Individual Pronunciation

  Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How do you spell rough?? These are straightforward statements that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The differences between many Asiatic languages' pronunciation and that of English form the basis for a multitude of miscommunications between international interlocutors. My experience living in Japan provides plentiful evidence to support this assertion. When my Japanese associates and I communicate in English, I notice three significant pronunciation struggles for my conversation partners. For the Japanese who are learning English, the clear enunciation of the /th/ sound, the fricative quality of the /v/ consonant, and the distinction of /l/ versus /r/ formation of the tongue. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Brandon F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Given the increase in globalization during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and the growing inter-dependencies of domestic economies within the international marketplace, English, as a primary language medium for conducting international business arrangements, has become an increased priority both socially and within the business environment. However, notwithstanding the importance of English fluency within contemporary society, Japan and Japanese English learners face difficulties when trying to achieve competency. These difficulties and issues can be shown by the 2018 EF English Proficiency Index which ranked the English level of Japanese learners as rank 49 out of 88 countries which place Japan within the...  [Read more]

Regan McAllister TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Learning another language has many different components. There is vocabulary, grammar, new sounds and sometimes a new alphabet. There are the receptive (passive) skills of reading and listening and the productive (active) skills of writing and speaking. Ideally, all components are learned at a similar pace to achieve a well rounded grasp on the target language. Unfortunately, this often isn’t how language learning transpires. Instead, it is common for learners to excel in certain areas while others will require more time and effort. As a teacher, it can be easy to lean into students’ strengths and focus less on their weaknesses....  [Read more]

{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ [ {"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh0","name": "What English accent should I teach my students?","url": "https://www.tefl-certificate.net/faq/do-accents-matter-when-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh0"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh1","name": "How do English language students learn English accents?","url": "https://www.tefl-certificate.net/faq/do-accents-matter-when-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh1"} ] ] } When it comes to accents we all have one no matter where in the world we were brought up. Most of us are familiar with the basic differences between British and American accents, but what about...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Drilling refers to the teaching method by which students repeat words or phrases that are said by the teacher. With this learning method, the teacher fulfills his or her role as a model by being the source of correct English pronunciation and vocabulary. Students are then prompted to emulate the words and phrases in a repetitive manner. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Chrisantia B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Drilling is often used in the study phase (which mostly focuses on language construction) of a lesson to ensure that students are using correct pronunciation. It is done either as a choral which means that the entire...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Being an educator is one of the most gratifying and rewarding careers of all time. I have been an ESL teacher in Vietnam for the past six months. I have worked with various age groups and I prefer working with young or beginner students. I believe that it takes a special person to teach these young children. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ahmed T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As a teacher of young learners, you should have an absolute passion for teaching as well as dedication and heaps of patients. Here is one of my favorite teaching quotes: “a teacher takes a hand, opens a mind and touches a heart!” – Unknown When...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I chose this topic for my essay because it is not something I had ever given much thought to. As a native speaker, I don’t recall studying correct pronunciation in school along with other aspects of language learning such as grammar and vocabulary. Correct, or at least acceptable and understandable, the pronunciation was something that just happened. I was initially somewhat surprised when I saw that an entire online module had been devoted to the topic, but as I read the module, I realized that it is a rich and complex component of language learning, to which serious students of English as a second language should be exposed. And the sample lesson video demonstrated to me that teaching phonetics could also be...  [Read more]

  CELTA is an internationally recognized teaching qualification in the field of teaching English as a foreign or second language. The course is aimed at potential teachers with little or no experience inside a classroom. CELTA courses can be studied in a number of locations around the world and are individually designed and organized by different language institutes. Although there may be some variety between individual courses, the fundamental specifics of the course are dictated by Cambridge ESOL, part of the University of Cambridge. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This...  [Read more]

1. Introduction to Language Learning Activities 2. Benefits of Language Learning Activities 3. Examples of Language Learning Activities 4. Conclusion Language learning activities are essential for individuals looking to improve their language skills. These activities can range from simple exercises to interactive games that make learning fun and engaging. At ITTT (International TEFL and TESOL Training), we offer a variety of resources and tools to help students enhance their language learning experience. Engaging in language learning activities has numerous benefits. These activities help improve vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation, and overall language proficiency. They also promote critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving skills. Additionally, language learning activities can...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers who want to have good performance in class should have good lesson planning. Teachers should answer these questions before preparing lesson planning: what am I teaching? Whom am I teaching? How will I teach? And how will I know if the students understand? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Phuong T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Writing a lesson plan is very important for all teachers. A lesson plan helps the teacher to keep on target during the lesson. Writing lesson plans following each topic will create the connection of course. Teachers and students will not confuse when teaching and learning. Also Read: What are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The purpose of my essay is to outline some of the most frequently occurred pronunciation mistakes made by Russian learners and share some of the teaching ideas based on a few sources and my own experience of teaching and learning English as a foreign and second language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olga R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching English phonology and pronunciation for Russian learners is always challenging as there are a great number of differences rather than similarities in the pronunciation norms in the English and the Russian language systems. That is why Russian learners experience difficulties...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This summative essay will exam the importance of teaching the differences between American English and British English for EFL learners. I will examine the intention behind teaching these differences, and when these teachings should be applied, and to what effect and purpose. This essay will focus primarily on the problems of pronunciation and spelling, which are the two main differences. I am a British citizen, born and raised in London, England, and currently teach at a public high school in Tokyo. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Challis C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The most prominent differences in spelling would be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Helping students improve their pronunciation can be challenging for teachers and students alike. For students, they may have a strong desire to sound fluent but might struggle in knowing what mistakes they make and how to correct them. For teachers, they may be aware of the mistakes but may lack tools to help students accurately and precisely correct them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kent L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Many of the common methods to help improve pronunciation have their own shortcomings. A pure listen and repeat approach does not offer sufficient feedback on how to properly correct errors. Even a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many ESL teachers have never even heard of phonetics or phonology, yet they use these aspects of speech naturally when they speak. Phonetics and phonology are two areas of linguistics that study the sounds of language. Phonetics focuses on individual sounds, while phonology studies the features and combination of sounds (McMahon, 1-3). There are two reasons why ESL teachers need to know phonetics and phonology: first, it helps them to conceptualize English in a way that their students can understand; and second, it helps them to address their students’ difficult pronunciation problems. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Victoria I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas After spending five years in China as an ESL teacher, corporate trainer and university lecturer I would like to share a few of the most common problems for Chinese learners and ways for teachers to overcome them. I will focus on problems regarding cultural differences, pronunciation and first language interference. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Michal W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Despite China’s opening to the outside world in recent decades, it is still a very closed society with only anecdotal knowledge of Western culture (by Western they mean American). Lack of access to Western news, social media platforms, and...  [Read more]

  Hello. This presentation is going to cover this section on lesson planning and what we're going to do is to have a look as to why we go about planning a lesson, what do we actually put in it? We'll create an empty lesson plan pro-forma and then having done that what we'll do is to fill in that lesson plan for a particular teaching point. So, our starting position is going to be: "Why do we plan lessons at all?" There are a number of reasons why we need to plan a lesson. The first and foremost perhaps is that it's going to create a logical sequence for our lessons. If we didn't have a lesson plan, it is quite possible that we could go all over the place and it would become confusing for the students. By having this plan, what we've created is a structure that we can work from. So,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on the importance of self-analysis in the teaching job. Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on having foreign language experience. Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on teaching bigger groups and individual students. Jon ITTT Destinations This ITTT TEFL article provides tips on teaching English as a foreign language in English speaking...  [Read more]

  When learning the English language students are regularly confronted by vocabulary that is new and unfamiliar to them. In order to learn how to pronounce these words correctly the students needs to hear them modeled correctly by the teacher. 3x3 or choral drilling is a technique that is often used to aid students in learning correct pronunciation. The 3x3 technique involves the teacher clearly enunciating the new word to the class who then repeat the word back as a group. The process is then repeated twice more. After the choral drilling the teacher then indicates an individual student to repeat the word to the rest of the class. This process is again repeated twice more with different students. In addition to teaching the pronunciation of new words, 3x3 drilling can also...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences British English versus American English are often discussed during the class, students frequently ask which one is the standard English to learn and would it cause any difficulties in communication. Both of them have differences and similarities, but individuals from the UK and the US can communicate without too much difficulty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate JIN G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Besides, there is no right or wrong when the differences appear, the British may consider American do not speak proper English and American might think British people are too formal and serious. However, from my perspective,...  [Read more]

  Franziska is living and working in Madrid, Spain. She has recently earned her TEFL certification by completing a 120-hour online course with ITTT. In this TEFL review video Franziska tells us about her experience on the course. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. In this unit, I went over the possible different ways to use the necessary vocabulary learning methods (i.e. appropriacy, similarities to students' own language, meanings, etc...) and to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Over the past three years, I’ve had the privilege of teaching English as a foreign language online for a company called Education First. The format would normally be an internationally diverse group in an audio-only platform. During these sessions, I found that my students from China would have specific challenges in pronunciation that many of my European and Brazilian students would not. I recognized their tendency to add an “a” at the end of words that clearly ended in a consonant. Unfortunately, I was not educated enough in the specific challenges that Mandarin speakers faced in their attempt to learn English. I’m scheduled to begin teaching in China later this year, and it has become clear to me that I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This will be a discussion aimed at presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of teaching phonetics. We will show how teaching phonetics help create approachability and reinforce language similarities. Inversely we will look at how English suffers from inconsistent phonetic rules and the conflict between words as written and words as said. We will also look at methods to mitigate these issues. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mitchell D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Teaching phonetics help create an approachability towards English. This gives new learners confidence when approaching the language fostering a greater...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When it comes to teaching adults with higher levels of English proficiency, it is quite complicated to create lessons as most of the students usually have very specific needs and challenges. In this blog post, I would like to share a sample online lesson that I taught to an adult group of advanced EFL learners to train conversational skills. For presenting my materials online, I used Prezi for visual clues. Our class took place on Zoom. The whole lesson was structured in the form of a speaking club under the general topic of “feeling ashamed and uncomfortable”. Engagement is the most important part of any lesson. Advanced level adults are no exception. To build rapport and a comfortable environment, I started...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Teaching a group or having private lessons can be as beneficial as challenging. Let’s try to understand which kind of teaching is more suitable for us. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Catalina R. Teaching large classes has many advantages. A large class offers a greater variety of activities. The teacher can have students work alone, in pairs, in groups or as a class. This allows the focus to be placed on the students instead of the teacher. Pair or group work helps motivate the students because they share their doubts and ideas in a safe environment among peers. It can also challenge students because the weaker students will become better speakers by talking to the more advanced students (Verner,...  [Read more]

  http://www.teflonline.net The usage of the past simple tense as explained in this video is when you talk about completed actions at a definite time in the past. For example: I completed my TEFL course last year. When did you complete your TEFL course? ITTT's online TEFL courses cover tenses such as the past simple discussed in this video as well as other grammar points such as modal verbs, conditionals, reported speech etc. making sure that you as prepared as you can be before stepping into your first classroom. Once you have completed a TEFL course and are considering your options for teaching jobs it is worth considering becoming an online English teacher. As technology becomes increasingly more available around the world the demand for English lessons given solely over the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Brazilians are learning English all over the country, for various reasons and with diverse goals. In this text, I would like to approach some very common deviations to standard English dialects, such as General American and Received Pronunciation, by Brazilian speakers. I have chosen to address some problems in phonetics and pronunciation that are the most frequent in my classes. I also give attention to some problems in word linking that generate tough challenges for English teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Linecker M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The country's official language is Portuguese. As a result of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most researchers agree that the learner’s first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So-called interference or interference from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, stress, and intonation in the target language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vesna A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Some Chinese students tend to have difficulty with English sounds because they are deeply influenced by similar Chinese sounds. However, they are very different from each other. A particular sound which does not exist in the native...  [Read more]

1. Introduction 2. Benefits of ESL Resources for Beginners 3. Our ESL Resources for Beginners 4. How to Get Started with ITTT Learning English as a Second Language (ESL) is becoming increasingly important in today's globalized world. In Brazil, where English is not the primary language, having a strong grasp of English can open up numerous opportunities for individuals in terms of education, career prospects, and personal growth. ITTT (International TEFL and TESOL Training) recognizes the significance of ESL education and offers a range of resources specifically designed for beginners in Brazil. For beginners in Brazil looking to learn English, ESL resources can be incredibly beneficial. These resources provide a structured approach to learning the language, starting from the basics and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The process of learning a foreign language is not an easy one because they are expected to cover various aspects, and the challenges faced could cause a learner to take a longer time to learn the new language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Payton P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the difficulties that learners face is their attitude towards learning the language. An individuals' attitude relates to how they feel about something. Some of the learners have to learn English for job purposes and their reaction towards the language may be negative. Their negative attitude may arise from stress, fear, or even anxiety....  [Read more]