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I wish I was more like my students

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Maybe I'm just lucky but I feel I have been blessed to have such motivated, interesting students over my last 10 yrs of online English teaching. When it comes to learning a foreign language THEY really know their stuff. So I thought I would share what they have taught me on how to get the best results from learning a language online. Here's how they do it: Consistency with breaks and surges. What does that mean? So while it might be common knowledge that consistency is one of the keys to improving any skill or acquiring knowledge of a subject this consistency doesn't mean learning 2 or 3 lessons a week all year round. Of course every student has their own preferences and particularities but what I've found works best for most...

So what’s Business English anyway?

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Business English is something a lot of students are looking for but what exactly is it and what are teachers and schools offering it providing. To start with I'd say that most of the conversations in a business setting require only general conversational English skills. Where I think a shift comes is in the specific situations that business life regularly throws up, such as: A meeting; whether it be a conference call or a round table discussion there is a certain formality, culture and structure to these situations. Discussing and rehearsing with a native teacher who's had experience of these kind of business interactions can help the student feel more relaxed and prepared to participate. There's also some specific words and phrases that are used when a participant in the meeting...

Should I speak English or American?

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As an ESL tutor for 13 yrs, funnily enough, I've never been asked this question, so maybe it's a waste of time that I even writing about this! That's not to say I haven't had students ask me which word is preferable to use when there is a choice between the American used word and the word used in the UK but as for wanting a general rule I think my students must be more practical than I am and they don't seem to be as bothered about this as I am. So why aren't my students more bothered by this? In no particular order I'd say: 1. They have bigger fish to fry, meaning when you're learning a foreign language while it's important to take note of the finer details and...
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