Can AI replace a real English teacher? What should you do when an unexpected student joins your class? And when is it time to replace familiar but poor-quality teaching materials?

Gav and Em share another week of English-teaching successes, challenges and wonderfully awkward moments. Em tests an AI conversation teacher that shares her name and considers what the technology can correct—and what it still cannot understand about natural conversation. Gav reflects on the surprising vocabulary and language errors that emerge during learner-led lessons, including confusing phrasal verbs such as take over and overtake.

They also discuss whether online teachers should work while ill, how to welcome a student who arrives without warning and how teachers can acknowledge a learner’s absence without asking intrusive questions. Then there is the unexpected bulge during an online job interview—a useful reminder that professional behaviour still matters when the camera is on!

Drawing on their many years in real classrooms and online lessons, Gav and Em also explore the importance of clear, professional teaching materials and the confusing relationship between countries, languages and nationalities. Can we say an Italian but not an English? Why does a Japanese person sound more natural than a Japanese?

Stay until the end and test yourself or your students with a ten-question nationalities quiz.

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

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

Transcription with audio:
https://share.descript.com/view/1tnKovU39Tx

Nationalities quiz:
http://a4esl.org/q/h/mc-na.html

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and introducing yourself naturally
00:32 Alternatives to “I’m fine thanks”
02:21 What random lesson vocabulary reveals
06:35 Confusing phrasal verbs and word choices
07:39 Can an AI teacher replace a real teacher?
11:25 Should online teachers work while ill?
16:57 Support Gav and Em on Ko-fi
18:23 When questions become too personal
18:52 An unexpected student joins the class
20:25 An embarrassing online interview incident
24:39 When should teachers replace poor-quality materials?
26:30 Countries languages and nationalities
29:16 Nationalities quiz of the week
33:00 Outro

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed! Transcription with audio here: https://share.descript.com/view/NIXawmJ6Z1J⁠ Support the show here: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠⁠

Have you ever wondered if teachers make mistakes? What errors should you expect from your students? In this episode, Gav & Em explore the world of making mistakes from both the teacher's and the student's point of view. Enjoy anecdotes and gaffes from How to English this week. Buy them a coffee here: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠ And visit all the shows with transcriptions here: ⁠http://www.howtoenglishpod.com/

Is it acceptable to multitask while teaching online, and how should teachers respond when classroom conversations cross a boundary?

In this episode of How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em swap real stories from their week in the classroom. Gav experiments with walking on a treadmill while teaching and asks whether teachers or learners can genuinely multitask without becoming distracted. They consider when everyday activities can create useful, spontaneous language practice—and when answering emails or doing housework simply takes attention away from the lesson.

Em asks what Gav would do after spotting “Thank you for your massage” in a student’s automatic email reply. They discuss correcting a potentially embarrassing mistake privately, turning it into a future lesson and deciding whether absent students should still receive homework.

They also explore mnemonics and memory triggers after a German learner introduces Em to the expression “donkey bridge”. Can word associations help learners remember Saturday and Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday, or difficult English vowels?

The conversation then moves to classroom boundaries. How much swearing is acceptable in an English lesson? What should a teacher do when senior managers dominate a mixed-level company class? Drawing on their own teaching experience, Gav and Em consider polite interruption, structured turn-taking and ways to give quieter learners an equal chance to speak.

Stay for Quiz of the Week, a higher-or-lower listening game about the things an English learner might need. It provides ideas for practising prices, comparatives, colours, materials and detailed listening—with everything from a £330 pencil to a Gucci backpack.

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.

Chapters and timestamps

(00:00) Intro
(00:46) Why do students suddenly turn pink on Zoom?
(02:00) Is multitasking while teaching or learning a good idea?
(07:19) How should teachers correct an embarrassing email mistake?
(10:16) What is a donkey bridge and how can mnemonics help learners?
(14:51) Support Gav and Em
(15:27) Should students be allowed to swear in English lessons?
(18:52) How can teachers stop senior staff dominating a company class?
(21:34) What Em learned from her students
(24:01) Quiz of the Week: a higher-or-lower listening activity
(36:47) Outro

Can Google Easter eggs become useful English teaching activities? In this episode of the How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em try interactive Google surprises that get learners following instructions, describing what they see and discussing festivals, films and unusual vocabulary.

They also tackle a difficult classroom question: how can an ambitious, low-level learner make rapid progress with only one lesson a week? Gav and Em discuss realistic goal-setting, independent study, honest expectations and why learning English requires sustained practice rather than a magic solution.

The conversation moves from keeping useful notes on students and remembering personal details to favourite learners, avoiding favouritism and encouraging quieter students to speak. Em shares a simple lead-in in which learners describe their week in one word before exploring opposites, prefixes and suffixes.

Finally, Gav and Em examine the balance between correcting mistakes and maintaining fluency. Should teachers interrupt every error, delay feedback or focus on one recurring language point? They finish with a quiz on “it” and “there” as dummy subjects, showing how a seemingly simple learner question can lead to a surprisingly complex grammar explanation.

Drawing on their everyday classroom experience, Gav and Em share practical ideas teachers can adapt for online and face-to-face lessons, while keeping the honest conversations and humour that make teaching English so unpredictable.

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, episode transcriptions and resources ready to use.

References

Google Easter eggs to try: googly eyes, do a barrel roll, DVD screensaver, askew, dart mission, Chicxulub, meteor shower, Google in 1998, Thanos snap, The Last of Us, Pacman, puppy/cat, Holi, La Tomatina, Pride Month and mirror in elgooG mode.

British Council LearnEnglish – It and there as dummy subjects:
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/english-grammar-reference/it-there-dummy-subjects

Chapters

00:00 Welcome and introduction
02:10 Google Easter eggs as speaking and instruction activities
11:25 Setting realistic goals for an ambitious low-level learner
17:10 Support the How to English TEFL Podcast
17:53 Forgetfulness and remembering student details
19:26 Keeping useful notes on learners
21:03 Favourite students, fairness and participation
24:12 Describe your week: a prefixes and suffixes lead-in
26:51 Balancing error correction with fluent conversation
32:11 Quiz: “it” and “there” as dummy subjects
39:42 Outro

Welcome to Gav & Em's How to English Pod! They're back with a new season and a new format. Join them as they kick back and reflect on their week of teaching and learning. Buy them a coffee here: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠ And visit all the shows with transcriptions here: ⁠http://www.howtoenglishpod.com/⁠

Gav's present perfect worksheet:

Gav's quiz:

Ever considered teaching or taking a one-to-one English lesson or course? Maybe you have plenty of experience with one-to-one classes. Come and listen to this week's episode of How to English with Gav & Em to learn what needs to be taken into account. Buy them a coffee here: ⁠https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod⁠ And visit all the shows with transcriptions here: ⁠http://www.howtoenglishpod.com/

How should TEFL teachers respond when students cancel late, join lessons from noisy offices or even attend while driving?

Season 5 begins with a new “staffroom vibe” as Gav and Em share the highs, lows, mistakes and unexpected moments from their teaching week. Drawing on their real classroom experience, they discuss the quick decisions teachers make when even a carefully prepared lesson refuses to follow the plan.

Em explains how she adapted a finance crossword when her learners struggled to recall the vocabulary, as well as how she handled distracting background conversations during an online Business English lesson. Gav shares his policy for late students and cancellations, plus a teaching mistake involving a learner who was driving and could not safely look at the lesson materials.

They also explore how to establish a positive relationship with a new student, invite honest feedback and decide when an unplanned conversation is valuable enough to pause the original lesson.

For grammar teachers, Em examines the difference between the present perfect and past simple, including the complication of British and American English usage. Gav then demonstrates a noughts-and-crosses activity for practising responses such as “So do I”, “Neither can I” and “Oh, I won’t”.

The episode ends with the first Quiz of the Week: which equipment does an online English teacher really need?

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:

Em’s finance crossword: Professional English in Use Finance, Ian MacKenzie, Cambridge University Press

Gav’s quiz:
https://www.goatsontheroad.com/teaching-english-equipment/

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome to Season 5 and the new staffroom format
02:02 Simultaneous interpreting in an English lesson
04:16 When a delivery interrupts an online class
05:40 Adapting a finance vocabulary crossword
07:55 Late cancellations and how long teachers should wait
10:05 Managing distracting background noise online
14:39 Building rapport with a new student
16:41 Correcting errors and teaching the present perfect
20:06 British and American differences in past-tense use
23:30 Adapting a lesson for a student who is driving
25:28 Are off-topic conversations valuable in Business English?
27:25 A noughts-and-crosses grammar game
31:05 Quiz of the Week: essential online teaching equipment
37:41 Outro

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed!

For their first episode, Gav & Em thought it would be logical to start at the beginning - the first lesson. Follow two experienced teachers as they recall some of their most memorable first lessons and share their tips and tricks on how to approach that nerve-wracking first class. (Find them on Instagram/Facebook/YouTube: howtoenglishpod). 

Check out this rerun of an earlier episode – now fully transcribed!