What Are Some Facts About Japan

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas So, you’ve just finished a delicious meal of sushi at your favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo. The waitress comes by and leaves the check at your table, you place your money inside, hand it back, and she shortly returns with the receipt. You proceed to place a generous tip on the table to thank her for her wonderful service, and you show yourself out of the restraint, back to the busy streets of Tokyo. Can you spot something that you shouldn’t have done in this scenario? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Most Westerns won’t be able to, as this scenario is perfectible acceptable...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several challenges Japan faces when it comes to learning English as a second language. Japanese culture is a bubble. Everything, including their ad signs, TV, games, government, studies, work and even the internet is filled with one language; Japanese. In a world of globalization, where your goods and services can come from literally any part of the globe. Japan is one of the few remaining homogenous cultures where English is still seen as an optional language. As the global economy becomes more global, the English language will likely become less optional, but essential. In addition to the cultural issues, Japan's English curriculum in the school is largely unchanged from the ‘60s according to my...  [Read more]

Maddy Payne Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Assistant Language Teachers in Japan come from different countries worldwide, bringing different kinds of English with them. In my experience, American English is often the most sought-after version of English. Some countries highly value Language Teachers from the USA, which often matches their American-style textbooks and resources. Sometimes people are even overlooked for job opportunities due to their Australian accent and British English background. Well, Japan is no different in this regard. Many Japanese schools hold American English in high regard, so what is it like being an Australian-English teacher in Japan? It's no secret that Japanese...  [Read more]

Maddy Payne Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences In 2019, my sister and I received the exciting news that we had been accepted into the JET Program to live and teach English in Japan! If you have ever looked at teaching in Japan, or even Asia in general, you have probably come across the JET Program before. JET allows you to live and work in Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) while earning one of the highest wages you can get as an ALT. The catch is: you could be placed anywhere in Japan. My sister and I didn’t actually write any location preferences, but honestly, we didn’t want to be in Tokyo. That might sound crazy to a lot of people. Why wouldn’t you want to live in Tokyo?!...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Classroom management is one of the most important aspects of teaching and is the key to students’ successful learning. Consequently, how to effectively manage and run classroom becomes the central theme and sometimes the biggest concern for English teachers, especially when facing young learners. There are a variety of settings with different scenarios but since I currently teach in Japan, here I would like to focus on the class setting in which all students are Japanese, i.e., of a single nationality who learn English as a foreign language. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Yumiko F. The typical size of my classes are four to six people and many of the young learners’ classes consist of...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Hi everyone, here's Linda again from ITTT. Today we're talking about something really interesting and exciting, teaching English in Asia. Also, all you need to know about how to get to Asia, the countries in Asia with the highest demand, and also the best sort of recruiters and teaching job platforms where you can find the best jobs for teaching English in Asia. I'm super excited about this topic today as I have been pretty much based in Asia since 2012. I spent some time in China and I am now in South Korea where I've been for the last six years. I'm so excited to share my experience with you guys and hopefully maybe some of you can also share your experience, if you have experience...  [Read more]

Laura Payne Destinations TEFL Information The Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program is not the only means to teach English in Japan, but it is one of the most popular programs out there both for aspiring teachers and those who wish to pursue other fields. I first joined this program a little over a year ago. In the short time since then, I've gained incredibly valuable experiences through my work as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT). Local prefectural governments and larger government bodies, including Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, manage the JET Program. They hire ALTs from English-speaking countries all over the world to increase Japan's international understanding at the level of local communities. Japan is an...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I am in my 3rd year of working in the countryside of Japan as an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) in public elementary and junior high schools. An ALT's official job description is to be the assistant to a Japanese Teacher of Language (JTL). In my experience, especially in elementary schools, the ALT is not seen as an assistant but as "the English teacher" since the regular homeroom teacher has no training or experience with ESL. In most cases, the ALT has a degree in a field unrelated to teaching and has no qualifications. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Carl S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. At the moment, English in...  [Read more]

Lydia Pincott Destinations Alumni Experiences “But...why are you here?” It’s a phrase often uttered by Japanese, confused about what your reason could be for straying from the usual temples of Kyoto, shops of Shinjuku, and street-food of Osaka. The beaten path in Japan is pretty great and worth exploring thoroughly, but if you’ve done it, or feel like you’ve done it from seeing other people’s pictures, these 3 destinations are for you. Take a 4-week in-class TEFL/TESOL course in Japan and get a headstart in your teaching career! Picture this: Sandy beaches with perfectly turquoise waters stretching out as far as the eye can see, cafes with fresh, flavorful food just waiting to be devoured, and cheerful locals happy...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas First lessons are always a little bit overwhelming because the students and teacher don’t know each other yet. That's why it’s very important to break the ice and help your ESL learners to relax. Plus, for future planning, you need to learn more about your students and their likes and dislikes. Get-to-know games are great for these purposes and work best if you play them during the first 3-5 lessons. For this activity, give your students two opposite words to choose between and ask a question “Are you more like 1 or 2?”. This way, you find out a little bit more about your students and the students also can bond among themselves. ...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I have been teaching in Japan for over 12 years in three different locations ranging from the southernmost part of Hokkaido to the southern island of Kyushu, where I presently reside. The youngest students I have had were children not even two years of age, whereas my older students were in their seventies. This is a very common situation for those who teach here in Japan; a country where the English boom occurred not too long after they rebuilt their nation following the Second World War. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The Japanese are in love with western culture, especially that...  [Read more]

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Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Pablo Picasso once said: “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” Teaching is so much different from many other professions that it would be difficult to define it in its entirety in a few pages of text. A surgeon is skillful in what he does and even though he or she may explain the procedure to a patient, the patient is only interested in one thing and that is to know that everything will be alright after the surgery. The patient may have some understanding of what the surgeon will do, but will never be able to use or repeat the procedure except to remember what had taken place. An experienced motor mechanic may be capable of resolving issues with a vehicle...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations Thailand has been a major destination on the Southeast Asia backpacking trail for many years and it is now also one of the biggest employers of foreign teachers in the region. So what is it about Thailand that attracts thousands of teachers every year from all corners of the Earth? And what is it that makes many of them stay for far longer than they ever intended? This list of 8 Reasons to Teach English in Thailand should provide some answers to these questions and maybe put it on your radar of potential teaching destinations. Anyone who has visited Thailand will know that the local people are among the friendliest and most welcoming in the world. As a popular tourist hot spot, the Thai people are no strangers to foreign...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi guys, my name is Linda from ITTT, nice to see you again. If you can see me and hear me just say hi in the comment section, it would be really nice. Yeah, back this week with another exciting topic, how much money can you really make teaching English? Very interesting topic as we all need to know how much money we can make if we want to go and teach English abroad. I'm also going to cover how much money you can make when you teach online, so very important topics that we are covering today. If you are listening to this as a podcast episode, thank you so much for the download. As you might know we always turn our live sessions into podcast...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences From both taking this course and my experience in teaching Japanese children English, I have seen the importance and impact of establishing rapport with students right at the start of the class. Starting from the first lesson, a teacher must establish what kind of relationship they desire to have with the students. That relationship must often be with a relaxed atmosphere where the students can feel that they are supported by the teacher. Thus from the very first lesson, the teacher must get to work on getting to know basic information about the students. What kind of interests do they have? Why are they learning English? At what level are they currently in with regards to their English skills? Knowing this...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In the wake of the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Japan, there has been an increase in elementary school level English classes. As an assistant language teacher half into my fourth year, I have had the rare chance to work the entirety of my time in one elementary school where I have had many great memories. However, being present every day I began to notice that some students were struggling or in some cases, not even trying when it came to English class. Talking with my peers and colleagues from other elementary schools as well as my own, there are some common problems that many students seem to experience in an English class. These problems include learning in a counter-productive environment, inconsistent...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi everybody wherever you are right now. I'm in South Korea and it's 10 a.m. Friday, so good morning. I'm back here again today, my name is Linda from ITTT if you've been here before hi and if this is your first time watching thanks so much for tuning in and taking the time, we really appreciate it. If at any time during this live session you have any questions, feel free to drop your comments in the comment section from whichever platform you're watching from. We are streaming live on Facebook and on YouTube at the same time. If you can see me and hear me just leave a hi in the comment box, that would be highly appreciated so that I know that...  [Read more]

Federico Riva 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 statements were given from real ITTT alumni who have agreed to share their thoughts for our review section. In this TESOL review video, ITTT course graduate Elizabeth from the US shares her thoughts on taking online TEFL courses with ITTT. What she enjoyed most about the course was the flexibility it gave her to pursue a TEFL while doing a Master's in music. She also loved the fact that no prior...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hi my name is Linda from ITTT, international TEFL and TESOL Training and I'm back again today for another live session. If you can hear me and see me please let me know as I'm trying out a new mic today so if that is working well it would be good to know. So please leave a quick comment to say hi and where you're watching from. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years, so for me right now it's 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. Let me know where you are tuning in from and what time it is where you are. We can get started on today's topic which is the best government programs for teaching English abroad. If you're interested in teaching English abroad then you should...  [Read more]

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Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Hello everybody and welcome. We're actually also going live on Instagram today, so I'm going to check that out as well as the usual Facebook and YouTube. Hopefully everything will work fine. I hope everybody can hear me well and can see me. This is the first time that we're actually live on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at the same time, so I have a lot of screens here in front of me. Hello there, I see somebody tuned in on Instagram and we have a few people here on Facebook and YouTube already. I hope everything is going well today. Unfortunately, if you're watching on Instagram you won't be able to see the screen and maybe some of the...  [Read more]

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Gianluca Costa TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Many of us, at least once in our life, have the desire to change our careers. However, when you spend many years in the same field, it is hard to change to another for various reasons. Mostly it's that your mindset is orientated in a certain way. The idea of change completely seems to be impossible and gives you a feeling of uncertainty but the benefits of undertaking such a big step can be plentiful. I'm here to give you some tips and encourage you to make this huge step. I worked in hospitality for almost 12 years. It was a fun career at the beginning. A chef or a waiter is like an artist, it's a passion and you produce something for people that makes their day simply by...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Teaching English in 2021. A few people have told me about their teaching journey already, so keep letting me know what your plans are in terms of teaching English abroad or teaching English online. Somebody said they're interested in teaching online, so that's really cool. Someone new has just joined us from Laos, hi there. We have Margaret who is also teaching online, very cool. I’m going to talk a little bit about teaching English online in this presentation. Juliana says hi, I think you've watched before as I recognize your picture, thanks for tuning in again. It's really good to see new faces and old faces in our TEFL family today. I have prepared some visuals that I'm going to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Using games in the classroom is beneficial for better student learning. Games are helpful when introducing new content, enhancing the learning process, or reviewing learned material. A low-stress atmosphere in the classroom is created easily by adding games. From Gap fill to Fizz Bizz to I Spy they can help the teacher maintain a positive attitude and establish rapport with students. Games create an environment where students want to participate and aren't afraid of correction or failure. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ellen P. Vince Goman RTC, CPCC, BBA, Somatic Counselor said in his book, Let The Fire Burn, "Play is the foundation for academic learning. While the left brain is more...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Many women around the world are eager to start a new career in teaching English as a foreign language. Whether it’s straight after graduating from college, in their mid-20s or 30s or later on in life, women from all backgrounds are intrigued by the thought of living and working in a different country abroad. However, many of them feel reluctant and ask “Is it safe for single women to teach English abroad?” The answer is: Absolutely - and here is why. You might be surprised to hear that around 60% of all English teachers abroad are women. In fact, there are usually between 500 and 5,000 foreign teachers, men and women, living in many major cities across Asia, Europe and Latin...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I believe teaching English is a very important job, one that has a large impact and takes great care to do well. As teachers, we are the vessel through which our students receive information and how we present it can have a great impact on what the students learn, how much they learn and how thoroughly they learn it. Part of what makes teaching so challenging is that all students learn differently, a strategy that may help one student, may not resonate with another. Therefore teaching requires not only that a teacher is engaging and effective for one student, but that they find ways to reach every student. I believe a big part of achieving this as a teacher is the personal qualities a teacher brings to a...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Budget and Salary TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Today, we are going to talk about the “biggest misconceptions about TEFL and TESOL and teaching English abroad”. We get a lot of questions here at ITT, and a lot of people are confused and I just want to clear a few things up, some myths here and there, and I think I've narrowed it down to eight misconceptions that we're going to look at and you can throw your questions at me at any time. I would also really like to know where you are like in your TEFL journey, are you currently taking a TEFL or TESOL course? Are you thinking about it? Are you already certified? Or are you already teaching abroad? Let me know, that would be interesting to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In recent years, the most popular destination for EFL teachers all over the world has been China. China is the country welcoming many foreign teachers, native and non-native, and is probably the country with the most rapid development of the English teaching industry. Online teaching has become just as important as face to face teaching and has been a teacher for an online company for a long time, I have experienced a variety of students, levels, and groups. Therefore, in this essay, I will write about the most common problems Chinese students face and some ways of dealing with them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aleksandra Đ. If you are ever in China, you will notice that you will...  [Read more]