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What Lessons Should I Use? - Private ESL

A detailed guide to choosing the right Off2Class lessons for your English learners, from newcomers to long-term ELLs.

Teaching Context: If you’re an English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher, your needs can be quite diverse. You might teach adults in a language institute, teenagers in a high school EFL program, or even young children in an after-school tutoring setting. You could be teaching in-person classes, running online lessons via Zoom, or a blend of both. The good news is, Off2Class has a comprehensive set of resources to support all these scenarios, from general English courses to exam prep and business English. Below we’ll break down what lessons to use for different goals and student groups in the international EFL context.

Table of contents

General English – Step-by-Step Curriculum

For most EFL teachers, a core offering is a General English course that takes students from beginner to advanced. Off2Class provides a ready-made Step-by-Step Curriculum that covers all proficiency levels – starting at absolute beginner (CEFR A0) and progressing through A1, A2, B1, B2, and into C1. This curriculum is an all-in-one solution for teaching general English, integrating grammar, vocabulary, reading, writing, listening, and speaking practice into each lesson.

Structure: There are 288 lessons organized into 78 units, which collectively guide learners “step by step” from the basics like introducing oneself and the simple present tense, up to advanced topics like debating issues and using complex sentence structures. Because it’s a progressive sequence, you don’t have to patch together a syllabus – you can follow the units in order, confident that each one builds on prior knowledge. The curriculum is objectives-based with clear can-do statements, making it easy to track progress.

The content and topics in the Step-by-Step Curriculum were designed with adult learners in mind. That means the lessons cover situations relevant to adult life – for example, at work, socializing, traveling, and so on. You’ll find lessons about ordering at a restaurant, preparing for a job interview, or describing personalities, which resonate well with adult learners who have personal or professional goals for English. However, these lessons are also very suitable for motivated teenage learners, especially at intermediate proficiency and above, since the scenarios are universal and real-world. If you do teach younger teens or need something more school-oriented at lower levels, note that Off2Class also has a Step-by-Step Curriculum for Schools – but for most EFL settings, the Step-by-Step Curriculum will be the go-to.

Use the Step-by-Step Curriculum as your core course with students. For example, if you have a new private student starting from scratch, you’d begin at Unit 1 of A1 and work through the lessons in sequence, giving them a solid structured learning experience. Each lesson comes with interactive slides, practice exercises, and homework, so it’s very much like using a high-quality textbook – except it’s digital and much of the grading is automated. This can save you significant planning time (teachers report saving 10+ hours a week on lesson prep by using Off2Class) and allows you to focus on personalization and feedback.

Tip: Take advantage of the placement test feature before placing a student into the curriculum. Our placement test will identify their current level and even pinpoint gaps, so you know exactly which lesson to start from. You can then proceed step-by-step from that point. And remember, the platform is built for flexibility – whether you and your student are together in a classroom or each behind a computer screen, you can load a lesson and go through it interactively (both seeing the slides, both able to write on them). As one veteran teacher noted, “I love the simplicity of both of us logging in and following the format of a given lesson” – it works equally well face-to-face or online.


Business English Curriculum

If you teach learners who need English for work, or you offer specialized courses like business English, we have a full Business English Curriculum you can draw from. This is a collection of 160 lessons across 40 business-themed units, covering levels from CEFR B1 up to C1. The topics range widely across professional contexts – from everyday office communication to more specialized areas. For example, units include themes like describing jobs and responsibilities, managing meetings, marketing and advertising, negotiations, interview skills, and more. Essentially, it’s designed to develop the full range of language, cultural knowledge, and skills needed to thrive in business settings.

When to use: If you have a course or student focused on business English, you can use this curriculum as a standalone track. For instance, with a corporate client at a pre-intermediate level, you might start with Business English Curriculum Unit 1 and proceed through sequentially. Each lesson will introduce relevant vocabulary and situations, including role-plays and case studies. These lessons also incorporate a lot of functional language (like polite requests, giving feedback, pitching an idea) which are crucial in the business world.

Even if you’re teaching general English, you can borrow from the Business English Curriculum whenever it fits a student’s needs. Many adult learners appreciate occasional business-focused lessons, especially if their goal is career advancement or workplace confidence. Since the business modules target at least a pre-intermediate baseline, you’ll typically use them with students who have completed the lower-level general English content (or who already came in around CEFR B1). For adolescents aiming to study business or adults in MBA programs, these lessons can also be a great resource.

Example: Suppose you are teaching a group of professionals in an evening class. They’ve covered general grammar but now request more workplace-related practice. You could incorporate a Business English Curriculum lesson once a week. One week, do “Email Etiquette” (learning how to write formal vs informal emails); another week, “Presentations” (phrases for introducing slides, concluding, handling Q&A). Our business lessons cover these practical skills, including cultural context – such as understanding business communication styles in English. By using these, you ensure your students not only learn business jargon but also how to communicate appropriately and effectively in international business environments.

Finally, the Business English Curriculum is a selling point for many private teachers – it allows you to offer a complete Business English course without needing to purchase separate materials. It’s one of the reasons Off2Class is beloved by freelancers, as one teacher highlighted: “It has greatly reduced the time I spend preparing lessons, particularly for advanced levels and Business English – presentations, product development, management, etc.”.

 

Exam preparation – IELTS & TOEFL

Many international EFL students have goals tied to standardized tests like IELTS or TOEFL, which are commonly required for university admissions, immigration, or job qualification. We provide targeted IELTS and TOEFL preparation lessons to help you coach students for these exams. Both IELTS and TOEFL assess the four skills (reading, listening, writing, speaking), but they have distinct formats and question types. Our materials are tailored to those specifics:

  • IELTS Prep: A series of lessons focusing on each section of the IELTS exam, covering both the General Training and Academic versions. These lessons break down the types of tasks students will face. Off2Class IELTS Prep lessons help students practice different question types and build strategies for each. They are aimed at upper intermediate and advanced learners (around CEFR B2 and up) who are getting exam-ready.

  • TOEFL Prep: A comprehensive TOEFL lesson series covering all four sections of the TOEFL iBT. These lessons guide students from building foundational academic skills (like note-taking for lectures, skimming for reading) all the way to full practice of integrated tasks. Each lesson focuses on a skill or strategy and provides realistic practice questions. The TOEFL series emphasizes not just doing questions, but teaching confidence and strategies to succeed on the test. By using these, you can structure a complete TOEFL prep course or integrate pieces into general courses when a student plans to take the test.

How to use: If your student is explicitly preparing for IELTS or TOEFL, you might design a course that alternates between skill-building and test simulation. Off2Class’s exam prep lessons can serve as your syllabus backbone. These lessons ensure you cover all task types so there are no surprises for the student on exam day. Our materials highlight relevant skills and strategies, allowing you to coach students appropriately.

In short, leverage the IELTS/TOEFL lessons to ensure your students are well-versed in the exam format and strategies. With these resources, you can confidently offer professional test prep. 

 

Standalone Grammar and Vocabulary lessons

Even when following a core curriculum, EFL teachers often need to zoom in on specific grammar or vocabulary areas – either to remediate errors or to answer a student’s spontaneous question. Off2Class’s library of standalone grammar lessons is perfect for this purpose. You’ll find lessons on essentially every grammar point in English, each designed to be teacher-led with clear explanations and practice slides. For example, there are entire lessons on topics like Articles (a/an/the), Present Perfect vs Past Simple, First Conditional, Comparatives and Superlatives, Reported Speech, Passive Voice, and more. They’re a great way to supplement or reinforce learning.

Use cases:

  • If you notice your class struggling with a certain structure (for example, using the correct preposition after certain verbs, or word order in questions), you can pull up the relevant lesson and go through it as a class. The focused practice will help to resolve the confusion.
  • Some students have very specific needs – e.g., a student might struggle with phrasal verbs or want to review conditionals. You can assign those standalone lessons for homework or do a 1-on-1 session targeting that.
  • For mixed-level classes, you can run different grammar workshops in parallel. Advanced students can work on an inversion lesson while lower-level students revise the past simple. Off2Class lets you handle that all in one teacher account, tracking each student’s progress.

Similarly, we provide vocabulary-focused lessons on a wide variety of themes. These are great for beginner and intermediate levels, where building lexical range is key. Vocabulary lessons come with pictures, definitions, and practice activities. Topics range from concrete categories like the human body, clothing, food, nationalities to broader ones like nature, sports and leisure. They include fun descriptions, illustrations, and homework to reinforce the new words. These are especially useful for young learners and lower-level groups where learning “chunks” of related words can boost their confidence and ability to discuss new topics.

Tip: Don’t overlook the Off2Class Idioms and Phrasal Verbs lessons. EFL students, particularly at higher levels, often want to sound more natural and understand colloquial speech. We have dedicated lessons teaching idiomatic expressions (grouped by themes like idioms for emotions, idioms with body parts, etc.) and phrasal verbs (organized by verb or context). These lessons usually present idioms with example scenarios and have students practice by interpreting or using them in sentences. They’re fantastic as a light-hearted end-of-class activity or a mini-module each week (e.g., “Idioms Thursday”). By explicitly teaching a few idioms regularly, you help students grasp language that they might otherwise only pick up haphazardly. The same goes for phrasal verbs – tackling them systematically (by verb: e.g., all the phrasal verbs with “get”) can demystify what often feels overwhelming to learners.


Single-skill lessons

With your EFL students, you might run special sessions like a conversation club, reading group, or listening workshop. Off2Class’s single-skill lessons are ideal resources for these:

  • Speaking Activities: We provide speaking activity lessons on many engaging topics. For a conversation club or a portion of class dedicated to speaking, open a speaking lesson such as “Urban Social Issues” or “Technology and Society.” These lessons give a structured way to prompt discussion – they might start with some context or pictures to stimulate ideas, then list questions for students to discuss. They ensure that even quieter students have something to respond to. The content is thought-provoking and stimulating. For instance, an advanced speaking lesson on consumerism might ask students about their spending habits and present some statements to agree or disagree with prompting class discussion. By using these lessons, you effectively have a debate or dialogue ready to go. This can significantly enrich an oral English class. You can engage students in pairs or small groups using the questions, then reconvene to share insights. The lesson slides keep things on track and provide vocabulary or ideas to support the conversation as needed.
  • Reading Activities: For a reading club or simply extra reading comprehension training, our reading lessons are an excellent choice. They come with varied topics that often include cultural or informative content. For example, a reading lesson might be a short article about the mystery of Easter Island or a biography of a famous inventor, followed by engaging questions. These lessons encourage students not just to find answers in the text, but also to express opinions about it. They help build scanning and skimming skills through pre-set tasks. If you have students preparing for an exam, these reading exercises double as test practice, but in a more interesting format. For intermediate levels, you might pick a reading about family life in different countries so students can learn new facts while practicing reading. For higher levels, readings about complex topics like the business of philanthropy challenge them with more advanced vocabulary and ideas. The key is that our reading plans include pre-reading and post-reading activities, so it’s not just reading for reading’s sake, but a full comprehension and discussion cycle.
  • Listening Activities: Our listening lessons are designed to train students to understand authentic spoken English in a structured way. They feature audio recordings with different accents and levels of difficulty, followed by comprehension tasks. For example, a lesson might include a conversation between two friends planning a trip or a short news report on a global event. After listening, students complete tasks like identifying key details, answering comprehension questions, or ordering events from the audio. These lessons not only check whether students understood the passage but also train them to listen for gist, main ideas, and specific information. Like our reading lessons, listening lessons include pre- and post-listening activities: for example, predicting what the conversation will be about from pictures or keywords, then discussing opinions or related experiences after listening. This ensures the listening task becomes part of a larger cycle of communication. By using these resources in a listening workshop or part of a general class, you help students overcome one of the biggest challenges in language learning: processing real-time spoken English.

Young learners and teens – Adapting materials

International EFL teachers often teach a wide age range and Off2Class is used successfully by many teachers with young learners (children) and with teenagers, not just adults. The key for success is to choose suitable lessons and adapt your delivery:

  • For young learners (approx age 6–10): Focus on lessons with simple vocabulary, lots of visuals, and interactive potential. Good candidates are the Vocabulary lessons (topics like animals, toys, foods), Foundational Literacy lessons (if teaching the alphabet or basic reading), and basic Step-by-Step Curriculum Newcomer lessons (greetings, colors, numbers). Make it fun: use the drawing feature to have kids draw objects in certain colors, do TPR for action verbs, incorporate songs or chants if you know some that match the vocabulary. Check out this list of 63 lessons suitable for young learners – you might want to download that list and keep it handy. It includes many functional language lessons (like simple daily routines) and reading lessons with kid-friendly content (like a short text about a trip to the zoo). These are great to keep children engaged while still following a curriculum. Always keep in mind kids may not be intrinsically motivated to learn English (unlike many adults who have a clear goal), so use topics that intrigue them (space, animals, games) and keep praising and encouraging.
  • For teenagers: Teens can usually handle the standard Step-by-Step Curriculum content, but pay attention to the topic and context. Our Step-by-Step Curriculum lessons often have discussion prompts or situational dialogues. If one seems too adult (maybe something about workplace scenarios), you might swap it for a different lesson or tweak the context (“Imagine your dream job…”). However, most topics like hobbies, travel, technology, and education are perfectly relatable to teens. One nice thing: the Step-by-Step Curriculum is already designed to be age-appropriate for a broad range – adult learners don’t find it childish, and teen learners don’t find it boring. Additionally, the Step-by-Step Curriculum for Schools variant was created to make sure content suits secondary students. Even if you’re not in a US school, if you exclusively teach teens, you could consider using the “for Schools” lessons (CEFR A1–A2) and then transitioning to the main Step-by-Step Curriculum at B1. Above all, keep teens engaged by integrating their interests: for example, if a reading exercise is about “emailing,” you might spice it up by letting them choose a scenario like emailing a favorite celebrity. Our lessons give a framework; you can inject personalization easily during class.
  • Classroom management for young learners: Our online classroom includes an annotation tool and game-like elements which kids love. If you’re teaching online, you can give control to the student to draw or write answers – young kids love “driving” the lesson for a bit. If in person, you can still use a projector or interactive whiteboard for a similar effect. Always have a variety of activities even within one Off2Class lesson: e.g., after a few slides, do a quick Simon Says (if covering actions), or have a student come to the board to circle something. The teacher notes often suggest questions to ask – use those to get even the most difficult kids to respond (they might not read a paragraph, but they’ll happily answer a question about their favorite ice cream flavor that a slide prompts!).

In summary, Off2Class can be adapted to any age – it’s about picking the right content and delivery style. The platform was built with the understanding that “one size doesn’t fit all,” which is why it offers so many lesson categories.

Wrapping up: As an international EFL teacher, you have a wealth of options with Off2Class. Whether your student is a business professional aiming for a promotion, a university hopeful chasing an IELTS score, or a child whose parents want them bilingual, you can cater to them by selecting the appropriate lesson stream:

  • Use the Step-by-Step Curriculum as the backbone for general English progression (the “base course” from beginner to advanced).
  • Add in special modules like Business English or Exam Prep (IELTS/TOEFL) as needed for specific goals.
  • Continuously support learning with grammar and vocabulary supplements, addressing any gaps or interests (the extensive Lesson Library ensures you can answer that “Can we learn about _?” with “Sure, I have a lesson on that!”).
  • Enhance communicative skills through standalone Speaking and Reading Activities, which bring in fresh content and keep classes interactive.
  • Adjust for different ages and formats – Off2Class is as effective in a physical classroom as it is online, and it provides tools that help engage learners of all ages.

By leveraging these resources, you’ll save precious prep time (often 10+ hours a week), allowing you to focus more on student interaction and feedback. You’ll also project a professional image, as your lessons will be well-structured and aligned to international standards (Off2Class aligns to CEFR levels and beyond). The breadth of content means you can meet any student’s needs – truly offering a one-stop solution. As one teacher said, “It ticks all the boxes as far as skills, levels, and student expectations are concerned. It caters to young and old – conversation, grammar, exam preparation – everything I need to produce tailor-made lessons without all the effort.”.

So dive into the Lesson Library, experiment with the different lesson types, and enjoy the process of teaching English with these comprehensive tools. Your students will benefit from the engaging, varied, and targeted lessons – and you’ll benefit from the reduced planning stress and increased flexibility. Happy teaching!