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TESOL / TEFL Certificate options during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) Pandemic

2020 was a year of change for everyone. Due to the Covid 19 situation, all of the Trinity Cert TESOL courses at English for Asia are currently online. Saying this does cause some confusion and misunderstanding. Despite the change in delivery, the number of contact hours remains the same as when the courses are conducted face-to-face at the centre… All categories, Careers in TESOL, Certificate courses

Top 10 Tips for Teaching English with Drama

Do you have any tips about teaching English with Drama? After experimenting and learning with English teachers from many different countries and cultures, here are 10 of my most useful tips. All of these tips are simple, adaptable and easy to implement while teaching English with Drama. Think of the skills, not just the performance A performance… All categories, Teaching skills, Theme based learning

Debating: how to teach debate effectively

When teachers talk about debate and debating classes, it never ceases to make me smile and think, ‘Oh dear …’. This is both from a teacher training and a teaching perspective; where there’s always one enthusiastic trainee who wants to have ‘debate’ as the focus for their speaking lesson. Then there are those teachers that include ‘debate’ in their… All categories, Teaching skills, How to...

Why Grammar Matters: 3 Key Takeaways for TESOL Teachers

After 20 years of teaching English in Asia, my thoughts on teaching grammar have swung. When I started my teaching career, I honestly thought that we should not teach grammar to EFL/ESOL students. After all, many native speakers do not know grammar, so why would we expect our EFL/ESOL students to know it let alone be able to explain it. Surely, we… All categories, How to..., Teaching skills

Listening: the most important skill for teachers

We’re always encouraging our learners to listen for a purpose. But, how often is it that we focus on our own listening skills as teachers rather than maintaining that ‘instructional teacher mode’ and ‘tune in to the language and errors?’ Nothing’s wrong with identifying errors; it’s an essential part of our role as TESOL teachers, either in the… All categories, Teaching skills, ESL activities

The Key Ingredients to Successful Online Learning

The challenges we've faced in 2020 have led to an incredible surge in online teaching and learning. For many of us, learning online is a new (and possibly intimidating) prospect that can leave us unsure about how to get started. Through my own process of trial and error as an online CertTESOL teacher trainer, I've come up with the following list… All categories, Certificate courses, ESL activities

From Covidiot to Infodemic: Coronavirus lexicon explained

Social change has a tendency to bring about language change, either through need or prestige. Social conditions might dictate the speed at which change takes place, but language adapts to reflect changes in society and allows accommodation of new ideas. The current times are no exception and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) points out: ‘It is a… All categories, Theme based learning

When students say, we’ve done this before… Perfect!

How often have you heard a learner say, ‘I know this’ or ‘we’ve done it before’? I can sometimes raise a smile when a learner says it, but when a teacher says, ‘they know that’ or ‘they’ve done that’, I can only stop and ask myself, ‘do they?’ or ‘have they?’ When learners and teachers say they ‘know it’ or have ‘done it?’ They likely mean they’ve… All categories, ESL activities, Teaching skills

Does a TESOL certificate actually help in the real world?

What’s the point? How is this going to help me with a class of kids who won’t talk or don’t want to learn? Why should I do this? How is this related to real teaching? These are just a selection of questions people have raised about aspects of the Trinity Cert TESOL, either commenting on blogs or during information sessions. It’s not unreasonable… All categories, Certificate courses, Careers in TESOL

From side-hustle to career: start teaching English in 2020

When I graduated from university and took on a 10-month teaching contract at a college in Guangzhou back in 2009, I never thought that teaching English would turn into a long-term career path for me. I originally planned to spend a year teaching abroad to gain work and life experience, as well as use the time to figure out what I wanted to do.… All categories, Careers in TESOL, Certificate courses

Breaking the Myths of Online Learning

Despite becoming more and more popular in recent years, there is still a certain stigma attached to online learning. Even in this digital age; the idea that face to face learning is somehow superior to e-learning is a commonly held view. “I much prefer being in a real classroom with other students and a real teacher” is something I’ve heard many… All categories, Careers in TESOL, Teaching skills

Using Drama in the ESL classroom: drama without the drama

Our students live in two worlds; the world inside classroom with its hard desks, rows of chairs and the backs of people’s heads, and the world outside; full of new things to see, touch, smell, taste and feel. Drama connects these two worlds and can breathe life into our English lessons.  Developing students’ awareness of this and their English… All categories