Adjectives For Boring

  This video focuses on the difference between "bored" and "boring". Using those two words incorrectly is a very common mistake, especially for English learners around the world. The word "bored" is an adjective describing the feeling when there is nothing to do or when a person is not interested, for example, "she was so bored that she fell asleep". "Boring" is also an adjective but this word refers to the cause of the bored feeling rather than the feeling itself. For example, "the class was so boring that she fell asleep". Here the class is the reason for the feeling. The same concept can be applied to similar word pairs such as 'interested - interesting' or 'tired - tiring'. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas When students hear ‘vocabulary’, they may expect to hear the word ‘list’ next. More often than not, we associate the word ‘list’ with ‘boring’! We think of 2 daunting columns of black letters on white paper: one with the native language and one with the target language. But it doesn’t have to be that way, and for teaching young learners, it cannot be that way. Certainly, teaching vocabulary will involve lists that help learners to receive language methodically and thoroughly. But what a teacher does with the vocabulary lists can be creative and fun and, most of all, memorable! This post was written by our ITTT graduate Roxanne L. When teachers hear ‘vocabulary’, they should pair it with the word...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most of the teachers in my school would say that the purpose of flashcards is to simply introduce grammar points, concepts, review vocabulary; and most likely, they would mention the joylessness of flashcards when teaching unmotivated students. In truth, flashcards are known for being one of the most boring ways to study. Nevertheless, there are reasons why teachers still choose flashcards for conducting lessons. Russian people say: “Repetition is a mother of learning.” I can not argue with the Russians. Indeed, repetition is crucial, but it often changes the mood of the classroom to "boring." Normally, it happens when the activities with flashcards are poorly organized, or when there are no other activities...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When I think of my earliest childhood memories, I remember that I used to love to play games in the classroom (charades, 7-up/head down-thumb up, categories, bingo, etc.). Going from a boring ‘copy from the board’ type of class to a competitive, fun and activity-filled class gave me the ability to open my mind, so I could find the subject being taught more interesting and made it easier for me to absorb the information. Young learners may not have an interest in studying because they don’t yet have any motivation from learning, so they are only interested in games, songs, and other fun activities. When playing most of the games in the classroom, young learners are compelled to communicate with each other...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Some learners are very interested in finding out or learning grammar rules and doing lots of grammar exercises. Others hate grammar and think it is the most boring part of learning a new language. Whatever opinion you have, however, you cannot escape from grammar. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thanh N. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Of all things we learn about English, most agree that grammar is one of the most challenging as it is a set of relatively complicated rules that explain the structure of a language. However, there are some solutions to...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Teaching vocabulary is an integral part of every ESL class. There are many ways teachers can introduce new vocabulary to their students that aren’t dull and boring and actually peak the students’ interest and get them excited to learn. Here are 7 great and easy ways to introduce new vocabulary to your ESL students. Using real-life objects to introduce new vocabulary to your students will greatly help them associating a mental image to the word. Kinesthetic learners will especially enjoy this way of learning as it gives them a physical connection with a lexical concept. You can use toys, clothing articles, plastic (or real) fruits and vegetables, animal figures, and more. Show the object to your class, introduce...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I think of myself as having been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to learn other languages at a young age. I was taught French in primary school and at home, I learned or acquired Spanish. At school, I remember my language teacher being very textbook-oriented and she focused and followed the book to the “T”. I picked up easily on the grammar because I had already learned Spanish at home and I was also very keen to learn foreign languages, especially French. The grammar didn’t seem difficult or boring to me at all because I had already been exposed to the language at a very early age. However, many students didn’t feel the same way I did and had difficulty with the subject and therefore,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In today’s world learning English is no longer a possibility, but an essential part of being a world citizen. However, we must face the fact- for some people- to learn English grammar is not so easy and fun, they hate grammar and even think it is the most boring part of learning a new language. On the other hand, others are extremely interested in learning grammar rules and practice it as much as they can. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Glaucia S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Whoever wants to become an effective language learner cannot run from grammar lessons; it is a crucial part of the learning process besides...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Like we all know, the English alphabet has 26 letters. These 26 letters can make 44 different sounds or phonemes – 20 sounds come from the vowels a, e, i, o and u; and 24 sounds come from the remaining 21 consonants. A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound that can change the meaning of a word. If we consider sounds made simply by the letter ‘a’ for instance, in the word ‘apple’ – it’s /ae/, in ‘car’ – it’s /a:/, in amount – it’s /a/, and so on. This, consequently, makes English a non-phonetic language, which means that the pronunciation of a word is not dependent on its spelling. Now in order to pronounce a word correctly, we need to get three factors in it right - vowel sounds,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching grammar is one of the most challenging things for a teacher of English. As a student, it is essential to learn grammar as this gives you accuracy both in writing and speaking. This applies to every language, not only to English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Adrian D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In many ways grammar can be compared to Mathematics; they both have a set of rules and exceptions that have to be known and practiced until you become so familiar with them that you don’t have to think about them when solving problems in everyday life (for example when you make a simple calculation like 7x8) or,...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Teaching Ideas When you decide to take a TEFL certification course with the intention of teaching English abroad, in your home country, or online, it is difficult to know who you will actually end up teaching. Once you have finished your training you could end up teaching primary aged children, teenagers, or adults. They could be from any country worldwide and they could be at any level of English language from beginner to advanced level. In many ways it is a bit of a lottery, so you should ensure you are ready to deal with all types of environments. After a while most teachers develop a preference for the type of student they prefer to teach, however, the beginner EFL student is often the most feared. So what actually defines a...  [Read more]

Ahmed Taha TEFL Information Teaching Ideas This article explains what TBLT is and how it differs from more traditional approaches to teaching. Why has it become such a popular teaching method for languages? Will it continue to be popular or will it be replaced by another approach? PPP now stands for present, practise, and produce. The teacher is in charge of everything in the PPP classroom. As a result, there is a finite amount of room for student behaviour and agency. A linear syllabus is also a part of PPP. So you only get one chance to learn grammatical rules and other aspects of the language. Finally, lessons in the PPP format can become repetitive and boring. So this isn't the most effective method of inspiring students....  [Read more]