Category: Teach Abroad Programs

Teaching English abroad doesn’t have to be limited to job contracts in a classroom; there are many opportunities to make some extra income as an English tutor offering private lessons. For travelers looking to immerse themselves in the culture and language of another country, teaching English in a homestay is another unique opportunity to live with a host family in exchange for food and accommodation during your travels.

While our previous teaching tips have focused on motivating students in a classroom setting, below are some best practices for tutoring English in a homestay environment. These ideas turn a living room into a classroom or a dining table into a desk.

Whether tutoring one-on-one or an entire family at the same time – the following tips and bits of advice are ideal for teaching English in a home setting.

Utilize the Living Space

Once you know the space in which you’ll be tutoring, find out if there are any areas off limits before facilitating an activity such as “Prepositions Hunt”.

How to play ‘Prepositions Hunt’:

• This activity works especially well for prepositions describing place such as: in, on, under, over, in front and behind.
• Write out the above words on pieces of paper or print this PDF of word cards to use.
• Hide the word cards in, on, under, over, in front and behind objects around the house – or within one room of the home.
• Allow your student(s) a certain amount of time to find some or all of the cards.
• Practice the found prepositions after the activity has finished.

Recommendations:

• When using ‘Prepositions Hunt’ with more than one family member, try crafting it into a friendly competition to see who can find the most!
• Any vocabulary word or short English phrase could be used instead of prepositions to make this activity into more of a general “hunt”.

Notes:

• Never underestimate the power of play in the learning environment.
• Doing something like the ‘Prepositions Hunt’ works well for one student, siblings, or an entire family at once.

Be Resourceful

Similar to using the space within a homestay for dynamic lessons, understanding what resources are available for you to use in the house is also important as an English tutor.

Here are some questions to ask before your first lesson:

• Will you have a whiteboard or a chalkboard available?
• Do you have access to a computer and/or a printer?
• What’s the Internet connection like?
• Does the family have a stock of board games?
• Is there an English dictionary or thesaurus collecting dust on a shelf?
• Are crayons, markers or colored pencils hiding in drawers?

Notes:

• Once you know the materials you have to use, you’ll be able to better sculpt your lessons.
• Don’t be afraid to ask for certain items!

Befriend a Thesaurus

One of the best ways to help students increase fluency is to expand their vocabulary. And what better way to do this than synonym practice? Many Thesauruses such as the Oxford English Thesaurus for Schools give access to websites with very helpful lesson plan ideas and interactive games as well.

The advantage of teaching English in a homestay is being in constant contact with your students. Challenge the family to use newly learned words throughout the day or week.

Recommendation: Pack a Thesaurus!

Think of Games that can be Played One-on-One 

More often than not, you’ll be tutoring only one student at a time. It’s essential to think of games for two players (teacher included), or ones that can easily be modified for no more than two participants. Something like Rory’s “Story Cubes” works perfectly in one-on-one settings to practice verb tenses in particular. Story cubes help students think, communicate, and be creative with the English language.

Ways to use ‘Story Cubes’ to teach English:

• Start by helping your student discover possible words for all pictures on the cubes.
• Identify which verb tense you would like your student to practice.
• Roll one cube and create an example sentence that incorporates the use of that image.
• Continue with rolling two or three cubes (up to nine) to make longer stories with one, two or three sentences and so on.
• Depending on the level of English your student has, stories can be simple or complex.
• For a fun twist, take turns rolling one cube at a time to build a collaborative story together.

Other suitable games for one-on-one English instruction:

• “Catch Phrase“
• “Charades” – Act out a word, sentence or phrase without speaking
• “Pictionary“
• “Taboo” – We’ve come up with a Greenheart Travel version of Taboo to get you started!

Recommendations:

• Instead of using story cubes, put together your own version using pictures!
• Here are a few more adaptable activities that can be adjusted for one-on-one English tutoring.

Notes: 

• ‘Story Cubes’ can also be played with more than two players – get the entire family involved!
• It would be a good idea to bring any of the games mentioned above with you, or easily create your own versions.

Structure Lesson Plans and Designate a Classroom Area

Certain challenges can present themselves when teaching in a homestay. It’s a comfortable environment, which is a good thing on the whole, but depending on which age you’ll be tutoring – this concept of comfort might pose some difficulties.

Perhaps the most efficient way to combat this is to designate a certain area of the home as the “classroom”. This could be the dining table, a comfy couch or even a favorite spot on the rug. In addition, structuring a lesson similar to how an English class would be taught is beneficial.

Typical components of an English lesson plan:

• Warmer: Start with a short activity to get your student(s) excited and ready to learn.
• Presentation: Outline learning objectives for the lesson and go over what will be introduced.
• Practice: Help your students practice new vocabulary, grammar points, and/or expressions as outlined.
• Production – Come up with one or two engaging ways (such as ‘Story Cubes’) to get your students to produce whatever skill or aspect of English is being instructed.
• Review: End the lesson on a light note with a quick game for review.

Recommendation: Even if having a ‘classroom’ works best for your specific situation, don’t be afraid to venture outside of that space from time to time to boost excitement and keep the level of motivation high.

It’s common for teachers to offer learning incentives in the classroom. This method of encouragement works quite well while teaching outside of a school, too! Consider incorporating something like a sticker chart or a point system in your private lessons or with a family as well. And check out these other teaching tips we’ve shared for some extra inspiration! 

Would you like even more advice for teaching English in a homestay? Visit our Facebook group!

So much goes into putting together an appealing learning environment. Packing a lesson full of entertaining activities and incorporating a motivational reward system are just a few of the necessary pieces.

One of the biggest challenges Greenheart Travel English teachers seem to face abroad is getting students to speak the language they’re learning. Mainly out of fear of making a mistake, or nervousness over being the first to volunteer.

Coming up with fun activities, such as ways to randomly select students to speak, keeps everyone on their toes. Such a strategy is essential for assessing knowledge, maintaining fairness, and getting students of all ages and levels to actually converse.

Here are five creative ways to get students talking:

“Dice Roll”

Materials: You will need two or more dice.

How to use dice to choose students:

• Roll two or more dice (depending on how many students are in your class).
• Keep the number rolled a secret.
• Give students the option of saying one, two, or three numbers in a row.
• This continues down a row, or around the room, until one student says the number you rolled.
• He or she then needs to say whatever it is you’re practicing in English.
• Start over with the next student in line.
• Continue doing this until all students have had a chance to guess numbers, and when at least several have been selected to speak.

Recommendation: Let the student who said the correct number roll the dice each time.

Notes:

• Make sure students begin counting at two or three, depending on how many dice are rolled. For two dice they should begin at two. For three dice they should start at three and so on.
• This activity works best in medium-sized classes of 15-20 students. It could potentially take too long with larger groups.

“Popsicle Stick Selectors”

Materials: You will need enough Popsicle sticks to match the number of students in your class, a permanent marker, and a container such as a jar, bag or basket big enough to hold the sticks.

How to use Popsicle sticks to select students:

• Write numbers on one end of the Popsicle sticks.
• Number your students.
• Pick a Popsicle stick.
• The student with the same number as the Popsicle stick that was drawn must practice something in English.
• Repeat this as many times as needed.

Recommendations:

• Allow a different student to choose the Popsicle sticks each time.
• You could also do this activity with numbered pieces of paper, dice, or Ping-Pong balls instead of using Popsicle sticks.

Note: Selecting students this way goes quickly and works well when two or more are needed to talk at the same time.

“Chopstick Pick”

Materials: You will need enough wooden chopsticks for the amount of students you have and a marker.

How to use chopsticks to pick students:

• Color the ends of some of the chopsticks, but not all.
• Hold the chopsticks and walk around the classroom to have each student take one.
• Cover the ends of the chopsticks as students are picking so they can’t see which ends are colored.
• Once everyone in the class has a chopstick, inform the students that those with the colored ends need to practice saying something in English.

Recommendation: In order to maintain excitement and suspense, switch this up each time you decide to use this activity to randomly select students. For example: Instead of having the students who picked the colored chopsticks go, have those without the colored ends talk.

Note: Here are many other uses for wooden chopsticks in the English classroom!

“Catch the Bunny”

Materials needed: One small and one large ball.

How to play ‘Catch the Bunny’:

• Have students stand or sit in a circle.
• Explain that the small ball is the “bunny” and the large ball the “farmer”.
• The point of the activity is for the big ball to meet with the small ball (as seen in the video below).
• The farmer has caught the ‘bunny’ once this happens, and the two students next to each other should say something in English.
• Do this as long as time allows.

Video music source: bensound

Recommendation: Make sure to start the balls at different points around the circle each time, or they may end up back with the same two students over and over again.

Note: This game can be played with students of all ages; however, older or adult students may not care for the balls being referred to as a ‘bunny’ and a ‘farmer’.

“Pass the Ball”

Materials needed: You will need at least one ball and music.

How to play ‘Pass the Ball’:

• Once the music starts, hand the ball to one student at random.
• Students pass the ball around the classroom – either standing in a circle or sitting at their desks.
• Students should keep passing the ball until the music stops.
• The student holding the ball when the music stops needs to say something in English.
• Start the music again and repeat this activity as many times as possible.

Recommendations: 

• Use more than one ball at a time to get more students involved in a conversation.
• Younger students really seem to enjoy passing objects like stuffed animals, soft toys, or balls with smiley faces (as pictured above).
• If you don’t have a way to start and stop music in the classroom, try having students sing or say a short chant.

Notes: 

• Make sure students pass quickly and quietly, or this could get very out of control.
• Ensure students don’t throw the ball during this activity unless you want a mess.
• ‘Pass the Ball’ has been particularly popular to use for teaching in South Korea!

If you’re having some difficulty getting students to speak up, we’re convinced these activities will make your learning environment come alive with the sound of more students practicing English! These five creative ways to get students speaking English in the classroom work especially well at the beginning and/or ending of a lesson. Do you need other lesson plan ideas and teaching inspiration? Check out our various teaching tips posts!

What other ways have you been able to get students up and talking in the English classroom? Share by commenting below!

The activities outlined below are meant to provide new and experienced Greenheart Travel teachers alike with ideas and inspiration for encouraging students. Most work better with younger learners, but all could definitely be adapted for older learners as well as adults!

Offering incentives in the English classroom is highly successful in keeping students motivated to learn. Learning incentives also serve as an effective classroom management technique, which will be discussed further in another post on teaching tips.

Check out these Incentives to Keep Students Motivated in the English Classroom:

1. Make Learning Seem Like a Game

Crafting a lesson to feel like a game is an art – an art anyone teaching English overseas should master. No matter what age of student you’re teaching, games can be used as incentives to keep learners engaged.

“My favorite method was to split the kids into teams and make the whole class a game. Each team got to pick their name. When a student gave a correct answer or volunteered for an activity, he or she got a point for their team. If a student misbehaved, they lost points for their team. I’d have candy or stickers for the team with the most points at the end of each week.” – Savannah McDermott, Greenheart Travel Teach and Work Abroad Program Coordinator

2. Give the Gift of Music

Music is an entertaining way to incorporate culture and media into a lesson plan. It’s not only attention-grabbing, it’s insightful. And the gift of music is a gift that keeps on giving. Students get to enjoy hearing songs during class while learning English at the same time.

“One thing I learned quickly was that my students loved music… If they were attentive throughout the week, I would let them play music of their choosing on Fridays. Then, I would play an English song of my choosing after, and have them write down as many English words as they heard… They loved it!” – Cody Milam, Greenheart Travel alum and English teacher in Thailand

Recommendations:

• At the end of a class period, write one letter from the word ‘music’ on a board if students behaved and/or performed well.
• Do this until M-U-S-I-C is spelled out completely.
• This works quite well if you see a class every day of the week – if all lessons go well, students get rewarded with music on Fridays!

3. Bingo was Its Name-O

Bingo is an ideal activity for the English classroom. It can be modified to fit nearly any topic or plan, and serves as one of the most classic ways to get students practicing key English vocabulary and expressions. There are also various ways to use Bingo as an incentive. The simplest would be to allow students to play the game as a reward.

Another way to use Bingo as an incentive: 

• Make sure each student gets a Bingo card.
• Give individual students Bingo markers or chips for doing well in a class.
• At the end of a week, a month, or another specified time, play Bingo as a class.
• A student with more pieces to use on a Bingo card has a greater chance of winning.
• Reward the winning student(s) with a small prize.

Notes: Versions of Bingo can be found throughout the world. It’s very doable to make your own as well!

Recommendations:

• Laminate your Bingo cards to be able to reuse them.
• Instead of numbers, print words or phrases on the cards.

4. Reward Charts for Individual Encouragement

Reward charts work really well for individual affirmation. Students are able to track their own progress, and tend to get very excited about working towards an achievable, visible goal.

How to use sticker reward charts in the English classroom:

• Make enough reward charts for each of your students.
• Hand out stickers to students for good behavior, assistance, answering correctly, and/or volunteering.
• A student should place the stickers in the available spaces on his or her chart.
• Once a student has filled a certain amount of spaces with stickers, award them with a prize.

Notes: You can find numerous sticker chart templates online, or have fun putting one together. Here’s a Greenheart Travel one we’ve created to get you started!

Recommendations: 

• Bring loads of stickers with you.
• For older students, try using a stamp and pad instead of stickers, or simply write your initials in the spaces provided on a reward chart.

5. School-wide “Lucky Draw”

Schedules vary for Guest English teachers (GETs) abroad. Some GETs focus on one class or a few, others instruct an entire grade or even school. A raffle or “lucky draw” system is an easy way to offer the same incentive to all of your students, especially if you have hundreds, and creates a friendly competition within the student body.

How to integrate a ‘lucky draw’ system in your school:

• Every time a student wins in an activity, answers a hard question, or shows up to class on time, for examples, award him or her with a ticket (as seen above).
• Have students write their names on the backs of tickets.
• Keep all tickets in one jar so students can enjoy watching it fill up over the course of a semester or even an academic year.
• The more tickets a student gets, the more chances they have to win.
• Draw a ticket or two or three at the end of the term, and announce the winning students on a notice board for extra fun!

Notes: Students of every age really seem to love this activity, particularly high school and adult learners.

Recommendations: If lugging a roll of raffle tickets doesn’t seem realistic to you (it’s hefty), invent your own ‘lucky draw’ system with pieces of paper!

If All Else Fails, There’s Sugar…

Perhaps the best worst learning incentive is to give students candy as an award. It’s highly recommended to refrain from dishing out sugar freely, often, and especially from the beginning. Students will begin to expect it, demand it, and might even trample you to get it.

However, candy is a very sweet motivator, when used sparingly. Consider giving out one piece of candy a day or even a week to the most deserving student(s). Make sure to provide “healthier” options as well, or even cheap school supplies such as pencils or erasers as alternatives.

Having incentives in place starting with your first day of class truly helps motivate students to learn English. Always follow through on your promises, be fair in your systems, and stick to your plan for success.

What are some other ideas you have for learning incentives? Please share below!

It’s no doubt gaining a TEFL certification helps boost confidence before entering a classroom, but it also helps having a little insider insight on effective, adaptable lesson activities for the English classroom – whether you’re just about to get your teaching feet wet, or you’re a seasoned educator.

Several of us Greenheart Travel staffers have taught English in various countries abroad, and we’ve been there to see lessons go anything other than according to plan. We’ve also experienced moments of complete teaching bliss when all goes better than anticipated, thanks to effective lesson planning. To help you in your own lessons, we’re sharing four activities we’ve found successful that you can adapt to your classroom while teaching overseas.

4 Adaptable Activities for the English Classroom

Regardless if you’re in a school without access to technology in the classroom, or you’re just looking for a way to give students a break from always staring at a screen, below is a list of adaptable games and activities that are sure to win your classes over. Each can be tailored and used for all ages and levels, as well as lesson objectives. Get creative and find new ways to make them more suitable for your specific learning environment!

“Talking Towers”

There are so many ways to incorporate wooden block towers such as Jenga into English lessons. Students young and old love this classic game, especially when it’s done as a friendly competition to see which group can build the tallest tower within a certain amount of time.

‘Talking Towers’ work well when students need to produce language learned during a lesson, as an engaging review, or even as a conversational starter. It can be played one-on-one, in small groups, or even as a whole class. Write key vocabulary and/or expressions to practice on the blocks ahead of time, or have students take turns asking or answering questions before removing a block.

Once your students are familiar with how to play this game, try doing it in reverse order for a fun twist. Remove some blocks ahead of time, and have students put them back in the tower. If a group’s tower falls before the set time limit is up, have them stack it again and start over.

Suggested Time: 10-15 minutes

English Skills: Speaking, listening, reading and writing

Notes: Variations of Jenga are available worldwide, and come in large or small sizes.

Recommendations: Pack at least one (if not a few) wooden tower sets in your luggage! You won’t be sorry you took up space to do so.

“English UNO”

The card game of UNO is a worldwide favorite. Don’t know how to play this international hit? Here are instructions to get you started. Now adapt the original game to fit your English lesson by developing English speaking and listening ‘challenges’ for each of the UNO symbols.

Examples:

• The student who plays the ‘reverse card’ has to ask the student it reverses to a question that relates to whatever topic or expression you’re focusing on.
• When the ‘+2 card’ is played, the student who lays it down must ask the students to his or her left and right questions.
• Someone who gets skipped when the ‘skip card’ is used needs to incorporate three new vocabulary words in a sentence or two.

Suggested Time: 12-15 minutes

English Skills: Speaking and listening

Notes: ‘English UNO’ seems best in groups of four to six students, so using multiple decks is suggested. UNO cards can be found in various countries, or try making your own version with flashcards!

Recommendations: Using a deck of cards such as UNO is also a great way to randomly select students when you’re in need of a volunteer to participate during a lesson.

“Language Target”

A ‘language target’ is perfect for the practice or production portions of a lesson in which students should start using learned “target language” to build on previous knowledge. Draw a big bullseye on a board. Label each section with conversational prompts, key expressions, questions (as seen above), or even vocabulary words. Make sure to include points in each ring of the bullseye as well for added motivation.

How to Play:

• Split the class into two teams or several small groups.
• Have individual students take turns throwing something such as a soft ball, crumpled up piece of paper, or a paper airplane at the target – aiming for certain points for their team(s) alongside what they’re to do or say in English.

Suggested Time: 10 minutes

English Skills: Speaking, listening and reading

Recommendations: Students will likely get a hoot out of being allowed to throw objects during class. Be sure to closely monitor this activity so it doesn’t get out of control.

 “Elbows Up, Hands Down”

This is ‘hands down’ (pun quite possibly intended) one of the best ways to begin or end a lesson. It works well as a warmer or for a review because it gets the entire class involved at the same time.

How to Play:

• Choose one student to come to the front of the room to be the “guesser”. Have him or her close their eyes or turn to face a wall so they can’t see their peers.
• The rest of the students should put their hands on their laps to pass something like a vocabulary word, a question/answer, or a key phrase on a small piece of paper around the room, under the table.
• Allow the item to be passed, quickly and quietly, for about 20-30 seconds before having the student at the front shout, “Elbows up!”
• Make sure all students make fists with their hands before they put their elbows on desks or tables.
• At this point, the ‘guesser’ should turn around or open his or her eyes before saying, “Hands down.”
• Every student needs to put his or her fists down before the guessing student can point to who they think has the piece of paper (as seen in the video above).
• If the guessing student chooses correctly, he or she must practice what’s on the piece of paper. If they don’t guess correctly, the student who’s hiding it gets to practice.

Video music source: bensound

Be sure to give several students a chance to be the ‘guesser’, and vary the number of guesses based off how many pieces of paper are being passed at a time. For example: If only one piece of paper is in play, the student guessing could have three chances. If three pieces are being used, perhaps the student at the front should only get one guess.

Suggested Time: 5-7 minutes

English Skills: Speaking, listening and reading

Notes: This activity is a fantastic, productive quieter – when a class gets too noisy to handle. Try playing music or sing a song as the class passes!

Recommendations: As an extra incentive, pass a piece of candy or a sticker instead of paper. This works particularly well when you’re going over certain questions in class.

• If the ‘guesser’ chooses the correct hand, he or she needs to ask the student with the object a question.
• The student who has the object in his or her fist must answer and then give the prize to the ‘guesser’.
• If the guessing student doesn’t pick correctly, the student who’s hiding something asks a question and the ‘guesser’ answers.
• The student who has the small prize gets to keep it.

Do you have any other adaptable lesson plan activities for the English classroom? Please share your tips and tricks below!