I didn’t expect such stellar speaking!

Yesterday my students worked exceptionally well, so when they asked to play a game, I let them choose. To my surprise, they picked the 1–20 numbers bingo—designed for beginners aged 4 to 8. They’re 10 going on 11, comfortably at B1. That said, games like that are good fun and helpful in beginner-level classes of …

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Skype lessons, or distance learning with a live teacher, what is it like?

October is time for magic. Colourful leaves, roasted chestnuts, long, rainy nights and of course – Halloween! I must admit that I’ve felt a bit of that magic since I first started teaching English to children online through our e-learning platform and Virtual Classroom. Skype lessons for young children From the first day on, I’ve been …

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Classroom diaries: an unusual spelling quiz

  Class profile A mix of bilingual/trilingual young learners, some of whom are “traditional” EFL students, while others have been exposed to English-speaking environments through school, family, etc. Age range: 7 to 11. Goals Review unit vocabulary and challenge two learners who are using more advanced resources. Conduct group activities notwithstanding age differences. How we …

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Multilingual is the new homogeneous!

Teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Geneva, Switzerland Switzerland distinguishes itself from many countries with its four national languages (French, German, Italian, and Romanche), and dare I say, tongue-in-cheek, an unofficial fifth one (!!) if we add English to the equation. Nearly two-thirds are speakers of German, and the remaining third is split …

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