Grammar reference

Links for translators The resources on this page are all available free (or in free versions) on the Internet. General Dictionaries Cambridge The suite of Cambridge dictionaries are possibly the best online English-English dictionaries available (and with nearly 2m searches a month, among the most popular). Catalan Catalan dictionary from the Enciclopèdia Catalana. Dictionary.com Apart from the good results from its dictionary, the site also provides a lot of other resources (other language dictionaries, thesarus, style guides, links...). How to help learners of English understand prepositions Why are words like 'on', 'at', 'for' and 'about' so tricky for learners of English and how can teachers help? Adam Simpson, winner of the British Council’s Teaching English blog award, explains. Prepositions and their importance in English Prepositions are tricky little beasts. The relative shortness of the words (most are six letters or under) and their often misplaced role in the overall scheme of things (why should prepositions be less important than nouns, adjectives or verbs?) mean that we should treat them carefully and perhaps give them more time in the classroom than is usually the case.

Who needs resources? What type of lessons would this include The following types of lessons would use minimal or no resources, and the students would have to produce most of it using their creative minds and using the teacher as a go-between. The only problem is whether or not you can maximise their potential. • Role plays – you can set the topic and area, but they write and perform them.

it's NOT about what the teacher does with technology Bruce Springsteen: "When we kiss…" Not just going through the motions! You could probably say I've had four different though overlapping careers — in language teaching, language teacher training, technology and ELT management. The first of those I retired from (after 35+ years) a few months ago, though the number of contact hours I was doing was limited; teacher training I'm retiring from at the end of this month; management I got fired from (to the relief of all involved!) many years ago; which leaves only another 10 or so years in technology to do (I'm only (?)

Three ways to help English language learners 'notice' grammar We'am Hamdan, who teaches English at the British Council in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, describes practical ways to build 'noticing' in your next grammar lesson. What is 'noticing' grammar and what is its role in the English classroom? When I was learning English, my teachers spent a lot of time in class focusing on the form of the target language, but with no context. As a consequence, my natural and varied use of English suffered. Later, I experienced ‘natural’ English through movies, music and novels.

Self-access course for professionals Improve your ability to find and apply for the right jobs, develop your interview skills and learn how to perform in the workplace with confidence. At each level, tutor videos and workplace scenarios guide you through the materials, explain key language and grammar points and give you vocabulary that you can use in everyday business life. Subscription overview Subscription cost: Monthly subscription plan - only £5.99 per month English teachers, are you asking the right questions? Declan Cooley, CELTA Opens in a new tab or window. trainer at the British Council in Poland, explains why some questions are not as effective as they first appear, and offers some alternatives. Questions of all kinds are a teacher's most basic tools for generating interest, provoking thoughts, encouraging students to speak, developing text comprehension skills and checking understanding. New teachers on courses like the CELTA spend a lot of time honing their skills at using effective questions in the classroom. As well as discovering what questions work, teachers learn that some questions are not as effective as they first appear. Here are a few questions that do not always give the results intended.

Spice Up Your English Class: POINT YOUR FINGER: a game my adult learners really enjoy A few weeks ago I gave one of my workshops for teachers about how to use games in order to teach English as a foreign language. Only one of the participants didn’t show interest at all, and yes I took it at heart. I approached the neglectful lady while everyone in her group was focused on the task and she was phubbing instead. ‘I don’t want to sound rude but’, I began. She looked up, glanced at me then looked down back to her smartphone.