Blog for ESL teachers

• Teaching Career

Have you ever paused and thought: “What if my career as an English teacher could offer more flexibility, better income, and a clearer sense of purpose?” I remember that moment vividly: late evening, piles of marking, cold tea on the desk — and the realisation that something needed to change. I could either continue down the path toward burnout or build a teaching system where learners progress consistently and I stay energised. Since then, I’ve gone from an overworked classroom teacher to an independent ELT professional with TEFL/TESOL training, hundreds of successful students and a schedule that finally supports my life, not the other way around.

• Teaching Career

Cambridge English Qualifications are international exams that measure a learner’s level of English for study, work and migration. They are suitable for school pupils, university students and adults who need official proof of their English competence. In this article, I’ll walk you through the main exam levels, what each paper actually tests, and how to plan effective Cambridge exam preparation for students with very different language backgrounds.

• Tips for teachers

“Do you really celebrate New Year in February?” one Italian learner asked his classmate from China in my mixed-level English group. Questions like this are a perfect way to open up a conversation about cultural differences, family traditions, food – and everything that makes us surprisingly similar, too. In moments like these, intercultural competence in English lessons stops being a theory and becomes a real-life skill – the one that helps learners listen to each other, understand each other and treat each other with respect.

• Tips for teachers
• Games for English Lessons

Idioms are part of the DNA of any language. They make speech vivid, memorable and emotionally precise in ways that “ordinary” vocabulary often can’t. Once students start using idioms, they sound far more natural and much closer to real-life English. And a huge number of common English idioms are built around animals: they describe personality, social situations, business life and more. In this article, we will look at popular animal idioms in English and how to teach them so that learners not only understand the meaning, but also feel confident using these expressions in real communication.

• Tips for teachers

Stories are one of the most natural ways humans learn. For centuries, people have passed on knowledge, values and experience through myths, fairy tales, family anecdotes and real-life case stories. When we hear a story, our imagination switches on, attention sharpens, emotions help us remember details — the brain “hooks onto” characters and events instead of isolated facts and grammar rules. That is why storytelling works so well in English lessons: learners follow the plot, empathise with the characters, predict what comes next, and almost without noticing, they read more, listen more, speak more and use new vocabulary more actively. In this kind of classroom atmosphere, English stops being a list of rules and becomes a tool for understanding and telling stories. In this article, we will look at how to use storytelling in English teaching and turn a standard lesson plan into a memorable, story-based learning experience.