Often the difference between a pass and a fail in B1 exams is the minor details such as choosing the right words in B1 fixed phrases, dependent prepositions and collocations. These can be challenging because you have to notice the individual words. You may understand the phrase perfectly when reading or listening, but when it […]
B1 fixed phrases, dependent prepositions and collocations Read More »
Just a Minute is a BBC Radio 4 panel show where panellists are asked to talk for one minute, without hesitation, about a topic. This game can be adapted fantastically to a whole host of ESL classroom situations and contexts. I’ve played it with adults, teens, and even young learners. Depending on the class and
Just a Minute Topics Read More »
With the Christmas season and the New Year upon us, it’s time to start thinking about what Christmas activities we can use in class. With this seasonal activity, we can practise the new Preliminary (PET) Reading Part 4, which is a gapped text. The text itself is one of my childhood favourites, Rudolph the Red-Nosed
Preliminary (PET) Reading Part 4 – Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer Read More »
Giving advice is such a key area of functional language. It’s useful in real life and it’s useful for official exams. For the collaborative task in Trinity ISE II and ISE III, it’s essential! This is one of my favourite activities to practise giving advice in a fun and communicative way at B2 level. Your
Giving Advice – Call a Psychiatrist Read More »
Like it or not, emoji are part of our modern lives 😉. Kids and grandparents 👴👵 alike love 💖 them. So let’s use emoji to encourage our student to write 👍✍. With these materials, we explore how to write a story for the Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 2, using emoji as a tool to promote
Preliminary (PET) Writing Part 2 – Emoji Story 😀 Read More »
Word formation is probably the easiest part of Cambridge exams to gamify (from the root word GAME of course). Use any of these word formation games as a quick intro or filler for your classes. Most of them require little to no preparation so you can keep them in your bag of TEFL tricks for
Word Formation Games Read More »
For Cambridge B1 candidates as of January 2020, Preliminary PET Writing Part 1 is always a letter. The candidate is provided a short letter which includes questions and prompts that the candidate must include in their answer. Sometimes the challenge of Preliminary Writing Part 1 isn’t writing a letter in the correct style or in
Preliminary PET Writing Part 1 – Improve a letter Read More »
Advanced (CAE) word formation gets to be quite tricky. You might occasionally get an easy word, but you’ll also get multiple changes and uncommon vocabulary thrown at you. You can do lessons on negative prefixes, lessons on uncommon suffixes and many other Advanced (CAE) word formation strategies. However, the fact remains that one of the best
Advanced (CAE) Word Formation Board Game Read More »
First (FCE) word formation is one of those parts of the exam that needs constant practice. Sometimes that means repeating exam tasks over and over again. Sometimes it means creating flash cards or using Quizlet to memorise word families. But it can also mean playing a fun board game in class where your students compete
First (FCE) Word Formation Board Game Read More »
