I taught English Second Language (ESL) Classes for more than 5 years in Shenzhen, China, and I’ve seen it all. From little children just three years old screaming their heads off if you even try to say hello, to amazingly advanced teenagers who would give many college students in America a run for their money.
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What I’ve learned in that time is that teaching English to non-native speakers is difficult. For the first few years I really floundered around. In fact, I showed movies for 4 months at the end of one contract! (Anyone in the public schools will know what I'm talking about). It wasn’t until I had a few years of ESL teaching experience before I truly began to feel confident in the classroom.
I eventually got to the point where I didn't even need a lesson plan. I had folders of great activities, handouts and games in a bag I bring to each class. If things started going downhill, I’d quickly switch to something I knew worked. And it’s those things that I know will work that I want to give to you.
You may think that paying anything for help in your ESL teaching job is just not the way to go, but I think you’re wrong. I would have killed for some of these games when I was just starting out, and perhaps my students wouldn’t have walked all over me when it was so blatantly obvious that I had no clue what I was doing. I learned the hard way, and I want to put that learning to use for you.
I’ve got plenty of free downloads around the site, from great warm-up ideas to exciting games and activities. There's an eBook, English Rocks! 101 ESL Games, Activities, and Lesson Plans that will give you hours and hours of ideas. And if you want to learn more about what it’s like to live or teach in China, I’m posting to my articles page on a weekly basis. You can trust esladventure.com to give you everything you need to teach English in China!