Is It Time To Leave The Us

Gianluca Costa Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences If you are thinking of moving to Hong Kong to teach English, this article is a great overview of how an ESL teacher's life in Hong Kong can be. English is widely spoken in Hong Kong, and even young children start their English education very early. Many parents place their children in English institutions early on, which shows how important English education is in Hong Kong. That's why Hong Kong offers many opportunities for ESL teachers, and you can find placements in a variety of school settings, from kindergartens, learning centers to private tutoring lessons. Most schools expect you to be in your classroom at 8:30, ready to welcome the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas All students from around the world have various ways of feeling inspired and motivated within the classroom. Examples of reasons in which students may feel unmotivated can be from lack of interest in learning the English language, uninteresting or 'boring' classwork given from the teacher or overcoming difficulties that the student may be coming across whilst learning the language. All of these aspects are possibilities of ways in which students can feel unmotivated to learn English and I am going to explain how we as teachers, can control this issue and help each learner within the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Chelsea L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Mary Blancaflor Alumni Experiences All of us were taken by surprise and panic when Corona Virus had hit our community. As we looked for answers as to how we could avert its negative effect on us, most of us turned to the internet to search for answers. Google gave us an idea of what are the top 5 concerns as the pandemic happened due to the virus. Based on internet users’ searches on the internet the following topics were the most relevant to them: As people tried to get a hold of these items, experts reminded us on the proper way to use them effectively. If sanitizing wipes are not available then use bleach as a base. Bleach is effective against germs. Most importantly, bleach should be diluted or else the fume will harm the lungs or the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Designing the syllabus of a course is one of the greatest challenges a teacher has to face and undertake way in advance to the actual implementation of the said syllabus – and before the actual beginning of any language course. When a teacher starts to plan a syllabus, he/she may not even have an exact, clear and set idea of what is expected of him/her and the students to achieve and complete during and by the end of the course. Still, planning is essential as it can save a lot of time for everyone involved, eliminate many problems, and provide the teacher with a framework and a starting point for plans and modifications. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zalán Palotai-K. Please note that...  [Read more]

Hadassah Roberts Destinations TEFL Information We are all human. Let’s face it. Arguments, miscommunications, and considerations are inevitable. Unless we are going to go hide in the mountains forever to be alone, we are going to disagree with people and be disagreed with. Unless we forever stay by ourselves, we are going to have times when other people hurt us and when we hurt others. Since we know that arguments are inevitable in the course of our life, maybe there is a way that the common argument can be turned into a beautiful conversation where everyone actually leaves happy, where everyone feels understood, and both sides always find a solution. Here accusations and explosive behavior are minimized where reasoning and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I worked with the kids a lot, I did different activities, volunteered in scouts groups, somehow the kids' department was always on me and must say I always loved it. Working with the kids is always the most fun, as you can always learn something new, it’s never boring, they don’t stop to surprise you. Kids can be very hyper and active, but at the same time very shy. Sometimes in the class full of the kids, all of them can behave completely differently, and it can be really hard to motivate them. Kids usually don’t hesitate to express their feelings at any time, which can be a good and a bad thing, as you never know how they are going to act and how they will behave in the class. This post was written by our...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information So you are taking the leap and moving abroad to teach English. That’s amazing! It’s definitely not an easy task to pack all your belongings into one suitcase and just leave - but working abroad, getting paid to travel and meeting new, like-minded people is definitely worth the hassle. Once you have all your necessary documents in hand, you can think about the actual moving part of the ordeal. It’s definitely not the same as going on a vacation and there are many things you need to think about. Here are ten things you need to know when moving abroad to teach English. Unless you already speak the language of your new destination, it wouldn’t hurt to learn some basic words and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How do we start to learn a language? - With words. Little babies first say single words and only in some period of time they start saying sentences. So teaching vocabulary is one of the most important things in learning a foreign language. If we imagine language as a tree, grammar is a trunk of the tree and vocabulary is its leaves. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anastasiia D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When I was studying at university we had a task to read a book and put down every unknown word, and then once in two weeks, our teacher asked us 50 words from the list we made. Was it helpful for me? Of course not. Some...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Back in 2014, I worked at a nursery school here in South Africa. I was the English teacher for the three to four-year-olds at this school. There were 32 students in my class. My class was so small that during nap time two students had to sleep on one mattress. There was no space to leave the class once the children had fallen asleep. I had to make sure that all my belongings were out of the class once the students came in for their naptime or I had to leave whatever was forgotten behind once I was one my way to my next job. In unit 3 on page 21, they talk about the whole class grouping pros and cons and that is really explained well where they say "class grouping is suitable for activities where the teacher...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a new language can be a wonderful experience. However, its success depends on several factors. Personal propensity above all. By this, I mean interest and passion for whatever language it is we have set our minds to learn. More often than not this propensity involves a sort of an innate talent which makes it easier for some students to master specific language skills. The right hint of motivation goes hand in hand with the environment. At a very early stage, this environment is represented by our teachers, masters, and tutors. Their ability to pass on the interest of another language will be crucial. How are we ever going to enjoy foreign language classes if they are carried out in a monotonous and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What qualities should a teacher have? Personal or professional qualities, and which ones are more important? For example, is it possible for a teacher to be charged with a duty to love children, or is it enough that he treats them with respect and good knowledge of his subject? Should a teacher be an outgoing leader? Which teacher is better - kind or strict? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alla S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Nobody will argue that the desire to learn from a professional who knows the subject is natural. Every English teacher must know the language. It would seem obvious! However, the simple truth is often...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching English to beginners is a challenge for new and experienced ESL teachers. Although with proper planning, materials, getting the students engaged and motivated in the lessons can make teaching English to beginners fun and rewarding especially when your students start to get the hang of it. It’s a great feeling to see them move from having absolutely no knowledge of English to be able to speak basic English. A few things to think about. Talking a lot is just going to waste your time and leave you frustrated. Two keep your lessons fun with as much talk time as possible for the students, allowing them to practice what they are learning in a fun environment. Always praise your students, a student who thinks...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Budget and Salary Have you just graduated or are about to graduate college and face a massive amount of student loans? You are not on your own. In the United States alone, the national student debt totals over $1.4 trillion this year. This number means that the average graduate in the US owes $17,126 and this number is rising year after year. When you are this much in debt, you can’t possibly think about moving abroad - or can you? In fact, thousands of graduates every year head abroad to teach English in order to pay off their student debt - and most of them are debt-free much faster than if they stayed at home. Here are 7 steps to paying off your student loans while teaching English abroad. I know what you are thinking. How is...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences My teaching experience started back in 1988 where I was working for a company called Bryco Windows. They are a UPVC window and door manufacturer where my position was Sales Trainer. My job was to teach new staff and train them to understand the sales process and how to close the sale. This was a hard job to do as a salesman as the sales people got a lot of knock backs (no sale). Part of my job as sales trainer was to keep them motivated. Sometimes this got very hard with some sales people and many people left. The employee turnover was very high as not many people actually could master it. I worked there for four years in this position and met some really good people who did very well. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers may already have a vision in their head of what kind of teacher they will be and what their class will be like. They might imagine how organized their class with being or how well behaved their students are. One thing they must consider before they start teaching is which method or methods of teaching they will use to help their students learn. Each teacher must evaluate the effectiveness of their teaching and be able to adjust their teaching style for one that may be better suited for their particular class. There are many ways to teach a class but which is best and how should teachers be conducting their classes? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kendyl W. Please note that this...  [Read more]

Leo Salazar TEFL Information Alumni Experiences With the advent of social distancing as a precautionary measure against the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the associated increase in people working from home rather than face-to-face, effective communication has never been more important. We share advice here on how you can improve your communication skills online. This information is especially useful for those offering online services, such as online English tutors. In response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, many companies are shutting their doors and sending their employees home in order to keep them healthy. For those who work in blue-collar positions such as manufacturing, maintenance or service-industry jobs,...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Visa and Legal If you have completed your TEFL certification course and are getting ready to head overseas to teach, you are certain to have plenty of things to organize. One area that often causes unnecessary stress is ensuring you have all the documents you will need to make the move. Luckily, this process is not as difficult as you might imagine. Although the exact requirements will vary from country to country and job to job, if you follow our straightforward breakdown you should find you have everything you need when you need it. It might seem obvious but many new teachers have got on the plane to start their new life abroad only to find that their passport’s expiry date is a real problem. The bottom line is that most...  [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 Imagine you are a teacher of English, working in Russia. Your students are a small group of preschoolers starting their educational journey for the first time. It's September and the first day of school. All the children are dressed like little dolls. Parents quietly placed flowers on your desk in the morning, a traditional act of respect. Autumn is in the air, days are getting shorter, and the native birch trees are itching to turn golden yellow. Many Russians know this is the calling, the calling of long nights and snow-filled landscapes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lauren A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Your direct...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences At its core, the same teaching principles and skills must be required and initiated for teaching one student or a group of 30 students. However, the key difference is time. An academic hour is 50 minutes, take 5 minutes to warm up and five minutes cool down, and this leaves 40 minutes for a class of 30 students. If one was to speak directly with every student, this equates to 1.33 minutes per student. Obviously, it would be pointless to do this, as not alone would each student get such little time as not to be of benefit. With one to the one, you get to spend the full 50 minutes with one student. Learning a language, be it a person’s native language or a second language, it takes time and practice. This post...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom management is a key element to establish a successful learning environment in any classroom. Classroom management is the skill of organizing and managing the class, having a friendly, relaxed manner, and maintaining discipline. For a class to be able to learn effectively the teacher must be able to inspire confidence in the students. He/she must know when to be firm and when to leave the students alone. In other words, the teacher must be flexible and change his/her role according to the activity and situation without being dominant or leaving the students uncertain. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate SENA S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas By the time a child is a year old, they can differentiate between the sounds that make up their first language but can’t distinguish between sounds that aren’t found in their first language. Even in the case of sounds that children may not be able to correctly produce until they are six years old, such as the /r/ sound. So, it would make sense that by the time a child is just a year old the way they learn language changes, as stated in Dr. Ryalls’ class. Further on when a child is finally in school they have some grasp of grammar, even if it isn’t complete by the time the child is school-aged. This means that by the time a child is in school when they would most likely start learning a language, they...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How can a parent help an ESL teacher to facilitate the quality of English learning of their children, which was always debatable, has now become more controversial? Some people assert that parents should give their children enough space or even leave them alone to have them develop without restriction, as they believe children need their room to grow up and experience something new. However, from my perspective, parents’ involvements are considerably crucial for ESL children’s development. To better articulate my reasoning, the relevant arguments will be elaborated as follow. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mingzhao C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In the summer of 2016, my college mates made plans to volunteer abroad through an organization called AIESEC. After discussions and debates with each other, the decision was made for a program in China. They then proceeded to ask anyone who’d be interested in joining them. After a day of thinking and asking my family, I decided to join the team. We were a team of 4 from Nepal. With the dates fixed and visa works done, we were ready to start our 6 weeks journey to a foreign land. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sita T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. On the night of arrival, we were welcomed by our buddies, who were assigned...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas So you’ve got your TEFL certificate in hand and landed your dream teaching job abroad. Once you’re at the school, it’s time to prep for your classes. More often than not, teachers are expected to create their own course syllabi for their different classes. Here is our guide to writing your first TEFL syllabus. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Zirui P. The syllabus of a course is the frame of what the course is. It tells the students and the teacher what is being taught in the course as well as in what order it is being taught. This is especially true in language learning, as different types of syllabi will indicate what is being learned. There are many types of syllabi for language learning. Depending...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Games and fun activities are a vital part of teaching English as a foreign language. Whether you’re teaching adults or children, games will liven up your lesson and ensure that your students will leave the classroom wanting more. Games can be used to warm up the class before your lesson begins, during the lesson to give students a break when you’re tackling a tough subject, or at the end of class when you have a few minutes left to kill. There are literally hundreds, probably thousands, of games that you can play with your students. EFL games are used to test vocabulary, practice conversing, learn tenses - the list is endless. Also read: The 5 Best TEFL Games For Adult...  [Read more]

Gaia Oliviero TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Working as an ESL teacher can be difficult if you live in a Western country and you haven't undertaken a certain path during your university studies. As far as Italy is concerned, if you want to teach in a public school, you need to hold at least a Master's Degree in pedagogical studies and/or educational sciences. No matter how good an English speaker you are, you are required to own those specific degrees. If you want to teach in a private school, you have to take into account the fact that they prefer to hire native speakers – which is totally licit, to a certain extent. In addition to that, if you have no experience whatsoever in teaching in front of a class, you are basically...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Learning English as a foreign language can sometimes become overwhelming. When people seek to learn English, their reasons can vary immensely. It could be because they want to travel to an English-speaking country, or it is possible that they are interested in English literature, or maybe it’s their job requirement. In any case, their time in the class is important to them. Besides lots of expectations, there are also many inhibitions to overcome, and little time. Games are the most powerful tool to help release pressure, boost motivation and create a fun, friendly, positive learning environment. We want students to focus and take full advantage of the time they are in the classroom, leaving outside any heavy...  [Read more]

  http://www.teflcourse.net This video looks at how two present tenses can be used to talk about the future. The two tenses are the present simple and present continuous. The present simple is used to talk about time tables and scheduled events. The bus leaves at 12. The concert starts at 8. The present continuous is used to talk about future arrangements. I am playing football at the weekend. ITTT's online TESOL courses feature other videos explaining the future tense as well as other important grammar points needed by all potential English teachers. To find a TESOL course that is best suited to your needs visit us by following the link above. -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Are you ready to Teach English Abroad? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1pcXD_GNR04 -~-~~-~~~-~~-~- Below you can...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What do you know about speaking and teaching English? Well, the answer to the first part of the question goes back to early times. I started to study English when I was between ten or eleven years old. I can say that after a few classes, I was already able to say short, simple but probably still inaccurate sentences. However, teaching English appeared as a possible professional job a long time after that. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate marisol b. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. After my high school graduation, I decided to get a university degree in Tourist Business. By that time, my English skills had improved enormously....  [Read more]