TEFL Commute

Season 14 episode 7: Numbers is the last episode for this season and marks the 100th episode of our podcast. To celebrate the 100, we've done an episode on numbers. In this roundtable each of the team brings some numbers related to teaching to discuss. Since it is a milestone episode we also look back over some of our episodes and Shaun quizzes the team on TEFL commute related numbers.  Enjoy our 100th episode and see you later in the year for season 15. 

In this episode the team show they have the finger on the pulse of politics by talking about parties. Lindsay decides he wants to dissect 10 Downing street's party invite and this leads into a discussion about the party vocabulary, the language of the parties, and ELT and parties (both political and the fun kind) in ELT. Get ready for the TEFL commute does discourse analysis! 

We're back after our mid-season break and we're getting all dramatic. In this episode Ceri, Lindsay and Shaun discuss drama and ELT.  Are they ELT thesps? Do they use drama? What are the benefits? In addition Lindsay tells us about academic drama and Shaun finds out if they other two can recognise a Shakespeare quote. 

We reach the half way point of the current season just in time for the festive season. In this episode the TEFL commute gang foolishly leave Shaun alone in a zoom room so expect some terrible jokes at some point.   In a different type of episode each of the regular commuters has their own little section as the commute team get ready for their Xmas Breaks.   

In this episode the TEFL commute gang talk about volunteering and ELT. They start by talking about asking for volunteers in class before discussing their volunteering within the world of TEFL and how volunteering might be different to having a hobby. 

In this episode, Lindsay Ceri and Sandy talk about authors and English language teaching. Did you know there are many famous authors who taught English? Why do materials writers not always consider themselves authors? We also have an interview with an English teacher who went into materials writing and then wrote a novel. And Sandy leads a classic TEFL commute quiz about books and writers and teachers.

We're back, it's our 14th season and we get underway by discussing reasons to be cheerful. After nearly two years of the pandemic, lockdown, online teaching and very little commuting we begin this season by looking at some of the positives we've taken from this time. 

We bring our 13th season to a close with our round table episode. This season we talk words, words we like, words we don't like, words that have caught our attention and words that don't translate. The team are joined by @lexicojules to add a touch of gravitas to their discussions and get some insight into which of our chosen words might hang around. See you in the Autumn.

From old to young – in this episode the topic of teaching most certainly comes up as Lindsay Sandy, Shaun discuss teaching young learners. They discuss many aspects of the topic from looking at what ages are considered YL to if there is a point that is too young to learn a second language. The episode also features several YL trainers whose contributions give practical advice to those teaching this area

Are the TEFL Commute crew feeling their age? In this episode Ceri, Lindsay and Shaun discuss language associated with 'old', and consider language teaching with older students. Lindsay chats with Mark McKinnon about what it's like to teach senior learners, and Shaun leads the team through an Olde English quiz.

In episode 3, Shaun and Lindsay return to find themselves stuck on a plateau so use this as an opportunity to discuss what the so-called Intermediate plateau is in language learning, how it happens and what things can be done to try and avoid / get off it.

In this episode, we celebrate International Women’s Day with a takeover by Sandy Millin and Ceri Jones. They look at the history of the day, talk about their experiences as women in ELT, reflect on representation in ELT, and maintain the TEFL Commute tradition by having not one, but two quizzes!

Our 13th season begins by looking at animals. Lindsay ponders when we teach animal vocabulary, while Shaun gets carried away with onomatopoeic sounds. After joining us at the end of the last season, we welcome Sandy back with her new feature. Add in some quizzes, idioms and collective nouns and we have a bumper first episode of the season,

It’s the final episode of season 12 so it’s our traditional round table (well, round zoom) episode. This season’s theme is podcasts with Shaun and Lindsay joined by James, and a new additional to the TEFL commute team. This year’s rules are simple – bring one podcast related to language, one about teaching and one you’d recommend to others. So come listen and find out what we’ve chosen

In the penultimate episode of the season, Shaun and Lindsay discuss adventure. They look at how TEFL is often marketed as an adventure, and the part adventure plays in course materials as well as discussing how to go about utilising ‘adventure’ with students from timeless classroom activities through to the latest craze of escape rooms.

It’s episode 3 already and this episode we talk ‘fake’, an interesting word that doesn’t always collocate with news! In the episode Shaun and Lindsay look at authenticity, imposter syndrome and whether ‘the man with 13 jobs, is real or not. In addition there is a ‘fake’ music quiz, and producer James gives us an idea for a fake news activity.

In the week of the US election it seemed fitting to do an episode called dictator but don’t worry, we are not giving him too much airtime. While we do look at Trump's impact on the English language, the episode also discusses authoritarian teachers, and explores the use of dictation as a teaching activity.

Shaun and Lindsay kick off the 12th season of the TEFL commute by discussing ‘normal’. The talk about the use of the word ‘normal’, and discover the phrase ‘ the new normal’ is older than it seems. Lindsay regales Shaun with a tale of Mr. Average, and since it’s a new season we even let Producer James join the episode.

In the final instalment of our mini-series Shaun and Lindsay take ten-minutes to discuss the future. With lockdown beginning to undo in many places and schools working out how to start up again we discuss some of the ideas that have been suggested

In our penultimate instalment Lindsay and Shaun discuss taking breaks. We consider how to ensure that we take break in and between lessons and little trips for our well-being.

In this instalment Lindsay and Shaun talk slow. No that will never happen, they only have ten minutes afterall. By slow we mean what to do when the internet slows. Lindsay gives you tips on making sure you have enough bandwidth while shaun gives you some ideas to help you with students on a slow connection.

It's WZW 12 and this time Lindsay and Shaun talk about breakout rooms. In the ten minutes they cover What they are? How they work? And of course things that they are good for from jigsaw reading through to escape room games.

In one of our favourite instalments of WZW, Shaun and Lindsay discuss sound, how you can do listening lessons, and what you can do with sound effects in an online room. From animal noises through to sounds around the house the ten minute challenge suggests how they can be used in online lessons.

In the 10th instalment of WZW Shaun and Lindsay talk about the participation tools that you find in online classrooms. From emojis to polls they go through the features suggesting ideas for using each - all in ten minutes of course!

Realia - the ELT term for Real world stuff we use in teaching. In this episode Lindsay and Shaun fill their ten minutes with the teaching ideas based around real world stuff. Enjoy.

This is time out Shaun and Lindsay talk about Ideas for using a guest in your online lessons. The ideas they talk about include a teacher swap, getting guest judges and even having mystery guests. Listen now to find out about those and other ways you can utilise getting a guest

Online teaching often means using a slide so for this installment Shaun and Lindsay give you tips for the perfect slidedeck. Ten minutes means ten tips so off we go....

It's another instalment of WZW and this time Lindsay and Shaun talk warmers, in their ten minutes they try and give you a few activities you could try with your online classes. Enjoy!

In this instalment Shaun and Lindsay use their ten-minutes to suggest language areas that would fit into a lockdown syllabus. From the vocabulary of fridges to the grammar of wishes listen and decide if you agree.

In this instalment of WZW, Shaun and Lindsay talk about some of their favourite picture activities for online rooms. As usual they set themselves a ten-minute time limit which, when trying to share anecdotes and ideas, once again might prove to be challenge.

Lindsay does like getting all meta so join this episode of who's zooming who we meet in zoom to talk about zoom. Shaun and Lindsay discuss zoom, zoom bombing and its effects and suggest some ways to ensure zoom security.

In this instalment Lindsay and Shaun's ten-minute challenge is online whiteboards. They discuss the different things teachers are using as a whiteboard from washing lines to cupboards. What do you use?

With very few teachers commuting but with Lindsay and Shaun still feeling the need to podcast, here's a spin off. Over a few mini episodes they will look at some of aspects of teaching live online, setting themselves the challenge to do it in just ten minutes.

In this episode, Lindsay is joined by Ceri to discuss all things home, which is perfect as they are both under quarantine at the moment! They talk about home expressions in English, how difficult it is for materials writers to find the right images of homes, and some activity ideas for lockdown. And as Shaun isn’t there, you don’t need to worry about hearing any of his jokes!

In this episode we talk sick but don’t worry we won’t bang on about a certain virus! In this somewhat bumper episode we talk to Kate in Italy about what it’s like when the government imposes quarantine rules, and how to cope when a school is closed. Lindsay and Shaun talk about the best song to wash your hand to and discuss the metaphors of illness and the language we teach. Realising that neither of them had ever taught medical English, we speak to Ros Wright, who’s more of an expert on the matter. Finally, since we can’t do an episode in being sick without a few doctor doctor jokes, Shaun yet again tries Lindsay’s patience.

In this episode we talk privacy (and try to work out how to say it!). Lindsay and Shaun talk privacy in the classroom, private lessons and technology and privacy and the implications for the classroom. On this last point we talk with Chia Suan Chong who has written about this issue. Oh and we also 'fight' about which is better group or 1-2-1.

Have you missed us? It's time for season 11 to get underway it might be the beginning of season but we're going to talk exits. In the episode Shaun and Lindsay about ways to end a lesson, different kind of sotry endings, exiting ELT and yes the politics of the UK. James also joins in the episode with a bit of jargon busting.

Another comes to end with our traditional end of season round table. So join Lindsay, Shaun, Ceri and James to see what they would take with them if they were stranded on a dessert island.

In episode 5 we get disruptive though Lindsay would probably say Shaun is every week! This episode we explore disruption in education both from a technology point of view and a disruptive classroom. And since we're being disruptive we bring back the TEFL fight feature, and there can be only one winner.

In episode four Shaun and Lindsay address most teachers' daily accessory - the backpack. They share some and I quote Lindsay here "fun facts about backpacks" and discuss what they always carry in theirs. They also discuss why some refer to ELT as a backpack profession.

Since Halloween is upon us (well, to be honest, it's been and gone) Shaun and Lindsay discuss fear. They talk about teacher fears, scary teachers and finally other things that make students afraid. We also explore some common phobias in the return of our listener quiz.

Time to talk food, in this episode, we explore recipes in ELT. In this episode, Lindsay and Shaun discuss the language of recipes and what makes them such a useful and often used piece of ELT material? What is it that makes them a good metaphor for teaching? On a less serious note, Lindsay discovers the joys of traditional English recipes and is that the returning sound of angels?

We're back and to start the new season we've gone green. We meet two of the people behind ELT footprint to talk about the ELT profession with regards to climate change.

We close out our 9th season with a lighthearted round table on songs about teaching. Ceri, James, Lindsay, and Shaun discuss their favourite songs about a) teaching, b) teachers, c) education in popular music and d) songs that should be about teaching. Do you agree with our choices? Listen and find out.

In our latest episode, Lindsay and Shaun discuss pairs - why do teachers love pair work but then refuse to work in pairs in a workshop? Do we use pair work too much? Lindsay shares some of his favourite ways of putting people in Paris (yes, Paris) and the duo discuss binomials, reduplications and the rules governing the word order within them.

We're back after our conference enforced mid-season break. In this episode we are post-IATEFL and more significantly post TEFL commute games night. We took our recording stuff with us so this episode features amongst others Ceci, Ceri, Chia, Craig (our new number one fan :-)), Graham, Daniel, Dennis, Mike, Olga, Tyson, Sandy, Vicky, and lots of games!

This is the perfect episode! Lindsay and Shaun explore the perfect aspect and what makes it so fun / hard/ difficult (delete as appropriate) to teach. They also explore what makes a perfect classroom and a perfect student. Finally, they discuss how close they are to being perfectionists.

In episode two Lindsay and Shaun discuss instructions and the complexity they hold for teachers. We discuss what makes a good instruction, how we wish other jobs took on board ELT instruction giving, as well as what makes them go wrong. Later in the episode, we consider what ELT activities have complicated instructions and Lindsay shares some advice about writing good instructions. There is also a surprise guest appearance from a high-demanding ELT Author sharing his wisdom on instructions.

We're back with a new season and in this episode Shaun and Lindsay discuss sleep. They talk about sleep vocabulary and look at the importance of sleep on learning as well as discuss different sleep routines. Then, Lindsay gets 8 seasons of joke revenge by putting Shaun on the spot. Welcome back.

In this episode Lindsay, Shaun and James (yes we've let him on mic again) give it their best shot at a cheesy Christmas episode. After stumbling across a website that proclaims the recipe for an unforgettable Xmas lesson for adult learners we decided to put it to the test....Happy Christmas everyone.

In the penultimate episode of this season Shaun and Lindsay talk stereotypes. They discuss teaching stereotypes in movies and what the real-life equivalent might be. They also consider if they have any stereotypical behaviours in the classroom before touching on class materials and the students they teach.