My tip for today is LISTENING TO THE RADIO!

One particular radio station is called A WAY WITH WORDS! 

http://www.waywordradio.org

A public radio program about language examined through history, culture, and family.

It's perfect for maintaining your level of English!

Check this out, guys!

I hope you're working on your English!

Letting Learners Create Lesson Materials

Turnabout is fair play, or so they say. Take a day to switch roles. Have you ever let your learners write an exam? How about planning a fun class? 

Having a “hot” conversation on a topic that THEY want to talk about – music, movies, cute guys / gals, techno-babble? Nothing is taboo – well almost nothing, anyway! What do you think they’ll talk about? You’d be surprised!

See more at: http://www.learnenglish.de/Teachers/creativemethods.html#sthash.myOTQoZr.dpuf

Teaching Tips: Energising Classes

Do you have days when your learners seem tired or lacking in energy? How do you re-energise them?

Watch Dale's tips!

Teaching Tips - Game-based Learning

Teaching and Learning English through computer games is also a good way to language proficiency! 

As a way to have more Fun in the classroom (after a difficult task)

I'd recommend using MadLibs.

Mad Libs is a phrasal template word game where one player prompts others for a list of words to substitute for blanks in a story, before reading the – often comical or nonsensical – story aloud. The game is frequently played as a party game or as a pastime (but can also be used in a class).

The game was invented in the United States, and more than 110 million copies of Mad Libs books have been sold since the series was first published in 1958.

How to play it? First of all, there should be a host. The host usually asks for parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives etc. Example can be the following: Give me an adjective and you'll say any adjective you want. The host keeps asking you these kind of questions until the story ends. 

The funniest part is when The Host reads the whole story out loud with your suggested words. It is usually extremely hilarious. 

If you want to try this out, go to http://www.elibs.com

Storyboard

It's been a year since I discovered "my precious" book for my English lessons!
Well, actually it's a set of books under the title: Timesaver

My students loved new classroom activities but first and foremost - they really enjoyed the process.

One particular book from the set is called "Storyboard".

What I personally loved about the book is that all of the stories are funny, interesting and contain a good deal of vocabulary. Then, each story has a transcript, so in case there's any misunderstanding, it's possible to check the text itself. And the most important thing is that it has exercises for each text which are useful, helpful, funny and entertaining. 

80 pages.

Pre-Intermediate – Intermediate.

Photocopiable.
Timesaver.
This essential resource contains 24 picture stories each accompanied by a variety of mixed-skills tasks, culminating in the students writing their own version of the story. The stories cover various genres including reportage, human interest stories and comedy. A CD with transcripts and interviews is also provided.Those act as models for the students before preparing their own interviews and stories.
Ideal for improving fluency, this title also offers vocabulary building exercises such as cloze tests, word puzzles and matching tasks.

Sports Idioms

If your students don't seem very energetic and excited about English.

Maybe it's time to introduce them to Sports Idioms.

While most sports idioms can still be used when discussing sports, they are even more common in other areas of life, especially the business world. 

Examples:

Idiom sport of origin		Meaning	Example Sentence
across the board cards		equal for everyone	Ten percent raises were given across the board.
at this stage in the game any sport		at this time	Nobody knows who is going to win the election at this stage in the game.
the ball is in your court tennis		it's your decision or responsibility to do something now	"Do you think I should accept the job offer?" "Don't ask me. The ball is in your courtnow".
bark up the wrong tree hunting		you've got the wrong person or idea	I think you're barking up the wrong tree by blaming Matt for the missing money.
blind-sided any sport		to not see something coming	George blind-sided Eric with his fist at the bar.
blow the competition away any sport		win easily	If you wear that dress to the beauty pageant you are going to blow the competition away.
call the shots billiards		make the decisions	While our boss is on vacation, Bob will call the shots.
chip in gambling		help by donating money or time	The staff members chipped in 5 dollars each to buy Jody a birthday gift.
down to the wire horse racing		right at the end	It's coming down to the wire to get these done on time.
front runner track		one of the people who is expected to win	Angela is a front runner for the new supervisor position.
get a head start horse racing		start before all others	They gave the walkers a head start in the run for cancer.
get into the full swing tennis		be comfortable doing something after some time	It will probably take a month of working at my new job before I get into the full swing of things.
get off the hook fishing		escape, have responsibility removed	The child got off the hook for stealing because the security camera was broken.
give something or someone a fair shake gambling		try for a while before giving up	You should give Nadine a fair shakebefore you decide she isn't good enough for the job.

Check out this website: https://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/idioms-sports.htm

It contains a list of sports idioms and a test on all of the most common used sports idioms.

Using music and songs

Songs sung in English are listened to around the world and students can often feel real progress in their level of English when they can begin to sing along to the chorus or even just to be able to separate what at first seemed to be a constant stream of words! I am going to split this article into using music and using songs and I will share twelve of my favourite activities with you.

Before bringing music into the class, it may be worthwhile to do a music survey or questionnaire to find out what the students enjoy listening to. As much as possible try to use music they will like. I have found that the students’ motivation levels are the determining factor in whether or not a song will work with them. If the students really like the song and the artist they become determined to understand. If you choose the task carefully even lower levels will be able to get something out of working with tricky songs where the language is way above their level of English. 

Using music Music in the classroom doesn’t always mean listening to a song and using the lyrics in some way. Music can be used in the classroom in a multitude of ways. Here are just five ways to use music in your classroom.

• Set the scene: If music is playing as students enter the class it can be a nice way to settle the group. Give the class a few minutes to settle down and then turn the volume down slowly and use the end of the music as an indicator to the students that the class will begin.

• Change the tempo: Music can be used to calm down an over excited class or to wake up a sleepy one. If you know that your students have high energy levels and sometimes need to calm down, try playing some relaxing music to put on as they work. At first they may find it strange but they will get used to it. With sleepy teenagers, try putting some of their favourite tunes on as they work. It may help to increase their energy levels.

• Time limits: Instead of telling students they have two minutes to finish a task, or with very young learners a minute to tidy the room up after a craft activity, tell them they have until the end of the song. Play the music and when the song ends students should be paying attention ready to listen to the instructions to change tasks.

• Feelings: Different types of music will provoke very different reactions within your students. You can explore this by playing a selection of different types of music for a minute or so each and asking students to write some adjectives of how they feel when listening to the different types.

• Musical drawings: Give each student a piece of paper and some coloured pencils. Tell them that you are going to play some music and you want them to draw whatever comes into their heads. As music is playing, all students should be drawing. After 20 or 30 seconds, stop the music. Students stop drawing and pass their picture to the person to the left of them in the circle. Play the music again and they continue with the drawing the person next to them had started. Stop the music again, pass pictures on and this continues until the end of the song. When you have finished each student will have a picture that several students contributed to. Then it’s up to you what to do with the pictures. They can be used to describe to the group, to write a story about, or to pretend they were a dream the student had last night. The rest of the class can try to analyse the meaning of the dream.

• Use different types of music to get different types of pictures. I’ve found that reggae and samba produce happy beach scenes and dance music gets futuristic city scenes.

• Beware – with teenagers this activity can be quite an eye-opener as it tends to reveal what is going on in their minds!

• Classic gap-fill: Every language student at some point has been given a song to listen to and the lyrics with gaps in for them to fill in as they listen. This activity is not as simple as it sounds and before making one yourself think about why you’re taking out certain words. It may be better to take out all the words in one group, such as prepositions or verbs, and tell students what they should be listening out for. Another option is to take out rhyming words. Don’t be tempted to take out too many words, eight or ten is normally enough. To make the task easier you could provide the missing words in a box at the side for the students to select, or you could number the gaps and provide clues for each number.

• Spot the mistakes: Change some of the words in the lyrics and as students listen they have to spot and correct the mistakes. As with the gap-fill limit the mistakes to a maximum of eight or ten and if possible choose a word set. You could make all the adjectives opposites for example. Another example of this for higher levels is to show the students the real lyrics and you correct the English and make it proper! E.g. ‘gonna’ change to ‘going to’ ‘we was’ change to ‘we were’ etc. This is a good way to focus on song language.

• Comic strip: Songs that tell stories are great for students to make comic strips out of. You have to choose your song carefully and spend time looking at the lyrics with the students and making sure they have understood the main ideas. Lower levels may need guidance as to how to divide up the song into suitable chucks that can be represented pictorially. Avril Lavigne’s Skater Boy song from last year was a good one for this activity.

• Order the verses: With low levels this is a very simple activity. Chop up the lyrics of the song by verse and give a small group of students the jumbled verses. As they listen they put them in order.

• Discussion: Certain songs lend themselves to discussions and you can use the song as a nice lead in to the topic and a way to pre-teach some of the vocabulary. One I used recently was ‘Where is the love?’ by the Black Eyed Peas to lead in to a discussion about war.

• Translation: Although some teachers oppose all use of the mother tongue in the language classroom, some students really enjoy translating lyrics into their own language. If you do ask students to do this ensure the lyrics are worth translating!

• Write the next verse: Higher levels can write a new verse to add to a song. Focus on the patterns and rhyme of the song as a group and then let students be creative. If they are successful, the new verses can be sung over the top of the original! Norah Jones’ Sunrise was a good one for this.

Songs provide a valuable source of authentic language and there are hundreds of ways to exploit them in the classroom. The internet has made it very easy to find the lyrics of songs. A search on google with the name of the band, the song title and the word ‘lyrics’ will bring up a selection of sites you can use. Once you have copied and pasted the lyrics into a word document it is quick and easy to make an effective worksheet. Here is a selection of ideas for you to try.

The information is taken from https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/language-assistant/teaching-tips/using-music-songs

English Club

One particular way to be fluent in English is visiting a local English club!

English clubs come in many different guises. What they do all have in common, however, is that they provide an opportunity for English language learners to practise using English in a relaxed and friendly setting. They can make an excellent contribution to student life at a university language centre, a state school or at a private language school, for example. English clubs give students a chance to practice English in a relaxed, informal environment, and to meet new people.

• A good English cub should be participant-centred. Some strategies to achieve this are:

1. Encourage participants to bring in their own content.
2. Ask participants questions about their lives.
3. Divide participants into small groups to discuss questions or to do activities.
4. Give participants opportunities to express themselves creatively in English, for example, through drama, poetry or storytelling. Alternatively, give them opportunities to explore visual communication, for example art or dance, with a post-performance discussion in English.

• A good English club plays and important social role.

An English club can be a chance to meet new people and make new friends (both for both moderators and participants). This can be incredibly important for students studying English abroad, for example. Try to arrange the schedule so that there is time for people to stay and talk afterwards.

• A good English club gives people freedom.

Students often appreciate the freedom from syllabi, exams and learning objectives. Teachers usually appreciate this too!

• A good English club is rooted in the community.

Organize visits to local places or interest, or invite people from the local community in to talk to your participants.

• A good English club is fun

Fun and enjoyment are elusive qualities. They happen when people are not looking for them. With regard to English clubs, it is almost impossible to predict in advance whether the activities planned will ‘click’ or not. Like a good teacher, an English club moderator should be flexible and intuitive, abandoning activities that fall flat, and embracing the spontaneous and unplanned.

Practical Activities

The following section suggests practical activities suitable for an English club. Three different types of activity are presented: discussions, online activities and activities for a themed English club.

1. Discussions

Having discussions based on a pre-determined theme often works well. Participants can work in pairs, small groups or can talk together as a whole group and discuss questions.

2. Online Activities

If your participants can get online, then a whole wider world can open up for your English club. 

3. Themed English Clubs

Some English clubs have a theme, organizing a different activity related to that theme for each time the group meets. This generally works best when the club has a core of members who attend relatively frequently. Below are a few ideas for a club with the theme of books.

English book club

• Participants bring in a book they are reading (or have read recently) and give a short talk to the group about it.
• Participants ‘pitch’ their favourite book to the group. The other members decide how good they think the pitch was, and say whether it makes them want to read the book.
• The moderator distributes a range of different books from the school library. Participants look at the cover only, and discuss the following questions.

This information is taken from http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish

10 Ways to Maintain Your Foreign Language Skills

For the ones who aren't struggling with grammar anymore.
I've got a question. How do you maintain your English skills?
Why am i asking this seemingly weird question?
Because I was there too. 
There was a point in my life, when I thought I knew English well. 
Then, I took interest in another language - German...
Listening to German everyday, I totally forgot about my first love - English.
Days went by, months.
Until one day, I couldn't remember one particularly important word for me... which I tried to explain... Believe me, it was quite embarrassing.
So, that's why I really recommend you to take a look at the following advice list.

Stay Fluent: 10 Ways to Maintain Your Foreign Language Skills

1. Listen to international music.

2. Get into foreign cinema.

3. Seek international news sources.

4. Read foreign books.

5. Connect with others in foreign lands.

6. Explore neighborhoods.

7. Join a language club.

8. Serve as an ESL tutor.

9. See the world.

10. Revisit language learning resources.

For more information, go to http://education-portal.com/articles/Stay_Fluent_10_Ways_to_Maintain_Your_Foreign_Language_Skills.html

English through TV

Sometimes it gets hard and boring... 
You're sitting at your desk, being totally aware that there are lots of assignments for the next day. You're constantly reminded that you should better your grammar and pass the TEST. TESTS. 
It's frightening, isn't it? 
Well, sometimes it's ok to cut yourself some slack and watch your favourite tv show in English.
Believe it or not, if you're really enjoying your show, movie or tv series, your grammar will get better!!! 
Your textbooks (which of course you won't be allowed to throw away) will be with you, you'll learn eventually (want it or not). But watching your favourite shows for Fun will serve you a great purpose!
Check this out!

10 Best Modern American Sitcoms to Learn English:

1. Sex and the City (1998-2004)

2. The Big Bang Theory (2011 – present)
3. How I met your mother (2005 – present)
4. Ugly Betty (2006 – 2010)
5. That 70’s Show (1998-2006)
6. Grey’s Anatomy (2005-present)
7. Friends (1994-2004)
8. Glee (2009 – present)
9. Gossip Girl (2007-2012)
10. Desperate Housewives (2004 – 2012)

For more information, go to http://www.fluentu.com/english/blog/learn-english-american-sitcoms/

Effortless English Club by A.J.Hoge

the director of Effortless English LLC and the creator of the Power English Teaching System

Hi, this is Kamila and now... It's time when I'd like to share with you one of the great ways of learning English! 

A little bit from my experience. When I was...)) When I was a student, one of my friends recommended me to take a look at Effortless English Club by A.J.Hoge. Well, wasn't that a life changing situation?)) Here I am, writing all about it! 

What is Effortless English and how to use it? http://effortlessenglishclub.com is a place to go!

On the website there are 7 rules for Excellent English and if you leave your email there, you get them for free! 

To understand the concept and to learn English for Fun. I know, it may sound too good to be true but why not give it a try? Many of my students complained to me incessantly about their twists and turns with grammar. However, this guy here, A.J! makes it all down-to-earth and easy!

Learn Spoken English In These Powerful Ways

• Learn Naturally and Playfully Like a Child
• Never Study Grammar Rules
• Learn With Your Ears, Not Your Eyes
• Learn Spoken Grammar With Fun Stories
• Learn Actively By Answering Simple Questions
• Emotional Lessons That are Memorable

The Sun is always Brighter