Author Archives: Paul Raine

About Paul Raine

After completing degrees in both Imaginative Writing and Law in the UK, Paul undertook the “CELTA” English teaching qualification in 2006, and moved to Japan in September of that year to begin his English teaching career. Since that time he has built up extensive experience teaching all levels of English learners, in a variety of learning contexts, from fun and effective lessons for young children, to intensive English seminars for businessmen. He adopts a variety of proven techniques in teaching English, and he is currently undertaking a masters degree in Teaching English as a Foreign and Second Language. When not teaching English, he spends his time developing websites, writing and producing educational videos, traveling and eating-out.

A TEFL box of tricks

Props and accessories can be very useful in the TEFL classroom. Today, I’d like to share with you my “TEFL box of tricks” – the essential items I take to every class. 1. Name cards I have found name cards … Read More »

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Being a female English teacher in Japan

Today is Girl’s Day in Japan, but what’s it like to be a female teacher of English in this traditionally patriarchal society? I interviewed Beth Konomoto, an EFL teacher with extensive experience in Japan, to find out. Why did you … Read More »

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English: The World Language (Infographic)

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Why is English the dominant world language?

1.4 billion speakers of English English is spoken as a second or foreign language by an estimated 950 million people worldwide1. This is in addition to the 427 million native speakers of English2. But how did the English language reach … Read More »

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Choosing language role models carefully

The demand for native-speaker teachers is high There is no doubt that the demand for native-speaker teachers of English in Japan, Asia, and the rest of the world is high. In many cases, the only requirement for getting an English … Read More »

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Using students’ L1 in the English language classroom

A perennial debate in the TEFL world is whether and to what extent teachers should use their students’ L1 in the classroom. In the case of English teachers in Japan then, then question is: should we use Japanese in the … Read More »

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Promoting speaking fluency

Becoming a more fluent speaker of English is an important goal for the majority of English language learners. In this article, the concept of ‘speaking fluency’ is briefly defined, and four methods shown to promote speaking fluency are discussed. The … Read More »

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