TEFL Kilby Butte Colony

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As an EFL teacher, one is expected to create a proper and culturally sensitive atmosphere in the classroom at all times. Unfortunately, this does not happen in every instance because many different errors can occur. To prevent possibly contract terminable offenses, a special mindset and system of preparation must be instituted. When approached correctly, discussing difficult or even controversial ideas in a foreign country can be both culturally sensitive while also not needing excessive censorship. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate James S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first and arguably single most important way to...  [Read more]

  Connected speech is also an important element of phonology and it's involved in joining words together in an effect to make our speech more efficient. Some might say it's a product of being lazy but nonetheless it's what we all do and we want all of our non-native speakers to speak as naturally as possible, so we have to be aware of these things. Here are a few of the more common examples. We have linking, dropping, changing and extra lettering. An example of each would be with linking, we link our words together so that they almost in effect become one word. Instead of saying ?What do you want to do,? we typically will say ?Whatdoyou want to do?? Then, we can also have dropping. Rather than pronouncing each and every consonant, we can sometimes, especially in certain accents,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Throughout high school and college, I mainly focused on learning how to speak Japanese as my second language. Unlike English, Japanese is a fairly phonetic language. Two of its three writing systems, hiragana and katakana, are phonetic. This makes it easy for foreigners to learn because each syllable, also known as sound clusters in some circles, is almost always said exactly how it is spelled. The third writing system, kanji, is not and, as such, is much more difficult for foreigners to learn because kanji are essentially pictures that describe their meaning. They are much more difficult to learn and use in everyday speech. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicole H. Please note that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences British versus American English is a subject that encompasses a number of fields, including linguistics, history, archaeology, geography, and the study of the history of the English language. British English has a deep foundation that stretches back into time to the advent of the Indo-Europeans, and while America can claim this as well, the language was, for the most part, very close to its modern form by the age of exploration. That being said, many archaic forms of words and grammar were still in use during the age of exploration and spelling was not standardized when the great voyages and colonization of the Americas began. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aaron T. Please note that...  [Read more]

1. Introduction 2. Importance of ESOL in Hong Kong 3. Benefits of Learning ESOL in Hong Kong 4. Opportunities for ESOL Teachers in Hong Kong Hong Kong, a vibrant and bustling city known for its rich culture and diverse population, offers a plethora of opportunities for individuals seeking to learn English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). As the global language of business and communication, mastering the English language can open doors to a wide range of academic and professional opportunities in Hong Kong and beyond. In this article, we will explore the importance of ESOL in Hong Kong, the benefits of learning the language in this dynamic city, and the opportunities available for ESOL teachers. In Hong Kong, where East meets West, English plays a crucial role as a bridge between...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is learned and spoken by a large number of people worldwide. In Shakespeare's time, the number of English speakers in the world is thought to have been between five and seven million. According to linguist David Crystal, "Between the end of the reign of Elizabeth I (1603) and the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth II (1952), this figure increased almost fiftyfold, to around 250 million" (The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language, 2003). It's a common language used in international business, which makes it a popular second language for many. English as a global language has made it impossible for cultural diversity to develop. English is easy to learn, has a high usage rate, is universal in...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As the world has become more interconnected, particularly with quick international travel, modern communications, and globalized trade, the argument for a “global language” is often used. Arguably now more than ever, a global language or single lingua franca has never been more important. There are many international bodies such as the United Nations, World Bank, and UNICEF, which create a certain amount of pressure to establish a worldwide global language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tim W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In the past, there have been many constructed languages to try and provide a solution to the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences For the past two months, I've been locked in on my computer studying the TEFL course. It has been a great experience, and as a teacher, it has given men clarity on several things I didn't have clarity on before. As a person who is already teaching English in a private language school, I can say that the TEFL course has boosted my teaching skills and confidence. The course provided me with valuable tips on teacher conduct and how to get students involved in classes. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ngonidzashe M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The best thing I've learned from the course...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences It's quite weird and confusing that English is different in different places. Many students are being taught in one way, while others in another way. Sooner or later they all face some problems in real-life communication. So, the question is, do they need to learn different versions of English or not? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Taylor K. A student from rural China grows up learning British English in his local language school. He applies to a university in the United States and gets accepted. When asking for directions to his classroom he is told to go to the second floor, but cannot find his class because he is searching one floor higher than he should. During his class, he...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences From the time of the American revolution and onward, there has been a distinctive trend for American English and British English dialects to move away from each other. Whether taught in American English or British English, most people of either type will have little trouble understanding each other. Unlike the many dialects of China, English is a pretty ubiquitous language across the board, with a spattering of unique regional words. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jeffrey G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The 2 most prominent English dialects were intertwined throughout their collective histories because the British...  [Read more]

  The next thing we should look at is how our consonants are arranged for the top two rows we have P and F at the left side of our chart and G and J at the right side of our chart. They're arranged this way because if we analyze the way we speak we're using the front of our mouth to use these sounds as in ?p? and ?f? and I'm using my lips and my teeth to produce those sounds and as we move to the right on the chart slowly but surely we're making those sounds it towards the back of our mouth. We can use the examples of ?g?. The sound ?g? is produced further back in our mouth than ?p?. The next thing we'll notice about our chart is that some of our symbols are shaded. Notice that none of the symbols in the vowel sections are shaded but only a few are in the consonant section. The...  [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]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations So, you love to travel and want to teach English abroad but you’re also a vegan? The good news is that you won’t have to choose between your dietary needs and your dream of exploring the world. The following places are vegan-friendly destinations ideal for teaching English abroad. Due to its significant Buddhist population, Thailand has plenty of vegan food options to choose from. There are vegan eateries all over the country, and you’ll also find healthy salad bar concepts, organic farm-to-table, Japanese macrobiotic and all sorts of other vegan eateries here. Even your regular restaurants often have meatless pad Thai, tom yum soup, coconut milk-based curries and salads on their menu. What’s specific for...  [Read more]