Deciding when to deviate from a lesson plan
New teachers can sometimes cling to a plan, and there are good reasons for this. A lesson plan is your roadmap. The final stage of a...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Jan 45 min read
Am I too old (or too young) to teach English abroad?
Some people worry that moving abroad and teaching English is a young person's game and that they might have missed their chance by...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Nov 13, 20234 min read
Teaching Mixed-level English Classes: Five Top Tips
In a dream world, every student in a class is exactly the same level - they all know the same words as each other, they are all equally...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Nov 9, 20236 min read
Top Countries In 2024 To Teach English & Save Money
We all have two sides - a logical brain telling us that we need to set money aside for a rainy day, that we need to save for a mortgage...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 24, 20233 min read
Teacher Talking Time: How can we reduce it?
For many new trainee teachers on their first CELTA course, one of the first and most frequent action points that they get told to work on...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 19, 20235 min read
Teaching English in Taiwan: What it's really like
Why Taiwan? When someone is thinking about where they could live abroad, one of the things they worry about is whether or not they will...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 17, 20233 min read
What is controlled practice?
Part of learning anything is to practise it. When I was a teenager and I learned to drive in Ireland in the 1990s, my father took me to...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 12, 20238 min read
The Five Best Places to Teach English With a Family
Some people believe that adventures are only for the young and once you get a little older and have a family, you have no choice but to...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 10, 20233 min read
Focus on the Learner - help with CELTA Assignment One
On a CELTA course, you'll have to complete four written assignments. Each assignment is between 750-1000 words. The assignments can be...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 3, 20233 min read
Five top tips for writing a CELTA lesson plan
When we meet people at the end of their CELTA courses, one of the comments they often make is that they didn't realise just how much time...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Oct 1, 20233 min read
Why CELTA is worth doing for non-native speakers
Thirty years ago, almost everyone who did a CELTA course was a native speaker. The idea was that young British people often went to Spain...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Sep 27, 20233 min read
Receptive skills tasks for the English language classroom
Reading and listening are known as the 'receptive skills' because we receive language while reading and listening. The other language...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Sep 22, 20233 min read
Where can British people teach English abroad after Brexit?
Until Brexit, European countries like Spain and Italy were among the most popular options for teaching abroad for British citizens after...
993 views0 comments
Connor O'Donoghue
Sep 19, 20232 min read
Correcting students' spoken errors in your CELTA lessons
Students all make mistakes, and it's important we respond to these. When students are speaking in class, and a teacher hears a mistake,...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Sep 12, 20233 min read
Checking students' understanding of meaning
One of the most important skills to learn as a new teacher is the skill of checking students' understanding. We might think we're...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Sep 5, 20232 min read
Test-teach-test: A framework for CELTA grammar and vocabulary lessons
Most grammar or vocabulary lessons on an English teaching course, be it an online CELTA course or a classroom CELTA, will start with some...
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Connor O'Donoghue
Aug 30, 20233 min read
Giving feedback to students in CELTA teaching practice
On a CELTA course, you'll be encouraged to get students to do most tasks by themselves, maybe working alone or in pairs or groups, and...
524 views0 comments
Connor O'Donoghue
Aug 18, 20233 min read
Should I do my CELTA part-time or full-time?
All CELTA courses share many features in common. Every course has the same basic elements: At least 120 contact hours At least 80 hours...
299 views0 comments
Connor O'Donoghue
Aug 15, 20233 min read
Five games for vocabulary practice on CELTA
New teachers sometimes think that 'controlled practice' means 'boring practice'. It's true that controlled practice activities include...
737 views0 comments
Connor O'Donoghue
Aug 8, 20233 min read
Product writing: a simple approach to teaching writing
Some CELTA tutors will avoid giving trainees writing lessons to teach, even though it is part of the syllabus. It is true that it's...
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