My First Word in Sydney — Past Simple
2. Complete: They ___ (not/go) to school yesterday. didn't go
Tag: elt
Numbers That Matter: Prices, Times & Room Numbers
💬 From my own experience: At the Star Casino in Sydney I once gave a guest the wrong room number because I confused 'fifteen' and 'fifty.' Learning to stress the right syllable saved me many…
Your First 10 Words in a Restaurant
💬 From my own experience: My first week in Sydney, I pointed at the menu instead of speaking. Learning ten words changed everything — I got a job within a month.
LLFE-T08 · Board Work Basics — Writing Form Clearly on the Board
📖 From the teacher's desk: In my very first observed lesson on the CELTA course, my board work was a disaster — cramped, inconsistent fonts, no clear sections, and I talked while writing with my…
LLFE-T07 · Fixing Errors — On-the-Spot vs Delayed Correction
📖 From the teacher's desk: When I first received feedback on my own teaching in Landerneau, my tutor noted that I was interrupting students mid-speech to correct them — which was killing the fluency phase…
LLFE-T06 · Eliciting vs Telling — Getting Language from Learners
📖 From the teacher's desk: As a sommelier, I quickly learned that guests who chose a wine themselves were far more satisfied than guests I chose for. The same psychology applies in the classroom. When…
LLFE-T05 · The Lead-In — Setting Context Before Language
📖 From the teacher's desk: In hospitality, we always briefed the team before service — setting the scene, building anticipation, making everyone feel ready. The classroom lead-in does exactly the same thing. When I first…
LLFE-T04 · Drilling Done Right — Choral and Individual Drilling
📖 From the teacher's desk: In my CELTA observed lessons in Landerneau, drilling was the technique I had the most physical resistance to. It felt mechanical — almost old-fashioned. But watching it done well by…
LLFE-T03 · Setting Up a Task — ICQs in Practice
📖 From the teacher's desk: Managing 20 front-of-house staff at The Ivy in Sydney, I learned that how you give instructions determines everything — even more than the instructions themselves. In the classroom, I discovered…
LLFE-T02 · Checking Without Asking ‘Do You Understand?’ — CCQs
📖 From the teacher's desk: "Do you understand?" — I must have asked this dozens of times in my first observed teaching practice. And every student nodded. And then not one of them could do…