Hack number 5, I think what is meant by local context is using names of local cities, local market places, grocery stores, malls, names of people, singers, their famous athletes..... in your activities and examples. This helps students personalize their English and use it out of class as well.
About knowing the local language-I’ve found that having studied various languages makes me sensitive to what we used to call L1-L2 interference (the term may have changed: now called negative transfer, I think). I live in Taiwan and knowing Mandarin Chinese is especially helpful in detecting L1-L2 interference errors (when the first language creeps into the second language). I’ll also add that at least to some degree, it’s a good idea to give the parents or adult learners what they want in order to have them continue to renew and to give you good evaluations-long story very short!
I agree! It really benefits students when you can anticipate their errors and it's essential for communicating with parents/families when teaching young learners.
