Thinking about teaching English abroad or online? As a native or near-native speaker you already have a great asset: you know what "sounds right."

However, teaching isn't just about instinctively knowing your own language; you need to be able to understand how it works so you can help your students learn. This knowledge about language is what we call language awareness — and for a TEFL teacher, it's crucial.

For instance, what could you say to a student who asks you the difference between these two sentences:

[a] I saw Michael this morning, and [b] I’ve seen Michael this morning.

We will answer this and many other questions like it on TEFLEnglish. This free course isn't a magic key to knowing it all: true language awareness is a lifelong journey. Instead, this is your essential starting point. I’ll help you begin to see the English you speak every day through a new lens, transforming your innate understanding into knowledge you can access and share.

Together we’ll explore the fundamental rules you use intuitively but may have never had to explain, or even think about.  This foundation will make you a more reflective, confident, and prepared future teacher, ready to get the most out of your formal TEFL training.

Now, let’s look at a basic answer to the question posed earlier.

The difference could be explaine like this:

  • "I saw him..." (Past Simple) is for finished times. You'd say this in the afternoon or evening, because "this morning" is over.
  • "I’ve seen him..." (Present Perfect) connects the past to the present. You'd only say this if it is still morning, making the action relevant to the current moment.

Your future students won't have your intuition. They need you to guide them. TEFLEnglish is designed to start building your skills for doing exactly that.

Ready to begin seeing your language in a new way? Sign up and be the first to know when the course is available.