Free-Talk Idea: Movie Vocabulary (with Quiz + Discussion Questions)
Being a movie fan these days often involves much more than simply going to the theater. Movie buffs have passionate...
TV Shows to Recommend to Students for English Study
Helping Students Ask If They Are Saying Something Correctly
Conversation Topic: Hot Foods and Baths to Survive the Winter 🍲
November has a lot fewer holidays than other months of the year. But on the bright side (?), the weather...
Upcoming Holiday: Seven-Five-Three Festival in Japan 👘
Every November 15th, Japan observes the Seven-Five-Three Festival, a day that celebrates children ages seven, five and (you guessed it!)...
Upcoming Holiday: Halloween 🎃
While Halloween is not as widely celebrated as is in many English-speaking countries, it has certainly caught on in many...
Upcoming Holiday: Mid-Autumn Festival in Taiwan and South Korea 🌝
A major holiday is coming up for our students in South Korea and Taiwan. It’s known as “Korean Thanksgiving” and...
Upcoming Holiday: Seniors Day
Japan has a public holiday that literally translates to “Respect for the Aged Day.” It’s an annual holiday that falls...
Conversation Topic: Typhoons 🌀🌀🌀
Besides hot, sticky weather, summer brings one other phenomenon to East Asia: typhoons. What does this mean for our students? ...
Conversation Topic: Summer Heat and Ice to Eat 🍧
July and August are the hottest months of the year in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan – in other words,...
Conversation Topic: Summer Festivals & Summer Vacation ☀️
Summer is a special time in many countries. In this post, we’ll go over some summer festivals in our students’...
Pragmatics — aka "Why We Just Don’t Say It That Way"
“Hmm … There’s nothing incorrect with your sentence, but we just don’t say it like that.” If you’ve ever found...
COVID-19: How Our Students Are Doing (and What Questions We Don't Want to Ask)
Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan – where many of our students live – were the first outside China to be...
7 Thought-Provoking Free-Talk Topics for Ghost Season
In Japan and Taiwan, the "Ghost Season" has begun. This is the time of the year when the spirits of...
What's in a Name? 6 Questions for Your Next Free-Talk Lesson
If you ever need a conversation topic that's suitable for all levels, there's an easy one right before your eyes:...
Use Free-Talk Lessons to Share These Funny English Word Pairs
Some English word pairs sound funny — but they are still very useful to know.
TV Shows to Recommend to Students for English Study
One question that many students tend to ask is which English-language TV shows they should watch to help them improve...
Free Talk Ideas for the May Holiday Season
Did you know we're in the midst of a holiday season? In most of our students' countries, some big holidays...
Ask Students About the Tanabata Festival This Week
Tanabata is a popular holiday in Japan that's right around the corner: Thursday, July 7. This will be a handy...
Free Conversation Ideas for Valentine's Day
Though it originated in the UK, Valentine's Day as we know it now has spread all around the world. Your...
Free Conversation Topics for the Holiday Season
Upcoming holidays make great free-conversation topics. And celebrations like Christmas and other year-end holidays will probably be common topics of...
Questions and Vocabulary for Earth Day Free-Talk Lessons
Unlike some other special days or events that are connected to a specific place, Earth Day is for everyone everywhere....
Free-Talk Idea: Movie Vocabulary (with Quiz + Discussion Questions)
Being a movie fan these days often involves much more than simply going to the theater. Movie buffs have passionate...