Conversation Scripts
Conversation scripts are templates we use in everyday conversations, and there are similar ones in many other languages. Learning scripts can be a great way for students to feel more comfortable about speaking English.
Student Projects
Tag: language
What Exactly are Participles?
In this post, we discuss the definition we at Insights use for ‘Participles’, since it’s argued among grammarians and varies by source material. We also highlight where Gerunds fit in.
Quick Guide to IPA Vowels
The International Phonetic Alphabet is used to specify sounds, or to help translate between languages with different alphabets. There’s lots of information out there on how to use it, but if you’re looking for a quick reference, this is it. (Part 2 of 2)
Quick Guide to IPA Consonants
The International Phonetic Alphabet is used to specify sounds, or to help translate between languages with different alphabets. There’s lots of information out there on how to use it, but if you’re looking for a quick reference, this is it. (Part 1 of 2)
Review Activities
Here are some activities that you can use with your class to review vocabulary and grammar. There are quite a few to choose from, and each is customizable; use whatever is best for your class!
How We Term Clauses
You have to be careful with the terms ‘independent’ and ‘dependent’, since they don’t always actually reflect what we might assume they mean.
Top-Down vs Bottom-Up Processing
We generally teach the structure of a grammar point, and the usage follows. That works well enough for receptive skills, but for productive skills, it feels backward. Maybe we should try the reverse approach.
Practice Rearranging Sentences Often
If you have access to mini-whiteboards, those can be great. Note cards are also good. Your students can use these to quickly restructure sentences.
Identifying Grammar vs Using It
Learning a grammar point shouldn’t just be about knowing how to use it. How to use a grammar structure doesn’t matter until after they’ve determined what they want to say.
Grammar vs Vocab: where to place your focus
Is it better for teachers to focus on grammar or on vocabulary for elementary/intermediate students? Both are important, of course, but there’s only so much a learner can learn at a time.
Why You Don’t Need to Speak Another Language to Teach English
Have you ever been asked, “How can you teach students English if you don’t speak their language?” I get that a lot. It’s not necessary to know the native tongue to teach English. Here’s why.
Communicating Without Words
Using words is the most obvious way to communicate, but it’s not the only way. It may not even necessarily be the best way. Using alternate ways of communicating may be more fun or more effective.
Define Your Own Terms
There are lots of long, strange-sounding, technical terms that we don’t use outside the classroom, so why confuse students by teaching them? Instead, make up your own terms for for those concepts.
Never Say ‘Good’
‘Good’ is such a generic word, but it has so many synonyms that are far more interesting. Encourage your students to expand their vocabulary by forbidding them to use the word ‘good’.
Improving Reading through Frequent Exposure
If your students are having difficulty reading, encourage them to pair written words with their pronunciation. Subtitles are a great way to do this.