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

Teaching tips

66 articles
Top five podcasts to learn English with
3 min read 3 min

Living in the digital age has quite a few perks – especially when it comes to language learning. For...

How to write award-winning ELT materials
3 min read 3 min

Our academic team is no stranger to innovation – and now, our course book Fast Track 5 has been nomi...

13 fail-safe icebreakers to use in class today
6 min read 6 min

At the start of a new semester, teachers around the world turn their attention to the very first cla...

Try these 8 classic board games in class
4 min read 4 min

Board games evoke memories of camping trips, power outages spent by candlelight at the kitchen table...

Top tech activities (that don’t need the internet!)
8 min read 8 min

Have you ever had a wonderful lesson planned using technology and the tech has failed?  Maybe you ha...

How to get students talking—with minimal input
4 min read 4 min

Ever held a conversation class where students expected you to do the talking? Or tried to get conver...

Why use podcasts in class (and 14 activities to try!)
4 min read 4 min

Authentic materials—written, audio, and video materials students come across in everyday life—can be...

6 ways to use video (that don’t require much prep)
3 min read 3 min

Just a few short years ago, language teachers would have fallen over backwards at today’s easy acces...

Your quick cheat-sheet of pair work activities
3 min read 3 min

Pair work is a much-loved, much-used teaching technique—and with good reason. It reduces teacher tal...

10 classic Christmas games to play with your class
6 min read 6 min

For many of us, Christmas is an exciting time of year that promises an extra burst of food, friends,...

The big mingle: 8 activities to pick and mix
4 min read 4 min

“Mingles” are one of the most popular activities up a language teacher’s sleeve. Educators love them...

Got stationery? Play these quick games
4 min read 4 min

You know the deal. There are five minutes before class ends and you’re losing your young learners. M...