You don't have to be an ABTA (American Bridge Teacher Assocation) certified teacher to spread your love of bridge. Most of us know someone who would love the game if we could get them interested.

The secret to any beginner class, whether in a formal setting like a bridge club, or at home over a kitchen table, is to get the new player excited about bridge.

I have some tips for teaching beginners:

1) Start at the right level- don't assume your students know anything so start with a deck of cards and show them what's higher than other.

2) Don't throw around confusing terms--there is way too much jargon in bridge "tricks" "trump" "ruff/sluff" etc. This can scare away new players.

3) Keep it fun. Joke around. It's a game and should be fun.

4) Card-play first. Bidding is important, but people want to be active and playing. In Bridge with Larry Cohen beginner lessons, bidding isn't discussed until the third lesson at the earliest.

5) Keep it brief. You'll want to share everything at once, but everyone needs to learn at their own pace. Don't overwhelm anyone with hours of instructions.

Some of us can't convince the person we want to learn to sit down with us and a deck of cards. For that--Elena Grewal has produced an excellent series of videos that follows these tips exactly. They are short, fun, and informative. While they do have some tips/advice that I wouldn't recommend, they do an excellent job overall. Hopefully the videos can foster interest in bridge from a new generation so share them as much as you can.

The videos can all be found on YouTube here. Or you can watch the first video below.