I knew that pronouncing the -ed suffix for regular verbs in the past tense was hard for my adult students. They had certain “fossilized” errors that were going to be hard to break. Many of them had spent years making the same mistakes. I had developed a compact table and...
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published February 16, 2025 · Last modified May 31, 2026
Struggling to get your adult learners to see the long-term value of English beyond passing an exam? This 3-hour, no-prep lesson helps students connect English proficiency to their own personal growth, making them more motivated, engaged, and successful. From four short texts, ESL students will discover the reasons why the journey...
When taking the TOEIC L&R use these skills and strategies to boost your TOEIC score. All seven parts are covered and you can practice with a mini-test part by part. Knowing what to expect on the official test day is reassuring, soothes fear of the unknown, and reduces stress. The...
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published April 9, 2023 · Last modified February 4, 2026
Leverage gives us more power. It was the ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher Archimedes who calculated just how much it helps. Why not encourage your business English students to leverage their English skills to reach their goals? Celebrities, professional athletes, and rock stars have learned English to reach the top....
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published October 1, 2022 · Last modified February 4, 2026
Give your ESL students the vocabulary to discuss their life goals and what success looks like to them. Brainstorm the difference in meaning between goals and success. The aim of this lesson is to start students thinking about setting goals in English or in TOEIC exam preparation. Start off by...
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published October 16, 2021 · Last modified February 19, 2026
Over 3.2 million people took the TOEIC Listening and Reading Test in 2024. Have you thought about suggesting it to your business English students? Learn about the different TOEIC tests offered by ETS with these nine FAQs answered for you. Watch this short YouTube video that you can show in...
What’s the difference between language teaching and language coaching? A trainer transfers knowledge and skills to learners. It’s as if the learner were a passive passenger in her language acquisition journey. A coach puts the learner directly in the driver’s seat by pushing her to accept responsibility for learning. A...
Bus Eng teachers: Are you keeping up with the times? Read about my EdTech survey and hear from an expert in pedagogy on how the times are changing in EFL.
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published January 24, 2021 · Last modified February 4, 2026
If you’re an English teacher you’re going to want to organize your ESL lessons so you can reuse them. I’m going to show you my system, where I put all my lessons into an Excel table with a link back to the file location. I classify each lesson by subject,...
by Ellen Baker Dubois · Published December 26, 2020 · Last modified February 4, 2026
Have you been hearing about breakout rooms? Maybe you don’t even know what they are? Or why they’re important for online EFL teachers? We’ve asked an expert EFL teacher, Uma Tadema, to answer our questions about Zoom breakout rooms. Watch the interview with Uma or read the accompanying article with...
Find the list of 80 words you’ll need for this lesson on one of the top TOEIC topics “Kinds of Jobs and Kinds of businesses” including five suggestions for making your own vocabulary games that are proven to engage students and increase retention of new words. To round out the...
Get your students speaking accurately in minutes with this zero-prep verb tense game. Download it from my TeachersPayTeachers store for FREE.
Master workplace vocabulary with these scaffolded activities designed for professional learners. Download for $3 from my store on TeachersPayTeachers
