Should English Teachers Speak Clearly or Naturally in Class? – S05E16

Should English teachers speak naturally in class, or should they pronounce every word and expression carefully? Gav and Em explore how teachers can expose learners to authentic spoken English without making unfamiliar language unnecessarily difficult to understand.Drawing on their everyday classroom experience, they discuss when to explain an idiom, when to write new language on the board or in the chat, and when learners should use context to work out the meaning. They also share a useful end-of-lesson technique that gives students another opportunity to ask about language they noticed.Gav challenges Em to find hidden synonyms inside “kangaroo words” such as destruction, devilish and masculine. The pair then compare several easily confused words, including foundation, foundations, basement, cellar, basis and base.Em demonstrates a fun science quiz that practises listening, speaking, present-simple facts and explaining ideas in your own words. You’ll also hear practical suggestions for helping a highly motivated new student choose suitable English books, podcasts, television programmes and homework.Throughout the episode, Gav and Em secretly compete to include idioms naturally in their conversation. Could you adapt their “hide the idiom” challenge for your own English lesson?If you find the show useful, you can send us a thanks at https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodVisit https://howtoenglishpod.com for practical teaching ideas and resources ready to use.Transcript with audio:https://share.descript.com/view/8AA0N3Jd2qgChapters00:00 Should teachers speak clearly or naturally?02:56 Helping learners understand natural speech and idioms05:17 Chair backs and unusual furniture vocabulary06:43 Kangaroo words and hidden synonyms11:55 How to play Hide the Idiom13:41 Foundation, basement or cellar?19:35 A science quiz for English learners25:17 Explaining facts in your own words26:42 Supporting highly motivated new students29:27 Idiom answers and explanations33:43 Final thoughts and outro