Repetition has got itself a rather bad name over the years and it is often avoided in many course materials. Why is this the case? Well, one reason may be purely economic. Drills mean a lot of recording and/or space on the page which makes for an expensive book. Similarly, repetition of
In this new monthly blog, National Geographic Learning’s in-house teacher trainer Alex Warren explores what’s going on in the world of ELT in his work around the region. With schools and universities going back to business and new adoption cycles at private language schools, it’s fair to say that September
We live in a world that has become an increasingly complex web of connections and interdependencies. Our young learners need to get ready to thrive in such a world to do so, tangible skills such as language proficiency are obviously critical to success. But language skills are just part of
In this month’s blog post, Katherine writes about the importance of creating a classroom which promotes equality and celebrates diversity. She explains what equality and diversity mean and why they are important in our context. She then shares a classroom activity to get children thinking about one aspect of diversity,
In this first post in a series of blogs on the use of technology in the ELT classroom, National Geographic Learning’s in-house teacher trainer Alex Warren, looks to demystify and clarify what exactly is meant by the term blended learning. Here’s the thing: everyone thinks they know what blended learning
Welcome to the fourth post in this series. In this post, we will be looking at why images are so powerful in the language learning process and at bringing images into the classroom to develop our students’ creative thinking. The Social-Age You may have noticed, with the popularity of Instagram,
Welcome back! The Life around the World photo from last month depicted a man strolling along the Malecón in Havana, Cuba. Started in 1901 to protect Havana from the water, the wall stretches for 8 kilometers and is a popular place to take a stroll and enjoy street entertainment. In bad
In this month’s blog post, Katherine writes about using K-W-L charts with primary children. She explains what K-W-L charts are and how they can be used to develop critical thinking skills that mirror those needed in the real world. She suggests how K-W-L charts can be adapted to enhance the
Welcome to another month of the Life Around the World Contest! Last month’s photo shows rowers taking part in the 42nd annual Vogalonga in Venice, Italy. The Vogalonga is a famous non-competitive regatta that started in 1974 as a protest against motorboats. Its 30 km route goes through many picturesque parts
In May, National Geographic Learning gave me the opportunity to share via webinar my experience of learning English and becoming a TED speaker. It’s heart-warming to “see” hundreds of language educators joining from around the world, hungry to become better teachers, hungry to help their students learn English, the de