Practice classroom English for teachers

Many teachers are asked to teach in English — in bilingual and international schools, CLIL programs, and online classes — without ever having practiced the spoken side of it. Explaining a concept clearly, giving instructions, handling a question you didn't expect, or speaking to a parent: it all happens live, in front of people.

Airi lets you rehearse classroom English privately. Explain a topic to her as if she were a student, practice clear instructions and transitions, handle an off-topic question, or role-play a parent meeting. She corrects gently and asks the kind of questions students really ask, so the first time you say it out loud is not in front of the class.

A quick example with Airi

I'm your student. Teacher, I don't understand what photosynthesis is.

Okay. Photosynthesis is how plants make their food using sunlight, water and air.

That's a clear explanation! But teacher — why do the leaves need to be green?

Good question. The green color comes from chlorophyll, and it is what catch the sunlight.

Small fix: "it's what catches the sunlight." Great — you handled the follow-up like a pro.

Try a conversation like this, free600 free credits, about 8 minutes of speaking. No card.

Classroom English phrases for each moment of a lesson

Whatever you teach, the same moments come back every lesson. Keep one line ready for each.

Moment	What to say
State the goal	By the end of this lesson, you'll be able to explain why ice floats.
Explain a new idea	Think of it this way: the heart is a pump.
Rephrase when faces go blank	Let me put that another way.
Ask, then give thinking time	Take ten seconds to think. No hands yet.
Students switch to their own language	Try it in English first. I'll help you with the words.
Win back attention	I'll wait until everyone is listening.
Hear from everyone in an online class	Type your answer in the chat, but don't press Enter until I say go.
Close the lesson	Before you pack up, tell your partner one thing you learned today.

After you ask a question, wait. Robert Stahl's 1994 ERIC Digest on wait time reports that the typical teacher pauses, on average, 0.7 to 1.4 seconds after a question, and that when students get three seconds or more of silence, their answers become longer and more often correct. Count to three in your head before you call on anyone.

How to give classroom instructions in English that students can follow

Instructions need your simplest English. The glossary for Cambridge's Teaching Knowledge Test (TKT) calls this grading your language: using language at the right level for the learners, for example by avoiding complicated structures when you give instructions.

Get attention first. "Pencils down. Eyes on me." Then wait for silence.
One short sentence per step, verb first. "Work with a partner. Read the text. Underline three new words."
Give a time limit and a stop signal. "You have five minutes. When I clap, stop and look at me."
Do the first one together on the board. "Let's do number one together. Watch."
Check with a question about the task. "Are you working alone or with a partner? How many words do you underline?"

The British Council's TeachingEnglish site notes that "Do you understand?" is unlikely to get a truthful answer from every learner. A question about the task shows who is lost.

What teachers can say when a student's question catches them off guard

When the answer, or the English word for it, isn't there, say so calmly. It shows students what to do when they are stuck.

Situation	Say
You need a moment	Good question. Give me a second to think about how to explain that.
You didn't catch the question	Sorry, could you ask that again a little more slowly?
You don't know the answer	I'm not sure, and I don't want to guess. I'll check and tell you tomorrow.
You can't find the English word	The word has slipped my mind. Let's look it up together.
A student corrects your English	You're right, thank you. Good catch.

Common classroom English mistakes and what to say instead

Your students hear these sentences in almost every lesson, which makes them worth getting right.

Instead of	Say	Why
Today we will discuss about the water cycle.	Today we will discuss the water cycle.	"Discuss" takes its object directly. "About" goes with "talk".
I will explain you the rules.	I will explain the rules to you.	You explain something to someone: the thing comes first, then "to" and the person.
Did you make your homeworks?	Did you do your homework?	"Homework" has no plural, and you "do" it.
Everybody, listen me.	Everybody, listen to me.	"Listen" needs "to" before the person or thing you listen to.
Please repeat again.	Please say that again.	"Repeat" already means "say again", so "again" is not needed. "Please repeat that" also works.

The grammar notes in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English mark the first four as errors.

One sentence is correct English but still worth replacing. Instead of "You are wrong," try "Not quite. Check the second line." It corrects the answer, not the student, and shows where to look.

English for parent-teacher meetings and conferences, step by step

Nemours KidsHealth's tips for teachers describe parent-teacher conferences as brief meetings of about 10 to 30 minutes, and advise starting with positives, avoiding school jargon and ending with a plan.

Step	Say
Open with a strength	Thank you for coming. Maya asks thoughtful questions, and she's kind to her classmates.
Raise one concern with evidence	I've noticed she hasn't handed in her last three assignments.
Ask for the parent's view	Have you noticed anything at home? How does she feel about school right now?
Agree on a plan	Here's what I'll do in class. Could you look over her homework with her each evening?
Close	Let's talk again in two weeks. What's the best way to reach you?

Describe what you saw, not what the child is: "She has missed three assignments" instead of "She's lazy."

Rehearse tomorrow's lesson in English with Airi

Airi plays your student or a parent and answers out loud. The free credits cover about eight minutes of speaking: enough for steps 1 to 3, or for the parent meeting alone.

Give her a role: "Be a twelve-year-old in my science class. I'm going to explain the water cycle. Ask me a question whenever something isn't clear."
Explain it in two minutes. Each time she asks, rephrase instead of repeating.
Give her instructions for a pair activity, then ask: "Tell me what you're going to do first." If her answer is wrong, shorten the instructions and try again.
Another day, switch roles: "Be a parent who's worried about her daughter's grades. Push back a little."
When a small fix appears, say the corrected sentence again, as if to your class.

How to get the most from it

Practice explaining out loud

Explain your next topic to Airi as a student. Simple, clear English is a skill.

Drill classroom phrases

"Open your books to page…", "Let's move on", "Who can tell me…" — make them automatic.

Rehearse the hard talks

Parent meetings and behavior conversations in English need practice too. Ask Airi to role-play them.

Start speaking today

Your first 600 credits are free — no credit card. Sign in and have your first conversation with Airi.

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Frequently asked questions

Can Airi play a student?

Yes. Ask her to be a curious, confused, or distracted student, then practice explaining, checking that she has understood, and bringing her back to the task.

Is it useful for online teaching?

Yes. Online, you can't walk around the room to see who is lost, so clear spoken instructions and checking questions do more of the work. Rehearse them out loud, along with the lines that only come up online: "You're on mute." "Can everyone see my screen?" "Type your answer in the chat."

Which subjects?

Any. Tell Airi what you teach and how old your students are, and ask her to play a student of that age.

What is classroom English?

Classroom English is the language a teacher uses to run a lesson, whatever the subject. In a 2015 ELT Journal article about teachers of English, Donald Freeman and colleagues use the term English-for-Teaching for the English a teacher needs to prepare and teach lessons, and group it into three areas: managing the classroom, understanding and communicating lesson content, and assessing students and giving feedback.

What can I say instead of "Do you understand?"

Ask something only a student who understood can answer: "What do you do first?", "How many minutes do you have?" or "What do you do when you finish?" After an explanation, ask a student to say the idea in their own words.

How do I start a parent-teacher meeting in English?

Thank the parent for coming, then say one specific, positive thing about the child before anything else: "I really enjoy having Maya in my class. She never gives up on a hard problem." Raise your concern after that, with an example, and ask what the parent has noticed at home.

Last updated: 2026-10-03