Stay up-to-date with ELT trends and ideas with articles from experts and teachers in the field.

Articles

<p>English is always changing and growing. Although it <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-history-of-english">started life in England</a>, over the centuries it&nbsp;has traveled the globe. Now, around <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/26884/most-spoken-languages-online-offline/" target="_blank">1.5 billion people</a>&nbsp;around the world use it every day to communicate.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These users are not all so-called &quot;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-belongs-to-everyone-here-s-how-to-own-your-english">native speakers</a>.&quot; Most of these users have learned it as an additional language.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><b>There are many ways&nbsp;to speak English</b></h2>

<p>There is often a mistaken belief that there is one &quot;correct&quot; way of speaking English. This is impossible.</p>

<p>Around 75 countries use it as their official language. Each one uses it in their own special way.&nbsp;</p>

<p>And within each country, people use it differently in&nbsp;different areas, cities, and towns. This gives us an interesting mix of accents and words.&nbsp;</p>

<p>People often think of British English or Amercian English as the &quot;correct&quot; models. But in Britain, there is Brummie (Birmingham English), Cockney (London English), and Glaswegian (Glasgow English)&mdash;to give just three examples. In the US, there&#39;s Southern (e.g., Texan), Mid-Atlantic (e.g.,&nbsp;New York), and Western (e.g., Californian).</p>

<p>If you&#39;d like to know more, check out my posts on the use of English in countries like <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/australian-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-slang-for-clear-communication">Australia</a>, <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/essential-scottish-for-english-language-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Scotland</a>, and <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/irish-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Ireland</a>.</p>

<h2><strong>The three circles of English speakers</strong></h2>

<p>In 1992, Braj Kachru created the three circle model of English speakers. He wanted to explore the use and status of different&nbsp;Englishes around the world.&nbsp;</p>

<p>He categorized them into the inner, outer, and expanding circles.</p>

<h2><strong>The inner circle&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>The &quot;inner circle&quot;&nbsp;includes the US, UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. These are countries that historically spoke English first.</p>

<p>The Englishes from these countries are often used as&nbsp;models or &quot;norms&quot;&nbsp;for English language learners. This is why many language teaching resources use American or British English as examples&nbsp;in class.</p>

<p>This is also why some language schools continue the discriminatory practice of hiring language teachers from these countries&nbsp;rather&nbsp;than&nbsp;focusing on proficiency, lingusitic knowledge, or teaching expertise.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, there is a growing&nbsp;awareness that English is global. Speakers around the world are now challenging the&nbsp;outdated belief that so called &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speakers from &quot;inner circle&quot;&nbsp;countries use the language more effectively.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>The outer circle</strong></h2>

<p>The &quot;outer circle&quot; includes countries where English may not be the most common language, but&nbsp;is an important or official language.</p>

<p>For example,&nbsp;India, Kenya, Malaysia, and Singapore started using&nbsp;the language when they were part of the British Empire. Like <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/australian-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-slang-for-clear-communication">Australian,</a> <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/irish-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Irish</a>, and<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/essential-scottish-for-english-language-learners-common-phrases-expressions"> Scottish</a> English, their Englishes have unique differences in vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Although English speakers from these countries have grown up using the language, they are often mistakenly considered &quot;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-belongs-to-everyone-here-s-how-to-own-your-english">non-native</a>&quot;&nbsp;speakers.</p>

<p>This is due to the incorrect perception that English belongs to &quot;inner circle&quot; countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In reality, English belongs to everyone. Every user can make it their own.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>The expanding circle</strong></h2>

<p>The &quot;expanding circle&quot;&nbsp;refers to countries that have never had English as an official language, but still use it as a lingua franca. For example,&nbsp;English is an important language in Argentina, Egypt, and&nbsp;South Korea.</p>

<p>Although English is not an official language, many people in these countries want to learn it in order to enhance their careers&nbsp;and communicate confidently around the world.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Three circles of english" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5626/content_3-circles.png" /></p>

<h2><strong>How does the &quot;Three Circles of English Speakers&quot;&nbsp;model impact our classroom practice?&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>As language teachers, we need to be aware that there is not one correct way to speak English. Everyone uses it in their own way. The most important goal is to be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This means that we need to adapt our classroom practices to our learners&#39; needs. Every learner has different reasons for learning&nbsp;and will use their language skills in different places.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It can be helpful to introduce learners to different accents and uses of the language. This supports them to adapt when they meet people who use an unfamiliar English.</p>

<p>We can also give learners confidence in knowing that even speakers from so-called &quot;inner circle&quot; countries can find each other hard to understand. Let them practice skills such as checking meaning, rephrasing, and adapting their pronunciation in order to be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Finally, and most importantly, let them discover their own voice in English. Everyone uses English differently. Things that speakers from one country think are &quot;incorrect&quot; or &quot;weird&quot;&nbsp;may be very common in another.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Think about your own use of English. In what ways do you use it differently to other people you know?&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you enjoyed this blog post, we think you&#39;ll love these posts too:&nbsp;</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elf-pron-what-is-it-and-how-can-we-teach-it">ELF Pron: What Is It &amp;&nbsp;How Can We Teach It?</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-history-of-english">The History of English</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/australian-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-slang-for-clear-communication">Australian English for ESL Learners: Common Phrases &amp; Expressions for Clear Communication</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/essential-scottish-for-english-language-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Essential Scottish English for English Language Learners: Common Phrases &amp; Expressions</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/irish-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Irish English for ESL Learners: Common Phrases &amp; Expressions</a></li>
</ul>


What Every Language Teacher Needs to Know about Global Englishes

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These posts are written for learners of English themselves. Find learning tips and ideas for learning English.

For Students

<p>English is the most common language in the world. It has around <a href="https://www.statista.com/chart/26884/most-spoken-languages-online-offline/?srsltid=AfmBOooopVnQBvQWJRZYfuScM1zyBSWK2UZ_6Dz-HfoteHTsxL_1tqlA" target="_blank">1.5 billion speakers</a>. That&#39;s 20% of the world population. Most of these speakers have learned English as their second language.&nbsp;</p>

<p>People often think of American or British English as the &quot;standard,&quot;&nbsp;but people speak it differently in different places. Seventy-five countries identify English as their official language.&nbsp;There is not one &quot;correct&quot;&nbsp;way to speak it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In a&nbsp;series of blog posts on Ellii, I have been exploring common differences in English use in different countries. This post focuses on English from Ireland.</p>

<p>Many thanks to Irish ELT professionals&nbsp;<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-farren/">Stephen Farren</a> and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/erin-o-byrne-for-language-teachers/">Erin O&#39;Byrne</a>&nbsp;for their help with this. I loved sharing the differences and similarities with Scottish English with them!</p>

<p>You can also check out these posts on:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/australian-english-for-esl-learners-common-phrases-slang-for-clear-communication">Australian English</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/essential-scottish-for-english-language-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Scottish English</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><strong>Do I need to learn every different&nbsp;type of&nbsp;English?&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>The short answer is &quot;no.&quot; Even people who grew up speaking English find it difficult to understand speakers from other places.</p>

<p>Think about your own first language. Are there any countries, cities or regions that speak it very differently? How do you communicate with them?&nbsp;</p>

<p>Communicating with someone who uses a different style of English can be hard. However, when you don&#39;t understand, you can:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>ask them to repeat or rephrase what they said</li>
	<li>ask them questions to check that you have understood</li>
	<li>ask them to slow down or write down what they said</li>
</ul>

<p>Often&nbsp;people understand that their English is different but forget to slow down. They want to be understood too, so they will probably be happy to help.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>Similarities with Scottish English</strong></h2>

<p>Ireland and Scotland are close to each other and have shared history. We also share some words.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>wee = small</li>
	<li>weans = children&nbsp;</li>
	<li>eejit = idiot</li>
	<li>yous = plural of &quot;you&quot; (to talk about a group of people)</li>
</ul>

<p>Stephen Farren reminded me of the use of &quot;messages&quot;&nbsp;for shopping. In Scotland or Ireland, you might hear someone saying:&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;I&#39;m going into town to get the messages.&quot;</p>

<p>This means that they are going to the shops to pick up groceries such as bread, milk, and eggs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can read (and hear)&nbsp;more examples of&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/essential-scottish-for-english-language-learners-common-phrases-expressions">Scottish English</a> in this blog post.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>What&#39;s the craic?&nbsp;= How are you?&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>Much like Australians asking &quot;How you going?,&quot; people have a different way to ask &quot;How are you?&quot; in Ireland.</p>

<p>In Irish&nbsp;&quot;craic,&quot; (pronounced &quot;crack&quot;) has many meanings.</p>

<p>It can be used to ask how someone is feeling, or how good or bad something is.</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;The party was good craic.&quot;</p>

<p>It can also be used to ask about gossip. For example:</p>

<p>&quot;Any craic?&quot; = Anything we can chat about?</p>

<h2><strong>Grand = fine/okay</strong></h2>

<p>When people ask &quot;How are you?,&quot;&nbsp;they usually want a positive answer, like &quot;I&#39;m fine&quot; or &quot;I&#39;m good.&quot;</p>

<p>In Irish English, when people ask &quot;What&#39;s the craic?,&quot;&nbsp;people will often reply &quot;All&nbsp;grand with me.&quot;</p>

<p>In Ireland, &quot;grand&quot;&nbsp;means good, fine, or okay.</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>&quot;The weather is grand today!&quot;</p>

<h2><strong>So I am / So it is</strong></h2>

<p>In Irish English, people often end what they are telling you with &quot;So I am&quot; or &quot;So it is.&quot;&nbsp;This is a way of repeating or emphasizing the information.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:</p>

<p>&quot;I&#39;m grand, so I am.&quot;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<p>or</p>

<p>&quot;The craic was&nbsp;fantastic, so it was.&quot;</p>

<h2><strong>After + ing&nbsp;</strong></h2>

<p>This is a common way to talk about something that happened in the recent past. Some people refer to it as &quot;Irish present perfect.&quot;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;I&#39;m after making a wee cup of tea. Do you want one?&quot; = &quot;I&#39;ve just made a cup of tea. Do you want one?&quot;</p>

<h2><strong>Dead on / deadly = cool, nice, great, perfect, amazing</strong></h2>

<p>Something that is &quot;dead on&quot;&nbsp;is &quot;grand.&quot; For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>A: How was the film?</li>
	<li>B: It was&nbsp;dead on. / It was deadly.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h2><strong>Notion</strong></h2>

<p>Much like their Scottish neighbors, Irish people prefer not to show off about their wins. They prefer&nbsp;to be humble and often try to keep their successes quiet.</p>

<p>As Erin O&#39;Byrne said, &quot;No one likes celebrating anyone&#39;s success here.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>People use the term &quot;to have notions&quot;&nbsp;to talk about someone who is showing off or looks successful. For example:</p>

<p>&quot;Look at them with their&nbsp;new sports car. The notions on them!&quot;</p>

<h2><strong>Mammy / daddy&nbsp;= mum / dad</strong></h2>

<p>Scottish and Irish English have a lot of similarities. But in Scotland,&nbsp;&quot;mummy&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;daddy&quot;&nbsp;are commonly used by&nbsp;children. Adults usually choose &quot;mum&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;dad&quot;&nbsp;(or &quot;maw&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;paw&quot;). In Northern Ireland, it is popular for all ages to refer to their parents as &quot;mammy&quot; and &quot;daddy.&quot; &#39;&#39;Ma&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;da&quot;&nbsp;are common throughout the island of Ireland too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These words and expressions are some examples of the Irish English that I&#39;ve heard over the years.</p>

<p>They can be helpful to help you&nbsp;understand, but you don&#39;t need to use them&mdash;unless you want to show an&nbsp;Irish person what good craic you are!&nbsp;</p>

<h2><strong>More on Irish English</strong></h2>

<p>To watch examples of Irish English, here are some popular TV series:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111958/">Father Ted</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7120662/?ref_=fn_t_1">Derry Girls</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15469618/?ref_=fn_t_1">Bad Sisters</a></li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>What Irish English have you heard? Do you have any favorite words or phrases? Share them in the comments.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Irish English for ESL Learners: Common Phrases & Expressions 

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<p>There are many different varieties of English all over the world. Around 75 countries use it as an official language.</p>

<p>Then there are regional differences. For example, in the UK, there isn&#39;t just one form of English. People speak English differently in different parts of the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I am from Scotland, so I speak Scottish English (or West Central&nbsp;Scots). In this post, I&#39;ll share some common words and phrases that will help you understand and be understood in Scotland, or around Scottish people.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What languages do people speak in Scotland?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The main language in Scotland is English. <a href="https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/census-results/at-a-glance/languages/" target="_blank">Government records show that 98.6% of people in Scotland speak it</a>.</p>

<p>Historically, Gaelic is&nbsp;the traditional language. It&nbsp;used to be spoken all over the country. Now only 0.5% of the population speak it at home&mdash;mostly in the Western Isles and North West Highlands.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then there&#39;s Scots. Government information shows that 1.1% of people said that they spoke this at home. Though, in my opinion, this number should be much higher. There are many English speakers in Scotland who don&#39;t realize they are speaking Scots.&nbsp;I was one&mdash;until I taught my first &quot;English&quot;&nbsp;class!</p>

<p>The reason for this is that there is a lot of confusion over what&nbsp;Scots language is, what a dialect is (a local version of the language), and what Scottish English is (English with some Scots words and sounds).&nbsp;</p>

<p>According to Scotland.org,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.scottishbooktrust.com/writing-and-authors/what-is-scots" target="_blank">Scots is a language made up of different dialects from across the country</a>:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Dundonian dialect in Dundee</li>
	<li>Doric dialect in Aberdeenshire</li>
	<li>Edinburgh Scots dialect in&nbsp;Edinburgh</li>
	<li>Glaswegian dialect in Glasgow</li>
</ul>

<p>When I first started teaching, I used a lot of Scottish words and sounds. The students, who spoke excellent global English, didn&#39;t understand me. I quickly learned what was English and what was Scots.&nbsp;</p>

<p>From experience, there are lots of Scottish English speakers who are exactly like me when I started teaching. Don&#39;t be afraid to ask them if they are speaking Scottish or English! This will help them to reflect and rephrase what they&#39;ve said into understandable English (hopefully)!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Do I need to learn Scottish English?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>No, not really. It would be impossible to learn every different variety of English.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you plan to live in Scotland for a while, it will probably be helpful to learn some Scottish words. But if you are just staying for a short holiday, it&#39;s best to use these skills for speaking English anywhere:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Ask for the meaning of words that you don&#39;t know</li>
	<li>Ask people to repeat or say things more slowly</li>
	<li>Rephrase what people have said to check that you have understood them</li>
</ul>

<p>Remember there are two people (or more) in each conversation. They can help you by using their communication skills too.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Be confident: Even proficient language users find Scots English hard</h2>

<p>I have many examples of friends who speak absolutely fantastic English, but&nbsp;find&nbsp;Scottish speakers difficult to understand.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One friend is a doctor from South Africa. He grew up speaking English. When he moved to Scotland, he found that there were lots of words he didn&#39;t understand. He started a vocabulary&nbsp;list on his phone so every time he learned a new word, he made a note of it. That list now has hundreds of words!&nbsp;</p>

<p>Another friend is from Portugal. They use English for work every day. When they met some people I&nbsp;know from Dundee, they were so confused. I&nbsp;had to translate the Dundonian Scottish into general English for them. My Dundonian friends didn&#39;t even realize&nbsp;that they weren&#39;t speaking globally understood English.&nbsp;</p>

<p>So, you are not alone, and it&#39;s not that you don&#39;t understand&mdash;the other speaker might just be unclear!</p>

<h2>Some common differences in Scottish English to help you understand!</h2>

<h3>There&#39;s no &quot;t&quot;&nbsp;in Sco&#39;land!</h3>

<p>Sco&#39;ish people often don&#39;t pronounce the &quot;t&quot;&nbsp;sound. Words like <em>butter</em>, <em>wetter</em>, and&nbsp;<em>better</em> become &quot;bu&#39;er,&quot;&nbsp;&quot;we&#39;er,&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;be&#39;er.&quot;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5484/scoish.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>To speak clearly and be easily understood, it&#39;s best to pronounce your consonant sounds. However, it&#39;s good to know you might hear this in Sco&#39;land.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>&quot;How?&quot;&nbsp;can mean &quot;Why?&quot;</h3>

<p>In Scotland, many people will ask you &quot;How?&quot;&nbsp;when they mean &quot;Why?&quot;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>A: I will be&nbsp;late.&nbsp;</p>

<p>B: How?&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>B wants to know the reason<em> why</em> A will be late.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>Cannae, isnae, wasnae, gonnae</strong></h3>

<p>Instead of &quot;not,&quot;&nbsp;many people in Scotland use &quot;nae.&quot;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5483/Gonnae.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>can&#39;t &gt; cannae</li>
	<li>isn&#39;t &gt; isnae</li>
	<li>wasn&#39;t &gt; wasnae</li>
	<li>going to&nbsp;&gt; gonnae</li>
	<li>can you &gt; gonnae</li>
</ul>

<p>&quot;Gonnae&quot; can mean two things. It can mean the future tense &quot;going to.&quot;&nbsp;People also use it to ask someone for help or to do something:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Gonnae clean your room?&quot;&nbsp;= &quot;Can you clean your room?&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Wee = small</h3>

<p>In Scotland, we use &quot;wee&quot;&nbsp;instead of &quot;small&quot; or &quot;little.&quot; For example:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5482/wee.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>Gonnae cut me a wee slice of cake?&nbsp;= Can you cut me a little slice of cake?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I&#39;m a wee bit tired after that class. = I&#39;m a little tired after that class.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>When I&#39;m with speakers of English from other places, I try not to use Scots words. But I can&#39;t stop saying &quot;wee.&quot;</p>

<p>This can sometimes cause confusion. Once, I was helping my Australian friend&#39;s child at a playground. He wanted to reach but was too small. I said, &quot;You&#39;re too wee.&quot; His reply was &quot;I&#39;m not a wee-wee.&quot; (&quot;I&#39;m not a pee.&quot;)&nbsp;The wee man had a good point!&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Aye = yes&nbsp;</h3>

<p>In Scotland, people say &quot;aye&quot; instead of &quot;yes&quot; or &quot;yeah.&quot; It sounds the same as &quot;eye&quot; the body part, but has a different meaning.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5476/aye.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<blockquote>
<p>A: Would you like a wee cup of tea?</p>

<p>B: Aye!&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<h3>Yous for plural &quot;you&quot;</h3>

<p>In English, &quot;you&quot; can be one person or many people. In my humble Scottish opinion, this can be quite confusing.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Scotland, we use &#39;you&#39; for one person and &#39;yous&#39; for many. This might sound strange if you haven&#39;t heard it before, but it makes it much clearer who we are talking about. For example:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5477/yous.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>Are you coming to the party? &nbsp;(asking one person if they are coming)</li>
	<li>Are yous coming to the party? (asking two or more people if they are coming)&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>But = though</h3>

<p>You might hear a lot of sentences ending with &quot;but.&quot; It is commonly used to contrast meaning.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5478/but.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>She said she didnae want to come but.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>He&#39;s friendly, but.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>You might think that the person speaking has forgotten to finish their sentence! They havnae&nbsp;but!</p>

<h3>Bairns vs. weans</h3>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5485/weans.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>In West Coast Scots, people use &quot;weans&quot; (pronounced like&nbsp;&quot;wane&quot; or the same sound as&nbsp;&quot;rain&quot;) to talk about children. In the East Coast, people tend to say &quot;bairns&quot; (pronounced like &quot;bear&quot;). You can use this to tell which Scots people speak.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>Who&#39;s Ken?&nbsp;</h3>

<p>In some parts of Scotland, you&#39;ll hear the word &quot;ken&quot; a lot. &quot;Ken&quot; means &quot;know&quot; in Eastern Scotland. This can be confusing as it is also a man&#39;s name.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5481/ken.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Do you ken whit I mean?&quot; = &quot;Do you know what I mean?&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;I dinnae ken.&quot; = &quot;I don&#39;t know.&quot;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Cheers = thanks</h3>

<p>One of my students once asked me &quot;Why does everyone say &#39;cheese&#39;&nbsp;when I hold a door open for them or do something nice for them?&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>I was confused. &quot;Cheese?&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;Yeah,&quot; the student replied. Then they acted it out.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>&quot;Aaaah! Cheers! &#39;Cheers&#39; means &#39;thanks&#39;!&quot;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>&quot;Aaaah!&quot; said my student. &quot;Cheers! I ken now!&quot;</li>
	<li>&quot;Nae bother,&quot; I replied. Because in Scotland that means &quot;no problem&quot; or &quot;no bother.&quot;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>Rain</h3>

<p>It rains a lot in Scotland. That&#39;s why we have hunners (hundreds) of words for rain. Here are some:&nbsp;</p>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5479/rain.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<ul>
	<li>drizzle, smirr, mizzle,&nbsp;Scotch mist =&nbsp;light rain&nbsp;</li>
	<li>pouring doon, tipping it doon, chucking it doon&nbsp;=&nbsp;&nbsp;heavy rain (doon = down)</li>
	<li>dreich = not raining, but the sky is dark, gray, and miserable</li>
	<li>drookit = a great adjective to describe when you are soaking wet (probably because it&#39;s pouring doon)</li>
</ul>

<h3>Taps aff or taps oan</h3>

<div class="ckeditor-html5-audio" style="text-align: center;">
<audio controls="controls" controlslist="nodownload" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/5480/taps-aff.mp3">&nbsp;</audio>
</div>

<p>People in Scotland like to laugh at themselves and the weather. They also get excited when the sun comes out. When the temperature rises over 20&deg;C, some guys like to sit in the park with their tops off&mdash;until their skin burns.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This is why we use the terms&nbsp;&quot;taps aff&quot; and &quot;taps oan&quot;&nbsp;to describe the weather.&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>A &quot;taps aff&quot; (tops off) day is when it is hot enough to enjoy the sunshine with light summer clothing.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>A &quot;taps oan&quot; (tops on) day is a day when it is chucking it doon, drizzly, dreich, or cold enough to wear all your clothes.&nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>If you would like to get your weather this way, check out <a href="https://www.taps-aff.co.uk/" target="_blank">Taps-Aff.co.uk</a>!</p>

<h2>More on Scottish English</h2>

<p>To learn more about Scottish English, search online for films and TV from Scotland. I&#39;d recommend:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1924394/" target="_blank">The Angel&#39;s Share</a></li>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0380366/?ref_=fn_t_1" target="_blank">Aye Fond Kiss</a></li>
	<li>Film:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3823098/" target="_blank">Edie</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3006802/" target="_blank">Outlander</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108803/?ref_=fn_i_2" target="_blank">The High Life&nbsp;</a></li>
	<li>TV: <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155450/?ref_=fn_i_1" target="_blank">Para Handy</a></li>
</ul>

<p>I&#39;d also recommend <a href="https://thescottishsoundschool.com/watch-and-listen" target="_blank">The Scottish Sound School</a>. You&#39;ll find a lot of videos and other content by language expert Gemma Archer there.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Have you been to Scotland? Do you have favorite Scots words? What experience do you have of speaking to Scots English speakers? We&#39;d love to know.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


Essential Scottish for English Language Learners: Common Phrases & Expressions

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<p>Even though English is global, it is spoken differently in many parts of the world. American and British English are probably the most commonly taught in language classrooms. Ellii, for example, is a<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/spelling-variations-in-ellii-materials"> </a>Canadian company, but it offers language learning content in American, Canadian, and British English.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Around the world, about 75 countries have English as an officical language. Countries like&nbsp;Australia, Ireland, New Zealand, and South Africa are the obvious ones. There&#39;s also&nbsp;Nigeria, Singapore, India, Philllipines, and many others.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On a recent trip to Australia, I learned that Scottish English and Australian English have many differences. I had to use my communication skills to help me understand and be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>It was an excellent reminder that even so-called &quot;native&quot; speakers can misunderstand each other!</p>

<h2>How can we communicate across many different Englishes?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Different countries use different words, pronounce things in different ways, and&nbsp;have different grammar. For example, Scotland and Australia have different words for many things and use&nbsp;different vowel sounds.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In order to be understood, I used my communication skills:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I slowed down.</li>
	<li>I left&nbsp;spaces between my&nbsp;words.</li>
	<li>I asked people to rephrase or repeat what they said.</li>
	<li>I asked questions to check I&nbsp;(and they) understood.</li>
	<li>I tried using different words or saying things in different ways.</li>
	<li>I pronounced consonsant sounds clearly and changed the vowel sounds in some of my words.</li>
	<li>I avoided using Scottish words and learned some Australian ones to use instead.</li>
</ul>

<p>In this blog post, I want to tell the world that we<strong> all</strong> have to change how we communicate&nbsp;in order to be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I also want to tell language learners that even people who speak English very well can misunderstand each other.&nbsp;</p>

<p>And I want to share some Australian English that helped me understand the people&nbsp;I met. I still speak English my own way, but I do occasionally use some of these words to be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Australians shorten words with &quot;y&quot; or &quot;o&quot;&nbsp;</h2>

<p>In Australia, people like to shorten words. They do this by adding &quot;o&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;y/ie/ies.&quot; They do this even with friends&#39; names. For example:&nbsp;</p>

<h3>-y/ie/ies:</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Mel (popular girl&#39;s name) &gt; Melly</li>
	<li>Australian &gt; Aussie</li>
	<li>volunteer &gt; vollie</li>
	<li>schnitzel (popular dish of crumbed meat) &gt; schnitie</li>
	<li>parmigiana (schnitzel topping of ham and tomato sauce) &gt; parmi</li>
</ul>

<h3>o:&nbsp;</h3>

<ul>
	<li>Damien &gt; Damo&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Dave &gt; Davo</li>
	<li>service station &nbsp;&gt; servo&nbsp;(US: gas station, UK: petrol station)</li>
</ul>

<h2>Heaps</h2>

<p>In Australia, it is more common to say &quot;heaps&quot; instead of &quot;lots&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;loads.&quot; For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p>A: How many lollies are there?&nbsp;</p>

<p>B: There are heaps of lollies.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Lollies are not lollipops!</h2>

<p>In the UK, lollies come on a stick. Most commonly, they are a boiled sweet on a paper stick, but they may also be frozen &quot;ice lollies&quot;&nbsp;on a wooden stick.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In Australia, lollies are any sweet (or candy, if you use American English)&mdash;boiled, chewy, on a stick, or in a wrapper. If it&#39;s made with <em>heaps</em> of sugar, it&#39;s a lolly!</p>

<p>My nephews and nieces introduced me to the idea of a &quot;long way lolly.&quot; In the&nbsp;UK, this would be a &quot;car sweet.&quot;&nbsp;I&#39;m not sure if this phrase is used across Australia&nbsp;or just by nephews and nieces to make their auntie buy them sweets! Either way, we were driving a long way, so we bought heaps of lollies to keep us going!</p>

<h2>How you going?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>This greeting was perhaps what surprised me the most about Australian English. Instead of asking &quot;How are you?,&quot; &quot;How are you doing?,&quot; or &quot;How&#39;s things?,&quot; Aussies will say &quot;How you going?&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The answers remain the same. &quot;Good,&quot; &quot;Well,&quot; &quot;Alright.&quot; Much like in British English, no one really wants to hear a long answer or a sad, negative reply!&nbsp;</p>

<h2>G&#39;day, mate!</h2>

<p>To say &quot;hello&quot;&nbsp;to someone, Aussies often use &quot;hi,&quot; &quot;hey,&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;How you going?,&quot;&nbsp;but they&#39;ll also use the more stereotypically Aussie &quot;G&#39;day, mate!,&quot; shortened from &quot;Good day, mate!&quot;</p>

<p>Many of the people who said &quot;G&#39;day, mate!&quot;&nbsp;to me had never met me before. In Australia, &quot;mate&quot;&nbsp;is a friendly greeting as much as it means &quot;friends.&quot;</p>

<p>Hearing this reminded me a lot of Scotland. We like to say &quot;Alright, pal!&quot; to people we have never met before.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>Other random words</h2>

<p>I could write&nbsp;forever about the words and phrases I&#39;ve learned in Australia. But I need to stop and start summarizing somewhere.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some more interesting differences:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>fairy floss (Aus) - cotton candy (US) - candy floss (UK)</li>
	<li>paddock (Aus) - field (US/UK)</li>
	<li>thongs (Aus) - flip-flops (US/UK)</li>
	<li>op shop:&nbsp;opportunity&nbsp;shop&nbsp;(Aus) - thrift store (US) - charity shop (UK)</li>
	<li>gum tree (Aus) - eucalyptus tree (US &amp; UK)</li>
	<li>rug (Aus) - blanket (UK)</li>
	<li>pathway (Aus) - pavement (UK) - sidewalk (US)</li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
<p>What experience do you have with Australian English or other Englishes? We&#39;d love to know. Please share your experiences with us so we can learn more!</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Here are some other posts, lessons, and collections&nbsp;that we think you&#39;ll like:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-belongs-to-everyone-here-s-how-to-own-your-english">English Belongs to Everyone: Here&#39;s How to Own Your English!</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/lesson/1889">Australia Day</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/lesson/2601">Kangaroos</a></p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/collections/nations-regions/oceania">Oceania</a></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Australian English for ESL Learners: Common Phrases & Expressions for Clear Communication

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<p>When it comes to language learning, confidence is everything. Some&nbsp;learners may have varied&nbsp;vocabularies, understand complex grammar, and know what they want to say.&nbsp;</p>

<p>But when it comes to speaking&nbsp;in front of others, they may stumble. They may question themselves, get overwhelmed, and put too much pressure on perfection.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this blog post, we&#39;ll explore ways to encourage student participation in full-class discussions while providing support&nbsp;so they gain confidence using their English.</p>

<h2>1. Create an encouraging classroom atmosphere</h2>

<p>For learners to feel confident, the classroom has to feel like a safe space. This means building trust and fostering an atmosphere of mutual respect and support.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the first day of class, do some activities to help students get to know each other. For example, have them share an interesting fact about themselves or their main reason for learning English. Start simple, based on the level of the class, so that learners can feel confident using the language that they have.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You could also have them collaborate to create posters on positive classroom behaviors, such as switching off mobile phones and being kind and respectful.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For more ideas for icebreakers and building a positive classroom atmosphere, check out&nbsp;this blog post by Tanya Trusler on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-students-feel-comfortable-in-your-class">Ways&nbsp;to Make Students Feel Comfortable in Class</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>2.&nbsp;Allow thinking &amp; planning time</h2>

<p>Students are more likely to feel confident&nbsp;speaking up if they have had time to think, plan, and prepare. Make sure to give a sufficient pause after&nbsp;asking questions. You could even set a prescribed amount of thinking time.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Teacher:</strong> What did you do over the weekend? Think about this for one minute. Then answer.&nbsp;</p>

<p>[pause]</p>

<p><strong>Student 1:</strong> I went to the mall and met my friends.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Before speaking activities, give students time to write down what they want to say. Encourage&nbsp;them to think of useful words and phrases, or perhaps even write their own script. This will make them more accurate and fluent when it comes to using their voice in larger groups.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>3. Try the think-pair-share method</h2>

<p>The think-pair-share<em> </em>method is one common way to give students thinking time and increase their&nbsp;confidence. First, set the question or task and give students time to think about their answers. Allow them to take notes as required.</p>

<p>Then have students discuss their ideas with a partner. This gives&nbsp;students&nbsp;a chance to check that their ideas are correct or relevant and supports them with their language choices.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Finally, have students share their ideas with the whole class. The previous step will have reassured them that their ideas are valid and, therefore, they will be more likely to share.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>4. Implement the 2, 4, 6, 8+ presentation method</h2>

<p>Speaking in public can be scary&nbsp;in any language. Some learners will find this challenging even in their first language.&nbsp;</p>

<p>One way I&#39;ve always found helpful in building confidence is to allow students to&nbsp;practice with peers while&nbsp;slowly increasing the size of their audience.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This 2, 4, 6, 8+ method lets students say the same one-minute presentation multiple times to a gradually larger audience. Students benefit through repetition and reflection. By the time they deliver&nbsp;the same presentation in front of the whole class, they&#39;ve nailed it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>First, give them the topic for a one-minute presentation&nbsp;and let them make notes by themselves.&nbsp;Then have them present their ideas in pairs. Encourage learners to give each other feedback and make tweaks. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Once they are ready to present again, have students work in groups of four, delivering their one-minute presentation to three people. Again, have them give feedback to each other and review and revise their mini talk.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Then&nbsp;increase the group size to six so they are delivering the same presentation for the third time, but to five people.</p>

<p>Continue by increasing the group size until they are confident with their content and delivery. Hopefully, all the practice will give them a huge boost in confidence to speak in front of the whole class.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>5. Give positive feedback</h2>

<p>Finally, increase learners&#39; confidence by giving them encouraging and supportive feedback. Praise and a warm smile can go a long way.&nbsp;</p>

<p>When learners&nbsp;make mistakes, use the mistakes as learning opportunities and celebrate students&#39; attempts. Each time students use English, they can learn something from it. (You may find this post useful:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/low-prep-high-impact-feedback-strategies">High-Impact Feedback Strategies</a>.)&nbsp;</p>

<p>You may also want to do this fun activity to help them become more aware of their self-talk. It helps them identify&nbsp;negative thoughts and reframe them as positive:&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/activity-to-boost-confidence-and-well-being">Inner Troll Vs. Inner Angel</a>.</p>

<p>Michelle Worgan has done a lot of work on supporting introverted learners. I highly recommend this blog post too:&nbsp;<a href="https://michelleworgan.com/introverted-students/ " target="_blank">How to Make Your Classroom Introvert Ready</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How do you encourage quiet learners to speak in class? What are your top tips? Have you tried any of these methods? We&#39;d love to know your thoughts and ideas.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


Taking the Fear out of Full-Class Discussions: Boosting Quiet Learners' Confidence to Speak

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<p>When you take notes in class, you listen more carefully and think about what you learn. Your notes can help you study, revise, and remember information after class. That&#39;s why it is a good idea to spend some time re-writing your notes and making them clearer. When you do this, you think about the most important parts of the lesson. This helps you understand and remember more.</p>

<p><a href="https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2024/7/18-1" target="_blank">Research shows</a> that taking notes by hand is better for learning than typing notes on a laptop. This is because your body uses more of its senses to write with a pen&mdash;your arm and fingers move, your eyes see the marks on the paper, you might even hear or smell the pen. Handwriting also lets you add lines, drawings, colors, or highlights to add meaning.</p>

<p>Another thing you can do with stationery is create little drawings to help you remember. For example, lots of people find it difficult to remember the difference between <em>stationary</em> (not moving) and <em>stationery</em> (pens, pencils, paper, etc).</p>

<p>Here&#39;s a little drawing I did to help me remember. Parked cars are stationAry and pens are stationEry!</p>

<p><img alt="drawing of stationery/ary" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5185/content_stationary-stationery.png" /></p>

<p>In this blog post, I&#39;ll share some of my favorite stationery for note-taking.</p>

<h2>1. Pencils</h2>

<p>Pencils are so simple and so useful. You can erase them easily and they come in lots of different colors. Some of them don&#39;t even need a pencil sharpener&mdash;like these mechanical pencils:</p>

<p><img alt="mechanical pencils" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5186/content_Rotating-Mechanical-Pencil.png" /></p>

<h2>2. Erasable Pens</h2>

<p>Taking notes with a pen can end in messy mistakes. While errors are one of the best ways to learn, I still prefer to review notes that are tidy and look good. Erasable pens let you change&nbsp;examples and other important parts of your notes.</p>

<p>I love Pilot Frixion pens because they come in lots of different colors. You can also buy refills for them, so they can last forever and you can use less plastic!</p>

<p><img alt="pilot frixon pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5187/content_Pilot-Frixion-Colored-Pens.png" /></p>

<p>They even have highlighters so you can color code your notes easily.</p>

<p><img alt="pilot frixon highlighters" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5188/content_Pilot-Frixon-Pen-Highlighter.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Neuland Refillable Pens</h2>

<p>Neuland makes lots of cool pens. I love them because they are very high quality and you can refill them. Their FineOne Sketch has a lovely fineliner-style tip, which is perfect for handwriting. The FineOne Flex is wider and more like a felt-tip style pen, so it&#39;s great for thicker lines. The FineOne Art&nbsp;has a brush tip, which is great for highlighting or making more creative marks.</p>

<p><img alt="Neuland photo" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5189/content_Neuland-Pens.png" /></p>

<p>Neuland also makes refillable flip-chart and whiteboard markers in lots of different colors.</p>

<h2>4. Fineliners</h2>

<p>Fineliners are a style of pen that has a very fine&nbsp;(or thin) tip. They make your handwriting clear and sharp. I love these Bic ones because they come in lots of colors.</p>

<p><img alt="bic fineliner pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5190/content_Bic-Fineliner.png" /></p>

<h2>5. Multicolored pens</h2>

<p>I like to have lots of color choices in my pencil case, but I don&#39;t always have enough space. These pens let you choose. I prefer small pens like this because I can write better with them. The larger ones with more color choices can be harder to write.</p>

<p><img alt="multi-choice color pens" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5191/content_Bic-MultiColor.png" /></p>

<p>What is your stationery of choice? Do you have any favorites? How do you like to take notes? We&#39;d love to know.</p>

<p>You may also like these blog posts:</p>

<ul class="resources">
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101</a></li>
	<li class="blog-post"><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/six-ways-to-use-journaling-to-learn-english-fast">6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast</a></li>
</ul>


The Best Stationery for Learning English & Taking Notes

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Posts describing lessons or activities for the ESL classroom.

Activities

<p>The end of the year is the perfect time to stop and think about life. We can look back at the things we have done and what we have learned. This helps us to decide what we enjoyed and what we want to do next year.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sometimes people make &quot;resolutions&quot; at the beginning of the year. These are promises that you make to yourself. For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>I will exercise for 20 minutes every day.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I am going to study on Ellii for one hour a day.&nbsp;</li>
	<li>I plan to speak B2 English by the end of the year.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>These resolutions can be difficult to keep, so I&#39;d like to share an activity to help you plan next year in a kinder way.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>1. Choose your paper</strong></p>

<p>This activity is best on BIG paper. I think A3 (or bigger) is best, but A4 will also work well. If you prefer digital, you can use a drawing tool like Procreate (only for Apple users), Adobe Fresco, Concepts, or Canva Whiteboard.&nbsp;</p>

<p><b>2. Draw out last year&nbsp;</b></p>

<p>First, draw a line and then divide it into 12 months. The easiest way to do this is to start with a line and then divide it into six parts:&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 1" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5148/content_Timeline_1.png" /></p>

<p>Then, add more lines to divide it into 12 parts.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 2" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5149/content_Timeline_2.png" /></p>

<p>After that, you can write the months of the year. You can shorten them by writing the first three letters of each month or even just the first letter!</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 3" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5150/content_Timelin_3.png" /></p>

<p>You can divide the top and bottom parts of the page into different parts of your life&mdash;for example, family, home, health, work, study, money, and fun.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 4" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5151/content_Timeline_4.png" /></p>

<p>In this example,&nbsp;the top part of the page is for &quot;professional&quot; things. For example, things you did at work or that you studied. The bottom part of the page is for &quot;fun&quot;&nbsp;things&nbsp;like travel, seeing friends, and visiting family.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can add&nbsp;little drawings to help you think. I chose a rocket to show moving forward quickly&nbsp;and a star to express fun.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>3. Add what you did&nbsp;last year</strong></p>

<p>Now, add all your important memories from last year.</p>

<p>Think about:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>things you learned</li>
	<li>courses you took</li>
	<li>people you met</li>
	<li>your work</li>
	<li>places you visited</li>
</ul>

<p>If you find it difficult to remember, look back at photos on your phone or your calendars and diaries.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Don&#39;t worry about getting the&nbsp;dates correct or having something for each month. The main idea is to write down the most important things that happened.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an example:</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 5" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5152/content_Timeline_5.png" /></p>

<p>You can add quick drawings or just write down your ideas. Using drawings gives you the chance to play and think more&nbsp;about how things felt. It also&nbsp;helps you to really<strong> see</strong> your year. The drawings don&#39;t need to be artistic. Simple and messy is perfect!</p>

<p>At this point, you could also highlight the best bits in different colors, cross out the worst bits, or draw little emoji.</p>

<p><strong>4. Decide your &quot;more&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;less&quot;</strong></p>

<p>New Year&#39;s resolutions are promises&nbsp;that you might break. But in this activity, we choose what you want &quot;more&quot;&nbsp;or &quot;less&quot;&nbsp;of in your life. Look at your last year and choose the things that made you smile. Write down one or two things that you want more of this year. Then do the same for things you want less.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here&#39;s an example:&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Timeline 6" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5153/content_Timeline_6.png" /></p>

<p>As an extra, write all the things that you want more of on another piece of paper. Put it somewhere safe. At the end of the year, look back and see if you really got more of what you were looking for.&nbsp;</p>

<p>I hope this activity helps you to think about your year ahead and make a plan that works for you.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some other blog posts that we think you might enjoy:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/six-ways-to-use-journaling-to-learn-english-fast">6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/english-belongs-to-everyone-here-s-how-to-own-your-english">English Belongs to Everyone: Here&#39;s How to Own Your English</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/what-is-cockney-rhyming-slang">What is Cockney Rhyming Slang?</a>&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Looking Back to Look Forward: A Classroom Activity

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<h2>What will 2026 have in store for the world of English Language Teaching?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>For the last few years, Ellii has tasked me with making predictions for the ELT trends of the coming year. Sadly, my mystic powers remain undeveloped, so I seek the assistance of esteemed&nbsp;experts online.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This year, I was astounded by the response. It has taken me some messy mind mapping and some AI assistance to pull together the top trends and wishes for the year ahead.</p>

<p><img alt="Emily Bryson's mind map about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5135/content_Emily_Bryson_Messy_MindMap.jpeg" /></p>

<p>Here goes! Let&#39;s start with the trends.</p>

<h2><b>What&#39;s hot in ELT in 2026</b></h2>

<h3><strong>1. Human connections</strong></h3>

<p>Overwhelmingly, human connections wins the gold medal. This could be a push back&nbsp;against the increasing prevalance of artificial intelligence. Many practitioners shared their concerns over the growing isolation learners and teachers experience and how to recapture the social connections within&nbsp;the language classroom.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Katherine Bilsborough quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5136/content_Katherine_Bilsborough_Human_Connection.png" /></p>

<p>There was a lot of discussion around &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approaches such as dogme, projects, games, picture books, visuals thinking, and graphic novels.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>2. Artificial intelligence</strong></h3>

<p>Unsurprisingly, AI is still riding high. Perhaps human connection wouldn&#39;t be at the forefront of so many practitioners&#39; minds without it.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sue Leather shared her worrying reflections that ELT materials developers are finding it more difficult to find projects, as more publishers move towards AI-generated content.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Sue Leather quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5137/content_Sue_Leather_Agile_Writers_and_AI.png" /></p>

<p>From a classroom perspective, particular concerns were raised around safeguarding, responsible use, and the erosion of <em>need</em> to learn English.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Dr. Steve Brown quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5138/content_Dr_Steve_Brown_Learning_Avoidance_AI.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Jen Dobson quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5139/content_Jen_Dobson_AI_safeguarding.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Stephen Farren quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5140/content_Stephen_Farren_AI_Soft_Skills.png" /></p>

<p>If you&#39;d like some ideas to support your learners to use AI responsibly, check out these blog posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-prevent-students-cheating-with-ai">How to Prevent Students Cheating with AI</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>3. Teacherpreneurship</strong></h3>

<p>As technology becomes more affordable and accessible, more teachers are finding ways to boost their income, diversify their skills, and set themselves up as entrepreneurs.</p>

<p>Business coaches such as Rachael Roberts and Ola Kowalska are noticing more confidence with marketing and more individualized offers.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Ola Kowalska quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5141/content_Ola_Kowalska.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Rachael Roberts" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5142/content_Rachael_Roberts__1_.png" /></p>

<p>This is good news for students, who can benefit from learning experiences that are truly tailored to their needs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>If you&#39;d like to know about teacherpreneurship, you may like these posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-make-passive-income-as-a-teacher">5 Ways to Earn &quot;Passive&quot; Income as a Teacher</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/teacherpreneur">How to Be a Teacherpreneur</a></li>
</ul>

<p>You may also want to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/indieteacher">Ellii for Independent Teachers</a>, which is the perfect platform to use with private classes.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>4. Trauma awareness &amp; social emotional learning</strong></h3>

<p>Multiple ELTers mentioned the need for language teaching to be well-being&nbsp;focused and trauma aware. As Stephen Farren said, we have to have an &quot;understanding that &#39;trauma&#39;&nbsp;doesn&#39;t come from a specific part of the world.&quot;</p>

<p>Social justice, advocacy, and the ESOL classroom as an opportunity to support learner emancipation were key themes under this umbrella.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Penelope Roux had this to add about self-reflection, self-awareness, and self-esteem:</p>

<p><img alt="Penelope Roux quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5143/content_Penelope_Roux_Self_Reflection_awarenes_esteem.png" /></p>

<p>Here are a couple of posts on this theme:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/support-english-learners-from-refugee-backgrounds">6 Ways to Support Learners from Refugee Backgrounds</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/social-emotional-learning">A Quick Guide to Social Emotional Learning</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>5. Soft skills (aka life skills)</strong></h3>

<p>&quot;Future Ready&quot; is likely to remain popular this year. These are skills such as critical thinking, creativity, communication, problem-solving, teamwork, and digital skills. They are skills that are essential in order to be successful in the classroom and workplace.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Check out these posts on the topic:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/top-tips-for-incorporating-life-skills-into-your-classroom">6 Tips for Incorporating Life Skills into Your Classroom</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/how-to-teach-workplace-english">How to Teach Workplace English</a></li>
</ul>

<h2><strong>Wishes</strong></h2>

<p>As the discussions developed, people started to notice distinctions between trends that they could see happening vs. things they wished would happen.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are things that we would like to ask the ELT fairy godmother to bring in 2026.&nbsp;</p>

<h3><strong>1. Global issues</strong></h3>

<p>In many coursebooks and language, PARSNIPs&nbsp;are erased. These are:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Politics</li>
	<li>Alcohol</li>
	<li>Religion</li>
	<li>Sex</li>
	<li>Narcotics</li>
	<li>Isms (e.g., racism, sexim, feminism)</li>
	<li>Pork</li>
</ul>

<p>The reasons from this often stem from trying to create &quot;one-size-fits-all&quot; courses as well as avoiding arguments or triggering topics in class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, many students and practitioners feel strongly that these topics should be a key part of the classroom. Teachers and students have the power to be changemakers.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Huma Hasna Riaz Ahmed" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5144/content_Huma_Riaz_Global_Issues.png" /></p>

<p>The Ellii resource&nbsp;bank is full of lessons with global topics. This blog post will get you started:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/making-the-world-a-better-place-the-power-of-teachers-and-learners-as-changemakers">Teachers &amp; Learners as Changemakers</a></p>

<h3><strong>2. Sustainable ELT</strong></h3>

<p>The English language classroom can be a vehicle for direct action when it comes to environmental topics. Practitioners hope to see more of this in the coming here.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Christopher Graham quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5145/content_Christopher_Graham_Sustainability.png" /></p>

<p>Here is a post with ideas on <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/46-greening-the-elt-classroom-tips-teaching-ideas">Greening the ELT Classroom</a>.</p>

<h3><strong>3. Slow learning</strong></h3>

<p>Jane Carvell shared a wonderful idea inspired by the Slow Food Movement. It captured my imagination, especially with the growing&nbsp;desire for human connection. The &quot;slow&quot; approach focuses on removing the pressure from learning and going at a pace that allows learners to make connections, ask questions, and prioritize deep learning.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Jane Carvell quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5146/content_Jane_Carvell.png" /></p>

<h3><strong>4. Extensive reading</strong></h3>

<p>Perhaps another&nbsp;throwback to the &quot;back to basics&quot; and &quot;human connections&quot;&nbsp;that underpin this year&#39;s predictions relates to the essential skill of reading. Lots of practioners mentioned the joy of storybooks, picture books, graphic novels, and extensive reading in class.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can read Sue Leather&#39;s post about it here:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sueleather_reading-extensivereading-activity-7403905458849144832-HQe6/">Sue Leather: The Benefits of Reading for Pleasure</a></p>

<p>Here are some reading recommendations for your learners:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-advanced-students">Advanced</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-high-intermediate-students">High Intermediate</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/reading-recommendations-for-your-low-int-students">Low Intermediate</a></li>
</ul>

<h3><strong>5. Visual thinking</strong></h3>

<p>Graphic organizers, visual tools, infographics,&nbsp;images, and doodles&nbsp;are a great way to simplify complex information and aid understanding. In recent years, graphic facilitation techniques&nbsp;have&nbsp;become&nbsp;more popular. Perhaps because they&nbsp;are a great &quot;back-to-basics&quot; approach that boosts human connections.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="Fernanda Freytes quote about ELT trends for 2026" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5147/content_Fernanda_Freytes.png" /></p>

<p>This year, the&nbsp;<a href="https://sketchnote.school/wsw26/">World Sketchnote Week Conference</a>&nbsp;that takes place from&nbsp;&nbsp;January&nbsp;12 to January 16 has&nbsp;two whole days devoted to education, with many language-teaching-focused sessions. Check it out, and come see me share some of my ideas to add sparkle to your lessons with sketchnotes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can find more on this topic here:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/sketchnoting-101-supercharged-professional-development-with-visual-notes">Sketchnoting 101</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/graphic-facilitation-101">Graphic Facilitation 101</a></li>
</ul>

<p>So, what do you reckon?</p>

<blockquote>
<p>What will 2026 have in store for English language classrooms around the world? What are your wishes for the year ahead? We&#39;d love to know your thoughts.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>If you&#39;d like to read the comments on my LinkedIn&nbsp;post, or add your own, here is the original post:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/brysonemily_elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025-activity-7402626392011722752-32iJ?utm_source=social_share_send&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop_web&amp;rcm=ACoAAAi7ip0BCqZAlTHCFG8wTwULtYB8nWVFeUM">Emily Bryson&#39;s 2026 Trends in ELT LinkedIn post</a></p>

<p>Here are links to my trends posts from previous years:</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2025">ELT Trends 2025</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/elt-trends-to-watch-in-2024">ELT Trends 2024</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/6-english-language-teaching-trends-in-2023">ELT Trends 2023</a></li>
</ul>

<p>Wishing you all the best for 2026!</p>


Trends & Wishes in English Language Teaching: 2026

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<p>A learning journal is a personal record of the past, present, and future of your learning. It&#39;s a great way to look back at how much you&#39;ve learned, think about what works best for you, and plan ways to learn even more in the future. You can also use it to note down how you felt doing different tasks or activities.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This blog post shares some ways that you can use a learning journal for your English language learning.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>1. Planning</h2>

<p>Planning your learning helps you to know what you need to do&mdash;and do it!</p>

<p>Use your journal to:</p>

<ul>
	<li>note your schedule for the day, week, or month</li>
	<li>list&nbsp;your homework tasks (and check them off when you finish them!)</li>
	<li>write down your goals (and take notes of ways to achieve them)</li>
</ul>

<p>Each day, week, or month, ask yourself:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What do I want to do?</li>
	<li>How can I do it?</li>
	<li>What can I do better?</li>
</ul>

<p>Take notes and&nbsp;do the work. Then, in the future, read your notes again and&nbsp;look back at how you have changed!</p>

<h2>2. Tracking progress</h2>

<p>Ellii helps you to plan and track your learning. But having a paper journal is a great way to think about this over a period of time.</p>

<p>At the end of each class, you could think about how confident you feel. Give yourself a number from 1 (not confident) to 10 (very confident). Write this down on one page of your journal. Over time, you will&nbsp;see the numbers changing!</p>

<p>You can also draw a rocket to the moon and some stars in your journal. The moon is where you want your English&nbsp;to be&nbsp;(for example, B2 level). Give each star a goal (for example, get confident with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCzJN0g5NHQ" target="_blank">present perfect progressive</a>). As you meet each goal, color in one of the stars.&nbsp;</p>

<p><img alt="rocket to the moon" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5056/content_Notebook_Rocket-to-the-moon_Emily-Bryson.png" /></p>

<h2>3. Reflecting</h2>

<p>When we reflect, we look back at our learning. It can be helpful to ask ourselves these questions at the end of every class:</p>

<ul>
	<li>What did I learn?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>How did I feel?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What worked well?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What do I want to do differently next time?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What questions do I have?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>A fun way to do this is by drawing a <strong>rose</strong>, a <strong>bud</strong>, and a <strong>thorn</strong> in your journal. Next to the rose, write something good that happened. Beside the bud, write something that you are excited about or an idea you had. And by the thorn, write something that you need to work on or get help with.&nbsp;</p>

<p>You can draw the rose, bud, and thorn yourself, or print this <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/warm-up-activity-for-social-emotional-learning" target="_blank">worksheet</a>.</p>

<p><img alt="Rose, bud, thorn step by step Emily Bryson" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5057/content_Rose-bud-thorn-step-by-step-Emily-Bryson.png" /></p>

<p><img alt="Rose, bud, Thorn, Ellii activity" src="https://esllibrary.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/ckeditor/pictures/5058/content_Rose-Bud-Thorn-Activity_Ellii.jpg" /></p>

<h2>4. Daily diary</h2>

<p>Every day, we do a lot of things. Keeping a diary of your day in English is a fantastic way to practice the language. You could even sketchnote your day by adding simple drawings. Try to use grammar or vocabulary that you have learned recently or need to practice.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>5. Writing prompts</h2>

<p>Starting a daily journaling habit means that you will spend 5&ndash;10 minutes a day writing in English. Over time, that adds up to 35&ndash;70 minutes per week, 2&ndash;5 hours per month, and 30&ndash;60 hours per year. Just think how much your English&nbsp;can improve in that time!</p>

<p>But sometimes, finding things to write about can be hard. Here are 35 ideas to get you started:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/journal-prompts-for-writing-practice" target="_blank">Journal Prompts for Writing Practice</a></p>

<h2>6. Ideas</h2>

<p>Some of the best ideas never happen because we don&#39;t write them down! Keep notes of your ideas and things you want to try in your journal&mdash;for example, a podcast you want to listen to or TV show in English that you want to watch. That way you can look at the&nbsp;list when you have time&nbsp;and choose one of them.&nbsp;</p>

<blockquote>
<p>Have you tried journaling to help you learn English? Which of these ideas do you want to try? Share your ideas and advice for other learners in the comments.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


6 Ways to Use Journaling to Learn English Fast

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<p>Most people know that English is&nbsp;the most common&nbsp;language&nbsp;in the world. In fact, it has 1.5 billion speakers!&nbsp;Travel anywhere by plane and the announcements will be in English and in the local language. Meet people&nbsp;from different countries on vacation and you&#39;ll probably all speak together in English.</p>

<p>But sometimes it might feel like English belongs to so-called &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speakers. This is not true.</p>

<blockquote>
<h2>English is global and it belongs to everyone.&nbsp;</h2>
</blockquote>

<p>In fact, 80% of English language users are NOT so-called &quot;native&quot; speakers! Most people who use English learned it through hard work and practice and by using helpful resources like Ellii&#39;s.</p>

<p>In this blog post, I will share some ideas that will (hopefully) make you more confident with your language use and help you to OWN your very own personal voice. Because English belongs to you.&nbsp;</p>

<h2><b>The problem with trying to sound like a &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speaker</b></h2>

<p>In my opinion, there are many problems with the terms &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;and &quot;non-native&quot; (and with wanting to speak like one).</p>

<p>Here are some problems:</p>

<h3>1. Who really is a &quot;native&quot; speaker?&nbsp;</h3>

<p>When people talk about so-called &quot;native&#39;&quot; speakers, they often think about people from countries like the US, Canada, UK, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa.</p>

<p>However, there are actually 75 English-speaking countries in the world. And that number is growing. People often forget that countries like the Philippines, Singapore, Kenya, Dominica, Malta,&nbsp;and Hong Kong all have English&nbsp;as one of their official languages.&nbsp;</p>

<p>There are also many countries around the world that have lots of&nbsp;fluent English language users. For example, <a href="https://www.worlddata.info/asia/pakistan/index.php#google_vignette">46% of people in Pakistan speak English</a>.</p>

<h3>2. &quot;Native&quot;&nbsp;speakers do not speak &quot;perfect&quot;&nbsp;English.&nbsp;</h3>

<p>There is no &quot;perfect&quot;&nbsp;way to speak English. This is true for all languages. Think about your own language. Ask yourself:</p>

<ul>
	<li>How many different countries speak it?</li>
	<li>What different words and phrases do people use in different places?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>What accents are there? Which of these do you find difficult to understand?&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<p>The fact is that English is spoken differently everywhere. There are many different Englishes: American, Scottish, Nigerian, Caribbean... The most important thing is to be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>3. &quot;Native&quot; speakers are harder to understand.&nbsp;</h3>

<p>English languages users around the world often say that it is easier to speak with other people whose first language is not English. So-called &quot;native&quot; speakers speak quickly,&nbsp;use local words (e.g., slang), and idioms, and they often have accents that can be harder to understand.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They also don&#39;t always understand that it takes two people to have a successful conversation. They might believe the hard work is for the English language learner.&nbsp;But really, they need to slow down, leave spaces between their words, and choose their words more carefully.</p>

<h2>So, do you really want to sound like a &quot;native&quot;&nbsp;speaker?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>The reality is that there is no &quot;perfect&quot; way to speak English. It&#39;s more important to understand and be understood.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some ways to OWN English, and make it yours:&nbsp;</p>

<h3>1. Love your &quot;mistakes.&quot;</h3>

<p>Mistakes are fantastic. They help us to learn. They can also become part of our own special way of using English. Unless you are taking a test, it doesn&#39;t really matter if you say&nbsp;&quot;in the bus&quot;&nbsp;instead of &quot;on the bus.&quot; Everyone knows what you mean! Enjoy learning new expressions and don&#39;t be afraid to try them out. Laugh&nbsp;and play with the language. A new way of expressing something can often sound poetic to those who speak English as their first language&nbsp;because it feels fresh and new.</p>

<h3>2. Stop apologizing!</h3>

<p>There is never any need to say &quot;Sorry about&nbsp;my English.&quot;&nbsp;You are learning. You are trying. You are getting better every day.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>3. Use it for things you love.</h3>

<p>When you enjoy doing something, you want to do it more. So find ways to use it for things you love. Sing, make videos, read recipes,&nbsp;post or comment&nbsp;on social media, or reply to this blog post.</p>

<h3>4. Be yourself!</h3>

<p>You can only be you and you will always be you. The way you speak English is also part of you and your life. Be yourself and make your own English!</p>

<p>To practice your English on your own, check out&nbsp;<a href="https://www.englishapp.com/">EnglishApp</a>&nbsp;by Ellii.&nbsp;Or find out if your school&nbsp;has access to&nbsp;<a href="https://ellii.com/solo">Ellii Solo</a>.</p>

<blockquote>
<p>How are you owning your English? Share your thoughts!</p>
</blockquote>


English Belongs to Everyone: Here's How to OWN Your English!

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<p>Autonomous, self-directed, or independent learners have the academic and life skills required to take control of their own learning journeys. They can fast-track their language learning through self-study, seeking out learning opportunities, and using effective learning strategies.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In my previous blog post on independent learning, I looked at <a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-importance-of-self-directed-learning-transforming-the-elt-classroom-with-independence"><strong>5 Benefits of Encouraging Learner Autonomy</strong></a>. In this post, I will cover some practical ways to do this.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>1. Explore learning strategies</h3>

<p>Every learner is different, so what works for one may be less effective for another. Some learners may feel the need to write up notes straight after class, while others may prefer to watch videos or do activities with a similar theme.</p>

<p>Give&nbsp;students the opportunity to share learning strategies with their classmates. This can help them to find out&nbsp;what works for them and to&nbsp;understand that everyone learns differently. It also lets them&nbsp;take inspiration and guidance from their peers and discover new learning techniques.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For a simple and creative classroom idea for how to do this, check out the <strong>container activity</strong>&nbsp;in this blog post:&nbsp;</p>

<p><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/learning-that-sticks-the-power-of-post-its-in-the-elt-classroom">Learning That Sticks: The Power of Post-its in the ELT Classroom&nbsp;</a></p>

<h3>2. Encourage problem-solving</h3>

<p>Students who haven&#39;t developed the ability to work autonomously&nbsp;can often be full of excuses. For example, they may claim that they didn&#39;t know what the homework was, that they didn&#39;t have the right worksheet, or that they couldn&#39;t log in.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These are all valid excuses in certain contexts. However, it is the student&#39;s responsibility to find out what the homework is, to make sure they have the right worksheet, and to find a way to log in.&nbsp;</p>

<p>We have to help students see excuses as problems to be solved. One way to do this is to write common excuses on the board and have them discuss&nbsp;solutions.&nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>Problem</strong>: &quot;I didn&#39;t know we had homework.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>Solution</strong>: Ask another student, keep a diary of the homework, or check emails, notes, or the learning platform.</p>

<p><strong>Problem</strong>: &quot;I didn&#39;t have the right worksheet.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>Solution</strong>: Keep homework tasks in a separate folder, ask a friend, identify&nbsp;the homework worksheet with a post-it or a star, take a photo of someone else&#39;s, and complete it in their notebook.</p>

<p><strong>Problem</strong>: &quot;I&nbsp;couldn&#39;t log in.&quot;</p>

<p><strong>Solutions</strong>: Ask the IT team,&nbsp;another student, or a friend for help. Follow the password reset functions.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Getting students into the habit of finding their own solutions before asking for help promotes resourcefulness and stops them from relying on you more than necessary.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>3. Use learning journals</h3>

<p>Learning journals can help students keep track of their learning. They can use them to jot down homework tasks, class schedules, topics covered, and upcoming themes. They can also use them&nbsp;to reflect on progress so far.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Learning journals are a great way to help students get organized, assess their own learning, and track their distance traveled.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>4. Set goals</h3>

<p>Setting goals lets learners consider where they want to be and how they are going to get there. It gives them direction and an attainable target to work towards and motivate them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Here are some posts on the topic:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/creative-ways-to-set-personal-academic-goals-with-students">Creative Ways to Set Personal &amp; Academic Goals with Students</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/4-goals-to-help-you-focus">Struggling to Focus? 4 Types of Goals to Get Your Language Learning Back on Track</a> (for students)</li>
</ul>

<p>Here are some&nbsp;Ellii resources on the topic:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>Discussion Starters:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5541-goal-setting" target="_blank">Goal-Setting</a>&nbsp;(Adv)</li>
	<li>Discussion Starters: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5543-goal-setting" target="_blank">Goal-Setting</a> (Low Int)</li>
	<li>Discussion Starters: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5657-grit">Grit</a>&nbsp;(High Int &ndash; Adv)</li>
	<li>Discussion Starters: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/5439-growth-mindset">Growth Mindset </a>(Adv)</li>
	<li>Grammar Stories: <a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/4421-more-simple-future-stories">More Simple Future Stories</a> (Goals)</li>
	<li>Student Reflection:&nbsp;<a href="https://app.ellii.com/lesson/2224-goal-setting-can-do">Goal-Setting</a>&nbsp;(Can Do)</li>
</ul>

<h3>5. Use self &amp; peer assessment</h3>

<p>Why spend hours on grading when you can give students the answer key or rubric and have them correct their work themselves? This way they can get into the habit of assessing their own progress in their own time and learning from their mistakes.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Of course, this is simpler for activities with clear-cut answers (e.g., yes/no, true/false, multiple-choice)&nbsp;than for written or spoken work.</p>

<p>However,&nbsp;it is also good to have students get into a routine of checking their productive work against a checklist before they submit.</p>

<p>For example, have them check:</p>

<ul>
	<li>Did they answer the question?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Have they used the right punctuation?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Is the word count suitable?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>Have they used the language they are focusing on (e.g., sequence words, phrases for introducing opinions)</li>
	<li>How is the spelling?&nbsp;</li>
	<li>For extra support, you can have them check each other&#39;s work in groups or pairs. That way, they can learn from each other and give feedback and support.&nbsp;</li>
</ul>

<h3>6. Try project-, task- &amp; inquiry-based learning</h3>

<p>Project-, task-, and inquiry-based learning are great ways to help students explore topics in more depth. They can develop their research, collaborative, and presentation skills too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Check out these posts for more:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/takeaways-from-tesol-2022-project-based-learning">10 Tips for Successful Project-Based Learning</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/task-based-learning">Task-Based Learning: An Introductory Guide</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/inquiry-based-learning-a-quick-guide-of-elt-professionals">Inquiry-Based Learning: A Quick Guide for ELT Professionals</a></li>
</ul>

<h3>7. Give them choices</h3>

<p>It can be tiring choosing learning topics that will interest our learners. Giving them a choice lets them decide for themselves. You could set aside time in class where students can pick their own activity.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For example:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li>read a book</li>
	<li>research something online</li>
	<li>create a poster</li>
	<li>make a video</li>
	<li>write a blog</li>
</ul>

<p>This way, they can choose a mode of learning that works for them and a motivating subject that interests them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On Ellii, you can use the built-in feature called <strong>Student Picks</strong>.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/eSi7E0R3b4I?si=nbcUwXPOnHAaioAE" width="640"></iframe></div>

<p>Our comprehensive self-study platform, <a href="https://ellii.com/solo">Ellii Solo</a>,&nbsp;lets students choose from a full library of courses, study packs, and videos, as well as studying vocabulary at their own pace. The content helps students target specific skills and reach their language learning goals faster.</p>

<p>For more on the topic of self-directed learning, check out my previous posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/the-importance-of-self-directed-learning-transforming-the-elt-classroom-with-independence">5 Benefits of Encouraging Learner Autonomy</a>&nbsp;</li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-supercharge-your-students-study-skills">5 Ways to Supercharge your Students&#39; Study Skills</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a></li>
</ul>

<blockquote>
<p>How do you encourage learner autonomy in your classroom? We&#39;d love to hear which tips and tricks have worked for you! Let us know in the comments.&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


Self-Directed Learning: 7 Ways to Develop Learner Autonomy in the ELT Classroom

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<p>Self-directed learning is the key to long-term academic success. It empowers students to personalize their learning journeys, think critically, solve problems, and ultimately take control of their language learning.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In this post, I will explore some of the benefits of developing learner autonomy. In short, it answers&nbsp;<em>why</em> autonomous learning is so powerful.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For more, check out my post on&nbsp;<em>how </em>to support learners students to become independent learners:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://ellii.com/blog/7-ways-to-develop-learner-autonomy-in-the-elt-classroom">7 Ways to Develop Learner Autonomy in the ELT Classroom</a></p>

<h2>What is self-directed learning?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>Self-directed learning is&nbsp;a bottom-up approach that puts students at the center, controlling their own academic success.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A self-directed learner can manage their time, set their own goals, and find their own ways to achieve them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These are the students who complete their homework, write up their notes, and actively seek additional&nbsp;practice for their language skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p>They have developed the study skills to put them on the&nbsp;fast track to success.&nbsp;</p>

<h2>What are the benefits of self-directed learning?&nbsp;</h2>

<p>There are many advantages to promoting learner independence.&nbsp;Let&#39;s look at a few.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>1. Independent learners are self-motivated</h3>

<p>When learners know what they want&nbsp;and choose how they learn, they are motivated. This self-motivation compels them to log in to learning portals, repeat tricky tasks, learn from their mistakes, and&nbsp;reflect on what works for them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>This self-motivation can make them lifelong learners, seeking out ways to try new things and master new skills.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>2. Independent learners have transferrable skills</h3>

<p>The ability to take the initiative and complete challenging tasks independently is essential in the workplace. Employers actively seek to recruit people who are creative, can think critically, and have strong digital skills.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Learners who can do this in the language learning context can transfer these skills into further and higher education as well as&nbsp;nab themselves meaningful employment.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>3. Independent learners are determined</h3>

<p>When something gets too difficult, it can be very easy to give up. Learners who haven&#39;t yet developed their ability to learn autonomously may get put off by even the smallest obstacle&mdash;a forgotten login, a lost document, or an overwhelming liguistic concept. They will likely be dependent on you to get them back on track.&nbsp;</p>

<p>However, nothing stops an independent learner. They will find a way to reset their own login, find the document, and understand that tricky language point.&nbsp;</p>

<h3>4. Independent learners reduce teacher workload</h3>

<p data-end="436" data-start="271">Teachers are busy, and sharing our time equally between all our students can be a challenge. However, when students can work automously, we can become a&nbsp;guide or facilitator to learning. We can set learners&#39; tasks and give them time to complete them in their own way.</p>

<h3 data-end="436" data-start="271">5. Independent learners know their own needs&mdash;and how to meet them</h3>

<p>Students who know how to learn by themselves know what kind of techniques and tools they like to use. They can choose to learn in a manner that supports their needs.&nbsp;</p>

<p>These are just a few of the benefits of encouraging learner autonomy. For more on this topic, check out these blog posts:&nbsp;</p>

<ul>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/5-ways-to-supercharge-your-students-study-skills">5 Ways to Supercharge Your Students Study Skills</a></li>
	<li><a href="https://ellii.com/blog/developing-learner-autonomy-with-ai">Developing Learner Autonomy with AI</a></li>
</ul>

<p>You may also want to check out <a href="https://ellii.com/solo" target="_blank">Ellii Solo</a>, our comprehensive self-study platform that is perfect for independent learning success.&nbsp;</p>

<div class="videoWrapper"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/l-C2mk0YszA?si=58gjBGwMsPzoL-Bi" width="640"></iframe></div>

<blockquote>
<p>What are your thoughts on self-directed learning? What benefits would you add?&nbsp;</p>
</blockquote>


The Importance of Self-Directed Learning: 5 Benefits of Encouraging Learner Autonomy

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Emily Bryson