I have been teaching English as a foreign language since February 2012. While it would be nice to say that it was something I have always wanted to do, I would be lying. I just fell down a rabbit hole while trying to look for something to shake up my mundane life. I never thought that I could actually teach in a public school abroad as I had no prior experience of teaching, and I did not know how to speak Korean. How could I possibly travel to a country I had never even thought of going to before, to live and work on my own? However, after a few query emails to Footprints Recruitment, an online ESL recruitment company in Canada, I filled in an application, did an online interview and within a few weeks, I was gathering my paperwork to travel and doing Google searches to see if there were anacondas or giant spiders in Korea… or any other things that could eat, bite or burrow into me while I was sleeping. It seems there wasn’t and so I bought a return ticket just in case the whole thing was a scam, and they would fleece me for all the Korean Won I had brought with me once I landed. I am happy to say, none of my fears came through and it was the most amazing four and a half years working and living in Ulsan, South Korea. In fact, a few years later, I returned to Korea and taught in a different school in Busan for another year in 2019.
Which brings me to the point of this post.
What did I wish I knew at the very beginning? Well, that is a whole other blog post which I am sure I will write at another time, but I think we all really want to know the important thing. What made my life as a teacher easy? Where are the goods? What reduced my workload and what made my classes fun and interesting for the students but didn’t have me ripping my brain out for ideas or spending hours each week trying to make something halfway decent to use in the classroom? Korean kids love learning through games and activities and the reality of it is, that is what the students expect, and the Korean co-teachers would love for the westerner to bring to the table as it will make their life easier. So here comes my list of helpful websites that I mostly relied upon when planning my lessons.
1. Waygook.org
This website has been around for a long time. It is for western teachers who teach English in Korea, and it contains everything you would need as a teacher while in Korea. It has lesson plans, games, advice, forums, book related lessons and materials and it also includes the latest news or hot topics which concern native English teachers in Korea. It used to be free to register and use the materials but because there was so much work that went into its maintenance and the number of teachers logging onto it each morning before classes to find materials which caused the website to slow down or crash at times, it now costs 20 dollars to register. It will be the best 20 dollars you spend when starting off as an English teacher in Korea, as all the materials are created by other teachers, and it is organized easily for you to find what you need for each lesson. You can check it out for free and browse the site as a guest, but if you want to download anything, then you will need to register.
2. Korshare:
Similar to Waygook but I think this is its younger brother, as I only became aware of it in 2019 when I was teaching in Busan. It has fewer things on the site, which also makes it look less daunting to use as the interface looks cleaner and you don’t get lost in a sea of information. Also, as a newer site, the materials are newer and so there is less worry about students already having been exposed to the games or materials before with another western teacher. Korshare is free to register and, just like waygook.org, you can share your own lesson plans and materials or download other teachers’ contributions. Korshare does not save files and so only links to Dropbox, google docs or other file sharing links are used when submitting or downloading files.
3. Kinteractive Learning
https://www.kinteractivelearning.com/
Originally, this website was called BarryfunEnglish.com. For me, it was the best website on my list for all my time as a teacher in Korea as it was flash based and while it had its own library of flashcards and vocabulary words and pictures, it also allowed me to upload my own and create my own folders. I used to start my class showing the interactive flashcards on the big screen in the classroom so students could repeat the words and identify the pictures, then I would play one of the many classroom flash games to test the student’s memory and then I would follow this up by printing off one or two of their writing practice worksheets which used the vocabulary we had learned. Since flash is no longer used, the website is in the process of rebuilding, and it still looks great. You can check it out for free, but if you want to save your own vocabulary lists, you will need to have a monthly subscription of five dollars or a yearly subscription of 39 dollars. It is not a lot of money compared to the hours of work; it will save you over the year.
4. ESLintherok
This is a small website with just interactive classroom games on it. But the great thing is that it relates specifically to the schoolbook. So, it is a good place to go if you finish your lesson early and want to review the topic you just studied. This site is free to use, and you just choose the student book you are working from in the classroom for public schools and then choose the game. The vocabulary and target sentences are already preloaded and ready to use. I would bookmark this on your school computer so that you can open it quickly if you need an instant fun activity to do with the class.
5. Islcollective
While this website isn’t specifically for Korean students, it has a varied supply of materials on it that can be used in your classroom. Materials can also be downloaded and tailored for your needs. It is more suitable for 5th and 6th grade or higher-level students, in my opinion. It has PowerPoint games and presentations, worksheets, and one of the best features is video lessons, which I have not seen on any other ESL website before. These video lessons have clips from YouTube which also have interactive questions about what the students are watching. The easier ones, such as the non-speaking cartoons or Mister Bean clips, are perfect for elementary students as they can enjoy the brief clip but then can read or listen to the question and take turns choosing the correct answer. This is a great activity to break up a boring lesson at the end or ideal if you want to use these during your summer or winter camp classes. This website is free to browse and use and you can also submit your own materials. I used this website both in South Korea and while teaching in Spain.
6. British Council - Kids
https://learnenglishkids.britishcouncil.org/
The British Council websites are great but for elementary students, their kids’ website has some great resources. It has some interactive games which can either be used as a great warmer if you have an interactive whiteboard in the classroom, or you can just pick volunteers to compete having them take turns to come up to the computer to complete the task as the other students watch on the big screen. The ABC countdown is great for all levels, as even the higher-level students get excited as the timer ticks down and they need to find the letters in order. Apart from the interactive games, it also has free worksheets and flashcards you can download and print off. This is great if you are planning a lesson from scratch during your winter or summer camp and need a starter to base the lesson around. I used this website while teaching in South Korea and Spain.
7. Tools For Educators
https://www.toolsforeducators.com/
This is a free website which allows you to create your own word searches, crosswords, board games, bingo, mazes, spelling sheets and reward certificates for your classes. These are good downtime activities for students after a hard lesson. You can also put students in small groups or pairs, and they need to work together to complete the printout to get a reward.
8. The Teachers Corner
https://www.theteacherscorner.net/
Just like Tools for Teachers, this site allows you to create your own worksheets. You can create a crossword, word search, telling the time worksheet, gap fill worksheet, mazes, match up worksheet, word scrambles, handwriting worksheets and many more. It also has seasonal ideas if you want to create your own cultural lessons and it is a great starting point to give you ideas about your summer camp or winter camp or lessons, which are off the book. This website is free to use.
9. Games4ESL
I discovered this website recently, and it has a lot of free materials for lower-level students. It is ideal for teaching elementary students, as it is based on topics that ESL students typically study. It has videos with quizzes, PowerPoint games and lessons, worksheets, printables, lesson plans and some review exercises. While it is not specifically for Korean elementary students, it is ideal for helping to prep after school lessons or camp lessons. I am adding this one to my new list of teacher resources.
10. Super Simple
I have used many Super Simple song videos on YouTube as warm up for young elementary students. The music is catchy, and the song lyrics are simple. The colors and animations on the videos are vibrant and keep the student’s attention. If you check out their gorgeous website, you will find a lot of other free materials which you can use when teaching younger students. Their website was a new discovery for me, and I love the colorful design and their craft ideas. Learning through fun is a huge part of teaching young learners and this website hits the nail on the head. These would be ideal materials for first, second, third and even fourth-grade students.
Special Mention
Tay’s Teaching Toolkit
https://www.taysteachingtoolkit.com/
I have just been told about Tay’s Teaching Toolkit by a friend who is still teaching in South Korea. She said that this website has been a lifesaver when planning her lessons. The website has some stunning PowerPoint game templates on it and all for free. Taylor is the creator of these games, and she has firsthand experienced of teaching English in South Korea as well as being a talented graphic designer. If I was still teaching in South Korea, then this would certainly be near the top of my teacher resource list. The website also comes with a YouTube channel whereby you can see the games in action and instructions on how to use them. The games are organized into the four skills when teaching English: Listening, Speaking, Reading, Writing and includes a review category. She also includes some tips and tutorials for making your own PowerPoint games. It takes out the thinking when you need a game that is appropriate for the skill practiced in the schoolbook.
It is rare to find a one stop shop for everything you need to teach ESL abroad on a website. You will find that to create great lessons and tailor them for your student’s needs, that you will end up taking original materials and resources from different places and creating your own package for the lesson.
Adding to your tools and resources for teaching is continuous and fun. While teaching and interacting with the students can be the fun and most rewarding part of the job, lesson planning, brainstorming ideas and creating materials can be the toughest and most tiring part of your job as a teacher. Finding ways to reduce that stress and help to free up your time to allow you to enjoy your life outside work is important as a teacher. As a graphic designer and avid internet surfer and researcher, I enjoyed creating materials for the lessons and discovering new websites, apps, or online tools that I could use for my lessons regularly. It allowed me to work smarter and not harder. I hope some of these websites help you enjoy your life as an ESL teacher… wherever it may be.
