Reddit reviews Practical English Usage

Every EFL/ESL teacher should have a copy of Practical English Usage by Michael Swan. It is the ultimate language analysis of English.

Here's an abbreviated excerpt of a section from that book that addresses the issues in that above example sentence you gave:

>281 infinitives (3): without to
section 2: after let, make, hear, etc

>Certain verbs are followed by object + infinitive without to

>They include let, make, see, hear, feel, watch, and notice.

>ex: She lets her children stay up very late. NOT She lets her children to stay up very late.
ex: I made them give me the money back. NOT I made them to give me the money back.

>...

>For more information about structures with make, see 335.

If you can't get the book, you're looking for when to use to or not with infinitive verbs, which should be very easy to find online material for.

If you've learnt Spanish and Hindi then you probably will know more than many others on your course. Also, it's more important in many ways to be able to demonstrate difference in meaning rather than analysing things grammatically.

For example: How would you explain / demonstrate the difference between 'I saw the thief climbing through the window' vs. 'I saw the thief climb through the window'.

Having said that, it never hurts to brush up. I'm personally not a fan of Azar I think she tends to split and complicate things where there is no need.

Instead I'd recommend Raymond Murphy (it comes in both a British and American English version. If you get the British version it includes American grammar in the appendix and vice versa): http://www.amazon.com/English-Grammar-Use-Answers-Intermediate/dp/0521532892
and Teaching tenses: http://www.amazon.com/TEACHING-TENSES-PRESENTING-PRACTISING-ENGLISH/dp/0175559201

Most importantly, get a copy of the TESOL bible, Swan's 'Practical English Usage': http://www.amazon.com/Practical-English-Usage-Michael-Swan/dp/0194420981/ref=pd_sim_b_1

1. Make sure you brush up on the language point you're teaching. Have examples prepared beforehand that you can present to your students, and a way of explaining it that is concise and easy to understand. Practical English Usage by Michael Swan is quite a useful resource.
   
   
2. Have a good lesson plan prepared, but don't be a slave to it. Parts of the lesson may take more or less time than anticipated, depending on student interest, how long it takes to grasp something, etc. As you gain more experience you'll get better at estimating how long particular stages of a lesson should last.
   
   
3. Don't be too hard on yourself if you have a bad class. It happens. Reflect on it to see if there was anything you could have done differently, but don't dwell on it too much. Move on.
   
   Bonus tip - trying to get the students to speak English can be a struggle, but there are ways to motivate them. One method I use is to have a yellow and red card to hand, like a football referee. If a student uses their first language too much, they get the yellow card. If they do it again, they get the red card and have to do a forfeit - something like singing a stupid song or press-ups. Perhaps let the class take a vote on what the forfeit should be - that way no-one can really complain if they have to do it.

>The benefits of doing it in England is that English is the teacher's primary language

Not sure what you mean by this. All CELTAs, as far as I know, are completely in English; I can't imagine why they wouldn't be.

As for price, you might look at International House in Budapest, Hungary. I had a very good experience doing the CELTA there, and the course fee and living expenses are lower there due to the Hungarian forint. I know it's not China or Japan, but it's worth looking at. From the UK, flights to Hungary would certainly be less expensive.

As for resources, Michael Swan's book Practical English Usage is excellent. Also try Jeremy Harmer's The Practice of English Language Teaching for a good overview of a lot of what you'll see on CELTA.

Practical English Usage is a grammar bible, but not exactly a text book. If you want exercises maybe murphy.

That is not true at all. Those forms are found in nearly all registers of English, with only the 'going to' construction avoided in extremely formal usage.

They differ in aspect and intentionality. The time that the decision was made, and whether the action is part of a schedule (present simple) a plan (present continuous) or merely an intention (will) are some of the factors that predicate usage.

For a more thorough discussion see Swan: Practical English Usage, which is the standard text on this (https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/cka/Practical-English-Usage-3rd-Michael-Swan/0194420981)

I like Micheal Swan's - Practical English Usage.

You probably could read it to learn grammar, but I teach ESL and find it's a great reference with clear explanations and examples.

Because English is crazy like that.

Source: ESL teacher.

On a more serious note, if you're looking for a good reference, I highly recommend Practical English Usage by Michael Swan. This is the bible for people like me.

This one: https://www.amazon.com/Practical-English-Usage-Michael-Swan/dp/0194420981

But this book is only necessary if you have students that have challenging questions about English usage (high school, uni, adults, etc.).