How can teachers use AI, alphabet games and targeted correction to create more effective English lessons?

Welcome to Season 6 and the beginning of Gav and Em’s A–Z of TEFL. In this episode, the letter A leads to a lively mix of practical classroom activities, teaching technology, animal vocabulary and the continuing debate over accuracy versus fluency.

Discover several materials-light alphabet games, including collaborative stories, picture challenges, Pictionary and 20 Questions. Gav and Em also discuss how teachers can use ChatGPT to research unfamiliar topics, generate personalised questions, create gap-fills and adapt materials around learners’ interests.

Could virtual and augmented reality make speaking practice less intimidating? Em recalls entering a virtual forest and talking to avatars, while Gav considers how simulated cafés and other everyday environments could give learners realistic opportunities to practise English. They also explore the potential benefits and limitations of VR language learning, including confidence, accessibility, cost and corrective feedback.

The conversation continues with a quick-fire animal homes quiz before Em introduces the power of “And…?” as a simple prompt that encourages learners to expand their answers and keep speaking.

Should teachers prioritise accurate English or fluent communication? Drawing on their classroom experience, Gav and Em explain why the answer depends on each learner’s needs. Sometimes students need uninterrupted speaking practice; at other times, a persistent mistake deserves focused attention.

Finally, they share two A-themed tips for teachers and learners: prepare the right attitude before a lesson and become a little more academic by recording useful language. Even when notes are never reread, the act of making them may support learning and recall.

🎙️ How to English TEFL Pod brings you practical teaching ideas, honest classroom discussion and plenty of Gav and Em humour.

💛 If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

🌐 Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.

Reference:

Benefits of note-making:
https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerjpsyc.124.1.0063

Chapters and timestamps

00:00 Welcome to Season 6
00:50 Meet Gav and Em
02:35 Introducing the A–Z of TEFL
03:47 Materials-light alphabet games
06:35 Using AI and ChatGPT in English lessons
10:37 VR and AR for immersive language learning
15:50 How AI could support teachers
16:52 Animal homes vocabulary game
21:34 Using “And…?” to encourage fluency
23:55 Accuracy or fluency: which should come first?
27:35 A-themed teaching and learning tips
28:38 Preparing the right attitude for a lesson
32:16 Note-making and becoming a little more academic
34:29 Coming next: the letter B

How can teachers make English lessons more useful, memorable and enjoyable—and help learners recognise their progress?

Join Gav and Em for the Season 5 finale of How to English TEFL Podcast as they revisit a year of classroom discoveries, differing opinions and moments that still make them laugh. Drawing on their own English classes, they explore what helped their learners, what challenged their teaching and which ideas deserve another outing.

Who should choose lesson topics: the teacher or the learner? How can you get honest student feedback? When should you change an activity, and when should you let a good conversation continue? Gav and Em compare their approaches, including Em’s preference for having material ready and Gav’s expectation that learners bring their own questions and language problems.

For English learners, there are reminders about silent letters, memory aids, repetition, practice outside lessons and the attitude that helps you make progress. For teachers, the conversation covers varying error correction, reviewing the board or online chat, avoiding badly timed computer updates and recognising when students need a change of pace.

There’s also a squirrel that nobody seems to hear, phrasal verbs with very different meanings, questionable business casual clothing and a student’s shoe becoming an unexpected vocabulary resource. Discover how playful gap fills and real objects can create memorable learning moments.

Finish with the Quiz of the Year, a lightning recap of all 23 previous episodes, before Gav and Em reveal their A–Z idea for Season 6 and discuss their teaching goals.

If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use, plus podcast transcriptions.

Timestamps
00:00 – Welcome to the Season 5 finale
02:47 – Reflecting on classes and changing learner needs
06:45 – AI in lessons and recognising student progress
10:18 – Learning tips: silent letters and pronunciation
11:40 – Who should choose the lesson content?
13:41 – Memory aids, repetition and regular practice
17:32 – Teachers, books and learner motivation
18:22 – Getting honest feedback from students
20:45 – Adapting error correction to different learners
21:56 – Reviewing the board and online chat
23:37 – When should you change a classroom activity?
26:49 – Computer updates and online teaching problems
27:54 – The freedom of teaching English online
28:58 – Memorable moments: quizzes versus tests
31:23 – Listening, translation apps and the squirrel story
33:04 – Phrasal verbs and mixed-up idioms
34:48 – Dress codes and teacher confidence
36:40 – Making gap fills fun with Blankety Blank
38:17 – Realia and memorable classroom communication
41:09 – Quiz of the Year: revisiting 23 episodes
50:53 – Season 6: the A–Z of teaching and learning English
52:02 – Teaching goals for the coming year
54:05 – Thank you and goodbye

Music
Fluffing a Duck by Kevin MacLeod
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hBDh3dRvLc
Blankety Blank Full Opening Title Sequence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjU5zZeD1yQ
Action Tense Cinematic Teaser Trailer Music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEN2bmZPKF0
Background music
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqwnTNRtQ80

How can teachers make coursebooks more engaging, relevant and useful without planning the “perfect” lesson?

Gav and Em return to coursebooks and explore how teachers can combine their helpful structure with personalised conversation and meaningful language practice. Em explains how she adapts logistics, finance and Business English materials by eliciting learners’ existing knowledge, adding vocabulary and encouraging students to use new language in their own professional contexts.

They also ask what makes the perfect student, teacher and learning environment. Is a good learner someone who always gets everything right, or someone willing to experiment and make mistakes? Drawing on their classroom experience, Gav and Em discuss preparation, punctuality, patience, reflection and why teachers should not expect themselves to have every answer immediately.

You’ll also hear:

How to move between focused coursebook work and personalised speaking practice
Why making mistakes is an essential part of learning English
What teachers and students really need from a classroom or online learning space
Why Gav and Em still love teaching English after many years in TEFL
The differences between “I don’t mind”, “I don’t care”, “It doesn’t matter” and “I couldn’t care less”
How professional development can refresh your teaching
How Gav used ChatGPT during a live lesson to create instant grammar practice
Why AI-generated teaching materials still need checking

Finally, Quiz of the Week explores what happens when translation tools choose unnecessarily formal English. Do learners really need words such as “raucous”, “diminutive” and “nourishment”, or would simpler alternatives sound more natural?

Listen to the transcript with audio:
https://share.descript.com/view/1XK69QvlP8L

If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.

Reference

Normal and advanced vocabulary:
https://mrmrsenglish.com/500-daily-used-normal-vs-advanced/#google_vignette

Chapters

00:00 Coursebooks, perfectionism and AI for teachers
01:36 Returning to coursebooks
02:40 How to personalise coursebook lessons
05:34 Is perfection possible in language learning?
07:10 What makes the perfect English student?
09:05 What makes the perfect teacher?
11:48 Creating an effective classroom or online space
14:05 Support How to English TEFL Podcast
14:43 Why we still love teaching English
17:42 How to express indifference politely
19:06 I don’t mind, I don’t care or it doesn’t matter?
21:48 What teachers gain from online training
24:02 Using ChatGPT during a live English lesson
26:55 Checking AI-generated teaching resources
28:40 Quiz of the Week: formal and informal vocabulary
35:20 A translation message that was far too formal
36:00 Closing thoughts

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed! Transcription with audio here: https://share.descript.com/view/E7ynUpQE3Qo Buy Gav & Em a coffee here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Who should decide what happens in an English lesson: the teacher, the students or both?

In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, we explore syllabus design and learner involvement. Em wonders whether teachers should accept “whatever you want” as an answer, while Gav explains how asking every learner for three topics can help teachers create a more relevant course.

We also revisit common English collocations, including spick and span, hustle and bustle, black and blue, kith and kin, ups and downs, blood and guts, and odds and ends.

Can you end an English sentence with a preposition? We clear up the confusion surrounding so-called dangling prepositions and explain why natural questions such as “What’s it for?” and “Who’s it about?” are perfectly acceptable.

Gav then shares a playful present perfect continuous activity in which learners explain unusual outcomes. Why is your phone in the freezer? Why are your students wearing sunglasses indoors? The activity encourages spontaneous answers and can be adapted as a matching or memory game for lower-level learners.

Em also reflects on the frustrating gap between teaching something and seeing learners apply it in real life. After spending 90 minutes teaching email conventions, she receives an email containing one of the mistakes she had carefully covered. We discuss concept checking, correcting authentic emails and why changing established language habits takes time.

Finally, Em tests Gav on animal names that can also be verbs. Can you fish for compliments, duck an object, wolf down a meal, badger someone or squirrel something away? We finish by discovering how “rabbit” came to mean “talk” through Cockney rhyming slang.

Gav and Em draw on more than 40 years of combined English-teaching experience, sharing practical ideas alongside the honest successes, frustrations and unusual moments that arise in real lessons.

If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.

Listen to the transcription with audio:
https://share.descript.com/view/h0xao94vmg0

Resource

How We Made Rabbit by Chas & Dave:
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2018/feb/12/chas-and-dave-how-we-made-rabbit-camilla-parker-bowles

Chapters

00:00 Introduction
02:06 Meanings of common English collocations
08:46 Can a sentence end with a preposition?
11:05 Who should choose the syllabus and lesson content?
17:57 Present perfect continuous activity with unusual outcomes
23:37 Why learners struggle to apply classroom learning
29:18 Quiz of the Week: animal names used as verbs
36:40 Why does “rabbit” mean “talk”?
37:46 Final thoughts and outro

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed! Transcription with audio here: https://share.descript.com/view/NlbwDw4VNx6 Buy Gav & Em a coffee here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Welcome to the new episode of How to English: Teach and Learn with Gav and Em. This time, Gav and Em talk about the most common types of writing. Style, form, and technique as well as new and traditional ways of writing come up during their chat. Enjoy yourselves teaching and learning wherever you are around the world. Buy them a coffee here: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠ And visit all the shows with transcriptions here: ⁠http://www.howtoenglishpod.com/

References: 

Outlook email: https://outlook.live.com

Gmail email: https://mail.google.com/

A running dictation: https://comprehensibleclassroom.com/2011/06/29/running-dictation/#:~:text=Running%20Dictation%20in%20a%20nutshell,where%20a%20secretary%20transcribes%20it.

Exquisite corpse game: https://www.eslprintables.com/writing_worksheets/other_writing_worksheets/Exquisite_Corpse_Collaborati_806468/

Skype: https://www.skype.com/en/

WhatsApp: https://www.whatsapp.com/

Messenger: https://www.messenger.com/

Email style: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/email-style

One stop English (not first stop): https://www.onestopenglish.com/

Should every English learner have a clear goal, or is maintaining their level and enjoying lessons enough?

In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em consider whether students need a specific target to work towards. Inspired by an orchestra rehearsing for a concert, Em asks whether English lessons should prepare learners for a real performance, such as an exam, presentation, holiday or everyday conversation. Gav explores the other side: some learners may simply want to practise, have fun and remain confident without additional pressure.

Drawing on their classroom experience, Gav and Em also discuss online teaching mishaps, including pressing “leave” instead of “share”, accidentally cutting students off and failing to leave time for a proper lesson ending. How can teachers balance warm-ups, core activities and cool-downs more effectively?

They also ask who listens to the podcast and what teachers, learners and prospective TEFL teachers can gain from hearing two experienced teachers reflect honestly on their working week.

Later, the conversation turns to raising teaching fees, requesting payments and deciding whether learners should pay in advance. Finally, Gav and Em compare two apparently contradictory teaching rules: change an activity after 25 minutes, or keep it going for as long as it is working. The episode finishes with a fast-paced collocation challenge featuring common English pairs and expressions.

Listen to the transcription with audio:
https://share.descript.com/view/Xc6K98rLTqk

If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use. Sharing is caring, so please mention the show to a fellow teacher, learner or school.

Chapters

00:00 What is in this week’s episode?
01:01 Online teaching problems with the share and leave buttons
02:35 Why Gav and Em make the podcast
03:17 How to end an online lesson without cutting students off
04:40 Balancing lesson warm-ups and cool-downs
06:25 Who is the How to English TEFL Podcast for?
08:11 Using natural conversations for English listening practice
10:21 What does “rhubarb, rhubarb” mean?
12:00 Bandwagons, coattails and gravy trains
13:29 Should English learners have a long-term goal?
14:25 Treating lessons as rehearsals for real-life English
16:11 Goals, motivation, exams and learner confidence
18:14 Do all students want to be challenged?
20:08 When should private English teachers raise their fees?
22:15 Discussing payments and asking students for money
23:56 Two conflicting cardinal rules of teaching
24:16 Should an activity stop after 25 minutes?
25:31 If an activity is working, should you continue?
27:39 Extending activities through feedback and language analysis
29:40 Quiz of the Week: complete the collocation
34:13 Outro

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed! Transcription with audio here: https://share.descript.com/view/tO742dbxkRB Buy Gav & Em a coffee here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠⁠

How can teachers create better flow in an English lesson, encourage students to listen to each other and give praise without constantly interrupting?

In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, we explore what lesson flow feels like, why it sometimes disappears and whether teachers can actively create it. Gav shares what happened when a student told him directly, “There’s no flow,” while Em considers whether every learner in an adult group really needs to engage with every conversation.

We discuss how the right topic can transform a stop-start lesson, why students sometimes direct everything towards the teacher and how breakout rooms may help learners build fluency and stronger connections without the teacher being constantly present.

You can also try Gav’s fast-paced adjective game, adapted from a vocabulary-book exercise. It shows how teachers can take a simple activity off the page and turn it into an engaging listening and speaking challenge.

Then we compare ways of praising learners. Should teachers simply say “Great,” highlight an excellent sentence or use gestures to encourage students without disrupting their fluency? We consider specific praise, written feedback, positive error correction and how to celebrate ambitious vocabulary without making learners think they have made a mistake.

Finally, Quiz of the Week challenges Em to distinguish genuine language-learning apps from some convincing inventions. Can you identify Mondly, Drops, uTalk and Elevate among the impostors?

Gav and Em draw on their everyday experience of teaching adult English learners online and in groups, including the unpredictable moments when a lesson suddenly begins to flow.

Transcription with audio:
https://share.descript.com/view/uRlpVJmjoSO

If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod

Visit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.

References

English Vocabulary Builder, Dorling Kindersley, Chapter 5, page 27, exercise C

Language-learning apps:
https://amberstudent.com/blog/post/best-language-learning-apps
https://www.duolingo.com/
https://uk.rosettastone.com/product/mobile-apps/
https://talkpal.ai/
https://www.mondly.com/
https://languagedrops.com/
https://utalk.com/en/app
https://elevateapp.com/about

Chapters

00:00 What teachers and learners can expect
01:00 Corrections and classroom reflections
07:48 Turning picture descriptions into an adjective game
10:51 What creates flow in an English lesson?
12:35 What to do when a class has no flow
16:05 Why students only talk to the teacher
18:00 Should everyone listen during group discussions?
22:23 Using breakout rooms to develop fluency
27:18 How to praise students without interrupting
31:14 Combining praise with positive error correction
33:08 Written feedback and recognising progress
35:44 Quiz of the Week: real or invented language apps?
43:35 What does jibber-jabber mean?
44:40 Final reflections and outro

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed! Transcription with audio here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://share.descript.com/view/b63NANTPIrw Buy Gav & Em a coffee here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠⁠

Have you had to deal with conflict in your classroom? Have you had difficulties with your students or your teacher? Put your headphones on, press play and listen to Gav and Em talk about conflict from an educational point of view. Don't forget we'd like to hear about your experiences, too. Finally, remember to share our podcast with your fellow teachers or classmates!