EF Teacher Zone
Ideas, tips, and tools for language teachers around the world.
MenuVisit EF Teacher Zone

Teaching tips

72 articles
Eight excellent digital resources for English language learners
4 min read 4 min

I frequently have students asking for advice on how to improve different areas in which they are struggling. These are my top eight digital resources ...

The unconventional guide to testing your students’ English
4 min read 4 min

Do you have students who think English tests are a simple stamp of approval at the end of a course? We thought so. On the other hand, you’ve probably ...

Seven games to play with your teens (that they’ll actually love)
4 min read 4 min

While teenagers have a talent for looking at the adults in their lives with keen suspicion, it’s a sure bet that suggesting a game in class will turn ...

Even more outdoor activities (to enjoy that great weather!)
4 min read 4 min

When spring rolls around you can practically hear everyone’s better mood. Warmer, longer days make for happier people overall—and classtime is as good...

Six super-flexible vocabulary guessing games
4 min read 4 min

Because there will never not be vocabulary to practice, these quick activities are perfect for anytime. Think to warm up your class, change pace befor...

Great activities to prep in 5 minutes or less
5 min read 5 min

Do you wish you had more time to prep for your lessons? Or not known how to fill an unexpected bit of time at the end of class? Maybe you’ve had to su...

Academics answer: What is blended learning?
5 min read 5 min

Education is constantly evolving, introducing teachers to new or different techniques to employ in class. Here, we invited the EF academic team to tal...

Got an unmotivated student? Try these 12 tips
5 min read 5 min

No matter how cohesive the class, there’s usually one student who just isn’t, let’s say, feeling it. But what can you do with an unmotivated student? ...

David Bish breaks down blended learning
4 min read 4 min

We sat down with EF senior academic David Bish to find out more about blended learning and how it’s used in the classroom.David, how would you introdu...

Got a gifted student? Here’s what you need to know
3 min read 3 min

One of the great challenges of teaching is adapting to the needs of dozens of students, all of them with unique personalities, interests, world views,...

Four ideas for project work in the language classroom
2 min read 2 min

Projects take students’ noses out of their workbooks and help them foster writing, speaking, listening, reading, vocabulary, grammar, and researching ...

Eight ways (and five videos) to teach homonyms
5 min read 5 min

One of the great things about learning a foreign language is discovering its quirks. Homonyms – words which have the same spelling and pronunciation, ...