In the previous post promised a lesson, so here we go! It's a slightly condensed version to keep the email from stretching a mile. This exercise is excellent for beginners through intermediate, but I also use it as the basis for building exercises for more advanced students.

Step 1. Ask your studen...

Oof. I got “clothed” again a few days before writing this.  During a lower level English class I was visiting, the instructor had a page projected with a dozen pictures of clothing items.  The screen showed the usual clothing vocabulary: shirt, shoes, hat, etc., but also overcoat and underpants. Ove...

A key starting point for successful language training begins with this question: “What’s your teacher to student word ratio?” How many words do you speak in class compared to each student?  

I recently evaluated a class where the instructor probably had a 300:1 teacher to student word ratio.  I’m n...