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The Best EFL Coursebook for Online Teaching

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I've been in the online teaching industry for more than 5 years, so believe me when I tell you that I have tried and tested many coursebooks and materials that can make or break an online lesson, especially when you teach adults (which is what this blog post will focus on). But before I tell you which coursebook we use now and why that one is the best, let's get one thing straight: Coursebooks are not the law, they are a tool! (and you can quote me on that) I see so many new teachers stick only to a coursebook while preparing and then executing their lessons as if that was the holy grail of successful teaching. And it's great to use coursebooks as a basis for lesson planning and utilizing the hard work of its authors and big publishing companies who have the resources to conduct ample R&D, so you know that what you are teaching is, in fact, at the correct level. However, sticking only to coursebooks is a huge rookie mistake because: There are no perfect coursebooks. Eac...
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Creativity and Experience Make for a Great Comeback Story

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Hi everyone!  It's been 6 years since my last post (and oh-my-God has the world changed since then). I don't want to bore you with all the details, but here's a quick look at the most important things that have kept me away from the blog for so long: I moved to Australia for a year, I returned to Croatia, I traveled the world, I started my own language school (was the first one in Croatia to do it fully online), I published a vocabulary workbook called Words My Way (more on it in another post), I developed a game app that helps practice speaking (currently available in English and Croatian), I became an expert in online teaching (I've been doing this since 2016 - waaaay before the virus that shall not be named), I mentored (and still am) teachers just starting in the workforce, I hired and managed employees, I worked (and still am) on a big number of projects regarding language teaching (from our internal projects at ERYIA, to EU projects and ERASMUS). I started this...
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Hints on Pronunciation for Foreigners

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Pronunciation is one of those things in language teaching that can very often be neglected. Or at least that’s the case here, in Croatia. Along with tongue twisters , you can make your students aware of how complex, important and interesting pronunciation is by showing them some really fun stuff on the internet.
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Mini Saga, Favorite Songs and Story Endings

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This post is another one in the "section" of creative writing. As I have already said, it can be pretty difficult to get your students to write their own stories, so these methods can be of great help.  Mini saga is a story of exactly 50 words, that your students have to write. It can also have a title of up to 15 words, but the title can also be omitted. It is great to stimulate creativity and determine the crucial elements of a story. Here's an example of a mini saga by Daniel H. Pink: "When I was shot, fear seized me at first. No surprise that. But once I realized I wasn’t going to die – despite the thermonuclear pain and widening puddle of weirdly warm blood – my mind recalibrated. And one thought, comforting yet disturbing, leapt into my head: I need to tweet this."
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Reformulated Dialogue

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When I was a child, I loved to fill out things in workbooks and magazines for children. When I started going to school, I loved to fill out things in course- and workbooks and today I love doing so as well. No wonder, I have collected English coursebooks and workbooks throughout my whole education. Those were not only my personal ones, but I also have a collection of my brother's English coursebooks and some of my mother's as well. Some of my friends have also been so kind as to give me their coursebooks. So, as you can see, for us, (future) teachers, it can be pretty easy to get to materials on certain topics. And the best thing is that you can re-use these as many times as you want. 
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