Intermediate Reading

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Being able to listen and read is an indispensable part of being a fluent user of the English language. I have been teaching business English since 1993 and know that the primary tasks of my students are acquiring exposure to the English-speaking business environment, immersing themselves in anglophone culture and being able to comprehend complex ideas in their professional fields through different media. As broadband Internet connection becomes ever more pervasive, students are switching from printed information sources to video and text content available online. Learners’ increasing demands represent an even greater challenge for me as an EFL tutor. The question then becomes, how do I tackle this challenge in my...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The use of reading in the course of language acquisition is valuable and often underrated. Before undertaking a detailed explanation, I will first offer a general example to demonstrate the problem of teaching without it. Imagine you are teaching the word “ball” to an older student. You could ask them to say “ball, ball, ball” in a drilling manner. This can be inefficient and above all, boring for the student. But suppose that you do teach it enjoyably. How many words might they learn? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Peter C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For most teachers, they will give one or sometimes two...  [Read more]

1. Introduction 2. Our Services 3. Why Choose Us 4. Get Started Today Welcome to our English tutoring services in Portland, Oregon, provided by ITTT (International TEFL and TESOL Training). If you are looking to improve your English language skills, whether it be for academic, professional, or personal reasons, you have come to the right place. Our experienced and qualified tutors are here to help you reach your language learning goals. At ITTT, we offer a range of English tutoring services tailored to meet the individual needs of our students. Whether you are a beginner looking to build a solid foundation in English grammar and vocabulary, an intermediate learner aiming to improve your speaking and listening skills, or an advanced student seeking to enhance your writing and reading...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The study of language acquisition has long been a topic of interest to both psychologists and linguists alike. The manner wherein we acquire language is broken into two categories, depending on the developmental stage of the student being thought. First language acquisition refers to how children learn their native language. Second language acquisition refers to the learning of another language differing from their native language. This essay is concerned with the effect reading has on language acquisition. Reading is a core area in the acquisition of language. However, the statement is interchangeable as the language acquired by a student greatly predicts their reading acquisition. This essay will discuss briefly...  [Read more]

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Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Placement tests are designed to put students in their appropriate ESL level band. What are the levels and how do the tests do this? ### Watch the video about this topic One type of test we commonly use for our ESL students is called the placement test. They're also called level tests and as the name implies what we're trying to do is to place students in a particular level of class. Typically there are five levels, these being, Starter (Level 1), Elementary, Pre-Intermediate, Intermediate and Upper- Intermediate (Level 5) Some of the more common features of these tests are that; 1. All four skills are commonly tested that means, reading, writing, speaking and listening and 2....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching is a way of imparting knowledge to students. When teaching English imparting in language, it means the teacher will be imparting knowledge about the language to his/her students, according to the level of the student eg starters, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate or upper-intermediate level. There are many teaching methods and these include gramma translation, presentation/practice/production, communicative language teaching, the silent way, suggestopedia, the lexical approach and audio-lingual method (drilling). This paper will focus on analyzing drilling as a teaching method so that one can weigh on whether it is an effective teaching method or not. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

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Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Nowadays, an increasing amount of people have taken on a liking on English for various purposes, thus causing heated discussion about learning English, grammar learning especially. Some contend that we shouldn’t learn grammar. While others attach great importance to English grammar. Personally speaking, English grammar is of great essence like the foundation for the skyscrapers. Everyone who wants to master a language must have a solid grammar foundation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hóng Méi Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Firstly, nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards, so for English learners,...  [Read more]

Estefany Garduño TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas When you hear about English lessons, the first thing that comes into your mind is probably lessons taken from a book, answer lesson sheets, and talking in pairs applying a small group of vocabulary, and that’s all. Let’s change the game by giving a higher immersion of English to your ESL students without going to an English-speaking country to obtain more vocabulary, pronunciation, and speaking practice. Being immersed in English is the way of “forcing” oneself to use the language, hearing how others use it, thinking in English to give answers in English, stopping trying to translate all the time from English to the native language,...  [Read more]

Shirin Sophy TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Second or foreign language learning, which appears to be an ever-present hurdle for many, has constantly been a topical issue with numerous Hypotheses centered around it, including language acquisition theory or monitor model with its sweeping effects on language learning in classrooms around the world. This well-known theory, first presented by Stephen Krashen in the 1970s, is initially based on six Hypotheses ( The Acquisition-Learning Hypothesis, the Natural Order Hypothesis, the Monitor Hypothesis, the Input Hypothesis, the Affective Filter Hypothesis, and the Reading Hypothesis) that will be discussed in this article. According to Krashen, in terms of foreign language...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lesson planning is an essential part of your teaching practice. Moreover, it is vital to be creative all the time. This sample lesson plan will help you to set a perfect lesson for beginners or lower-intermediate students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Michelle M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. List a number of role-play situations that would be appropriate for beginner and low intermediate level students. These role-play situations should include variety with multiple structures for students to exploit. Also Read: Top 10 Places to Take Your TEFL Course in Spring Choose one of the situations on your list and design...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joseph Van H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When acquiring a new language, the skills required can be split into two main categories; receptive and productive. These can be split again into reading and listening (receptive) along with writing and speaking (productive). Many decisions around the planning of lessons such as learning materials, activities, student participation levels, etc. are all heavily influenced by the students’ receptive skill levels and as such, they must always be taken into account if planning is to be effective. Receptive skills are particularly valuable to a student...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I was born in Saudi Arabia and I had to finish my education from kindergarten to high school in Jeddah and other cities in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. As a student and a resident for more than 12 years there, I think that I have some experience in the education system in Saudi Arabia. I will try here to explain English learners’ problems in Saudi Arabia with my personal opinion and experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hesham Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. It started in 1927. Then, development spanned from 1944 to the present day, the ministry of education recruited all its efforts to provide a good education...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching is itself a challenging task when it comes to teaching a beginner student. If the student is an adult or young the challenge might be there. There are means and methods of overcoming such challenges for both the teacher and the student. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sonal L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The teacher must first prepare an analysis test for the student to know the level of his/her understanding. If he is a beginner, elementary, intermediate, advanced. But as in our case if its beginner then the teacher needs to plan the lesson as well accordingly. Understanding the behavior of a student is also...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have traveled throughout Asia for some forty-five years, Vietnam is now my home. I always found the younger generations had a thirst for knowledge, particularly English as a second language. The difficulties of acquiring the knowledge under what was a repressive regime have diminished somewhat, but the major stumbling blocks to acquiring good English are the lack of experienced Vietnamese teachers, interaction with English natural speakers, and knowledge of the outside world in general. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Christopher M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Learning English as a second language has now become a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas Business students are most likely already familiar with using computers and particularly the Internet for learning English. The Internet can provide a teacher with an enormous array of teaching resources from non-authentic and authentic materials to lesson plans and ideas. Here are 7 great resources for teaching business English at no cost to the teacher! This post was written by our ITTT graduate Shannon S. This is a website that features hundreds of free online non-authentic teaching materials such as vocabulary exercises, grammar quizzes, listening comprehension videos, and reading comprehension articles. The materials are related to such business areas as accounting, sales and marketing, project management,...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Business English is a powerful tool that can build bridges and connect individuals or groups of people to help them reach common goals. Having one common language as a means of communication is also a great help when starting or building a project. However, teaching business English is a specialism within English language teaching and thus requires a great deal of forward planning and some specific knowledge and skills. Here are the most important things I have learned during my time teaching business English in Brazil. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lea D. This broad statement encompasses many things, including the teacher’s knowledge of each individual student’s overall goals,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Vocabulary has always been one language area about which students usually complain and claim that it impedes language learning. The main purpose of this study is to investigate whether using the context for guessing the meaning of new vocabulary can solve this problem. The learning of vocabulary is an important part of foreign language learning. The meaning of new words is very frequently emphasized, whether in books or verbal communication. And also, English teachers have an important role in teaching new vocabularies. In this research, we will study different kinds of teaching vocabulary by using a dictionary or guessing on the context. Further, the study also attempted to reveal what kind of factors hinder or...  [Read more]

Desrine Francois TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Teaching English as a foreign language to older adults students comes with its own unique set of challenges. These students are, more often than not, retirees whose professional lives are behind them. Unlike their younger counterparts, they do not need to learn English for educational or professional purposes. So what impels these older adults to attend EFL classes? And what are the advantages and disadvantages of having them as students? Personal growth, social interaction, and continued intellectual stimulation are often cited by older adult students as the main reasons they attend EFL classes. They believe that learning, whether it is a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas While sentence structure and grammar are the foundation of the English Language, vocabulary is the glue that holds it together. An expansive vocabulary allows students to feel confident in their abilities and communicate more effectively. There are many methods of teaching vocabulary and in each class, the teacher may need to use different methods. This is because each class will be made up of different students each with their own learning style. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Caitlin O. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Vocabulary is important to teach in the very first lessons because it is how students will be able to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Learners from Japan have to face cultural issues as well as phonetic problems when learning English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Susanne W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Like in many other Asian countries, Japanese students are used to ex-cathedra teaching, rather than actively participating and contributing to the lessons. One of their biggest fears is to ‘lose face’ in front of others, which not only means losing their own face by making mistakes. Giving a correct answer and thereby letting all the other students literally lose their face for not knowing or expressing the right answer is almost worse. Another...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When it comes to learning ESL, most learners associate it with memorizing spelling rules, doing countless grammar exercises, making abstract speaking topics, and translating sentences from L1 into English. In these, there is little or no listening and speaking practice involved, making English just one of the numerous boring school subjects. However, there is so much more to learning and activating the language if the fun element is involved. This doesn't only include traditional classroom games but also learning both at school and home with the usage of modern technology. Most children born in the 2000s have grown up using iPads and mobile phones, which makes them much more tech-literate even compared to the...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences In my personal opinion, vocabulary learning is the basic and most substantial part in any language learning. It’s like the bricks for building a house. Moreover, the process of vocabulary learning is the most difficult and time-consuming. It requires not only memorizing skills but also a good understanding of the word, and constant practice. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dan W. For most English learners in China, they often encounter the same problem when learning vocabulary, which is that they keep forgetting the meaning they've learned. One of the major reasons for this problem is that they only memorize the Chinese meaning for each word. They pay no attention to the word class and skip...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A large number of obstacles can arise for the students when learning a foreign language. Some of these problems are related to the contrast between the mother language and the learned language. About the differences between L1 and L2, there is plenty of research in the field of contrastive linguistics. Moreover, regarding that topic, many papers can be found comparing English to Japanese with the aim to address the problems of Japanese learners of English. However, other predicaments with the apprehension of the L2 can develop when teachers underestimate the importance of the cultural dimension of the language taught. Concerning that particular impediment, less scientific literature exists. In this essay, the...  [Read more]

Laura Payne Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Authentic materials are media that native speakers of a language encounter in their everyday lives, which are not specifically created for language students. TV programs, newspaper articles, books, songs, YouTube videos, and more all fall under this term. Incorporating authentic materials into ESL classrooms has numerous merits, but the high language level required to understand these materials often causes teachers to rarely or never include them in classes below an intermediate language level. However, the difficulty of language in authentic materials does not necessarily mean that they have no place in lower-level classes. With some research, planning, and creativity, any teacher...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas When I first started as an EFL teacher two years ago, my senior colleagues would often advise me to create a lesson plan well in advance of an upcoming lesson. Having had no formal teaching experience back then, it surprised me because I assumed that simply creating lesson materials for students was sufficient. I did not think that lesson plans were necessary because when I was a student, I had never seen any of my teachers referring to them on the job. It seemed to me that teachers were natural improvisers and could deliver lessons without any referenced document. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Qi Lin L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas Perhaps more than anything, the size of a student's vocabulary puts a limit on what he or she can and cannot do in English! Because although I think that grammar certainly has a place in the teaching of English, my own experience has shown me that the number of words and phrases in your language arsenal will be a bigger determining factor of your ability to understand and to use a language actively. Here I will explain why I believe that vocabulary is key when it comes to mastering English and at the same time give some examples of how to teach English vocabulary effectively to students in line with the ESA methodology. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jacob L. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Barbara Harrison Teaching Ideas Celebrate the universal language of music with your students. With music, students at all levels work on the basic skills of learning and improving their listening, speaking, reading, and writing skills while having fun! Music improves attitudes toward content and learning, as well as classroom participation. It’s also been shown to decrease anxiety and tension on scary topics and increase memory of grammar concepts. The benefits are many, including improved concentration and memory, help to absorb material, inspire creativity, and encourage learning. Music makes learning fun! A student’s previous class or activity can determine the best song choice. Ask yourself: Is your student coming to class from...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas One of the things I have learned in this course is the importance of motivation. Both teachers and students have to be motivated so that the teaching and learning environment in the classroom can be a fun and enjoyable experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Carol T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are many ways a teacher can motivate the student to learn, and one of the tools is the use of playing games in the classroom. Games are effective because aside from keeping the students interested, they are a great teaching tool. For example, for a beginning student, I would have them play “I spy with my little eye...  [Read more]