Category Archives: ELT

To Berlingo or not to Berlingo?

I feel I owe this blog a short explanation. I know I wrote a lot about my big life switch in my previous post, but still, I feel the need to scribble something else. Since 2015 turned into 2016, I … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, CELTA, ELT, professional development, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

30 questions to ask yourself about 2015

Earlier today, I found Sandy Millin’s blog post posing a list of 30 questions to herself to sum up her 2015, and I thought the idea was so fitting to what has been a crazy year for me, that I … Continue reading

Posted in blog challenges, ELT, reflection | Tagged , | 10 Comments

TED Talks with ‘The English Salon’: an evening for advanced learners of English

A few weeks ago (OK, in mid-November…I’m posting this far too late!), a friend from the English Teachers’ Association of Berlin and Brandenburg (ELTABB) started a new workshop for advanced learners of English. She called it ‘The English Salon,’ and … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, ELT, reflection, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 3 Comments

‘Winter activities for adults’ – an #ELTchat Summary from Wednesday 9th December

On Tuesday 8th December, I put out a plea for help on Twitter for Christmas activities for adults, as the large majority of the material I found online was aimed at children. I was also pushed for time to create something for … Continue reading

Posted in ELT, ELTchat, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

A MaWSIG MeetUp: ‘What’s hot and what’s not in ELT publishing?’

A few months ago, Dale Coulter and I had a strange psychic moment whereby we both replied to a tweet from MaWSIG saying more or less the same thing. MaWSIG is the Special Interest Group for Materials Writing from IATEFL, … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, ELT, ELTABB, publishing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Diary of a newbie English teacher part six: to language school or not to language school?

Written on Thursday, 19th November  For some reason, I’ve now found some new energy and enthusiasm for blogging and, en route to a new company class this afternoon, I had an idea for a new post which might be helpful … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, Berlin School of English, Business English, ELT, newbie, NQT, reflection, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

An intriguing student: a dictation exam

So I have about six other blog posts pending at the moment, which I will hopefully finish once I’ve moved flats this weekend, but I have just had a very interesting class which I think warrants a quick scribble. I … Continue reading

Posted in ELT, newbie, NQT, one-to-one, teaching | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Diary of a Newbie ELT Teacher Part Four: The ELT Interview

I haven’t blogged in a while because I’ve had a lot of lovely visitors, but I have also been busy attending a few other interviews, in order to pick up a few other classes here and there to ensure I … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, ELT | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

Diary of a newbie teacher: Part One

Some tips for surviving the first month I’ve now been teaching in my school in Berlin for just over a month, which is still rather unbelievable to me! Although I’ve not been teaching for long, I have already taught a … Continue reading

Posted in Berlin, Berlin School of English, ELT, newbie, NQT, reflection, teaching | Tagged , , , , , , , | 18 Comments

10 things I have learnt from Jeff Mohamed’s ‘Grammar Development Course’

I am due to start my Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) on April 13th and, like the über-keen and uncool language student that I am, I have been trying to be conscientious and prepare myself for it in … Continue reading

Posted in CELTA, ELT, Grammar, NQT, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments