Teaching English Abroad After University

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences The following blog post is about an ITTT graduate who shares his story on how he found a passion for teaching English abroad after studying abroad in Taiwan. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joseph S. When I began my undergraduate education, I intended to pursue a Master's degree, likely in Industrial Psychology, and then a career in that field; most likely consulting. However, as a requirement for my Bachelor's degree I needed to study a foreign language. I had studied German for several years in High School, and thoroughly disliked it, so, I was very easily persuaded by the University's Chinese Professor to try out her class - what did I have to lose? She was very friendly and mentioned...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Are you planning on quitting the 9-to-5 and embark on an adventure of traveling the world? The following 10 women have done exactly that. Most of them got their TEFL certificate and are teaching English abroad, while others started out teaching and are now full-time travelers. Here are 10 female travel bloggers you should be following! Jessica from @curiositytrav is from San Diego and has visited 40 countries so far. After studying International Business at San Diego State University, she also studied in Buenos Aires. After her experience in South America, she moved on to teaching English through the EPIK program in South Korea for two years and backpacked around Asia for 5 months...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Budget and Salary TEFL Information Do you want to live abroad and experience a new culture? Studying abroad is a wonderful opportunity for university students to do just that - but it’s not the only way! Many students are eager to head overseas to study at a foreign university because they think if they don’t they will miss out and never have another chance of living in a foreign country. This is simply not true. The worldwide demand for qualified English teachers is through the roof giving everyone who wants to teach abroad the opportunity to find a position. Here are 5 reasons why teaching abroad is better than studying abroad. It’s no secret that student debt is an incredibly heavy burden for a lot of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If someone would have asked me 10 years ago what would I do once I finished University, it would have never crossed my mind to tell them that I would become a teacher. The process of becoming a teacher started when I began to look for part-time jobs while I was studying the Language at Hanoi University. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Anay M. G. My English skills were poor, yet I had good basic knowledge of the language due to years and years of continuous study. Being non-native to the English language, I had to deal with learning English since primary school all the way until high-school. At that time, I didn’t appreciate very much the work of my teachers, I thought the English...  [Read more]

Anastasiia Ovchinnikova TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Two months ago, I closed my laptop after a one-hour defense over Zoom of my MA dissertation from the University of Barcelona on mobile-assisted language learning in front of the most highly cited researchers in the field of Applied Linguistics. It was very satisfying and rewarding to know that everything I had done before directly led me to that point. In this article, I am going to elaborate on the following topics that helped me to get into the competitive program in Applied Linguistics: Learning the English language has always been key to my personal development. When I was 15, due to my English level, I won the FLEX grant program...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas When I started teaching English, I've always experienced imposter syndrome because my major was Linguistics. I had no idea about teaching itself, although I knew a lot about how the language works. To change this situation, I've started working on my teaching skills to build a successful ESL teaching career. In this blog post, I want to share five ways to start ESL teaching career development that helped begin my English teaching career, even though I had no degree in education. As I've already mentioned, I studied linguistics in university and was quite advanced in English when I graduated. Right after that, I jumped at the opportunity to...  [Read more]

  Darwin is a small, laid-back, tropical city, with a friendly, tight-knit community who enjoy a casual life style and stress-free living. Most of the entertainment and cultural activities happen outdoors, in the cooler evenings, accompanied by world-famous sunsets. Darwin is small but extremely multi-cultural, the population comprising many nationalities and of course, a rich indigenous cultural heritage. The Darwin CELTA training center is situated in a major university in the city, and enjoys lush surroundings, plentiful bird life and the nearby Casuarina beach and nature reserve. The campus is served transport-wise by the institution that is known as ‘The Number 4 Bus’ and your student card gets you an unlimited travel pass for just A$7 a week. Register now & get certified...  [Read more]

  Darwin is a small, laid-back, tropical city, with a friendly, tight-knit community who enjoy a casual life style and stress-free living. Most of the entertainment and cultural activities happen outdoors, in the cooler evenings, accompanied by world-famous sunsets. Darwin is small but extremely multi-cultural, the population comprising many nationalities and of course, a rich indigenous cultural heritage. The Darwin CELTA training center is situated in a major university in the city, and enjoys lush surroundings, plentiful bird life and the nearby Casuarina beach and nature reserve. The campus is served transport-wise by the institution that is known as ‘The Number 4 Bus’ and your student card gets you an unlimited travel pass for just A$7 a week. Register now & get certified...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My attachment to teaching starts when I was a child and observing my mom teaching private lessons. I have grown to love teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Roza A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My first experience was while I was in my third year of university volunteering to teach my classmates the subjects they were weak at. Then I volunteered in one of the offices of American Corner in my city part of the American Console in Iraq and opened a course there teaching English as a second language. The two earlier volunteering experiences I had were great, mostly because the students were adults and highly...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas My interest in ESL began without the intention of becoming an ESL instructor in the first place. It was mostly born out of curiosity and interest in relocating to a foreign country which at the time (2009) was China. At the time I had been deeply contemplating a career living abroad. The contemplation came more from a cultural motivation than from a financial or career-minded motivation. Throughout my childhood and beyond, my parents were both avid travelers. Both my Mother and Father had spent considerable periods traveling in Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in particular. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ethan J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences According to the Oxford Dictionary, motivation is 'the desire or willingness to do something.' On the one hand, most of the students who take a foreign language course should have the desire and enthusiasm to learn and develop their skills in that second language; for future career prospects, travel purposes, to study or live in a country whose local language is different from their mother tongue, etc. On the other hand, a few of them won’t have any interest at all and they will attend the lessons with neither intention nor motivation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ruben Garrido G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This summative task topic personally attracted me due to my very recent experience with teaching. To begin with, I, myself is a 22-year-old fresh university graduate in Hong Kong who undertook Business Marketing. To add to that, I also planned on pursuing a career in the business industry. During my university days, I would take up different kinds of part-time jobs for two simple reasons; to make use of my skills and hobbies and earn some cash from it. These hobbies included babysitting, arts & crafts and more. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nyx E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Just at the beginning of this year, I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English is a challenging undertaking, and your students are looking to you for guidance. I am writing this summative to the reference to my teaching journey in China at a university. I was a master's student in English language and Applied linguistics at Central China Normal University. One day, I have been offered by the dean of the English department, if I can teach English in the department to some group of Chinese students. It was my first experience of teaching abroad and enthusiastically, I accepted and started teaching English. Therefore, I have taught the English language in various levels, ages, and different nationalities such as Africa, France, Bahrain, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, and...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences TEFL Reviews & TESOL Reviews For ITTT, our community of students and alumni is the most important to us. That’s why we’d love to share what our course grads have to say! This will not only have others make a better decision in whether TEFL/TESOL is for them, but it will also help the ITTT community grow bigger and stronger! The below answers were given from real ITTT alumni who have agreed to share their thoughts for our blog section. I'm Elleda Spitzer. I'm from California, USA. I took my coursed at ITTT because of the strong reviews that the company had, and the many different options that ITTT offered. My favorite part about the courses were the videos. They allowed me to review the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences While being an exchange student, as well as a Teaching Assistant, at a university in China, there has been a certain problem for students that I have noticed. The problem that stands out the most is students trying to memorize every word they want to say while giving a presentation in class. While it makes sense to want to convey your message in the correct way, the problem I see is that too many times a student who has spent days memorizing their exact lines (even pacing outside of the classroom reciting it over and over until their presentation time) has difficulties in the actual presentation when the script is taken away. If even one word is missed while they are speaking, they seem to shut down while they...  [Read more]

Utah is home to red canyons, creeks, and rivers that make for the perfect outdoor wonderland. The ancient tribe of Ute-Aztecs, as well as the Navajo Native Americans, lived in the area for thousands of years and took advantage of the rich natural environment, just as the European settlers did many years later. Still today, Utah is a premier travel destination for Americans and people from across the globe. Over millions of years, the region has been shaped by water, wind, and time. If you really want to get the most out of your visit to Utah, you could visit all of the seven national monuments, five national parks, three national historic trails, two national recreation areas and one national historic site. Failing that, you can enjoy some of the finest hiking, biking, and horseback riding...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Destinations China is a great destination to start your ESL teaching career as the country offers a lot of job opportunities, high salaries and employers usually don't require many years of teaching experience. However a lot of teachers wanting to teach there have no idea how to look for a suitable position in China. Here are the top 4 tips how to find a teaching job in China. Also read: 5 Reasons Why You Should Teach English in China Since Google is not accessible in China, you won't find many available jobs there. Therefore, I suggest you create a profile on LinkedIn and indicate that you are looking for a job in China. Chinese agents and HR managers will quickly reach out to you and will invite you to talk on WeChat (a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences As far as I can remember, I always wanted to become a teacher in a foreign country. The most thrilling part about it was to convey knowledge to others and extend my own cultural awareness. When I heard about TEFL online courses after graduating from university, I immediately thought it would be the best option for me in order to achieve my greatest dream. After the completion of this course, I will move to Tokyo with the strong will to teach English to all different types of students, regardless of their age or current English level. Now that I am almost done with my TEFL online course, this post will take a look at my improvements and achievements so far. I will particularly focus on what I feel is the best...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Ever since I was a little girl, education has been a huge part of my life. My mother was a teacher at the elementary school I attended and also taught me and my sisters Japanese after school in our home. I have always been inquisitive, constantly asking questions to my parents and teachers about topics I was interested in and about things I didn't quite understand. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kim S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I always enjoyed learning and loved the feeling of accomplishment when I received high scores on tests and other assignments. My favorite subjects were reading, writing, and spelling....  [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]

1. What is CELTA? 2. Benefits of CELTA Certification 3. CELTA Opportunities in Germany 4. How ITTT Can Help You The CELTA (Certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) is an internationally recognized certification for teachers of English as a second language. It is awarded by Cambridge Assessment English, part of the University of Cambridge. The CELTA course provides practical training for those looking to teach English to non-native speakers and is highly regarded by employers worldwide. Obtaining a CELTA certification can open up a world of opportunities for English language teachers. It not only increases job prospects but also enhances teaching skills and knowledge. CELTA graduates are equipped with the necessary tools to teach English effectively and confidently....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The use of Games in lesson plans for younger learners of the English Language is something that I think is very important. This is because they are excellent at providing a pleasant and comfortable atmosphere in the classroom. This helps in encouraging beginning students to participate. They also provide a challenge for more advanced students and are an excellent review tool (Ibrahim, 2017). Many types of games can be used in the classroom including board games, guessing games, matching games, and communication games. These can be used to teach vocabulary, grammar and speaking skills. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tania H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I would rather start by sharing my experience with the combination of teaching and living in several different countries to clarify why I have chosen this topic: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate moein m. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the past, when I was younger, I did not have any interest and was not enthusiastic about learning English, and I remember that I always used to escape from foreign language classes. Once I turned to 16 and 17, during high school, I spent most of my time with some friends who knew English well and they were always talking about the top movies and books that were on screen or best sellers....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As the 60 hours, TESOL course is coming to an end, I have started to think back to my first teaching experience. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Joyce C. When I was a university student, I decided that it was a good idea for me to find part-time work as an English tutor or teachers assistant so I could get the first-hand experience in teaching. I began teaching a 9-year-old girl who attended the local school in Hong Kong. Her name is Charmaine. Her mother was concerned about her English writing abilities, as she often made grammar and spelling mistakes during homework and tests which caused her grades to suffer. Charmaine was quite shy and her self-confidence had been damaged due to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The experience of living and working abroad for sure will give us another vision of the world. If you have been in China, enough you will learn to be more patient and tolerant. Live with another culture is not easy, and we learn how to be flexible. We are different, we live differently, our environment is different, our beliefs, our politeness, our food, etc. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ana P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. “Good morning, how are you today? “- They have never asked each other how are they? Instead, they ask “Ni chi le ma?” Did you eat? These people were starving for so many years, and the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When I first made the transition from primary school to university, I knew that my lesson plans were clearly going to have to change. As I began to come up with ideas for my new job, I was disappointed that most of the content I previously used had no place in the university. Games, such as Hangman and Pictionary, worked excellently in capturing the interests of my young students, but I didn’t think these childish games had any place in a university classroom. I found out weeks later how wrong I was when I used Pictionary at the beginning of one of my courses to ‘preview’ the vocabulary we would be covering in class that day. I discovered that day that games can support a lesson if the educator...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences For me, the decision to take a TEFL course was one that I had not planned on at any time in my life until recently. English to me was never my strongest subject in school. As an American growing up I found my personal education experience to be fairly mundane and unrewarding. The courses that I enjoyed more were math and science, especially physics. These topics seemed to hold my interest better. Traditional school was never a priority to me, but an understanding of how things work and why is what captivated my interest. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate John B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. After years of working in...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are thousands of English coursebooks nowadays, and one might get confused while trying to choose a coursebook for the students. I have faced this problem as well, trying to choose the coursebook for private classes with a 7-year-old student who has already learned some English before. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Elena K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As far as I am concerned, Oxford University Press is known to be one of the best ESL coursebook «producers» in the world. One of their best courses is «Family and Friends» which had been developed into «Family and Friends 2nd edition», a highly-popular course...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas ESL teachers when they meet their class for the first time should learn what students know and what they need to know. Even for General English in schools or university classrooms where students have more or less the same level of English. There should be some short tests to determine students’ gaps in knowledge, personal objectives or institutional requirements. Especially assessment is needed when teaching Business English. This essay will discuss types of assessments in the early stages of teaching Business English to students. ESL teachers are often hired by companies to improve the English knowledge of employees. Every adult student has a different level of language knowledge due to background and learning...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Destinations Whether you are a newly qualified teacher or are simply looking to move on to a new country after teaching for some time, it is important to research the requirements for English teachers in your chosen destination. Finding out what qualifications are needed, whether you need a visa before arriving etc. in advance will help you to create a successful plan and avoid disappointment farther down the road. This article looks at the requirements needed for teaching in Latin America. With regard to qualifications the majority of countries in the region will require at least a TEFL certificate. While preferred, a degree is not always necessary in most Latin American countries making it a great destination for those who have not...  [Read more]