BEST RESOURCES FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS AND STUDENTS!
Hello and welcome!
I am a former high school English teacher and journalist who previously worked in France and Poland. While teaching in the classroom, I noticed that students had very different levels of English. Textbooks often fell short of our expectations.
Creating my own materials became a remedy to the chaos. Students liked the new and different approach and thrived in the creative environment. They realised that English was not a ‘dead’ language and could be shaped and moulded in many exciting ways!
After working for eight years, I realised that my talent could benefit a lot more people. This is why I quit my comfortable, expatriate job and plunged into the unknown.
So far, I have not regretted my choice as thousands of learners and teachers have used our grammar and vocabulary lessons. Additionally, our rich short stories have been read in different classrooms around the world.
In this post, I would like to share some of our best resources for English teachers and students. You will find most lessons on the first page of Google due to their popularity on the search engine. Some of the content is free. However, you will need to a yearly subscription to view the content for Subscribers.
Quick access to different parts of the website:
- Grammar lessons
- Vocabulary lessons
- Beginner Short Stories
- Intermediate Short Stories
- Advanced Short Stories
- Blog
- About Page
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Vocabulary
Over the years, Learn English With Africa has created many vocabulary charts and worksheets. Our lessons tend to be colourful, descriptive and visually-appealing.
Please find some of our best creations and resources for English teachers and students:
- Describe a drawing (Free): This is an excellent resource for picture description. The vocabulary is extensive and real-life examples are given. We also provided samples for imitation or emulation. You will save a lot of time when you make good use of this lesson.
- Media and Journalism Vocabulary (Free): I had fun creating this lesson as I drew upon my journalism work experience. This resource contains several activities such as a quiz, pronunciation practice, detailed and attractive vocabulary charts, challenges and description samples. Don’t look anywhere else on the web! Grab this resource and improve your English!
- Imagine Your Ideal City (For Subscribers): This is an inspirational lesson and will spur students’ creativity. The areas of city life that are tackled are housing, education, communication(s), healthcare, administration and amenities. I really loved creating the pretty vocabulary charts for this lesson!
- Describing Hospitals (Free): This comprehensive lesson was birthed two years before the Coronavirus pandemic started. Incidentally, this helped a lot of people during the infamous lockdown. Here you will find names of different types of hospitals, adjectives, objects and hospital jobs. A similar lesson about schools can be found here.
- Time Measurement and Time Management Tools (Free): In this complete lesson, you will find different types of vocabulary to talk about time. This valuable resource was also created during the pandemic as I reflected on the meaning of time.
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Grammar
Grammar, though often an undesirable part of the learning process, is important to talk about. While teaching in the classroom, I often recreated grammar charts in order to make them more palatable for students’ consumption.
Below are a few examples of our grammar lessons that should appeal to English teachers and students alike.
- Talking about Similarities (Free): This is the second lesson in the Comparatives series. We provide a lot of adjectives with sentences. The structure AS + Adjective+ AS is also dealt with. Don’t forget to check the other lessons in this series in order to learn more about Comparatives and Superlatives.
- Reported Speech in the News (For Subscribers): The Print and Electronic media outlets often make abundant use of Reporting Verbs. In this lesson, you will find different ways of using Reported Speech. As a matter of fact, you will learn that Reporting Verbs can be neutral, explanatory, revelatory, cautious and judgemental. Try it!
- Dialogue with the Present Perfect Continuous (For Subscribers): Dialogues are a perfect way to illustrate grammar in context. In this particular dialogue, two teenagers ask a village chief some questions about marriage traditions. Apart from grammar, students also learn more about African culture and societal norms.
- Dialogue with the Verb BE (Free): This is a fun way to learn the Verb BE in the Simple Present. The dialogue is easy to understand and funny. After studying this lesson, students can recreate their own dialogues and play them out. This is a creative way to introduce the verb BE. Additionally, there are other lessons on HAVE and HAVE GOT.
- Talk about Habits and Daily Routines (Free): This is a straight-forward lesson to learn how to talk about one’s habits and daily routines using the Simple Present Tense. Examples are given a for a pupil and an employee. The vocabulary charts are perfect for beginners.
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Methodology
Learning the proper methodology is also a dispensable component of English instruction. You can have the correct grammar and vocabulary but if you do not know how to write an easy or make a presentation, problems might arise.
Below are some of our best resources for English teachers and students as far as methodology is concerned.
- How to Make an Effective Oral Presentation (For Subscribers): This is a go-to lesson if you want to know more about making presentations. When you use this resource, you will know what makes a good speaker and a perfect presentation. Vocabulary charts and prompts are available to guide you through your learning journey.
- How to Make a Mini-Documentary Film (Free): This lesson gives clear and detailed instructions regarding the creation of mini-documentary films. It gives you some ideas and show you how you can bring them to life using modern technology.
- How to Debate Confidently and Courteously (For Subscribers): If you want to know more about debates, then this lesson is for you. Learn how to describe debates and debaters with appropriate adjectives. Discover the different types of debates that exist and learn the right vocabulary to make the perfect speech. A sample debate is provided for inspiration.
- How to Start and Maintain a Good Conversation in English (For Subscribers): This lesson gives you the ABCs of conversation making in English. Learn the different types of conversations and get specific vocabulary to initiate conversations in social settings.
- How to Be a Good Speaker in the Classroom (For Subscribers): In this lesson, you get to encounter a variety of expressions that will transform you from a mediocre to an expert speaker in the classroom. Colourful vocabulary charts facilitate learning.
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Short Stories
Short stories are an excellent way of understanding and using grammar and vocabulary in context. Stories give us vital glimpses into different cultures and demonstrate how languages can be rich and colourful.
At Learn English With Africa, stories are part and parcel of our learning process. Below are a few examples of our popular stories.
- The Most Beautiful Garden(Free):This is an incredible beginner level story of a family that was once unhappy. One day, they find the solution to their problems.
- Dreams Can’t Be Too Big (For Subscribers): This inspirational story is for beginners as well. It deals with the subject of ambition and making goals. The main character is a village boy who wants to become a doctor. Will his dreams come true? (For Subscribers)
- A Job for Joe (For Subscribers): In this intermediate short story, we join a young man as he starts his first job. What will he do with his first salary? Will he manage to keep his job? Read the story to find out!
- The Perfect Present (For Subscribers): This is one of my favourite advanced short stories. I like the title because it perfectly fits with the Present Perfect Tense. The story is about a man who buys a present for his wife on Valentine’s Day but she destroys it in front of his eyes. Why? Why don’t you read the story to find out?
- Unconditional Love (For Subscribers): This is another advanced short story that will pull at your heart strings. It tackles the theme of motherly and filial love. The setting is a village in Africa. You must definitely read this story. It’s worth your time!
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Books
We decided to create books in order to enable learners and teachers to read our stories offline. The books are available on Amazon and on our website.
Please find some of our best books:
- B2 Short Stories in English: This is an admirable collection of 11 advanced or B2 short stories in English. They are suitable for learners or readers with a good command of spoken and written English.
- B1 Short Stories in English: This is a beautiful collection of 11 intermediate or B1 short stories in English. They are mostly set in Africa and the diaspora.
- A2 Short Stories in English: This is an important collection of 10 beginner or A2 short stories in English. They are easy to read and understand. The setting is Africa or the diaspora.
- Salt No More, an English Novel: If you want to hone your English reading skills, then read this advanced English story. It is about a retired Public Administrator who has to deal with a family problem that has far-reaching consequences.
- The Departure Lounge: This is a single advanced short story about Grace, a Malawian student who has a life-changing experience at the airport. It is a story that teaches courage and compassion.
Resources for English Teachers and Students: Blog
Lastly, I will talk about our Blog section in which different types of articles are published. Here you will find a variety of content mostly related to Africa. This ranges from food recipes, poems, features, book reviews, inspirational stories and articles about history and fiction.
Here are some of our best articles:
- Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, A Fearless and Influential Writer: This is a quick introduction to this inspirational and highly talented Nigerian author. Both biographical and bibliographical elements are provided.
- Memoir: One Day I Will Write About This Place: This is a moving tribute to the departed Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina. You can also read an excerpt from the author’s popular book.
- How to Self-Publish Your Books: In this post, I share my secrets relating to the self-publishing industry. You will garner a lot of valuable insight by reading this article.
- How to Increase Traffic on Your Website: If you have a website, then this article might be for you. Learn a few tips and tricks on how you can increase traffic on your website.
- Baked Plantains Food Recipe: This video shows you how to prepare this tasty African dish. Once you have watched the recipe video, you will surely want to try this!
- William Kamkwamba: This is a deeply inspirational and motivational story about a Malawian boy who built a windmill using materials that he found in a scrapyard. He was thus able to generate electricity for his household. Impressive!
Bonus: Best Resources for English Teachers and Students
Further Exploration: Best Resources for English Teachers and Students
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About the Author
Thandi Ngwira Gatignol is the founder of Learn English With Africa. She was born on June 11th, 1981 in Blantyre, Malawi. When she was 19, she left her country of birth for France. She currently lives with her two daughters and husband in Poland.
Thandi holds a Bachelor’s degree in English studies obtained at the Université Paris X Nanterre in France and a Certificate in Journalism from Malawi. She has taught English as a French Ministry of Education certified teacher both in France and in Poland. She speaks six languages fluently, including French, Polish and Italian. She is now learning Kiswahili, German and Spanish. Salt No More is her debut novel and you can find her other books here on the website or on Amazon.
Course Title: Our Best Resources for English Teachers and Students (from 2015 to 2023)© Learn English With Africa, June 2023
