5 More Ways to Help Make This Your Best English or Foreign Language Teaching Year Ever

The Fabulous Five Additional Ways

Remember what Henry Ford (pictured) once said? It was, “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” In continuing to make 2008 your best teaching year ever here are 5 more suggestions you might want to consider and implement.

8. Learn a Foreign Language

I’ll just bet you wouldn’t delay your “dream” trip to the Bong Mine complex of Liberia, in West Africa (or whatever your trip might be) if you intensely began learning the local language. Want to see Paris? How about relaxing among the “Pines of Rome”? Is a stroll along the Great Wall a fancy of yours? Well why don’t you just start a foreign language course in the tongue you’ll likely need for the trip? If “a journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” as the proverb goes, then you’ll be many miles along on your journey just by beginning your foreign language course.

9. Write a Series of Articles or Compile a Book

You don’t think you could write a book? Balderdash! Almost every has at least one good book in them. But how about starting off with an article? Write a journal. Tell about your work, your problems (I’ll bet you have plenty of those) and how you solved some of them. Voila! You have an article. A book is simply a series of articles which are linked through a common theme. When you’re done and published – see the previous item on this list for the next step. Move over Hemmingway.

10. Publish Online

With the number of teaching-related websites steadily growing there’s no shortage of places to post or publish your writing. Try www.ezinearticles.com or other article banks to get your feet wet. From there, you have virtually no limit online.

11. Get a Website

You’ve been telling yourself that you need a website for some time now. Now’s finally the time to get off your duff and make your online presences a reality. There are free sites available for the taking. Cheap domain names to be had and a vast online world to explored, enjoyed and exploited. It doesn’t have to be fancy, elaborate or extensive. Just get out there and get your name up in digital form.

12. Start and Keep a Teaching Journal

Here’s a good one to get you started. Journal what happens in your classes. Write about your day, your problems and their solutions great and small. Ramble about the country you live in. What changed for you? What problems do you have that are “different”? What about the food, the clothes, the lifestyle? Talk about your co-workers (with the names changed to protect the innocent – or the guilty). Whatever motivates you will almost certainly motivate countless numbers of others worldwide. Don’t believe me? Well you’re reading THIS, aren’t you?

So using any or all of these 5 additional suggestions, you can easily make this year one of your best teaching years ever. Remember Henry Ford’s advice: “Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.” It’s up to you – now get to work and good luck.


For some great tips, tricks and techniques for quickly and easily learning virtually any of the world’s 6912 living languages just click HERE

7 Ways to Help Make This Your Best English or Foreign Language Teaching Year Ever

“Whatever you are, be a good one”, Abraham Lincoln, America’s 16th president reputedly said. So why not set out to make 2008 your best teaching year ever? How? Well, here are seven suggestions you might want to consider and implement.

The Magnificent Seven

1. Subscribe to and Read a teaching Technical periodical publication

There are a number of TEFL related periodicals online and in print which can provide you a flow of new ideas, tips and techniques to get you out of your rut and keep you out of it.

2. Create and Post a Video Series

No question about it, video has exploded its online presence in a major way during the past several months. YouTube.com is no small contributor to this phenomenon and there’s certainly no reason why you too shouldn’t get on the bandwagon by creating and posting videos of your own.

3. Take or Teach an Extension Course

You’re already a teacher so why teach during your time off? Simple, teach something other that your principle topics. Try teaching a hobby or other interest, a sport, a skill or other ability you might have and want to expand on.

4. Take a Short Seminar

Long a staple method for rapid improvement, take a short course or seminar evenings, weekends or during semester breaks. There are short and medium length courses from one-day to one month on a myriad of topics, so just take your pick, feed your inner soul and watch yourself grow.

5. Try Some New Didactics and Techniques in Your Classes

Talk with colleagues, former professors, go online, visit websites and chat rooms to get some extra tips and techniques to try out with your learners. Very likely, you’ll be glad you did.

6. Go on a Teaching Vacation

What? You say? Take a teaching vacation during my vacation from teaching? Yes, that’s right. But this time it’ll be different. How? Well, you can teach a short course or summer course in another location. Live in the USA? Then teach a course abroad in Asia, Europe or Latin America. Live in a Latin American country? The go teach in Europe, Scandinavia, Asia or Africa. Are you in Europe? Go to Australia, Latin America, Asia or Africa. The change of venue will charge your batteries like nothing else you can imagine. You could also try changing the learner group you normally teach too. Teens to adults or business professionals, Technical English classes your forte? Swap for a children’s summer camp.

7. Get Yourself a Raise

Prepare your accomplishments as a presentation for your administration. Detail your seminars, publications and seminar or short course attendance to boost your image. What do you think would happen if you sent a copy of an article or book you’ve published to your boss, the administration and the language department heads of every school, institute and related educational facility in your area complete with your contact information and a short introductory note? Nothing? Don’t you believe it!

So using any, many, most or even all of these 7 suggestions, you can easily make this year one of your best teaching years ever. Remember Abe Lincoln’s advice: “Whatever you are, be a good one”. If you’d like even more suggestions for making this year one of your best ever, stay tuned for more coming soon.

For some great tips, tricks and techniques for quickly and easily learning virtually any of the world’s 6912 living languages just click HERE.