Preparation of educational materials for foreign language classes

Preparation of educational materials for foreign language classes
“Open up your coursebook to page 57, check the pre-reading questions and skim the news article on gardening technology.”
“Ugh, not the book again teacher!”
Sound familiar?
Coursebooks can be useful resources for both online tutors and classroom teachers alike. They offer a syllabus, provide controlled reading, writing, listening and speaking skills practice. Even better, they reduce the amount of time needed to prepare classes.
But, let’s face it, they’re not always that interesting or relevant for the learners. The good news is that there is an alternative to always teaching English with a coursebook. 
In fact, there’s a wealth of authentic materials and resources out there. These can help you deliver engaging, motivating online classes that meet your students’ learning objectives.
There are many reasons to want to incorporate authentic materials in your lessons, so let’s explore. 
What is authentic material in language teaching?
The “authentic” in authentic materials simply means that the text, video, or audio material has not been created with English language teaching in mind. 
Instead, the learning content comes from a genuine source like a news outlet, podcast, or video platform. The teacher develops questions, activities or projects around the authentic material, graded to the level of their students. 
What are the advantages of authentic materials in English teaching?
There are lots of advantages to teaching English with authentic texts and materials. For example, you can more easily:
1. Teach to your students’ interests
After getting to know your student (or students) on your first day of tutoring online, you’ll know plenty about their interests, goals and challenges.
You can then easily curate lesson materials that directly relate to a student’s personal or professional interests and goals.