Entries by turacogame

How to get your students talking

The one thing every teacher dreads is a silent classroom. Though of course there is a place for quiet study, individual reading or test situations, usually it’s a good sign when our learners are actively participating in our lessons and this is when they are talking. No matter how well you plan, if your learners […]

The different uses of the present continuous

The present continuous, also known as the present progressive, is one of the very first tenses taught in the English classroom. It is taught early on because it is a present tense and it is relatively simple to comprehend and manipulate. In terms of structure, the present continuous consists of the verb to be and […]

Letting the learners take charge

In a traditional classroom you will usually find the teacher at the front of the class, explaining something on the board, while the students sit at their rows of desks, listening. Now just because this is the way subjects have been taught at schools for decades doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best way and thankfully, […]

Common pronunciation mistakes with the past simple

Part of the challenge of learning the past simple is the pronunciation. First of all, it’s not easy to remember the past simple forms of all the irregular verbs, but even the regular verbs can cause problems when it comes to the pronunciation of their endings. In order to help our learners get to grips […]

What are conditionals?

Teaching English involves, to a large extent, teaching grammar and vocabulary. Some people assume that if you can speak a language you can teach it, but that is definitely not the case. Speaking a language by no means means that you are aware of the intricacies and rules regarding the language. It would be difficult […]

3 differences between teaching teenagers and young learners

There are many factors which affect how you learn and what kind of a learner you are: motivation, educational background and cognitive capabilities, to name a few. Another really important factor to consider when thinking about your learners, their learning styles and their learning preferences, is age. Age affects your interests, capabilities and experience, so […]

How to motivate students

Motivation is one of the important elements of a language classroom. If learners are not motivated to learn the language, they won’t be interested in your lessons, or, on the contrary, if they are not interested in your lessons they won’t be motivated to learn the language. What this means is that teachers need to […]

How to teach the past perfect

The past perfect is one of those tenses which is usually dealt with quite briefly in curricula, purely because it is not a very common structure in everyday English. There are a lot of other structures which appear much more frequently and so are more useful for learners of English. However, the past perfect should […]

How to distinguish between the past tense and the present perfect

Dealing with tenses in English can be tricky for our learners as there are numerous ways to refer to the past, present and future depending on the situation. The tense used can refer to one of three time periods – past, present and future – while the action in question can be identified as simple, […]

What is blended learning?

Most of us are familiar with the traditional classroom with a teacher leading the lesson and the students following their instructions. This has been the norm in classroom procedure for centuries. Now, however, technology is starting to play a part in education and this has spread to the classroom itself. Some teachers now make use […]

Computer-Assisted Learning and Teaching

Computers in the classroom are controversial. Some sources say that computers will quickly replace teachers while others think that technology has no place when compared to well-educated instructors with decades of experience. Thankfully, we don’t have to choose one or the other. Computer-assisted learning and teaching can both help teachers do more with fewer resources. […]

How online games help children learn

Researchers have been studying how children learn through games for a long time. Learning about this history can help understand how learning takes place through all types of play and how games can be created with instruction in mind. A history of Games for Learning The subject of learning through play predates formal games intentionally […]

Improve spelling through interactive games

Spelling can be tricky for learners to grasp because English spelling is not straightforward and actually quite complex: for every rule there are bound to be many exceptions. This is why it is important to incorporate games and fun activities into lessons which will help learners practise their spelling. Here are a few popular games […]

Vocabulary building games and tests

Vocabulary is the most important building block in English. Without grammar, we can still make ourselves understood but without vocabulary that can be very difficult. Unfortunately for learners, there are so many words that need to be learnt that it can seem like an impossible task. However, with the help of games and activities we […]

How to teach verb tenses in English

There are 12 tenses in English so it’s not surprising that learners can sometimes get a little confused! When it comes to teaching verb tenses, the best way is little by little, slowly but surely. As the learner’s proficiency in English grows, so will their ability to manipulate verb tenses for their own specific communication […]

How to teach pronouns

Teaching pronouns is an important part of teaching English because they are an integral part of our language. Consequently, it is common to teach pronouns at quite a low level, when learners have a basic understanding of the parts of a sentence but are still learning to deal with more complex sentence structures. The first […]

Three reasons learners should be playing games in the classroom

When you picture a high school classroom, you probably imagine the learners working studiously at their desks. This is the traditional idea of what should take place in the classroom and no doubt it is the reality for the majority of high school classrooms around the world. After all, education is important and learners need […]

How to use online games in your classroom

There are many online games that teachers can use to help students learn any subject. A simple search for “online learning game” + a topic will likely return many quality resources. However, it’s not always easy to find ways to integrate these tools into your class. One reason this can be confusing is that online […]