TEFL Rough And Ready

  Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How do you spell rough?? These are straightforward statements that...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This blog post will focus on answering why lesson planning is important. The fundamentals of lesson planning will be discussed while also covering topics such as teacher demeanor, necessary preparation, and flexibility. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hannah C. Firstly it’s important to point out that lesson planning isn’t seen as a necessary tool for all teachers yet is largely considered helpful and if done so effectively, ensures the smooth running of a class. This means not having a rigid, unchangeable plan but instead somewhat of a guide to keeping a lesson on track, ensuring students are getting the most of the lesson and reaching their learning objectives. Flexibility is key...  [Read more]

  Here we have a set of five words, which all share one sound: the ?oh? sound, as in ?go?, ?show?, ?dough?, ?note? and ?boat?. They?re five different spelling patterns to tell our students so they can identify when to make the ?oh? sound. We can have a simple letter ?o?, ?ow?, ?ough?, ?o? with the magic ?e? which turns our vowel into what we knew as long sounds and the ?oa? as in ?boat?. Now, for a non-native learner, perhaps they can handle something like this. They remember that these spelling combinations help to produce the ?oh? sound and they can go about their business looking at the words and memorizing this knowing that these spelling patterns will produce the sound ?oh?. Now that?s okay until we get to a situation where we can also have words like ?to?, ?cow? and also...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas There are always struggles and problems with learners of English as a foreign language in different countries. Cambodia is no exception. The Cambodian educational system has undergone many changes in its history. The Pol Pot genocidal regime between 1975-1979 forced the educational system of the nation to collapse. After a long prohibition of the English language and the end of the cold war, the government and people of Cambodia chose the English language to be the second language to communicate and do business. In 1986 the ban from teaching English was lifted. Since it is such a relatively new language in the everyday educational system, learners of English can have problems understanding and learning the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I used to be a Mountain Guide, I have worked all over the World. I have often found myself with my clients in a mountain refuge where we would stay the night before making a summit bid the next morning. These refugees, usually found in remote and wild places, are manned by a Guardian who looks after the refuge, provides a dormitory bed for the night and cooks a hearty evening meal. The mountaineers who stay come from all over the World and everyone sits together on long tables, sharing food and wine and friendship. English is not always the common language but it would be the language we would try to use on our fellow diners. I can recall many a hilarious evening trying to make ourselves understood by a series of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Why does the English language break all its own rules and have so many words or phrases that simply make no literal sense? How does one learn such a language like this? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Bridget B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Football in most countries is a game where a ball is kicked around with one’s foot. In American English, this sport is called soccer. The sport of American football has much less to do with the kicking of the foot but yet is still called football. And we still also have soccer and handball. We have many other words in the English language that can be very confusing to those learning...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Words are an essential part of the structure of English sentences. If we want to speak English as a foreign language, we need to know new words and even progress. Considering a student who needs to know and learn new words as a teacher, we have to answer this question "What impressive ways do you have in teaching ESL vocabulary?" This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yasemin A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, they notice a new word with help; Secondly, they recognize the name at first with help, then later on their own; and lastly, they can both...  [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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences How many of us have had to call into customer service only to struggle to understand the employee’s English? The simple process to find a solution to a problem often becomes increasingly frustrating and exhausting for both parties. While monolinguistic persons may not appreciate the struggle to learn and master a new language, as instructors to those individuals working to learning English, phonetics is key. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Antranik D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The modern-day English alphabet does not visually represent the range of phonetic sounds utilized by the language and this presents...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can feel like stepping into a whole new world compared to the way you learned your first language. When you learn your first language, you take in that language in a very natural and organic way compared to the way you might obtain your second language. The first language you learn is what you hear from infancy as you grow up, as it’s the language you hear at home, on tv, at school and etc. And your second language will mostly be something you are taught in classroom which is not the same type of experience that you get from learning in your actual living environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mandrell C. When you grow up using your native tongue you...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In 1945, globalization boomed and developing countries in Europe and Africa were quickly realizing that to become technologically advanced, English was the language to pursue as it was establishing itself as the international technological language. The first textbook to be published to educate students in a specified field of English was The Structure of Technical English (Herbert, 1965), which opened the door to the development of textbooks based on register analysis. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicholas P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Strevens (1997) described the phenomenon of teaching Language for Specific...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas One of the most important traits a teacher can bring into the classroom is confidence. According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Confidence is “a feeling or consciousness of one’s powers or reliance on one’s circumstances” and “ faith or belief that one will act in a right, the proper, or efficient way”. When a teacher is confident in the classroom it will help create a more relaxed and trusting environment. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sarah Z. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I have found that when I am confident in what I am teaching I am more flexible in the classroom to be able to truly meet my student's...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are many reasons as to why you should get a Tefl. I’m not going to list every possible reason for the simple fact that it would take too long, and it is simply unnecessary to list every reason. My main three reasons as to why you should get a Tefl is because it helps anybody learn more than anybody thinks they may and or may not have known, it is highly beneficial to whatever kind of students anybody may teach, and it also helps you learn whether or not if this is a job that you truly desire to have. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. To start, many people (that study...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences It is not a secret for anyone that native speakers of any language always easily identify “non-native” when they hear at least a few words spoken by them. Often native speakers are able to fairly accurately determine the country from which the person came, based on his pronunciation. This happens due to the fact that it is common for all of us to use the sounds of our native language in the pronunciation of words of a foreign language, as well as to use articulation models we know from childhood the position of the organs of speech (lips, tongue, etc.). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mariia L. We pronounce words with stress characteristic of the native language and speak with intonations...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker TEFL Information Job interviews are traditionally one of the most daunting prospects that we face in our working lives and interviews for TEFL jobs are generally no exception. Although no one looks forward to a job interview, the whole experience can be made less intimidating if you have some idea of what to expect. As with any type of job, interviewers for TEFL related positions have certain areas that they want to cover to assess your suitability for the position. Because these areas are normally much the same worldwide, it is possible to have a rough idea about the kind of TEFL interview questions you need to prepare for. Armed with this knowledge you should be able to enter the interview room feeling positive and in a good...  [Read more]

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Mark Crocker TEFL Information Teaching Ideas In the current climate, more and more EFL teachers find themselves teaching English in an online environment rather than in a traditional classroom and it can sometimes be a difficult transition. It is also important to remember that online learning is often a new concept for many students and they too might find it difficult to adjust in the beginning. Online English students can easily become distracted by a range of outside forces, or simply become tired after spending long periods in front of their computer screen. This can be a natural occurrence when working online and is not necessarily a reflection on your teaching or the content of the lesson. However, in order to avoid...  [Read more]

  If you crave adventure and a lifestyle that’s out of the ordinary, Phnom Penh, Cambodia is the perfect location to launch your ‘teach English abroad’ journey. The transformation of Cambodia over the past three decades from a country characterised by occupation and trouble, to a Southeast Asian powerhouse, is phenomenal. There’s an insatiable demand for English language skills in Cambodia - and a chronic shortage of TEFL qualified people to teach English. What does this mean for people just like you? Simple! It means opportunities galore. Phnom Penh is the capital city of Cambodia and the nation’s international gateway. With a population of around 2.5 million people and a relatively confined central business district, it has a noticeably slower pace of life than you’ll...  [Read more]

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