When you teach a language, you’re usually teaching a lot of vocabulary and grammar. Vocabulary are the words we use and grammar is how we organize them in a way so that people understand what we’re saying. However, native English teachers, especially those teaching ESL abroad are often expected to …
Okay, so you’re teaching in Korea at a university and are left entirely to your own devices as far as what to actually teach. Is this a good thing, or bad thing? It depends on you and your outlook on things, but find out all the details about this reader …
Let’s talk money, and how much of it you can make when teaching in a Korean university. How Much Money Do You Make? A common question I get from readers of this blog is what is the average monthly salary for teaching in a Korean university. The answer to this …
Think about your experiences with learning words in a new language? How did you do it? Many people just white knuckle it and straight up memorize them with flashcards or something similar. Is it the best way? Keep on reading to find out more details about rote memorization. Rote Memorization: …
Are you the teacher who likes to jump right into the lesson and not waste time? That may work for you, but it might not be working for the students! Think about it this way. Students may not have spoken a word of English since your class last week. Ease …
Do you teach writing to intermediate or advanced level English students, particularly in a university where you have to give grades? You’ve come to the right place! Keep on reading for all the details about my ESL rubric for writing that you can use to evaluate your students fairly. Grade …
Get ready for some fun ESL activities for adults! The key to happy students and great classes is a wide variety of activities. Read more to find out our top picks to help you get creative in the classroom. Top 15 ESL Activities for University Students and Adults If you’re …
Tips for teaching English—we’ve got them. Keep on reading for all the details you need to know about some fun warm-up activities to try out in your classes. Warmer Activities for Adults Are you looking to get your ESL classes with teenagers or adults started off on the right foot? …
Do you want to find out what English teachers end up doing when they move back to their home countries? Then you’re certainly in the right place! Keep on readings for all the details about Rachel Yoo, a former ESL teacher in Busan, South Korea. Life After ESL: Interview …
It’s Jackie here. What follows is an interview with one of my old coworkers in Korea, Angie Jones. We worked together at a university in Busan. Thanks for letting us know how life in the USA is, post teaching English in Korea. Interview about Life, After Teaching English in South …
Hi everyone, it’s Jackie here. This is an article from Ryan Thompson, who is currently teaching in Korea. He writes about his experiences at Journeys Korea. If you’re stuck in a rut, check out what he has to say and hopefully you’ll find some inspiration! Let’s get to it. I …
This is a question from a reader who is considering coming to Korea to teach English. The only problem is that he’s wondering about the stories he keeps reading about how many ESL teachers get ripped off in Korea. It’s true, there are plenty of stories out there. An oldie, …
Picture the scene…it’s Friday afternoon or Monday morning and your class is filled with sleepy, bored and tired students? What’s your go-to move to get some life back into your classroom? Maybe you don’t have one? Then you’re definitely in the right place. Keep on reading to learn how to …
Inability to Ask Questions: It’s a Big Problem! One of the biggest problems my lower-level students have is knowing how to ask questions, especially of the follow-up variety. They’re pretty decent at answering the basics, like: “What’s your name?” “Where are you from?” “What’s your favourite_____?” But once that question …
“Online Teaching: The Answer?” So you’re teaching ESL abroad, and think to yourself, “I wish I made more money!” If you’re going to be teaching for only a year or two, have fun, drink lots of beer, and travel to some amazing places during your vacation. However, if you’re doing …
Side Gigs for Teachers: Ways to Actually Make Money is the book you’ll need to check out if you want to make some money in your spare time. And let’s face it, when you’re teaching English in Korea, especially at a university (5 months vacation!), or public school (desk-warming), you …
Life After ESL: 2 Years in Canada, an Update As I scroll through my Facebook news feed while eating breakfast, there are more and more memories of the time I spent getting ready to leave Korea. I lived there for a bit over a decade. I left in February of …
Need a Language Partner? Here’s How to Find One An equally motivated language partner is a great way to improve your English skills. The key is to find someone who is as motivated as you are! This probably is not your best friend or boyfriend, so cast your search wider …
According to Wikipedia, extensive reading is: “Extensive reading, free reading, book flood, or reading for pleasure is a way of language learning, including foreign language learning, through large amounts of reading. As well as facilitating acquisition of vocabulary, it is believed to increase motivation through positive affective benefits.” Now that you know what is is, should …
Do you want to improve your English skills? Then you’re in the right place. Learn more about ways to improve your English reading, writing, speaking or listening quickly and easily. Study Tips to Help you Improve your English Skills There are many reasons why you might want to improve your …
Relative Clauses: We Use Them all the Time Relative clauses are important and we use them all the time in the English language.We just use them naturally, never make mistakes and use reduced relative clauses all the time without even realizing it. The problem comes when teaching relative clauses to …
If you’re serious about helping students improve their English listening skills, you’ve come to the right place! I’m going to share the steps that you need to know to plan a successful ESL listening lesson. Keep on reading for everything you need to know. ESL Lesson Plan Template for Listening …
Exciting news! I’ve just released a new book on Amazon, 39 ESL Warm-Ups: For Teenagers and Adults. Warm-Up Activities are awesome, if you didn’t know that already. They get your students active, engaged and speaking English right from the beginning of the class. In case you’re the type of person who …
Hobby Unit = Die a Little on the Inside Let’s be real. Teaching ESL certainly isn’t rocket science and I would in fact argue that most of what I teach is not personally engaging to me. Almost every single textbooks has like the same 10 units: family, weather, hobbies, sports, …
Teaching Writing to ESL Beginners: A Tough Job Teaching beginners to write in English can be a very difficult job. These students often struggle to put together a sentence, so teaching them to “write” can be quite overwhelming and many teachers instead find themselves just focusing on student’s grammar mistakes. …
You’re not Going to Get Rich Teaching English Okay English teachers abroad, it’s time for some straight-talk. Unless you happen to get a sweet, sweet gig like one of my old friends from Korea working for Aramco in Saudi, you’re not going to get rich teaching English. Sure, salaries for …
Maybe you’ve been searching for a long time for a university job in South Korea, but are finding it difficult to get interviews, much less job offers. There are some common possible reasons for this. But, the best advice I can give you is to check out the book, …
Okay readers, who likes money? You? Me? Everybody, right? Here’s how you’re going to be able to keep more of it in your wallet at the end of the month when you’re living in South Korea, working as an English teacher, studying or whatever. 101 Frugal Living in Korea …
Teaching and Traveling? Here are the Top 5 Budget Travel Tips for You If you’re an English teacher, I know you’re probably all about traveling the world in style. Here are some budget travel tips to help you do it well. Let’s be real, even with a high-salary ESL teaching …
Expat Personal Finance If you’ve decided to teach English in a foreign country, it’s not so uncommon that you’d have some student loan debt. You perhaps have just finished university and want to travel a bit, see the world and have some adventures before returning home. If you aren’t from …
Financial Management: Let’s Talk Money Money-I know it’s kind of an uncomfortable subject for a whole lot of people and some of you might have the “out of sight, out of mind” attitude towards it. Or, the plan to just enjoy life now and worry about the rest of it …
***Friends, family, random Internet strangers who ask me all the time why I’m leaving Korea and my sweet, sweet Korean University Job. This post explains everything, kind of.*** Korean University Jobs: All Things that Glitter The other day I was talking to a friend of mine about Korean university jobs. …
High Salary ESL Teaching Jobs Teachers mainly gravitate towards educational careers, driven by the passion of enriching the lives of their students. Of course this is reality! This choice is not driven by money in most cases. Rather, it’s the joy and contentment of the job that makes teachers …
If you want to have a bit of fun in your classes and do some serious review, then you’ll need to consider using some ESL board games in your classes. They often come in the textbook or teacher resource guide. Or, you can make your own. And, if you have …
A Review of Touchstone 4-Skills ESL Textbook Touchstone is a 4-skills (reading, writing, listening, speaking) ESL textbook for adults published by Cambridge. There are 4 levels, ranging from 1-4. is reasonably easy and would generally be suitable for an average freshman English class in Korea. is much harder and even third …
Okay, so you have English classes where all the students share a common first language? It’s not so uncommon in place like Korea, Japan or China. It can be a little bit difficult, but you’ll need to keep reading because I have my top four tips for teaching monolingual classes …
