Destination English

03/02/2026

HOW MANY STUDENTS CAN YOU GET INTO A RICKSHAW?

26/01/2026

VISITING SCHOOL IN GAYA, INDIA. A quick look around the campus (exterior)

I arrived on campus and here’s a look around the schools lush grounds. This houses 4 buildings, 3 are the school and 1 is the teachers’ residence.

A wonderful invitation to develop a methodology for teaching large classrooms with 40-60 students in each class.

The are 2 classrooms fitted with smart boards, but my strategy is to get them speaking with confidence the old-fashioned way… through speaking!

Do follow my journey and see how I get on with this daunting project… I’ll create workshops based on 8-12 hours of interaction with each class…

Yes, 8-12 hours to get them speaking. This is my ideal student challenge. I’ve seen their books and writing (intermediate) but their speech at the moment is elementary.

Wish me luck! (No such thing… the more prepared you are, the more luck you’ll have;)

Zack

NB. If you understand but you can’t speak English confidently, then you are my ideal student and I can definitely help you get speaking…

source: https://www.destinationenglish.co.uk/blog/2/vlog-1-arrived-in-india-17

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(Get started: Lessons from 30min/week)

26/01/2026

INDIA TRIP SCHOOL PROJECT:
TEACHING DAYS OF THE WEEK

Focus on Phonetics and pronunciation.
Here are some of the methods I use to get these 900 children speaking English confidently.

This is my morning drill...

22/11/2025

LESSON 3: PRESENT SIMPLE VS. PAST SIMPLE. CONNECTING WORDS. ADVERBS OF FREQUENCY. REGULAR & IRREGULAR VERBS.

An introduction to the Past Simple/Simple Past tense & the related vocabulary necessary to link and express yourself more concisely.

05/11/2025

LESSON 2: 3RD PERSON (HE/SHE/IT). Q&A.

Rule: Verb + (e)s

1. Wakes up
2. Gets up
3. Has /z/ /Takes a shower
4. Gets dressed /t/
5. Has/z/ breakfast
6. Goes /z/ to work/school
7. Gets to work/school
8. Has /z/ a coffee/Tea
9. Starts work/class
10. Has /z/ lunch
11. Goes /z/ Shopping
12. Finishes /iz/ work
13. Goes /z/ Home
14. Goes /z/ to Italian Class
15. Goes /z/ to the gym
16. Gets home
17. Makes dinner
18. Has /z/ dinner
19. Takes the dog for a walk
20. Watches /iz/ TV
21. Does /z/ homework/housework
22. Goes /z/ to bed
23. Sleeps/Goes /z/ to sleep

Connecting words: then, next, later, after that, finally.

Q: What time does your [father/mother/brother/sister] wake up?
A: My [father/mother/brother/sister] wakes up at (time).

Q: What time does your father/mother/brother/sister get up?
A: My father/mother/brother/sister gets up at (time).

Practice: Use the 23 verb phrases to practice these questions & answers

02/11/2025

UPDATE ON TEACHING 900 STUDENTS (6-16)

I’ve been teaching for a month now since I arrived in October.
My mission here is to get the students to speak!
Their text books and work shows they are intermediate students but their speaking is elementary.

I’ve put together a program to give them confidence and master the present simple tense before moving on to more difficult grammar.
I think a lot of them have been faking it or memorising stuff without actually understanding it.

So, an introduction to phonetics and drilling routines verb phrases as well as writing it all out on the board for every class, will help them to click
And understand it better. A focus on asking questions too as it’s always easier to answer questions for beginners than to actually get a conversation started.

Present Simple for Routine & Habits

1. Wake up
2. Get up
3. Have/Take a shower
4. Get dressed /t/
5. Have breakfast
6. Go to work/school
7. Get to work/school
8. Have a coffee/Tea
9. Start work/class
10. Have lunch
11. Go Shopping
12. Finish work
13. Go Home
14. Go to Italian Class
15. Go to the gym
16. Get home
17. Make dinner
18. Have dinner
19. Take the dog for a walk
20. Watch TV
21. Do homework/housework
22. Go to bed
23. Sleep/Go to sleep

See if you can remember the whole sequence by heart! Then add a time…
E.g I wake up at 6:00, I get up at 6:10 etc…

25/10/2025

DAY 1: .goa MY FIRST PERFORMANCE AT TAJ CIDADE BAR.

Places visited:
Ritz Authentic Restaurant (Nothing to do with the posh one in London. This is where the locals eat). Fountainhas - Portuguese Heritage Quarter. Marriot Hotel Goa.

Goa offers a variety of destinations for all budgets. From dormitory living to 5 star luxury. There’s something for every budget & lifestyle.

After waking up around 10ish, having a tea and light breakfast at our hotel, our air-condition vehicle driver, Amir, arrived at exactly 2pm to pick us and take us to Panjim (capital of Goa)…

In the evening I was invited to sing (check out the law suit Andy Summers & Stuart Copeland have taken out against Sting for royalties going back 40 years in this song!) by a local performer in the Taj Cidade Bar.

✌️

Zack is sporting touristic elephant mural T-shirt & cotton (super comfy) lime trouser from .goa

Recommended healthy beverage:
Lemon 🍋 honey 🍯 ginger ☕️

20/10/2025

18/10/2025

VLOG #1 ARRIVED IN INDIA!
I’m working on a new project teaching English to students 6-16 years old at a school in

This assignment will challenge me to manage classes of 40-60 students per classroom. Here's a list of subjects I will use to gauge the level of spoken English.

I’ve completed 2 weeks of teaching 900 students English pronunciation and phonetics…

source: https://www.destinationenglish.co.uk/blog/2/vlog-1-arrived-in-india-17

Off for a well-deserved break.
😎🕺

16/10/2025

LEARNING ENGLISH BY SONG!

I did a gapfill exercise in the last part of this lesson. A handout with the songs lyrics with some gaps and the missing words at the top.

I then went through the original song performance video on YouTube…

I played the video a second time and students completed the lyrics.

Finally, I performed the song with student participation…

13/10/2025

WEEK 2: PRESENT SIMPLE FOR ROUTINE & HABITS.

Monday 13th October

Today, all classes were engaged and participated in practising spoken English with each other. They successfully talked about their routines using present simple with new verb phrases.

All students were very well supported by their teachers, who were very pro-active in classroom management and helping the weaker students to complete and understand the tasks before speaking & testing.