Resources

Useful Links

Teaching of English as a second language (ESL/EFL) has involved an endless number of strategies and techniques devised by prominent linguists and it rapidly evolved over the past decades.

The current focus is on the immediate students’ exposure to the language of real-life situations, perhaps, with a little less emphasis on grammatical analysis and accuracy.

Being English the “lingua franca” of international commerce and one in use by some 1.5 billion native and non-native speakers around the world, an endless multitude of regional or foreign accents are in common use, which can make things a little daunting to whoever first attempts at understanding English as part of their learning curve.

I, therefore, encourage my students to explore videos, news channels, documentaries, movies, interviews, podcasts or blogs produced by native speakers with different accents to the southern British one, which is often referred to as “R.P.” (Received Pronunciation or BBC English).

Students should naturally accept the fact that, on certain occasions, they may struggle to instantly understand all of the speakers featured in these videos.  But constant practice will rapidly improve familiarisation with the great variety of English accents and regional vocabulary use.

The following is only a tiny selection of useful websites which most English language students would find useful to explore in their approach to English studies. Or, indeed, to investigate their existing knowledge of the English language making use of clearly structured self-help tests produced by very reputable institutions.

They have been selected after careful screening of their content to prevent accidental exposure to inappropriate material or unhelpful English language.

Grammar to study at each CEFR level

IELTS info

Cambridge English Self Test

British Council English Self Test

International House English Self Test

BBC Pronunciation Lessons

Seven best simple novels for EFL students

The Importance of Reading

The benefits of attending English classes in group or, particularly, with a Private Tutor, lie in the fact that several aspects of the language learning process are addressed by Teachers in a style that targets weaker areas of language knowledge and these areas are skillfully individualised for extra practice.

Especially in the process of improving pronunciation, form and listening comprehension, the support from an experienced Teacher can speed up the acquisition of a foreign language.

However, all students do, immensely, benefit from extensive reading activity, which can be practiced without the physical presence of a language tutor. And it has the advantage of being incredibly inexpensive and accessible to most.

In the process of encountering new words and, perhaps, translating these new terms in their own languages for an accurate definition research, students will naturally memorise a broader vocabulary leading to greater confidence at producing more and more complex language.

I highly encourage my students to read anything suitable and appealing to their specific interests, whether it’s novels, newspapers, literary work, medical publications, travel, art or cookery books and so forth.

Reading is a core aspect of language learning and adding an increasing amount of new lexis to a guided progression in grammar knowledge improves confidence in mastering use of a non-native language.

I’m quite happy to review and offer advice over suitable reading material for all my students.