ESL Teacher Talk – ESL Podcasts for Teachers

We’re unfortunately not able to bring you a show this week but I did want to at least post a game of the week. This actually came out of a discussion as to what one could do with some scrabble tiles. You don’t need scrabble tiles. I use the simple alphabet cards I have for download at MES-English.com, but any alphabet cards will do.

Here’s a simple activity I thought up:

Place 6-8 letters out in the center of the group. The first person that can make a word out of the letters gets to keep the letters. Then just add more letters to the tiles in play. Read the rest of this entry »

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Today we interviewed Andy, a teacher who spent 3 years in the JET program in Japan. If you’ve ever thought about teaching in Japan or wondered about the JET program, Andy has some answers for you.

He also brought the game of the week which deals with the verbs ‘show’ and ‘give’. Get your students listening, speaking and writing sentences using these words. Useful for practicing present and past tense.

Listen to the show.

This week’s game of the week deals with the verbs ‘show’ and ‘give’. Get your students listening, speaking and writing sentences using these words. Useful for practicing present and past tense.

Listen to the show.

Music in the ESL classroom is something that can be fun, engaging, and beneficial for the students. The questions are why, what and how. Here are a few things to think about when choosing a song and a few activity ideas to go a long with those tips.

The Broken Song: the game of the week focuses on using music as Eric gives us his best music game he (cough-his wife) has hidden up his sleeve. It’s a great group activity that can be used with large classes and small groups.

Listen to the show.

The Broken Song is an activity that can be used with any song you find appropriate for your class. It’s a great group activity that can be used with large classes and small groups.

Listen to the show.

Ever thought about living and teaching in Japan? Get the low down from Mark as he tells us about working in Japan, setting up his own school and life in general. The question is: Was he in his pajamas during this show? Post your answer in the comment section below!

GAME OF THE WEEK: The Freeze Game: Here’s a simple game to help you teach the past continuous. It’s tons of fun and hardly requires any prep!

Listen to the show.

Here’s a simple game to help you teach the past continuous. It’s tons of fun and hardly requires any prep!

Listen to the show.

For those thinking of taking a job in Korea, those who want to know what options are available, or what one can expect on a stent in Korea, have we got the podcast for you. Eric takes us through a few of the ins and outs, discusses his experiences in Korea, and talks about how he got started on the web.

Describe the Scene is an engaging acitivity helps students work on the skills need to tell a story or explain about something that happened to them. This activity requires media capabilities but there is a variation that can be used in virtually any classroom. With watchers, listeners, and discussion, the students are all draw in. Then, you just swap sides and do it again. Enjoy!

Listen to the show.

Here is an engaging acitivity helps students work on the skills need to tell a story or explain about something that happened to them. This activity requires media capabilities but there is a variation that can be used in virtually any classroom. With watchers, listeners, and discussion, the students are all draw in. Then, you just swap sides and do it again. Enjoy!

Listen to the show.

Sorry for the podcast delay. Ran out of server space. But we’re up and running now.

The English only classroom isn’t just a myth. Eric takes us through what we need to think about, how to set it up, and the benefits of an English only classroom. Beginners to advanced classes, toddlers to adults, you’ll have an all English classroom in one week or your money back! Read more about an English Only Classroom here.

GAME OF THE WEEK: The Yes No Game
Here’s a game to play when the question is more important than the answer. It’s great for difficult to contextualize questions like ‘May I …?’ or ‘Do you think we should …?’ for example. Download and use the prepared cards or make your own!

Yes No game card download page at MES-English.com