Culture Shock In The Us

Joanna Dineva Destinations Alumni Experiences Traveling for me is more than seeing a tourist sight and snapping a picture for your social media. Traveling is the opportunity to explore the world, immerse myself in different cultures and connect with the people of those cultures. Teaching English abroad has allowed me to do just that. In late 2019 an opportunity presented itself for me to teach English in Beijing, China. I had never been to China before. I had never traveled to Asia before. Having an adventurous soul and nomadic heart that I have, I accept the offer without too much hesitation. At the time of writing this personal experience article, I have lived in China for approximately four months and would like to share...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Many people around the world dream of moving abroad to teach English. It’s exciting, it’s life-changing and it can seem like a never-ending vacation. I have taught English abroad since 2015 in China and South Korea and together with fellow teachers with years of experience, I’ve compiled this list of 10 pieces of advice that every new EFL teacher needs to know. So many people want to live abroad and a large percentage of these choose the path of teaching English. The demand for teachers is huge around the globe and you can find positions in virtually all corners of the world. While that’s great news, there’s one thing to keep in mind, being a native or fluent English speaker does not make you a great...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas A multilingual class is a class where the learners speak a variety of first languages. A monolingual class is a class where all the learners speak the same first language. I have been working in international school setting for over 13 years. The classes are multilingual classes where students come from different cultures and English is the common language for them to communicate with their teachers and classmates. By contrast, English classes in local schools and universities in China are considered to be monolingual classes since the students use their first language, Chinese, to communicate. The teacher has to remind them to not use their mother tongue constantly during class...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My skin, infused with a generous amount of sunlight, illuminated the atmosphere all about me. My body gleamed in its home-made oil, as my heart throbbed through the entire flight. I clung to the acid-washed denim jacket that I wore as I departed Boeing 737; being born and raised on an island it was my first time experiencing weather that was below 62 degrees Fahrenheit – I was freezing. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rochelle R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It is safe to say that I was nowhere near prepared for the weather or the journey I was about to embark on. We had immigrated to the United States in search of...  [Read more]

Anastasiia Ovchinnikova Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas It's already been a year and a half since I said goodbye to my young English learners at a small bilingual kindergarten in Beijing and packed my suitcases to start a new life chapter in Spain. The memories of this time, 10 GB of pictures and videos on my hard drive, and a little notebook with local recipes still warm up my heart. The life of an expat is not that easy, but it's worth it in so many different ways. This blog post talks about the most important things that I've learned after almost three years of living and teaching English in China. The first month after you arrive in a new country is...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching English to non-English speaking students can be a big and challenging task. You need to be full of patience, understanding and passion if you decide to enter this vocation. I worked for ten years as a kindergarten teacher in the Middle East and at times it seemed like I was in a “jungle survival” competition. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alona J. I was really in shock when I entered into the classroom on my first day as I had students with zero-English and it was really hard to understand them all. There were also many parents sitting around with their children who were crying and having tantrums. Normally, each class should have an Arabic Assistant Teacher but at that time...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears” - Mark Antony. I have a tall tale to tell you. A story filled with unspeakable horrors that make men dishonor all they have stood for; that pushes the statement “it is better to be feared than loved if you cannot be both”- Machiavelli. To tales of living in a land down under and learning the language of the locals and communing with them in a peaceful manner. Before ending with a tale as old of time, which is empires rise and fall, similar to teaching materials that are created and become outdated. If we are to succeed we must evolve or we will just get caught up in the churn with the changing tides. Let us begin with what truly motivates the world of men....  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Growing up in a minority family, the language barrier was always a boundary that I had every intention to overcome. With this in mind I am in a unique position to relate to other students whose mother tongue is not English. Learning a new language is not an easy task, so is teaching English to students of different backgrounds. The combination of cultural differences and assimilation to a new environment snowballs into a dilemma that a teacher faces when teaching students of different nationalities. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Blia Y. In my experience working with autistic children, there are times I carry out specific actions with the intention a child will grasp the full meaning of how or...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations Alumni Experiences Hungarian Budapest, Hungary 37 Bachelor’s Degree in International Communication with a Specialty in East-Asian International Management; Master’s Degree in Social Sciences with a Thesis on Human Values in Contemporary Education; Diploma in TESOL by ITTT. I have been living in Japan for almost twelve years. Other than Japan, Korea, and the U.S. (Arizona), I have been mainly to European countries, such as the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Austria, France, the Netherlands, Spain, Greece, and Denmark. Budapest, Hungary, and Beppu, Japan Staying in Japan made it a necessity but I had already had experience in tutoring English in Hungary as a student. I did not have any concerns...  [Read more]

Umber Sherjeel Destinations Alumni Experiences Being in the teaching field for more than a decade and having taught in Saudi Arabia for the last 7+ years, I will give some pointers about my experience here as an English Language teacher. The education industry in Saudi Arabia is very blooming. There are many international schools, colleges, and universities - and the English education field in Saudi Arabia continues to grow and expand. Due to the rapid shift in the education system during the past few years, the country has established an insatiable appetite for ESL English Language teachers. English language learning has become mandatory in pretty much the entire school system. Since English is considered as a key skill for...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Visa and Legal Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Traveling abroad is an exciting but challenging adventure, for anyone. Still, teaching abroad as an LGBTQ person often means traveling has some added difficulties. It is more than likely that your adjustment to a new country will include more than culture shock and a language barrier. LGBTQ teachers have to deal with a lot of questions before deciding to teach English abroad: However, there’s also a bright side. Equality rights have come a great way over the past decade in many parts of the world. The number of countries legalizing same-sex marriage is increasing - but there’s still a long way to go. It’s...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker TEFL Information If you do a quick online search for teaching English abroad, it would be easy to assume that it is only an option for young, single people. However, this is far from the truth, as there are countless thousands of people of all ages who are currently teaching abroad with their families. Many parents see it as a great opportunity to provide their children with an international education that is far removed from the one-dimensional option that most of us experience in our home country. Although moving abroad to teach English as a family is a great option for many people, there are obviously several things to consider before jumping on a plane. If you are thinking about teaching overseas with your children, you are...  [Read more]

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Federico Riva TEFL Information Hi, I am back for another live session this week. My name is Linda from ITTT. I took a break last week, I was traveling a little bit in Korea, not too far but I got to enjoy the cherry blossoms. That's why there was no live session from me last week. But I'm back this week and I'm super excited. Today we're going to have a Q&A session, so you guys can ask me questions about TEFL and TESOL, teaching abroad, teaching online, whatever you want to know about. So something a bit more casual, let's have a chat. I would like to get to know you guys better and you can get to know me, ITTT and TEFL. If you can see me and hear me please drop a hi or something into the comment box so that I know that everything is working...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Budget and Salary TEFL Information Welcome, I'm Linda from ITTT, and we are doing a live Q&A session today, so let me just check if this is working. Is anybody here if you're here, if you can see me if you can hear me. Please, leave a comment. That would be great so that I know that you are here. And, please, let me know where you guys are tuning in from? I would be super interested to see where you are tuning in from. I'm in South Korea. I'm about an hour and a half outside of Seoul, like in the middle of South Korea in a city called Cheongju. It's not that big. It is quite big, but it's not pretty well known, but um, I've been here for five and a half years already. So, hello, some people are here great! Hi,...  [Read more]

Dorothy Brown Smith Destinations Alumni Experiences I have always wanted to travel and go abroad. I talked about it with family and friends on many occasions. When the opportunity came for me to teach in China, I immediately said, “NO!” I was thinking of traveling to places like South America, France, Italy, Greece, etc. because I had romanticized these places in my mind from what I had seen on television and read about in magazines. China was not even a thought in my mind! The opportunity kept coming to teach in China. I would see advertisements, run into people who had just came back from China. I even met someone studying Chinese to be an interpreter! I kept running into people who had some kind of connection with...  [Read more]

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