavourings are added into that syrup: alcohol and six oils – orange, lemon, nutmeg, coriander, neroli and cinnamon. The formula is very similar to the recipe worked out by Mark Pendergrast who wrote a history of Coca-Cola in 1993.

Coke’s secret recipe is actually partly a myth. The recipe has, in fact, changed substantially over time. Cocaine, a legal drug in Pemberton’s time, was removed from the drink in 1904. Extract of coca leaves is still used but only after the cocaine has been removed. In 1980, the company largely replaced sugar with a cheaper sweetener that is often found in American food and drink. Passionate Coke fans were not impressed by this change.

Despite these controversies, one element has remained constant over time: Coke’s commitment to keeping its own secret. People have been talking about the secret recipe for more than a century and this has been good for business. The company has reacted to the This American Life story in a way that has been typical of its commercial strategy since the 19th century. “Many people have tried to discover our secret formula but they’ve been unsuccessful,” CocaCola’s Kerry Tressler said.

57

Lesson 34

Lesson Objective Coca Cola's recipe revealedLevel ElementaryStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins


brands in the world and why they are successful.

5


10

Task Read the Article S must read the article and answer these questions:

1. Is cocaine still In Coca Cola?2. Where is the original recipe kept?3. Who is the creator of Coca Cola?4. What fruit juice is an ingredient?5. Who was Pemberton's best friend?

25

Follow-On Groups – Create a new drink S in groups must create an exciting new drink including the ingredients, the name and the slogan. S will present their ideas to class and the best idea is the winner.

20

58

Coca Cola – Secret Revealed

The recipe for Coca-Cola has been a secret for almost 125 years. This has been an important part of Coca-Cola’s marketing plans. According to the story, the famous seven flavourings used in the fizzy drink have not changed since Coca Cola was first made in 1886. Today, people say, only two Coke executives know the recipe.

They cannot travel together on the same plane in case there is a crash and the secret dies with them. Now, one of America’s most famous radio broadcasters says he has discovered the Coke secret. Ira Glass, of the programme This American Life, says he has found a copy of the recipe. People believe the original recipe is kept in a bank in Atlanta. John Pemberton, an Atlanta chemist, first created the recipe for Coca-Cola. In 1887, he sold the recipe to a businessman who immediately placed it in a local bank so it would be safe.

Glass found a recipe that he believes is the secret formula in an old copy of a local newspaper while he was researching a different story. On an inside page he found an article about the secret formula with seven flavourings. The recipe came from an old notebook that belonged to Pemberton’s best friend, RR Evans. Glass did some research and found the notebook had been passed from generation to generation until it reached a chemist in Georgia called Everett Beal. The recipe includes extract of coca leaves,caffeine, plenty of sugar, lime juice, vanilla and caramel. Then the seven flavourings are added: alcohol and six oils – orange, lemon, nutmeg, coriander, neroli and cinnamon.

The formula is very similar to the recipe described by Mark Pendergrast who wrote a history of Coca-Cola in 1993.Coke’s secret recipe is actually partly just a myth. The recipe has in fact changed a lot over the last hundred years. Cocaine was removed from the drink in 1904. Coca leaves are still used but only after the cocaine has been removed. In 1980, the company replaced sugar with a cheaper sweetener that is often found in American food and drink. Despite these changes, one thing has not changed: Coca-Cola keeps its recipe secret. People have been talking about the secret recipe for more than a century and this has been good for business. The company has reacted to the This American Life story in its usual way, stating:“Many people have tried to discover our secret formula but they’ve been unsuccessful.”

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Lesson 35

Lesson Objective Computer GamesLevel Pre-IntermediateStudent TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S discuss what computer games they

like and why. What is important in a computer game and why.

10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary Discuss words that are often associated with computer games.

10

Task Groups – Design a computer game S must design an idea for a new computer game. They must think of the concept, name, how you win and who would be most interested in playing this type of game.

30

Follow-On Groups – Write a review S in groups must now write a review for their game explaining what is good and what is bad using descriptive language.

40

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Lesson 36

Lesson Objective 'Rare Exports'Level IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S speak about traditions and where

they come from.10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T watched 'Rare Exports' clip and teaches vocabulary that they think the S may not know.

10

Task Class - Listen or watch 'Rare Exports' clip

T either plays the YouTube clip of 'Rare exports Inc.' or converts it into MP3 and plays it as a listening exercise.

After the listening T asks comprehension questions about the clip.

20

Follow-On Groups – Create a new Santa S in groups must take the idea that not everything is as it seems. They must create a new Christmas story using Santa as the main character. Each group presents their idea to the class.

20

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Lesson 37

Lesson Objective ChristmasLevel Pre-intermediateStudent Kids / TeenagersTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class - Discussion S describe a typical Christmas

celebration in their country.10

Pre-Teach Vocabulary T checks vocabulary of listening exercise.

5

Task Class- Listen to T's traditional Christmas

S must listen to the T speak about a traditional Christmas in their country.

T will then ask questions to check comprehension.

15

Follow-On Groups – Create a new Christmas S in groups must create an exciting new way to celebrate Christmas. New customs and traditions, new food etc. Each group presents their ideas to the class.

15

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Lesson 38

Lesson Objective It's a Man's Life Level IntermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Group - discussion S discuss why it is easier to be a man

or woman in today's society. How has it changed?

10

Pre-Teach N/A

Task Class – Debate T splits the class into 2 groups. If it is possible, then make it girls vs boys. The girls' team must come up with arguments why it is harder to be a man. The men's team must come up with arguments why it is harder to be a woman.T then arranges and facilitates a debate.

40

Follow-On Class - Conscience Alley T lines one team up one side and the other team standing opposite them (about 2 metres apart). T walks up the alley. Stopping at each S where they must make one of their arguments until T moves to the next S. T chooses the team that made the better arguments.

10

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Lesson 39

Lesson Objective ClothesLevel Pre-intermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Groups – List of clothes Each group must create a list of 10

different items of clothing and then present their list to the class.

5

Present Vocabulary:

SleevePocketCollarWaistLegStripedPolka dotsPlainLooseTightTrainersHigh heelsWellingtonsJogging bottomsHoodieSuitTights

15

Practice Matching clothes and definitions S must match the item of clothing to the correct definition of the clothing.

10

Perform Pairs -What would you wear to... S will sit in pairs and discuss what they would wear to different situations. For example to a wedding, birthday party, to play football.

15

64

Matching

Please match the part of clothing / clothing description with the definition.

Striped Elegant shoes worn by women that make them look taller

Sleeve Plastic boots worn by farmers

Pocket A sports sweater with a hood for your head

Collar Clothing that fits very close to the body

Tight Part of clothing that covers the arm

Loose An extra piece of material to help you keep money in

High heels Spot patterns on the clothing

Jogging bottoms Horizontal or vertical line patterns

Suit The part of the clothing that covers the leg

Wellingtons The measurement of a pair of jeans in inches

Hoodie Clothing in one colour with no pattern

Waist Sports shoes

Polka dots Part of a shirt that covers the bottom of the neck

Trainers Clothes worn by women often made of silk or wool and worn under skirts and dresses

Plain Elegant clothes worn by men and women. The trousers or skirt matches the jacket.

Tights Sports trousers that are comfortable, you can train whilst wearing them.

Leg Clothes that are worn slightly too big so they are not close to the body. Popular style for skateboarders and rappers.

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Lesson 40

Lesson Objective London SlangLevel Upper intermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Groups – Discussion S discuss slang and local dialects. T

explains that in UK we have Cockney slang and explains how it rhymes.

15

Present London Slang T introduces the Cockney slang on the handout.

30

Practice Groups

Matching of Cockney rhyme and translations

S must match the Cockney rhyming slang with the definition.

Teacher prints and cuts out the rhymes and definitions, then divide students into groups and S task is to prepare a set of pairs of rhyme and definitions.

15

Perform Groups – Make up a conversation using Cockney rhyming slang

Groups will create a dialogue trying to incorporate as much rhyming slang as possible.

30

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Cockney Rhyming Slang

• Adam and Eve — believe

• apples and pears — stairs

• aris (short for Aristotle) — bottle

• Barnet Fair — hair

• Barney Rubble — trouble

• bees and honey — money

• bird lime — time (in prison)

• butcher's hook — a look

• china plate — mate (friend)

• currant bun — sun (also The Sun, a British newspaper)

• custard and jelly — telly (television)

• dog and bone — phone

• dog's meat — feet [from early 20th c.]

• dustbin lid — kid

• frog and toad — road

• half-inch — pinch (to steal)

• Hank Marvin — starving

• jam-jar — car

• loop the loop — soup

• mincers (short for mince pies) — eyes

• north and south — mouth

• pen and ink — stink (noun)

• porker, porky short for pork pie — lie (untruth)

• rabbit and pork — talk

• raspberry tart — fart

• Rosy Lee — tea (drink)

• Ruby Murray — curry

• tea leaf — thief

• trouble and strife — wife

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Lesson 41

Lesson Objective Life storyLevel Pre-intermediateStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins




15

Present Vocabulary:

BabyToddlerChildhoodTeenagerAdultTwenties / Thirties / Forties etc.Middle-agedPensionerOld ageDating EngagedMarriedDivorcedGive birthPass away

15

Practice Gap fill S must fill in the missing spaces with the correct word.

10

Perform Pairs - The life story S must sit in pairs and tell the life story of either someone they know or an imaginary life story. They must use as many words as possible.

20

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Lesson 42

Lesson Objective FlyingLevel ElementaryStudent Adults / Teenagers / KidsTime 45 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class – Discussion What are the different ways to travel? 5

Present Vocabulary:

DeparturesDestinationLuggageDeparture loungeSecurityPassport controlDuty freeBoarding passBaggage claim

15

Practice Gap Fill S must fill in the missing spaces with the words written above.

10

Perform Groups - role play S must act out the worst flying experience ever. S will present their performance to the class and a winner is to be chosen by the T.

15

69

Flying

Fill the gaps with one of the following phrases:

DeparturesFlightTerminalLuggageDeparture loungeSecurityPassport controlDuty freeBoarding passBaggage claimCheck-in

When I first arrive at the airport, I like to kiss the ground and hope to God that I will land safely.

You see, I am a nervous flyer. Next, I go to the __________________. Once there, I look at the

departure screen to make sure my _______________________.is on time. So far so good. Now I go

to_________________ where I weigh my _________________ and they take it from me to go on

the aeroplane. They print my __________________. Once I get through ________________ and

______________________, I wait in the _______________________ and maybe get a drink. I

often look at the perfume in ______________________. On the plane I pay attention to the safety

presentation. I rarely look out the window. Once we have landed, we wait for the stairs to be

attached. Once I am back in the ______________________ I head for ____________________ and

then wait at _________________________ to collect my suitcase. Then it is all over for another

flight.

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Lesson 43

Lesson Objective Business idiomsLevel Intermediate - Business EnglishStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description TimeIcebreaker Class – Discussion Ask class to discuss “the greatest ever

business idea20

Present Introduce and drill vocabulary S receive vocabulary sheet and T gives verbal explanations.

25

Practice Matching S must match the idiom with the explanation.

15

Perform Groups – role play Groups will create a dialogue trying to incorporate as many idioms into the conversation as possible.

30

71

Business idioms

If you have an idea that has become an obsession, you have a 'bee in your bonnet'.

• He's got a bee in his bonnet about politically correct language. • She's got a bee in her bonnet about recycling.

When somebody loses a boyfriend or girlfriend, we can tell them that there are lots more possible candidates with an expression about fish:

• There are plenty more fish in the sea. • There are other fish in the sea.

If you disclose a secret, you 'let the cat out of the bag'.

• The President's visit was supposed to be confidential but somebody must have let the cat out of the bag.

• He thought she knew the secret and so he told her and let the cat out of the bag.

If you are in an environment or doing an activity where you know nothing, you are like 'a fish out of water'.

• When they started talking about nuclear physics I felt like a fish out of water. • I couldn't understand anything I read or heard in Tokyo and I was a real fish out

of water.

If there is a difficult situation but you take action to confront it you are taking 'the bull by the horns'.

• I decided to take the bull by the horns and go in and ask for a raise. • If he's not doing his job, you are going to have to take the bull by the horns and

tell him.

If somebody is very restless, they have 'ants in their pants' (often shortened in US English to 'antsy'.)

• He can't keep still. He's got ants in his pants. • The long wait made the children antsy.

A member of a family or other group who is embarrassing, undesirable or disreputable is called a 'black sheep'.

• I was always considered the black sheep of my family because I was a socialist. • My uncle went to prison and is considered the black sheep of the family.

72

'Until/till the cows come home' means 'for a very long time'.

• They could argue until the cows come home and still not reach an agreement. • “I could dance with you till the cows come home. Better still, I'll dance with the

cows and you come home.” (Groucho Marx)

In British English, for a very small space we can say that :

• There is no room to swing a cat.

(A cat was an old form of whip – not the animal!)

If you behave stupidly, carelessly or in a very casual manner, you 'monkey around'.

• Stop monkeying around and get on with some work! • Who has been monkeying around with this machine?

If you are very suspicious about something, you 'smell a rat'.

• They said they will honour the contract but I smell a rat. • He said he was qualified but I smelled a rat, checked up on him and found out

that he wasn't.

If something 'goes to the dogs', it is in a bad state or even ruined.

• Since he took over as chairman, the company has gone to the dogs. • This part of town has really gone to the dogs in the last few years.

If you search for something which is futile, pointless or unattainable, you are on a 'wild-goose chase'.

• He sent us on a wild-goose chase for a book that isn't being published until next year. • She sent us on a wild-goose chase looking for their beach house.

A small sum of money (perhaps just comparatively small) can be called 'chicken feed'.

• The salary they were offering was chicken feed compared to what I could earn as a consultant.

• You can only make chicken feed profits teaching English on the Internet.

If money will prevent poverty, it will 'keep the wolf from the door'.

• The salary won't allow me to buy very much but it should keep the wolf from the door. • We need to get in some immediate income to keep the wolf from the door.

Sometimes when you lose patience with something, it is something very minor which causes this, even though you didn't lose patience when there were other more serious problems earlier. This is the 'straw that broke the camel's back'.

• I know it wasn't a major problem but it was the straw that broke the camel's back as far as I was concerned.

• When they told me I had to work on Christmas Day, it was the straw that broke the camel's back and I left.

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If somewhere is very dirty or untidy, we can say it is a 'pigsty'.

• This room looks like a pigsty. • The factory was like a pigsty with materials everywhere.

If you quarrel all the time with somebody, you ' fight like cat and dog' .

• They fought like cat and dog over the decision. • They can't work together. They fight like cat and dog.

The best or greatest thing is 'the cat's whiskers'.

• Now he has been promoted, he thinks he's the cat's whiskers. • Don't start thinking you are the cat's whiskers because you are not.

If you are very nervous or uneasy, there are a couple of expression using 'cat'.

• He's like a cat on a hot tin roof. • She's like a cat on hot bricks.

If you look dirty, messy or bedraggled, you 'look like something the cat brought/dragged in'.

• Tidy yourself up. You look like something the cat brought in. • He turned up looking like something the cat dragged in.

If you have absolutely no chance, you have a 'cat in hell's chance'.

• We have a cat in hell's chance of getting the contract. • He has a cat in hell's chance of going out with her.

If you are being teased cruelly by someone without knowing exactly what their intentions are, they are 'playing cat and mouse' with you.

• They are playing cat and mouse with us about renewing the contract. • I don't have any time for these cat and mouse games.

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Lesson 44

Lesson Objective HolidaysLevel ElementaryStudent Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Class - Worst holidays S discuss their worst holidays and

explain why.10

Present Vocabulary:

Sun creamSunglasses BeachSandOceanLiloBeach towelBikiniPassportTravel guide - Sightseeing

10

Practice Groups Game - Hot Seat 1 S from each group sits in a chair that has been placed so that the person sitting cannot see the white board. The rest of the group gather around so they can see the white board but also the student sitting in the 'hot seat'.

T writes a word on the board (from new vocabulary) and the S have to explain the word to their group member who is sat in the 'hot seat'. They obviously can't say the word or even part of the word.

15

Perform Groups – Holiday from hell Groups will think of how a holiday can become the holiday from hell. Each group will present their holiday from hell to the class.

25

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Lesson 45

Lesson Objective ComparativesLevel Pre-intermediateStudent AnyTime 60 mins




10

Present Comparatives 15

Practice Pairs - Comparing Photos T gives each pair two photos or pictures. Make the pictures as interesting as possible and including people / a person.

S1 must compare the two photos – to the other student.

The pairs exchange pictures with another pair and S2 now explains the 2 new pictures.

20

Perform Class game T makes a statement. Each S decides if the statement is true about them (using comparatives). If it is, then they stand up. For example:

T- Stand up if you are taller than meT- Stand up if you think the capital of Scotland is Aberdeen.

S can take the role of teacher to take in turns practising making the sentences.

15

76

Lesson 46

Lesson Objective RecipesLevel Pre-intermediateStudent AnyTime 60 mins


shop and bought food beginning with the letter A, S2 then continues by saying they went to the shop and bought S1's object starting with 'A' and then something beginning with 'B'. For example:

S1 ”I went to the shop and I bought an Apple”S2 ”I went to the shop and I bought an Apple and a Bread”

10

Present Vocabulary:

ChopStirPourWhiskFryBakeBoilRoastGrillSlice

15

Practice Pairs – Examples In pairs S must think of examples when they can use each new word. For example:

S1- I whisk milk and egg for omelette.S2- I can fry or grill sausages.

10

Perform Pairs - Recipes Pairs must work together to think of a new recipe. They must describe how it is cooked to the class. The class chooses the best new dish.

25

77

Lesson 47

Lesson Objective Song writingLevel Intermediate Student Adults / TeenagersTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class Discussion S must list their favourite singer song

writers.10

Pre-Teach Introduce and drill vocabulary S receive vocabulary sheet and teacher gives verbal explanations.

10

Task Groups - Gap Fill S are given the lyrics to the song and are asked to try to add a word to make the sentences make sense.

20

Follow-On Listening S are given a fresh sheet of lyrics and now must listen to the song and fill in the gaps as they hear.

T plays the song 2-3 times and then checks the answers. Once the S have all the answers correct, the T plays the song one last time so S can follow the words and sing!

20

78

The Chokin' Kind – Joss Stone

I _______________ meant to love youDidn't you ________________ it babeDidn't you ___________________ itWhy couldn't you be _______________________With the love I __________________________oh yeahI ____________________ you my _______________But you wanted my ____________________, oh yeahYour love ___________________ me to ________________, boyOh it's the c______________________ kindThat's all it is

You can ______________a girlWith a ______________ of poison or a ______________I know you canI'll __________ her more to take her _____________And run her _______________Oh it's a s___________ boyWhatever it is boyI s__________________ hope you f____________ oh yeahI _______________ you that hat don't __________________ my headOh, it's the ___________________ kind

It makes me wanna mmm mmm mmm mmmWhen you fall in love __________________boyTake a _______________ from me oh yeahIf you don't like the __________________, then ______________on by the _______________That's what you better do, _____________________Find what you _____________________ boyKeep it, t______________ it, s_______________ and k____________ oh yeahOh let it breathe, don't go making it the ____________________ kindOh no, don't ___________________ my_________________babyOh no, I know you love me truely truely,really I do, honeyBut your love _________________me to d__________________boyIt's the ________________ kindThat's all it is

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Lesson 48

Lesson Objective TEFL AngelsLevel Intermediate - Business EnglishStudent AdultsTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class discussion If T gave you $100,000 what business

would you start.10

Pre-Teach N/A

Task Groups -Business Idea Each group must come up with an investment idea to make money. They will present their idea to the class.

30

Follow-On Class Negotiation Class must discuss their business ideas and get other people to change their mind and vote for their idea. T takes a vote. If nobody has changed, then T decides on which idea was argued the most persuasively.

20

80

Lesson 49

Lesson Objective Pronunciation IdolLevel Pre-intermediate Student AnyTime 60 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeLead-In Class – discussion S discuss some of the major

pronunciation problems they have with English.

5

Pre-Teach Drilling T introduces some words that S of this nationality might have problem with.

15

Task Groups – Pronunciation competition

Each group is given a different tongue-twister to practice. Every person in the group performs their tongue-twister and the T decides the winner from each group.

20

Follow-On Class- Grand Final Winners from each group face each other in a final. They are all given a different tongue-twister and given 1 minute to practise in their group. The S finalist perform their new tongue-twister and the S not performing have to vote for the best.

20

81

Lesson 50

Lesson Objective Questions RevisionLevel ElementaryStudent AnyTime 90 mins

Stage Instruction Description / Comments TimeIcebreaker Call my bluff Class

T writes 3 sentences on the board.2 Sentences are correct 1 sentence is false.

S must ask questions to try to find 'holes' in the teacher's story. The S must decide as a class which sentence is false.

20

Present Question structures Past simple, Present simple, Present continuous

20

Practice Groups – 20 Questions S think of an object or person. They write it on a 'post it' note and stick on the forehead or back of the S to their right. Each S now has to ask Yes/No questions to the group to determine what is written on their post it.

20

Perform Class - Blockbuster Game T splits class into 2 groups. Each group prepares 17 questions for the other group. They then place the first letters of the answers onto the 'Blockbuster' grid. Group 1 on the top half, Group 2 on the bottom half.

Group 1 has to get across the bottom half of the grid by answering the questions the group 2 have (and the same for group 2).For Example:Group 1 chooses a hexagon with the letter L. Group 2 asks the question “Which L is the capital of Portugal?”Group 1 doesn't know the answer in English and so the hexagon becomes blocked.The winner is the team to have one continuous link from the right side to the left side of the grid.

30

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tefl · south korea there is currently a great demand for native english speakers happy to go to...

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