TEFL Shandon

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Stories serve to be entertaining and educational in most cultures. A nice bedtime story for young children becomes a ritual in a lot of families nowadays, it makes up a sweet memory for a lot of people. When the listener is interested in the story, even when there is no verbal communication between the storyteller and the listener, there is still a bond between them. Therefore, storytelling is such a powerful tool teacher could use. Storytelling could make the lesson more interesting and memorable. To build the bond between the students and the teacher during storytelling, the teacher has to make sure the attention of his/her audiences are fully attracted. To make sure the stories are interesting for students the...  [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 The roles of an English teacher in a TEFL classroom are varied and depend largely on the stage of the lesson and the situations that may arise, both planned and unplanned. Many people see the teacher as the main source of information and an example of the English language. This, in a sense, is the primary role of a teacher; however, in order to fulfill the ultimate goal a teacher has, they must create a productive atmosphere in the class and a good, working relationship with their students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shannon T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the primary issues that a teacher has to overcome...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas During the second half of my undergraduate career, I had the opportunity to serve as an English Language Assistant (LA) at the English Language Institute (ELI) at my alma mater, the University of Florida. In this role, I worked with another LA and one faculty member (often a Linguistics professor) in leading a class of roughly 15 students every semester. One of the first pieces of information the first professor I worked with gave me was on the importance of assessments at the ELI. Students at the ELI were placed in classes based on their proficiency level in the language, which included evaluations in speaking, listening, reading and writing. The most beginner level students started at level 10 and the most...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Constant examination drillings and the inflexible memorization of rigid grammatical rules may, to many, sound like some of the worst elements for bringing forward a fun, engaging learning environment (Sanders, 2018) (Tam, 2018), but to many of those shouldering the responsibilities for teaching English in Hong Kong, this is an unequivocally honest encapsulation of the ways English knowledge are disseminated to the future generations. In this regard, this essay focuses on two primary issues encountered by the learners – writing and pronunciation. Also, to narrow the scope of the analysis, this essay focuses on younger learners, those around 6-18 of age. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Recently there was a debate on whether technology should be used in the classroom. It intern created these questions; is it profitable in the long run? Is it worth the money for parents? Are we as educators feeding into the technology movement? Breslin, McKeown, & Groves (2012), states “technology refers to methods, systems, and devices which are the result of scientific knowledge being used for practical purposes.” It is important to note that some students are already interested in and engaged in using technology. Mareco (2017), pointed out “Technology is entwined in almost every part of our culture. It affects how we live, work and plays and most importantly learn.” As a result, it creates...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations One of the many benefits of teaching English abroad is that you can combine your new career with your own hobbies and passions in countries all over the world. If sampling new and exciting cuisine is your thing, then you will have plenty of great food loving destinations to choose from. Here is our pick of the best destinations where teaching jobs and great food options are both in abundance. Spain has historically had one of the biggest markets in Europe for ESL teachers and it is also home to some of the best cuisine on the continent. Spanish food is generally divided into three distinct areas: The Mediterranean region which is famed for its seafood, gazpacho soup and paella; the Inner region where you can indulge in...  [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]