Teaching English online is a great way to make an extra income and to help people learn another language. It looks great on a resume, it’s easy to do on the side, and you don’t have to move overseas where the bulk of the in-person work is. However, there are some downsides that are important to know before jumping in. The Great Divide: Time Zones One of the first battles you’re going to have is the battle against the clock. Figuring out your own schedule and schedule six hours away is difficult. There’s a lot of math involved that done poorly can lead to missed classes and really late nights or…

Many people have asked me about this so I have decided to make a post about it.  There are two things you can get that will increase your chances of finding a good online ESL job; an ESL certificate (TESL/TEFL/TESOL or CELTA) and a bachelor’s degree. The CELTA certificate is given by “Cambridge English Language Assessment” and it has a good reputation, I have heard that some companies require you to have this certificate and not the TESL. The course to get the Cambridge CELTA is more intensive and usually more expensive than a TESL course.  There are many options for getting these certificates. The CELTA course is a face-to-face class whereas…

Reading Spanish comic strips is a fun way to practice your Spanish.  Here are my top 12 Spanish comic strips and some websites that show the comic strip for free. I have also list here some Spanish web comics. Web comics are great because they are free and easy to access. I hope you find one you like.

I always encourage my students to expose themselves to as much English as possible. In my opinion it is important to practice and study for one hour at least 3 times a week and you have to practice all four areas, reading, writing, speaking and listening. Some of you have asked me what is the best way to do this. Well, there are a ton of free resources for language learners on the web…

I am an English and Spanish teacher, I teach business classes and give conversation classes. I have a Bachelor of Arts degree from Carleton University, a TEFL certificate and C1 Spanish certificate. I work with Skype, Teams, Zoom, etc. I also have experience editing and translating projects for universities and large corporations. For more information, including pricing, please contact me at mike@goodairlanguage.com.

More specifically this is Argentine graffiti. I thought it would be interesting for Spanish learners to look at some Spanish graffiti. Here is a look at the graffiti scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina. These photos focus literally on the message of the graffiti not the artistry. Those who have visited Buenos Aires have probably noticed the huge graffiti, or street art, scene in the city. Not only can you find great artistic pieces, but you will see a lot of tags and messages. Some of the messages are political and social, others are about football or just straight-up text messages like: Feliz cumpleaños or Te amo! There is not shortage of…

It is important to have some online ESL games ready to play in case your students get bored, or you get bored or you just need to change the dynamic of class. They are also great for group classes. In group classes you can get your students to interact and use the language while you just monitor. These English games can be played in face to face classes as well as online classes.  

Here are some English books that I recommend to my students to read. Many of these books are classics and required reading in Canadian schools. Chances are you will be familiar with a lot of the names here. This list is a good mixture of Canadian, American and British books. Many of these books belong to the public domain and can be found online for free (Literaure Project, Project Gutenberg, goodreads and feedbooks). English learners should choose a book that corresponds with their level. Read more

There are several websites that do a Spanish word of the day. If you subscribe to them you will recieve in your email a new word everyday until you unsubscribe. Most of the sites provide a definition and some sentences to go along with the word…read more