Moving To A New Country Feelings

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers are no different from anyone else when it comes to feeling nervous about embarking on a new venture. Whether it’s an inexperienced teacher walking into his/her first classroom, an experienced teacher to teach English to foreign students in a foreign country, or a person walking onto a stage to address an audience of his/her peers for the first time; they are out of their comfort zone, moving into a place that they’ve never been to before, not knowing what to expect or exactly what will happen. There is a churning feeling in the pit of their stomachs and an almost overwhelming fear of failure. The most seasoned of professionals will tell you that this nervousness never goes away completely, it just...  [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]

Ulysses Brown Destinations China is a popular market for teaching English as a foreign language. That's why I also took the leap and moved to China to teach. Here are 5 of the main reasons why I went to teach English in China. I studied at a university with an enormous international student body. Many of these students became good friends of mine, Romanians in particular. Most of the people with whom I associated were friendly enough, and those that weren’t found their way outside of my personal circle of friends and acquaintances. So, it can, therefore, be concluded that the majority of my friends during university were from other countries, and if they weren’t from other countries, they were from other areas. There was a caveat to this,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As a teacher who has many years of experience working in kindergarten, I can surely say that teaching English as a foreign language is fun but requires special skills. At that age, children are yet to have their abstract thinking developed, hence teaching should mostly be based on visual aids and games. We must also consider that, apart from their young age, we are dealing with a large group who are very active, unable to stand boredom and are overwhelmingly thirsty for fund and play. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joseph Niifio T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There is also one more important thing to note: This may...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In the following essay, I want to talk about teaching EFL in kindergarten and the possible advantages and disadvantages of it. In addition to that, I will talk about different teaching methods for teaching kindergarten students. They were followed by the importance of creating the right classroom environment and the teacher's personality and attitude when working with children. This essay is based on my personal experience as a kindergarten teacher and on what I have learned through this course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Annika L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Carrie Kellenberger Visa and Legal TEFL Information Learning how to answer common questions in an ESL interview is easy if you’ve researched and prepared in advance, even if you’ve never had a formal job interview before. Before we head into answering the top 15 most asked questions in a TEFL interview, there are a few things to check off your to-do list before interviewing: 1. Tell me a little about yourself. This is an icebreaker question that gives you the opportunity to sell yourself. Be positive and tell the interviewer about your good points, especially the parts of your personality that make you a good teacher. Explain why you are interested in moving abroad to teach and focus on the care and attention you will give...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences As a native English speaker, my first major foreign language experience began in 8th grade, where I had the option of studying either Spanish or French. I chose Spanish, as I’d always been drawn to the language and Latin American culture, and hoped to one day live in a Spanish speaking country. I studied the language throughout high school, but in the years afterward, it wasn’t much of a priority and wasn’t something I used on a regular basis. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lauren M. In high school, our language classes were mainly structured around learning grammar and following the textbook. From time to time, we would listen to and translate songs in Spanish, or watch a movie in...  [Read more]

Anastasiia Ovchinnikova Visa and Legal Budget and Salary Destinations Alumni Experiences When we think of moving to China, we often imagine this marvelous picture of futuristic cities, glass skyscrapers, and 24/7 buzzing big city lifestyle. That was me 4 years ago while packing my suitcases to start a new chapter of my life in this far and foreign country. I was so fresh yet naïve having graduated with a BA in Linguistics when I was offered a job as a kindergarten teacher in Tianjin. After just a couple of Internet searches, I learned that it is one of the biggest cities in China with a population of 15 million and that I could easily get to Beijing in under 20 minutes on a speed train....  [Read more]

Mark Crocker TEFL Information Alumni Experiences English has quickly become the leading language of the world. Whether we like it or not, most countries have chosen English as the language of business and international interaction, and because of this, many are pushing their people to learn English as a second language. To help guide this initiative, many businesses, schools, and private households are hiring native English-speakers to teach English to those wishing to learn. While learning directly from a native speaker is the ideal way to learn a new language, unfortunately, it is common for many English speakers to go abroad and hope to be able to teach effectively with no prior teacher training. This post was written by our...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have chosen this subject because I have some experience in teaching young learners and motivation has always been a hot topic of discussion with my peer teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lenuta M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Young learners have a short attention span and teachers or educators have to manage this issue in the first place. When dealing with teaching English to little ones, a first step is capturing their attention and interest since the intrinsic motivation is not yet developed. One method is to engage them using songs and movements. Even if they don't understand the lyrics, the rhythm and...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences English language learners at high school and college levels in Mongolia face a variety of structural and cultural difficulties that often prevent them from moving beyond an intermediate or even-low level in spoken and written English. This post will look at a few of the core issues and examine some of the ways to help improve the type of instruction provided in Mongolia that could prove beneficial for future language students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ariel W. First and foremost, teacher training in areas like lesson-planning, teacher/student talk time, impromptu speaking and writing activities, and classroom management needs to be improved. This problem stems directly from the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi everybody wherever you are right now. I'm in South Korea and it's 10 a.m. Friday, so good morning. I'm back here again today, my name is Linda from ITTT if you've been here before hi and if this is your first time watching thanks so much for tuning in and taking the time, we really appreciate it. If at any time during this live session you have any questions, feel free to drop your comments in the comment section from whichever platform you're watching from. We are streaming live on Facebook and on YouTube at the same time. If you can see me and hear me just leave a hi in the comment box, that would be highly appreciated so that I know that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas There is nothing comfortable than being in your comfort zone, especially when speaking your language (native language). The feeling that comes with it, how you pronounce words, the use of jokes and proverbs, idioms, and other slang within it, no one can take that joy or even compensate it because it naturally comes from within. It makes you feel safe at home and confident even when speaking about topics that you have never seen or heard before simply because your brain is already rich with enough vocabulary. So it allows you to navigate, swim and tackle the issues from all possible angles. As the world is changing and experiencing different...  [Read more]

Christian Davey Destinations Alumni Experiences What do you envision when you see yourself teaching English abroad? Depending on your point-of-view, it could differ considerably, I bet. For instance, you may picture yourself eating local food on your lunch break with your colleagues, or you might begin to ponder what your students are talking about in their native language during the break time. Whatever you picture, I can happily say that the experience of teaching English in Taiwan is packed with so much joy and satisfaction. The students are so passionate about learning English that they make you feel so welcome when you are there, and that is what it is all about: feeling comfortable and excited to be there. In the next...  [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]