They Are Teaching My Son Spanish

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As the mother of a 3-year-old son, born in Spain to British parents, I have found that singing the same song in both English and Spanish has helped my son become bilingual. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Alessandra Fay B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Provided it is done in a fun and interesting way, James appears to retain information much quicker when presented to him in song form. For example, we sing the days of the week, first in English and then in Spanish, both to the same tune and he enjoys repeating these over and over. I have also used the tune from the song “if you are happy and you know it” to teach him...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I did not realize how difficult English is until I became fluent in Spanish. I am currently studying French and I am pretty good at French. I have a basic knowledge of Esperanto. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Wayne K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. I will just touch on each of these since a book could be written about each of these. Also Read: Teaching Young Learners vs. Adult Learners - The Differences You Can Expect I have found many poems(1) and articles on the internet discussing the insane way English is spelled and pronounced. On the previously sited website(ibid) an English instructor states that he has very often...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is my first language, however, I studied Spanish throughout high school growing up in the Midwest and eventually received a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature. I learned to speak Spanish very well after becoming a high school Spanish teacher for eight years and then a principal for elementary and secondary schools for 26 more years speaking Spanish to new immigrant students and parents the whole time. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rex P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In reflecting on the title question I first asked myself how Spanish had influenced me over the years. The first obvious answer was that I...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I think of myself as having been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to learn other languages at a young age. I was taught French in primary school and at home, I learned or acquired Spanish. At school, I remember my language teacher being very textbook-oriented and she focused and followed the book to the “T”. I picked up easily on the grammar because I had already learned Spanish at home and I was also very keen to learn foreign languages, especially French. The grammar didn’t seem difficult or boring to me at all because I had already been exposed to the language at a very early age. However, many students didn’t feel the same way I did and had difficulty with the subject and therefore,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Sitting in a classroom can be such a boring and dull time for children if the teacher is not playful, fun, and creative with the tasks and activities he/she provides. I understand that teaching requires a whole lot of information to be imported into the heads of the students, but I honestly think there are very many paths to the same goal. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hristina M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In my personal learning experience, I have encountered many strategies and techniques and I have found that I, as well as most other people I have had the chance to observe, learn much faster in a relaxed and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Sitting in a classroom can be such a boring and dull time for children if the teacher is not playful, fun, and creative with the tasks and activities he/she provides. I understand that teaching requires a whole lot of information to be imported into the heads of the students, but I honestly think there are very many paths to the same goal. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hristina M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In my personal learning experience, I have encountered many strategies and techniques and I have found that I, as well as most other people I have had the chance to observe, learn much faster in a relaxed and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been a teacher my whole life. First, I coached volleyball to a group of eleven-year-olds. Afterward, I became (and still am) a yoga teacher currently looking to extend my teaching qualifications towards teaching English to kids online. Through all this experience I have come to know that the true power of a teacher revolves around his/her ability to involve and motivate students; to inspire and elevate them. That alone can bring about faster development than any amount of grammar exercises and drills ever would on their own. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Hristina M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Before I began...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I am from the United States and my native language is English. I am currently living in the Philippines, so I have been encountering language issues a lot lately. I have desperately been trying to learn Tagalog, and it is a major challenge. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Gabriel T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Along the way, I have had a lot of help from the native Filipinos that I live with and whom I now call my family. I have asked myself, "How did they learn English so well and what difficulties do they still have with English?" Because English has so many contradictions and strange nuances I have decided to do my...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Every fresh teacher, once starting his or her career, has this question: how should I teach English? What is the best way to organize my classes to make sure students would not be bored and learn something? And how to keep them motivated and enjoy every lesson? I did have all these questions at the beginning of my teaching career, and by trials and errors, I found the approach this TEFL course is based on – ESA. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Angelina G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. My English journey began long before I became a teacher myself - as an ESL student. However, my own experience was not that enjoyable:...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Being an American living in France has given me firsthand experience as to what it is like to struggle with learning a new language. I studied Spanish for six years, in Junior High and High school. Language acquisition was easier then. I can attest to the fact that younger learners learn more quickly. For me, the two major problems with learning French are the tenses and not being able to understand what people are saying. I get stuck in the present tense, often forgetting to change tenses in conversation. I also need to hone up on my listening skills. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Patricia J. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of...  [Read more]