The Good and Bad of Teaching in Shanghai, China Shanghai is an exciting, vibrant international city that is often people’s first choice when they decide to teach in China. But despite all the amazing things happening here, Shanghai isn’t for everyone. Some people have different needs and preferences when it comes to the city they…
Teaching English Abroad for Couples My husband and I are both TEFL teachers. We met abroad – it was the first year teaching abroad for both of us, and we were working in the same school. We lived in China for over two years, teaching at two schools, before moving to Japan where we both…
More English Teaching Tips The World’s Best “English Teaching in Asia” Tips (Just 3 – Especially When You Don’t Speak the Same Language) You’re about to head into a job where the unknowns go beyond your place of work. At other new jobs, you clock out and the majority of your stress is gone until…
More English Teaching Tips 8 Tips For Teaching Your Kids Chinese (Without Speaking Chinese Yourself) When you move to China or Taiwan, being able to speak Chinese will be of great help. Although you may get by without speaking the language, what about your kids? They are more sensitive to new experiences and have less…
How Procrastination Affects You Procrastination is a dangerous concept in modern society, and it’s a Latin term for postponing commitments, the one when your promise yourself to study – only after talking a walk, playing a game, and maybe taking a look at that new episode that aired last night. We experience procrastination when we…
More English Teaching Tips Elaboration as a Learning Technique One of the biggest roadblocks you can face during learning is repetition and approaching the material in the same way, every time. There are, however, many techniques you can rely upon to enhance your learning process and break the mold of recycling the same material and…
More English Teaching Tips Professional Development: What’s In It For You? Some ESL teachers actively seek out professional development opportunities and genuinely look forward to them, while others dread getting the email about the next mandatory PD session. Whichever group you find yourself in, it’s important to be reminded of the “why” behind these workshops…
More English Teaching Tips 3 Common Mistakes in Language Learning We make many mistakes that hinder our progress while learning a language and often rely on our intuition. However, when it comes to language learning, intuition can be one of your biggest enemies. What appears intuitively logical can slows you down and cause bad habits.…
More English Teaching Tips 5-Minute Teacher Development Ideas If you are a full-time teacher, chances are you are an extremely busy individual juggling lesson planning, resource creation, teaching and marking assignments with all the other things you need to take care of in your personal life. Even if you are determined to keep getting better…
More English Teaching Tips 3 Fun ESL Grammar Activities Teaching and learning grammar is definitely one ESL element teachers and students alike will not put on their favourite list. It can be really difficult to even explain simple grammatical concepts to students whose first language isn’t English. Also, making activities or games fun is a…