How To Teach English Language To Beginners- 10 Tips

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Are you not a Perfect Teacher? But you Can be one!

You can Teach the English language to Anybody and Everybody.

Teaching is one of the most gratifying at the same time, one of the most challenging jobs. 

Whether you are teaching adults or kids, there is no doubt that your approaches to teaching the English language make a massive difference to liven up the classroom and make it enjoyable. This is because teachers have significant control in the classroom environment.

There are many challenges ESL teachers face. 

To teach the English language, the first challenge you may face is the language barrier. Because you’re preparing an international student whose native language is not English, communication can become difficult.

Establishing a mutual understanding between you and an entirely new set of foreign students is also a daunting task.

Moreover, if you are teaching children, building a rapport with the students is of the utmost importance. Remember your childhood days? How uncomfortable you used to feel with a teacher who has a pensive-looking face?

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TEFL Course is helpful to acquire a full-fledged understanding of the English language. TEFL stands for far-off teaching the English language. Henry Harvin strives to give you the best opportunity to learn this course and expedite your teaching skills. Henry Harvin is the perfect platform to encourage learners to better understand the English language. 

Planning to settle overseas as a teacher? TEFL is an international program of training for teachers, tailor-made for your ambitions as it equips you with innovative teaching techniques in a face-to-face learning mode and takes you through the appropriate learning process to prepare you for an international teaching career.   

Teaching English as a Foreign Language/ Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages

A TEFL certificate is an imperative qualification to teach English abroad and comprehend grammatical prowess. Moreover, it also inculcates you to create good stocks of lexis in your mind.

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You will be able to fascinate your students with a conducive learning environment under the guidance of well-qualified teachers. You can always think of becoming a mentor after extensive training with Henry Harvin. It also enables you to understand the unique pedagogical approach towards teaching. You can cultivate the potential of teaching that will help you to rise in your teaching career.

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Having said all this, are you confused about how to teach the English language to students who will have to start learning English from scratch and control the classroom? If you are a talented, aspiring teacher, the following techniques should help you to overcome perplexity.

Also Check this Video

1. Physical Actions Instead of Talking

 

One of the critical approaches to teach the English language to beginners is to teach the students with actions.

As a faculty member of foreign students, your job is to engage the class as much as possible. Because English as a language is entirely new to them, children will find it annoying if you just talk throughout the course in the conventional way of teaching.

Instead, you can use more physical actions and gestures to communicate with them. Both adults and children tend to notice activities.

For example, if you want to teach the word “walk,” you can slowly walk and show them despite telling the students to memorize the concept. Gradually, add adjectives to the word “slowly” and teach them “stroll.”

 

2. Let the Students Indulge in the Class.

 

When you decide to teach the English language and move to a foreign country, you will be teaching a completely different set of students. Some may have a knack to pick up the style faster, and it becomes easier to teach them.

On the flip side, there may be students who find learning a new language challenging, which can be very disappointing and frustrating for you as well as the students.

One of the most effective ways to teach the English language is to let the students indulge in the classroom sections. You should let them speak up. It’s okay even if they speak in their native language in the early stages.

This way, the two-way communication between you and the students becomes much more comfortable and more enjoyable. But make sure you reply to them in English.

Classroom playtime is a very effective way of teaching techniques for kids to learn English faster. Which kid doesn’t like to play games?

This not only helps the students learn the language quickly, but it also makes the class entertaining and helps the students build more confidence.

 

Also, you can encourage them to slowly start to speak in English, which will help them to build fluency over a while.

According to Reach To Teach Recruiting

“Whether you are young or old, everybody likes to play sometimes. Students love to play games in the classroom, and a lot of lessons highly encourage the use of activities to learn a new language.”

3. You Have to be Patient.

Most of the English teachers agree that teaching beginners are one of the most stringent levels in teaching. Most of the time, it can become very stressful due to the classrooms being noisy, and students going out of control.

As a teacher, it’s your job not to let the class go out of control. Instead, you should make sure it’s under your control.

Thus, another useful and proven strategy to teach the English language to international students is to keep your cool and be very patient. Or you can be proactive by maintaining some tools like a bell or a small musical instrument etc. with you to grab the students’ attention.

It’s crucial that you need to earn respect from the students by not yelling or screaming at them.

Instead, you can create a bond with the students by chit-chatting individually and building emotional contact with them instead of shouting at them.

Like the saying by L R Knost, “When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it’s our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.”

Also remember, the secret element in excellent teaching skills is always love and compassion.

4. Working Hours and Organizing

As mentioned above, your approaches to teach the English language should be presented in such a way that students should find the class fascinating. Thus if your level continues for more than one or two hours, students would find it very dull and become restless.

Moreover, classroom management and structuring are critical. The organisation of the classes is such that the different topics of the courses are divided into different sections so that the students won’t find it monotonous. 

For example, many students won’t find long sessions of grammar interesting. The same way, homework, greetings, presentation, etc., can be divided systematically to make the class lively.

 

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5. Get Down to the Students’ Level.

The students in other foreign countries will find your teaching style different as they always had exposure to a different education system. Because of the language barrier, initially, students may be reluctant to get close to you.

So you should learn to get down to students’ level and communicate with them.

 

Also, keep repeating things again and again if they haven’t understood anything.

 

 Rob Plevin in his video about effective classroom management says

“You need to get into the kids’ culture by watching the films and TV programs they like and getting into their wavelength. You can’t expect the students to come to your wavelength. Instead, you have to go down on to their wavelength if you want their respect.”

6. Use More Writing and Drawing than Talking.

Effective classroom management is always the key to a teacher’s success.

A lot of students find picking up languages very challenging. Whether or not you are teaching adults or children, it’s complicated to teach them just by talking.

Using visual aids can be very helpful, particularly at the necessary levels. This method can help teachers explain the subject correctly and thus enhance the learning process of students.

Also, you should always have a marker pen and a whiteboard to draw as much as possible instead of talking.

Students learn any language faster when they are displayed on the board.

7. Individual Time with Children

Many beginners always look at teachers as strangers and tend to shy away from them. 

You may not succeed well as a teacher if you think about your teaching job just in terms of money. You should remember that you are in school because the students are there.  

Teach Hub in their article says

“Students are the reason you became a teacher, not something you have to tolerate so that you can get paid.”

So teachers need to be sure that their relationships with students are well established to enhance their learning skills. Though it becomes a challenge in digital classroom sessions, physical interaction with children within the classrooms is an excellent opportunity for you to bond with children.

Moreover, it is essential to have individual one-to-one communication with the students, not only in the classrooms but also outside the class.

For example, supporting your students in the playgrounds, music/dance classes, etc. is a great way to develop a strong relationship with them.

8. Use Simple Sentences

 

Many teachers often ask this question, “how do I begin?”.

As a teacher, I would most likely agree that you will find it difficult because of the new environment in a foreign country. On the other hand, when looking at it from the students’ point of view, their expectations of the classroom environment can differ.

I would say one of the reasons is the language barrier. Initially, it would be complicated for the students to follow what you say. Introducing a new language to non-English speaking students is a daunting task.

One practical tip to keep the students engaged is to talk in a language that is very clear and easy to understand. For example, you can start with greetings such as “hello,” “good morning,” “nice to meet you,” etc.

Apart from using physical actions and drawings, you should also keep the sentences short, so that it’s easy for the students to understand.

Besides, you should make sure that you don’t use complicated jargon. Keep your sentences simple.

9. How to Teach Grammar Easily?

Here is one of the uphill tasks of TEFL Course teachers – teaching grammar. It is always the most dreadful part of the English language. The first step for it is to plan your grammar lessons in such a way that students don’t find them too annoying. Also, it is crucial to ensure that the grammar lessons are kept short.

Resilient Educator in their website says

“Planning will allow you to map out the course of your lesson beforehand, including all pertinent examples, so you will have a foolproof course to navigate with your students.”

 

10. Digital Teaching

Speaking of all of the above, we can’t forget digital teaching. The approaches to teaching the English language online are entirely different, as opposed to classroom training. 

Teaching English online means you will mostly be teaching small children from a foreign country. As kids are always playful and excited, controlling them throughout the class is a tough job. 

Mainly because you are sitting thousands of miles away, it’s a tiresome job to keep the children engaged.

Moreover, they often find the class very dull unless you have something to capture their attention.

Read Also:  TEFL Vs TESOL

 

There is a famous quote, “The loneliness of the long-distance learner.”

 

So, What will you do?

 

The Following Tips Will Help to Captivate Their Attention.

 

• Use educational toys instead of telling them every word.
• Ask questions to students instead of lecturing.
• Pay special attention to the students who are struggling.
• Tell the students to help each other while correcting assignments etc.

 

Things to take Home

 

Teaching is arguably one of the most rewarding yet demanding jobs. As an English teacher, the new environment can be a bit challenging for you. Likely the students also tend to back away because of the language barrier. 

 

However, there are many tips and Tricks Which will help you be one of the best Teachers to be loved by all the Students.  

 

• • Instead of just lecturing, doing more physical actions will aid the students to understand and recollect the lessons quickly.

 

• • Let the kids also take part in the classroom sessions. This will not only help them gain confidence but will also help them be fluent in the language as well as slowly.

 

• • Children love easy-going teachers. So keep your cool even if the class is noisy so that they become more comfortable with you.

 

• • Classroom management and structuring are crucial. Different topics can be divided into small sections so that the kids won’t find the class ho-hum.

 

• • Make your teaching style in such a way that your wavelength should be equal to that of students. So go down to your old kindergarten level.

 

• • Make sure you do more writing and drawing than being that strict teacher. Let the students get excited at seeing “their favorite little puppy” on the whiteboard.

 

• • Spend one-on-one time with the students and let them talk to you to develop a personal bond between you and the kids.

 

• • Use simple English sentences and words while communicating with the students. In fact, as beginners, let them start with some single words, like greetings, etc.

 

• • The heavy grammar classes can turn into fun-filling ones by keeping the sessions short and proper planning.

 

• The most challenging part of digital teaching can be overcome by keeping the students engaged. The tricks are to ask questions to children and asking them to help each other with their assignments.

 

FAQs

Q-1. How do I teach English grammar to the beginners?

Firstly, you must have a good understanding of grammar. Secondly, you should plan and organize the grammar sections so students won’t get bored. Make sure the sections are short.

Q-2. I find the whole class to be boisterous. How do I control the students?

Kids are supposed to be playful. A good strategy is that, instead of controlling them, you can get down to their level and make the classroom interactive. Instead of raising your ways over and over, you can also use some tools to catch their attention: a bell or a whistle.

Q-3. How do I teach English to the kids effectively?

There are many effective teaching techniques. Some of them are as follows.

a) Plan and organize your lessons well in advance.
b) Pay special attention to challenging students.
c) Instead of lecturing, engage the students with drawings, educational toys, using a whiteboard to write, etc.
d) Entertain the students by setting aside some time for games.
e) Personal interaction with each student within and outside the classroom.

Q-4. How do I communicate with beginners initially?

It will be quite difficult for you to communicate with students in the initial stages because of monolingualism. But have to bear in mind that they are fluent in their native language. 

So you have to let them speak to you in their language first. Then gradually you should introduce small English words to them and prompt them to talk in English.

Q-5. What are the challenges of online English teaching?

Student involvement becomes a significant challenge in distant teaching. Because you are sitting so far away, paying particular attention to students who are not keeping up with the class is another issue. Moreover, it’s highly likely that you are interrupted in between the classroom sessions if you are teaching from home.

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