How to English TEFL Podcast

What should you do when a grammar lesson starts falling apart? Stick rigidly to your plan, stop and reset, or follow the language your students are actually producing?
In S07E17 of the How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em discuss the reality of teaching when lessons refuse to behave themselves.
Em shares a present continuous lesson involving unclear instructions, technical problems, students in different locations and an activity that gradually drifts away from the original plan. This raises a bigger TEFL question: when should teachers stick to their lesson plan, and when is it better to go with the flow?
They explore emergent language after a student unexpectedly moves the lesson towards the past continuous, how teachers can “park” a useful question without ignoring it, and whether one student’s curiosity should change the direction of the whole class.
Gav and Em also compare their teaching energy across the week. Is Monday teaching different from Friday teaching? Do teachers correct more when they are fresh? Can being tired sometimes produce a more relaxed, natural classroom?
Finally, they remember teachers who influenced them years ago. What made those teachers special, and what can reflecting on your own favourite teacher reveal about the teacher you want to become?
Plus, Gav explains how howtoenglishpod.com is developing into a practical resource bank of TEFL articles, episode guides, teaching ideas and podcast discussions.
📚 RELATED S07E17 TEACHING ARTICLES
How Should TEFL Teachers Recover When a Grammar Lesson Goes Wrong?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-should-tefl-teachers-recover-when-a-grammar-lesson-goes-wrong-s07e17/
Should You Stick to the Plan or Go with the Flow in a TEFL Lesson?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/should-you-stick-to-the-plan-or-go-with-the-flow-in-a-tefl-lesson-s07e17/
Does Your Teaching Style Change From Monday to Friday?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/does-your-teaching-style-change-from-monday-to-friday-s07e17/
What Makes a Teacher Memorable?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/what-makes-a-teacher-memorable-s07e17/
How Can Thinking About Your Favourite Teacher Improve Your Own Teaching?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-can-thinking-about-your-favourite-teacher-improve-your-own-teaching-s07e17/
Where Can TEFL Teachers Find Practical Teaching Resources and Podcast Articles Online?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/where-can-tefl-teachers-find-practical-teaching-resources-and-podcast-articles-online-s07e17/
🌐 More practical TEFL ideas, episode guides and teaching resources:
https://howtoenglishpod.com
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What happens when a grammar lesson falls apart?
01:29 – Teaching the present continuous
03:06 – When students understand the grammar but not the task
05:06 – Stick to the plan or go with the flow?
07:01 – Present continuous naturally becomes past continuous
09:34 – How to “park” a useful student question
11:59 – Thinking fast and adapting TEFL lessons
12:16 – Does teaching style change from Monday to Friday?
16:43 – Friday teaching, natural speech and correction
19:47 – What makes a teacher memorable?
21:36 – How favourite teachers influence our teaching
23:07 – Qualities of a good teacher
25:04 – Turning a TEFL podcast into a teacher resource bank
❓ QUESTIONS ANSWERED
What should teachers do when a grammar lesson goes wrong? When should you stick to a lesson plan or follow emergent language? How can you handle a useful student question without losing the lesson? Does teaching style change during the week? What makes a teacher memorable? How can your favourite teacher influence your own teaching?
#TEFL #EnglishTeaching #LessonPlanning #TEFLTeachers #ESLTeaching #GrammarTeaching #TeacherDevelopment #ClassroomIdeas #EmergentLanguage #TeachingTips #ELT #EnglishTeachers

Why can teaching just one English learner feel more demanding than teaching a whole class? Join us, Gav & Em, as we explore the rewards, challenges and everyday realities of one-to-one English lessons.
Private lessons give us space to personalise learning, build confidence and focus on what a student really needs. They also require plenty of energy, quick thinking and a working relationship that suits both people!
We discuss:
🔹 Why one-to-one lessons can feel so intense
🔹 Whether silent exercises belong in paid lesson time or at home
🔹 How to agree realistic homework and course expectations
🔹 Who should lead: the teacher or the learner?
🔹 How to build rapport while keeping professional boundaries
🔹 Why thinking time matters in conversation lessons
🔹 How to correct and upgrade language without stopping every sentence
🔹 Why learners should ask their teacher questions too
🔹 How to adapt coursebooks and pair work for individual lessons
We agree on the importance of understanding the learner, but we don’t always agree on how to use lesson time! Em usually saves independent exercises for homework, while Gav sees a place for short writing tasks with immediate feedback.
Em also shares her one-to-one teaching poem, capturing the hidden effort behind keeping a conversation lesson going. Teachers who have ever finished a friendly chat feeling completely exhausted may recognise themselves!
🌐 EXPLORE THE ARTICLES
How Can Teachers Manage the Intensity of One-to-One English Lessons?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-can-teachers-manage-the-intensity-of-one-to-one-english-lessons-s01e19/
Should One-to-One Students Do Silent Work During Lessons?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/should-one-to-one-students-do-silent-work-during-lessons-s01e19/
What Should a One-to-One English Needs Analysis Cover?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/what-should-a-one-to-one-english-needs-analysis-cover-s01e19/
How Should You Plan a One-to-One English Course?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-should-you-plan-a-one-to-one-english-course-s01e19/
Who Should Lead a One-to-One English Lesson?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/who-should-lead-a-one-to-one-english-lesson-s01e19/
How Do You Build Rapport Without Losing Authority in One-to-One Lessons?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-do-you-build-rapport-without-losing-authority-in-one-to-one-lessons-s01e19/
How Can Teachers Adapt Group Coursebooks for One-to-One Lessons?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-can-teachers-adapt-group-coursebooks-for-one-to-one-lessons-s01e19/
⏱️ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 Introduction
01:28 Why one-to-one lessons feel intense
02:43 Independent exercises: classwork or homework?
04:18 Our debate about exam writing in lesson time
05:53 Agreeing expectations and homework
06:54 Rapport, authority and who leads
10:25 Different opinions and professional boundaries
11:56 Using homework to develop conversation
12:50 Pacing, thinking time and silence
13:39 Personalising lessons and useful takeaways
14:38 Em’s one-to-one teaching poem
16:31 The hidden work behind conversation lessons
17:39 Reformulating and correcting speaking mistakes
18:47 Encouraging learners to ask questions
21:03 Teaching two learners together
22:37 Books and adapting group materials
24:08 Final thoughts and goodbye
☕ Support How to English:
https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod
🌐 Teaching tips, guides and free lesson materials:
https://www.howtoenglishpod.com/
How to English TEFL Podcast with Gav & Em explores teaching and learning English as a foreign language through practical ideas, honest classroom experiences and a little teacher humour.
#TeachingEnglish #OneToOneTeaching #TEFL #ESL #EnglishTeacher #PrivateEnglishLessons #LearnEnglish

Why are your students learning English? How should teachers check answers without wasting lesson time? And what should you do when you have no idea how to pronounce a new student’s name?
In S07E16 of the How to English TEFL Podcast, Gav and Em explore everyday questions English teachers face.
They begin with one deceptively simple word: why? Why do we teach? Why are our students in the lesson? And why is it worth revisiting their goals as a course develops?
Drawing on their TEFL experience, Gav and Em discuss what keeps them teaching: language, flexibility, career opportunities and helping learners communicate.
Then comes email and admin: homework, timetable changes, cancellations, new classes and those messages sent five minutes before the lesson.
They also tackle student names. Should teachers research pronunciation before the first lesson? What happens when the same name is pronounced differently in different countries?
Finally, Gav and Em disagree rather spectacularly about checking students’ answers. Should learners compare answers in pairs before whole-class feedback? If everyone already has the correct answers, is checking them again useful confidence-building — or a waste of lesson time?
Along the way, they share practical techniques including peer checking, student nomination, varying who answers, testing what learners remember and personalising answers.
Whether you teach TEFL, ESL, EFL, Business English or general English, this episode offers practical classroom ideas — and proof that experienced teachers don’t always agree on the “right” way to do things.
EPISODE GUIDE + TEACHING RESOURCES
Episode guide:
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/episode-guide-how-should-english-teachers-check-answers-pronounce-names-stay-motivated-tefl-tips-s07e16/
How Often Should TEFL Teachers Revisit Learners’ Goals?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-often-should-tefl-teachers-revisit-learners-goals-s07e16/
Is TEFL a Good Long-Term Career? What Keeps Teachers in the Job
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/is-tefl-a-good-long-term-career-what-keeps-teachers-in-the-job-s07e16/
How Can TEFL Teachers Manage Email and Admin Without Letting It Take Over?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-can-tefl-teachers-manage-email-and-admin-without-letting-it-take-over-s07e16/
How Should English Teachers Pronounce Students’ Unfamiliar Names?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/how-should-english-teachers-pronounce-students-unfamiliar-names-s07e16/
What Is the Best Way to Check Students’ Answers in an English Lesson?
https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/what-is-the-best-way-to-check-students-answers-in-an-english-lesson-s07e16/
More practical TEFL articles, teaching tips and resources:
https://howtoenglishpod.com
Support Gav & Em:
https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod
CONTENTS / TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – What’s coming up?
01:01 – Welcome to S07E16
02:13 – Why are we teachers?
03:32 – Why are your students learning English?
04:59 – Why Gav and Em still enjoy teaching
06:50 – Career opportunities in TEFL
09:11 – Why teachers and learners should keep asking “why”
10:05 – What emails do TEFL teachers receive?
14:20 – When should teachers answer emails?
16:33 – The five-minutes-before-class email
17:32 – How do you pronounce a student’s name?
18:03 – Researching names before a lesson
22:10 – How should teachers check students’ answers?
22:51 – Should students check with a partner?
24:03 – Gav and Em disagree
27:04 – Do you need whole-class feedback?
29:40 – Checking answers to build confidence
31:56 – Who should answer each question?
33:25 – Keeping students on their toes
34:33 – Stop students simply reading the answers
35:03 – Personalising answers
35:26 – Ko-fi, teaching resources & goodbye

How much should a teacher actually talk in an English lesson — and when should they simply get out of the way?
In S07E15, Gav and Em discuss what teachers really do in the classroom (and what they don’t!).
We explore whether a lesson should ever become “The Teacher Show”, how teachers can guide conversations without dominating them, when to jump into a discussion, and why timing matters when correcting errors.
We also talk about supporting lower-level learners, encouraging students to help each other, and remembering that while teachers may think about English all day, an English lesson might be just one small part of a student’s busy week.
Plus: a simple tip for learners — keep notes of interesting English you hear, read or see during the week and bring those questions to your teacher.
⏱️ KEY MOMENTS
00:00 – What do teachers really do in the classroom?
02:26 – Why your lesson shouldn’t be “The Teacher Show”
03:57 – Do students actually need a teacher?
06:26 – Should teachers give their opinions?
07:15 – Stepping back and delayed error correction
09:54 – The teacher as an orchestra conductor
11:43 – When should you correct errors?
13:05 – Getting a speaking activity started
13:58 – Supporting lower-level learners
16:04 – What does “lower-level” actually mean?
20:52 – Students teaching students
24:01 – The lesson from the student’s perspective
☕ Support the show: ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod
🌐 Visit us: howtoenglishpod.com
How to English: Teach & Learn with Gav & Em — a podcast about teaching and learning English as a foreign language.

In this episode, Gav and Em tackle the real questions TEFL teachers ask every day:
What exactly is a student’s book supposed to do?

Is the teacher’s book worth using — or is it overwhelming?

How do you fix confusing coursebook tasks?

Do students actually learn grammar from lessons, or somewhere else entirely?

Why do learners forget grammar rules even after you’ve taught them?

Where does real learning happen — in the book, in conversation, or online?

With practical examples, honest stories, and classroom‑tested hacks, this episode helps teachers rethink how they plan, how they use materials, and how they support learners in a more natural, intuitive way.
Support the show: ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod
Visit our homepage: https://howtoenglishpod.wordpress.com/Timestamps
00:00 – How do TEFL teachers use quiet weeks to get organised?
01:20 – What are TEFL learners actually looking for in a coursebook?
03:00 – What is a student’s book, and how does it support learning?
05:00 – Why do coursebooks teach through topics instead of grammar labels?
06:00 – What’s inside a teacher’s book, and why is it so overwhelming?
09:00 – Should teachers rely on the teacher’s book or trust their instincts?
16:00 – What do you do when a teacher’s book activity is badly designed?
20:00 – How do you adapt confusing listening tasks for real learners?
24:00 – Does teaching grammar actually work, or do students forget it anyway?
30:00 – Where does learning really happen — and how do teachers reinforce it?