Blogs About Traveling The Us

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information The following eight couples have traveled the world together and either started out as ESL teachers or supported their travels teaching English in different parts of the world. Some of them are still teaching, others have started their own businesses. Either way, these 8 traveling power couples are an absolute inspiration for ESL teachers and you should follow them right now! Katie and Jake are two budget world wanderers and ESL teachers. They both share a passion for exploring new and exciting destinations across the world. Follow their blog "Untold Wanderlust" to see their very long, round the world adventure whilst teaching. Rosie and Dave are two ‘high-school sweethearts’ who have been teaching and...  [Read more]

Kristin Hoppe TEFL Information At 25 years old, I heard Peru calling my name and could no longer ignore it. I dreamed of moving abroad alone again after teaching English in France — and it was finally happening, with TEFL certification in hand. Unfortunately, many friends, family members, and acquaintances had a different reaction. I saw wide eyes and heard words of concern. Instead of sharing in my excitement, I spent most of my time fending off people’s fear-mongering questions or convincing them that my plan was actually a good idea. Spoiler alert: it was a fantastic idea. Women have all heard the warnings before: Don’t walk alone at night. Keep your purse close to you. Never leave your drink unattended. We’ve been raised listening to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Most people consider English to be a global language because it is the one language that is spoken and understood by the majority of the population in almost every region of the world. What is a global language? While there is no official definition, it refers to a language that is learned and spoken internationally by native and second language speakers (Mastin, 2011). There are approximately 360 million native English speakers and almost twice as many speaking it as a second language, making English one of the topmost spoken languages in the world (Klappenbach, 2019). English is undoubtedly in just about every sector whether it is in education, medicine, business, technology, tourism, communication, and so...  [Read more]

Gianluca Costa Destinations Alumni Experiences Do you want to navigate Hong Kong like a local? Then you better check out this list of the 11 most useful apps when traveling in Hong Kong that locals love! Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL expert shares 3 useful digital apps for ESL lesson plans. You will learn about Evernotes, Trello, and Notion, a 2020 favorite planning app. Create your own system or choose a template, plan ESL classes with a team or manage your freelance TEFL work. Dana W TEFL Information Alumni...  [Read more]

Gianluca Costa Destinations Alumni Experiences Do you want to navigate Hong Kong like a local? Then you better check out this list of the 11 most useful apps when traveling in Hong Kong that locals love! Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL expert shares 3 useful digital apps for ESL lesson plans. You will learn about Evernotes, Trello, and Notion, a 2020 favorite planning app. Create your own system or choose a template, plan ESL classes with a team or manage your freelance TEFL work. Dana W TEFL Information Alumni...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This blog post is devoted to the problem of controlling a large classroom. Our TEFL graduate explains how to organize your work in order to grab students' attention effectively. Mia Santarelli Destinations There are many things to consider when thinking about traveling to Italy. Here are a few apps to consider downloading to use while roaming the streets of Italy to ensure a more enjoyable experience. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on the problem of teaching skills. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas ...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This blog post is devoted to the problem of controlling a large classroom. Our TEFL graduate explains how to organize your work in order to grab students' attention effectively. Mia Santarelli Destinations There are many things to consider when thinking about traveling to Italy. Here are a few apps to consider downloading to use while roaming the streets of Italy to ensure a more enjoyable experience. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on the problem of teaching skills. Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas ...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Now we’re living in an unstable time. All the world facing a lot of problems, such as the problems of war and peace, ecology, economy, international cooperation. And all of them can’t be solved without speaking the same language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nikita B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The English language is now the first language of about 350 million people, the native language of 12 nations and the official language of more than 33 nations. It means that one of seven people in the world speaks English. It is one of the six official and working languages of the United Nations. It is the second working...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Most of the Mexican learners have difficulties with English due to a lack of the use of English in daily life. Most people in Mexico do not normally have real contact with English outside the classroom. They are usually only exposed to it through the media, such as online channels or music videos but most of them never listened to a real conversation in English or practiced a real-life situation (as asking for directions, ordering food, etc). If you are interested in teaching English in Mexico, this article will be very helpful as it highlights the most common problems students in Mexico face when learning English. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Pablo P. Only a minor percentage of Mexican students...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Alumni Experiences There are many options for teacher training. Online TEFL courses are very popular, but we need to examine very carefully the pros and cons when we decide between online and onsite TEFL training. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alejandro M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the main pluses of online TEFL courses is flexibility. You can continue with your normal life, not interfering your activities because you schedule your studies in the most convenient time for you. You don´t have to quit your job for attending classes. However, you must set aside time for such study although you...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When I started writing this essay I found loads of interesting material on this topic and I think later on I will look for many more articles and books to learn more about this fascinating world of storytelling. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olha K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. If you think about storytelling, you notice that the passing down of stories from generation to generation from century to century taught us history, culture, skills, and knowledge. “Thinking of teaching as storytelling encourages us to think of the curriculum as a collection of the great stories of our culture,” says Kieran Egan “If we...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I felt confused by it when I saw it the first time but now it’s unforgettable for me. E represents Engage, S is for study and A means activate. During my study of the TEFL course, I initially thought I would have only learned about ESA in one unit but it wasn't the case. I had a high frequency of interaction with it throughout the TEFL course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Pei dong W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first step is to have a deep understanding of the aim of each part, then the ways we can implement it, following that, we need to figure out some problems may arise from students in the class. Some of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As we know English is a very important language, which is also very practical and helpful in our lives. If everyone in the world could speak the same language, it would be so convenient for us to communicate with each other, and we could go anywhere without worrying about communication barriers. Here are some of the benefits that I think English globalization brings to us. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ying S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I think that whether it's traveling abroad or reading English magazines at home, you will realize that knowing English language is so useful, even when you go to some Asian...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The desire to travel is common among many adults. However, two main factors would hinder them from traveling, that would be time and money. What if I told you that you can travel to as many countries as you like without fear? The need for English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers worldwide is increasingly high. It is a revolving industry that is always in demand. An individual is qualified and eligible to get an ESL position once he/she has completed their first degree but with a Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) or Teaching English as Second or Other Language (TESOL) certification, you are in the lead by miles. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nadine F. Please note that...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Destinations Teaching English in China is as popular as ever and is one of the best places to put your TEFL certificate to use. In 2014, 7.26 million students graduated with Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees and the numbers were expected to rise in 2015. There are over 30,000 organizations or companies offering private English classes, with the Chinese market having nearly doubled in size in the last five years and is now worth around $3.1 billion. Certified TEFL teachers in China can expect to make between 6,000 - 16,000 RMB ($942 - $2,500 USD). Those teaching at an international school, however, can make up to 30,000 RMB ($4,700 USD). How far exactly will your salary get you in China? Most TEFL teachers put away a good amount of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Undoubtedly, English is a global language; it is used in international negotiations, used in foreign-affiliated companies, used to write academic papers, used to set up homepages, and used to perform commands while playing games. The ability to command this global language seems to be convenient and fair because we can make many things possible, including traveling around the world and gathering various kinds of information. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yoriko I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. On the contrary, we sometimes run into irritating accidents. For example, I live in a multicultural, big city, and I cannot...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Most people have dreams of traveling or working abroad. Many times, unfortunately, we believe it’s out of our grasp. However, that is not true. The TEFL/TESOL certificate is a tool that allows us to attain opportunities abroad. By investing some time and money, the world opens an unending box of opportunities. Albeit, these opportunities, even though plentiful, can be limited to non-native English speaking teachers. In a moment, we will discuss some obstacles a non-native English speaking teacher can face, how to overcome those obstacles and the benefits of a TESOL/TESOL certification. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ramon A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are many advantages for any person to learn a second language. More important learning English can influence a student’s future career. English is the most widely spoken language in the world. This means that there is a high probability of using this language in the future or encountering someone who speaks English. This will allow you to be able to communicate with other people when traveling outside of your country. An example of this is when I travel to Asia in the tourist area I have noticed that English is the common language that is used to communicate between people from different countries. I observed that there were many tourists from Russia, China, and Japan. English is taught in many of these...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Being a teacher is not like any other jobs. For example, if you are an engineer and you don’t like your job, you can still manage to go to work but to be a teacher, you have to love what you do. It is just like being a mother of 20-30 children. You have to take care of them one by one. You have to be their psychologist, mentor, and idol at the same time. It’s not something that you can do just for the money; at least if you’re good at your job. That is why being a volunteer in teaching is an excellent way of making this planet better. There are a few reasons to be a volunteer teacher and this essay will mention some of them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elif Ç. Please note...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a part of receptive skills, reading is so important that children start to read both English and Chinese books at the very beginning of their lives. Reading is a beneficial way to learn English well, especially for young learners. They can accumulate more and more vocabulary as well as the way native speakers communicate with each other by reading various kinds of books. As we all know reading a good book just like talking with a great author. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xiangnan G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Here I will share my experience of teaching English reading to young learners. I worked in an...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Having completed my Bachelor of Arts in Drama, I started my international teaching career straight out of university. What was meant to be a gap year opportunity of traveling and earning money has become a professional career in education spanning over ten years in more than five different countries. What was once a means to an end, has become a passion and a calling. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desmond K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first time I became aware of the ESL job market was in my third year of university when one of the alumni from the Drama department returned from a year of teaching in South...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Stories expose the students to more language, they engage and motivate the learner, they can be used to teach the structure of a language and the concepts about print which may be different between cultures. Stories with images can also help the students anchor their knowledge about the text. Listening to stories also helps the students hear accents and how words are pronounced. However, it is important to choose the correct book or story for the students you are working with. If familiar storylines are chosen the student is more likely to understand the story. It is also important to take into consideration the interests of the students and to find text on those topics. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As with all living languages, English is constantly evolving, slangs and idioms is an example of that. Slang and idioms are an integral part of written and spoken English; often it is employed by native speakers and has a deeper meaning than the literal phrase. Some might argue that slang and idioms are not ‘proper’ English and should not be part of the syllabus but people around the world are increasingly getting exposed to Western media. Students might encounter slangs and idioms when consuming authentic materials such as English films and books, where the characters would interact using normal lay speech. Perhaps the students are interested in all these words and phrases that are nonsensical when taken...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As we all know, English has become a global language spoken as the official one in many countries around the world. Because of its importance, nowadays English is taught at school to children from a young age because it is a skill that it is looked for by many employers and will be very useful in the future. At the moment it is very important to speak and understand the English language, especially because it gives you the ability to travel, work or have connections abroad in different fields and be able to communicate in a language that it is not your mother tongue with colleagues, clients, or customers. For this reason, I think that studying and knowing English will help and enhance a person’s life and career....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I’ve been traveling basically all my life, and that makes me a person that always will want to travel and will always want to be in different situations, cultures and of course countries. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Silvia P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I finally decided to learn how to teach English in not English speaking countries. Why? Because, the need is huge, many countries are developing very fast because English is an amazing language that everybody should at least know the basics and I think that magic happens when people can communicate with others through a common language. I think that the main reason...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are many course structures available now for teaching English. However, there are problems there to be solved. Problems are like some students find memorizing words and grammar all the time are boring; some find learning English itself is meaningless; some find they can’t talk and use it after learning all grammar from grammar practice books; some students are so nervous to talk that they kill the “communication and thinking tool” in its cradle; some even hate it after several tries of learning. However, English’s not to blame for the problems. Neither the things described by English nor grammar is. Resources are littered casually within the mind, they need to be kept in personalized rows by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching is not generally a lucrative profession, because in Africa we have strange financial priorities. But there are so many countries out there that make teaching quite a better living particularly teaching the English language as a foreign language. I don't think and neither do I believe that one can just wake up and call himself or herself into a particular field without training. Fully ingrained should one be, call himself or herself an English language teacher and this can not be achieved without education. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christian A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are a lot of languages...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Children are creative. Bringing games into an English language classroom to incite young learners’ attention and creativity is vital to keeping them motivated and entertained. Several games promote English grammar, memorization, and sentence building. These games can be reproductions of current popular games or manufactured by a teacher. Whichever method is chosen by the teacher there are still simple rules to follow. The game must be explained clearly and concisely, so the students have a full understanding of the game. An example round with the students is an effective way to ensure complete understanding. They can be a useful warmer activity to get students engaged in the lesson plan and bring a level of fun...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When you start to look around for ways to use your Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate (TEFL) you begin to find out that there are numerous options available to teachers of English. For many people around the world, learning English as a second language has become necessary for advancement in their jobs, for education and travel as English is quickly becoming the language of the world. For this reason, there are many options when it comes to teaching English. These options include teaching abroad, teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) online and even teaching in your local communities to immigrants. Let’s explore some of these options together. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I was born in the United States in a big Italian family, where Italian customs and tradition played a key role and influence in my upbringing. My Mom and Dad were travelers of a different kind and would take many hiatus to exotic lands in far off places, leaving us children behind. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rosella P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. However, one year when I was just a little girl, my parents decided it was time to take the entire family on an 8 months travel excursion throughout all of Europe. On our travels, we were introduced to many different cultures and experiences that ultimately changed the...  [Read more]