The lagniappe

In case you are wondering, the term lagniappe (/ˈlæŋ.jæp/) entered English from a Quechan word used by Andean people via Spanish and then via Louisianan French.
It refers to the small gift that it is customary in many cultures for a merchant to add to a purchase by way of saying thank you. If you buy a dozen slices of cake, for example, the confectioner might happily add a 13th by way of a small token or lagniappe.
Mark Twain is recorded as saying that it is a word worth traveling to New Orleans to get.

Where next?

This course has covered more than just the basics of language analysis. It is intended to give you what you need to know at the beginning of a teaching career.
If you are serious about a career in language teaching, there's a good deal more you need to know.
You also need to get yourself qualified in some way.
There is some advice and answers to frequently asked questions for people considering entering the profession on this site (first link below).
There are a number of routes you can take now and the choice will depend on what you want to do, where you are and where you want to be.

Advice for people entering the profession	This page contains advice and cautionary notes for people not currently in the profession who are considering it as a career.
Take the complete free TKT course on this site	TKT stands for Teaching Knowledge Test. It is a qualification designed by Cambridge University's examinations and qualifications wing and, in their words: is ideal for people who want to prove their teaching knowledge with a globally recognised certificate.
Take a proper initial teaching qualification	There are two internationally recognised qualifications which are usually short, full-time, 4-week courses. At the moment, Cambridge CELTA can be taken wholly on line. The link on the left will take you to the area of this site intended to help people doing courses like these.
Use the guides on this site for people entering the profession	If you don't feel ready to take a full training course, the link on the left will take you to the initial-plus training index on this site. There you will find links to a range of language and skills analysis guides and much else.
Use the guides on this site for people already experienced in the profession	Some of the links in the course pointed to guides in this part of the site. They are, on the whole, longer and more technical and contain more than you need to know now. However, if you are serious about teaching English, sooner or later you will have to be familiar with more technical aspects.
Do the procedural part of a basic teacher-training course	The link on the left will take you to a basic teacher-training course. This course does not lead to a recognised qualification but it will give you some practical classroom ideas to start you off.
Investigate areas of interest in both language and methodology	The link on the left will take you to an A-Z index of all the topics of guides on this site. You can browse that to find anything that interests or intrigues you.
Follow the guides in the teacher development section of this site	These guides are primarily intended for teachers already in post and wanting to increase their repertoire of ideas and classroom behaviours. If you are already teaching, they may be helpful.

What not to do

Do not be tempted by unrecognised on-line teacher training courses which suggest in any way that they are internationally recognised qualifications.
They are not, whatever their claims may be.
There are many such courses on the web and they are all virtually worthless in terms of getting a properly recognised qualification. They are interested in your money, not your development.

Glossaries and tests

This course has exposed you to quite a lot of terminology, the meanings of some of which you probably already knew, others you could guess and some were obscure. Some may still be so.
As we have gone along, we have defined technical terms as simply as possible but here are three resources you may find helpful.

Glossary index	This link will take you to the index of all the glossaries on this site which are concerned with defining terms.
A terminology test	This is a 50-item test of all the most important terms you have encountered during the course. It may help as revision.
A test of understanding	This is a 20-item test which focuses on concepts, not terminology.

A final little gift

To reward you for staying the course, you can download a text version of most of it from this link.
That version lacks this page and all the linked and embedded tests and other links to guides but may be helpful for your reference.
No, you can neither sell it nor post it on another website.

Thanks for staying with us.