Using Pictures to Teach English
“He must be joking!” I thought. I was shocked but I kept quiet. My friend Jane didn´t. “Why the hell should I throw all my work away?” she asked. We went silent and expected that Jane will be punished.
Relative clauses in English – learn English Grammar
Relative clauses are one of the few grammar points I have covered just once. It might have been caused by the fact that I have always considered this grammar easy to understand and explain. Therefore, I never needed several infographics to help me. So it took several years before I created another infographic and a…
SVOMPT – Word Order in English
The SVOMPT rule is the most important rule in English. As there are very few declinations in English, the word order rule is the one that keeps the sentences understandable. If you do not apply this rule, your sentences will make no sense. <!– wp:more –> Unfortunately, there are very few textbook that teach this…
Why Einstein Never Wore Socks
At Christmas I got and read a book by Christian Ankowitsch called Warum Einstein niemals Socken trug (Why Einstein Never Wore Socks). The author collects all the pieces of research that show how our physical behaviour influences our thinking. There are many interesting facts that you may find useful in your daily life. But can…
Speculating about the past – Modals and perfect infinitive
Speculating about the past is one of the few grammar points I have not covered yet. As I usually teach lower level students, and this grammar is for intermediate students, I haven´t felt it necessary to deal with it. However, now the time has come and I need this explanation for one of my students….
First Lesson after Christmas
Children love Christmas. And they love speaking about it. Here you will find a set of materials to help them speak in English.
Teaching Vocabulary at School
Vocabulary is much more important than grammar. If you know the meaning of the words you can understand a text even without knowing the grammar. If you listen to a recording and you know the vocabulary, you will understand the meaning of the message. <!– wp:more –> If you watch a video and understand the…
Verbs BE and HAVE GOT
The difference between the verbs BE and HAVE GOT is essential for learners of English. However, the basic things and concepts are often the most difficult to explain. To be honest, I have to admit that I spent ten years searching for a way to explain this grammar. In the end, I found a solution…
Months – a lexical set to learn
Months are one of the few lexical sets that students have to learn. In general, lexical sets are difficult to learn and remember. Therefore, we should teach vocabulary in thematic sets. However, there are a few exceptions to this rule. There are some lexical sets which should be taught as such. They are for example…
Reported Questions – learn this grammar
Reported speech is not easy but when it comes to reported questions students go mad. “There are so many rules to apply,” they whimper. “First, you have to change the question into an announcement and then you have to shift the tenses.” That was why I tried to simplify this procedure. <!– wp:more –> In…
Used to, Get used to and Be used to
Recently one of my readers asked me to write a post on USED TO, GET USED TO and BE USED TO. He wanted a clear infographic and some exercises to practise the grammar. So I did exactly that. I created an infographic, an online quiz and a simple worksheet to help you learn these phrases….
Fifty most frequent irregular verbs
I can see what you think. Irregular verbs again? You must be joking!!! I know. I have already published many posts on irregular verbs. For example: <!– wp:more –> Irregular verbs with Fluency MC Irregular verbs rhymes Irregular verbs straightforward ADVERT: [showmyads] But let´s be honest. None of them proved to be the miracle solution…
Reported speech – backshifting
Reported speech is often considered very difficult. Students fear the backshifting of the tenses, because they often do not know the tenses very well. If they struggle with the formation of the past tense, you cannot expect them to recognize it and backshift it to the past perfect tense. To avoid all this hassle I…
Present tenses – using keywords
Keywords are the easiest way for students to know which present tense they should use. If the students know them, they are more likely to choose correctly which present tense they should use in the given sentence. Moreover, once they remember and understand the keywords, they might be able to form the underlining grammar concept…
Dates – great activities to teach dates in English
It is very important for students to be able to say and understand dates in English. For example if our students deal with someone about a deadline, they need to be sure what date is being talked about. In business, missing the deadline can have dire consequences. Therefore, dates are extremely important for the students…
Pronunciation of the Schwa Sound
The schwa sound is the most frequent sound in English. It appears in nearly every word, therefore, it is of paramount importance that students can hear and produce this sound correctly. To help them I have prepared this post. You will find several exercises to help your students produce and hear the schwa sound. <!–…
Short adjectives – comparatives and superlatives
In his latest video Fluency MC teaches comparatives and superlatives. He uses about forty different adjectives and raps them in the comparative and superlative form. The song is catchy and the grammar very important. Jason was kind enough to allow me to write some teaching materials to go with the song. In this post you…
Basic Greetings in English
Greetings are one of the topics teachers have to teach every year. They are introduced early on in every textbook and it is really nice if your students can produce some language from the very beginning. It is usually the first function students learn in English. <!– wp:more –> Surprisingly, greetings are not easy for…
Thematic vocabulary – BED
Thematic vocabulary sets are the best way to learn vocabulary. The research shows that students learn these sets much more quickly than semantic sets. Moreover, they remember the words much longer and they confuse them less. Even our poll has showed that 100% of teachers consider these sets very useful. <!– wp:more –> These thematic…
Thematic vocabulary – Birthday
In the issue 105 of English Teaching Professional there is a wonderful article by Chris Payne. It is called Plan V and it deals with vocabulary teaching. Chris explains that teachers should teach vocabulary every lesson, they should teach high frequency words and they should not teach semantic sets. He supports his arguments with research…