What Can Teachers Do Instead Of Teaching

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my experience teaching elementary and junior high school level English in Japan, several different pronunciation problems appear frequently. The Japanese phonemic inventory is smaller than English’s phonemic inventory, and the sounds present in each language differ from each other quite dramatically. Because of this, it can be difficult for native Japanese speakers to learn and master English pronunciation, but there are a few teaching techniques that can help students overcome this difficulty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vladlena H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Several consonants are difficult for native Japanese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this essay, I will debate whether or not teaching slang and idioms is important for ESL students and whether or not it has a place in the ESL classroom. Teaching phrasal verbs and idioms can present many issues in the classroom, and some teacher would choose to avoid this altogether, instead choosing to stick to the safer, more tried and tested topics that are available to us. However I think that this is a mistake, as students often want to know how the language is actually used in real-life situations and how they can best prepare themselves for a trip to a particular place in the world, furthermore, these language tools can provide a great deal of motivation in the classroom. Throughout this essay, I will...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences J.K. Rowling, the brilliant author of the Harry Potter series, is extremely talented and her writing encouraged young adults and children to enjoy reading. This, however, does not necessarily mean that she will be equally successful if asked to teach writing to a group of students. Teaching requires specific skills of its own. The way a teacher manages a classroom can undoubtedly affect how many students in that class learn. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ana L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A lesson will run smoothly as long as the teacher’s classroom management skills are strong. There are a couple of things to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas This topic, in particular, is of great interest to me as someone who managed to acquire two languages (Mandarin Chinese and English) at a high level. For me the journey was completely painless and the word ‘acquired’ is fitting since I personally never felt I had to actively undergo a ‘study’ to learn either language, but this statement is dependant on how we define studying and learning languages, and in turn: teaching languages. People often use the phrase ‘It’s like learning a whole new language’ when trying to express how difficult and confusing it is to learn something, yet learning new languages shouldn’t be harder than learning any other subject or skill. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Moving abroad to teach English has become a widely popular career path for many people of all ages and backgrounds around the world. A quick Internet search reveals a seemingly endless array of job offers for TEFL certified teachers. But how can you make sure that the advertised job is legit? This article shows you exactly what scams to look out for when looking for TEFL jobs. While the individual motives can be varied, most of the time, scammers try to take advantage of teachers looking for jobs overseas for pure financial gain. Some try to get you to pay for an application or visa fee, while others may go as far as stealing your personal and credit card information. One of the most common scams involving TEFL...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English pronunciation to students of other languages is always a big deal. English teachers from other countries may think that it is a topic to be skipped or only briefly introduced to students, but it is one of the most important subjects and it should be an integral part of an English course. As a matter of fact, the full understanding of a language and good communication actually depend, to a certain extent, on how correctly words are pronounced. Also, it is not only a matter of pronunciation but intonation. Every language has its own intonation and stress on words, so an English learner could find it difficult to get used to a new way of pronouncing words in another language. This is true for...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Stefania F. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. English teachers from other countries may think that it is a topic to be skipped or only briefly introduced to students, but it is one of the most important subjects and it should be an integral part of an English course. As a matter of fact, the full understanding of a language and good communication actually depends, to a certain extent, on how correctly words are pronounced. Also, it is not only a matter of pronunciation but intonation. Every language has its own intonation and stress on words, so an English learner could find it difficult to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a new language is not an easy task, regardless of the age it is learned at, and with the globalization of the English language, there are more and more people faced with the challenge of learning English to better their lives. English is known as one of the most difficult languages to learn due to its irregularities, and therefore requires a variety of different techniques to be applied in the classroom to help students learn the language better. Even though adult and young learners are both learning the same things, the learning process for both groups can be quite different. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Melanie D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Let's think about a definition of the word 'game' and try to find it in dictionaries or encyclopedias. We will see that apart from amusement value, a game is considered to be a valuable educational tool. Undoubtedly different games are used mainly to entertain and bring fun, and only the secondary aim can be perceived as having teaching or educational significance. Whether students can or cannot understand the teacher's hidden purpose in applying games during a lesson, the process will bring fun, relaxation, and interaction. At the same time, the result will be meaningful and long-lasting. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences A learner's mother tongue has a profound influence on verbalization of the second language. The absence of some sounds in the learner's first language, and the difference in intonation, word, and syllable stress between the learner's native language and English are some of the many factors that often lead to an incorrect pronunciation of English words. In order to address these issues, a teacher needs to have a basic understanding of the student's native language. This essay will briefly explore the most common pronunciation problems for Egyptians learners of English and some suggested solutions to tackle these problems. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Salma O. One of the most prominent...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The origin of many non-native English speakers can be recognized by their accents. For instance, Indians, French, and German people are easily identified by their accent. However, there are accents that are not easily recognizable, and one of them is the Brazilian accent. We can recognize Brazilians while he or she speaks English by 6 mistakes in the pronunciation that only Brazilians make. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Monica D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, one thing that Brazilians do in many words that is so unique to Brazilians is to add the sound of “ie” in English words that there is not “ie” in the...  [Read more]

Mudita Yajnik TEFL Information Teaching Ideas What’s the best way to find out what your students know? Or, how much they’ve been paying attention, or what you need to revisit? Tests. Tests can be a great way to find out if the class is ready to move forward or if they need to revisit some ideas. They can be a great tool for finding out what your students need and how much they’ve been paying attention to. However, tests can be very stressful for students, especially if they have been asked to memorize information. Of course, I understand the argument that in “real life,” they won’t be able to use their notes, or they won’t have time to pause a conversation so that they can look up the correct words. Of course,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences To many students, the school can feel like more of a chore than a pleasurable experience. Whether it is struggling to pay attention to lectures or to complete homework assignments, all students will lose focus at some point or another. One way to make the learning process more pleasurable is by transforming the classroom into a game-like environment. This does not necessarily mean playing games in class, but it does mean applying similar concepts to the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Heather H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Many of the games we enjoy also happen to build real-life skills such as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Before starting my TEFL course to gain a more professional basis, I worked as an English teacher in South Korea for about one year. In this short essay, I will explain some of the most prominent difficulties South Korean students seem to face when learning English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Laura M. First and foremost, the educational structure in South Korea is quite different from those of Europe or the United States. Korean kids usually start studying English from the age of three. However, the average class size of about 40 students is way too big for such young students, making any interaction between teacher and student impossible. Later on, most Korean students become...  [Read more]

Pritam Nagrale Teaching Ideas As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage the world well into 2021 and shows no visible signs of ebbing, there’s an additional burden that teachers have to face nowadays. And that pressure comes from designing effective lessons for online classes. The new normal, as we know it today, dictates that we stay at home and take every precaution to avoid the contagion. This brings us to a question: How to design effective lessons for an online class? Is it that easy? I will try and answer both these questions in this article while providing six topmost tips that might help you create superb and engaging lessons for your online classes. Let’s begin by exploring the reasons for designing effective online lessons. The...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching English online is a huge growing market in today’s globalized society. According to the British Council, there are over a billion people who are learning English (750 million English as a foreign language learners and 350 million English as a second language learner). The difference between EFL and ESL learners is that EFL learners live in a country where the language of the community is not English and English is used by a learner in rare instances such as for business or pleasure; while ESL learners live where English is either a primary language or has an established role in the society and the language is used daily. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nina S. Please note that...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Teaching Ideas When I had completed approximately thirty percent of the TEFL course I decided to go to a local school here in the North East of Thailand, where I live, and my friend, who is a Canadian national, is the English teacher at that particular school. I had already arranged with him, that I would take his English lesson acting as a visiting English trainee teacher, and he would assess me. I gave a lesson to the students in the English language sentence structure. On completion of the lesson I approached my friend and asked his assessment of my teaching abilities, and he replied that I taught to a satisfactory standard apart from the fact that, I was a little bit nervous and the students didn’t speak much at all. Although...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Many factors can impact students’ motivation such as social, psychological, educational, economical, etc. However, a teacher can still play an important role to keep the students motivated. In Afghanistan’s educational tradition, students are often compared to each other, and they are ranked based on tests and exams throughout the course. Additionally, the teacher corrects every student’s assignment. Notice the word “correct” has been used instead of “mark” or “assess.” The teacher will try to point out every single mistake or error. Having six years of English language teaching experience, plus observing my colleagues’ and students’ behaviour, and studying the methods of foreign language...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Most of the Mexican learners have difficulties with English due to a lack of the use of English in daily life. Most people in Mexico do not normally have real contact with English outside the classroom. They are usually only exposed to it through the media, such as online channels or music videos but most of them never listened to a real conversation in English or practiced a real-life situation (as asking for directions, ordering food, etc). If you are interested in teaching English in Mexico, this article will be very helpful as it highlights the most common problems students in Mexico face when learning English. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Pablo P. Only a minor percentage of Mexican students...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences As the world becomes increasingly globalized, EFL programs are nearing ubiquity. A substantial portion of EFL participants are young learners. Although there is a lot of crossover between techniques used for young learners and those used older children or adults, there are certainly strategies that can be employed to get the most out of a classroom of young learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kara C. A teacher’s initial lesson will help set the tone for the semester and should be warm and fun. Teachers should avoid teaching from the book and instead focus on making connections between teacher and students, as well as peer to peer. Icebreakers and simple games are a good way to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In my experience tutoring students in English as a foreign language, the most overlooked learning points were undoubtedly phonetics, phonology, and their connection to pronunciation. Occasionally, there would be a few students who specifically asked for materials that would allow them to perfect or improve their English accent. Some students even requested to receive tutoring in different accents such as the Australian accent. No matter what the request was, it became clear to me over time that the missing link when teaching pronunciation was its connection to phonology and phonetics. From this point on, I became incredibly interested in this topic. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Umutesi...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Confident teachers can make confident learners. A confident teacher would have a positive impact on his or her students' attitude. Teachers' belief in their teaching capabilities could affect how they perceive, approach and teach their students. Having confidence as a teacher can improve your overall effectiveness as well as your well-being. Unfortunately, students can be quick to spot a lack of confidence, which can lead to issues with classroom management. Everyone needs a confidence boost from time-to-time, whether there is a new teacher or a teacher gracing classroom for years. There are a few ways to boost confidence in the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ami M. Please note...  [Read more]

  Maksim from Russia is living and working in Shanghai, China. He took the 120-hour online TEFL course with ITTT and in his TEFL review video he tells us how he found the course to be well organized, interesting and not complicated. Maksim thinks that having the TEFL certificate played an important role in helping him to find a job teaching English in China. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. This unit was about different ways of teaching. It...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences In today's world, technology has evolved in a way that makes everything so much more accessible. Even in areas that are less fortunate, or have less access to certain resources, it is still possible for them to have access to education because of the availability of online resources. There are many companies nowadays that donate computers, laptops, and facilities to these areas to give them a better chance of having a good education. Teachers from all over the world are now able to provide classes and one-on-one lessons to these areas because of this. Aside from the fact that having online classes gives access to students from all over the world, it is also much more convenient and cost-effective. This post was...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The more a teacher speaks the less attention the learners will pay. Decreasing teacher speaking time can be done with a few practical steps and wonderful teaching methods. It all starts with proper planning. When designing a lesson plan be sure to include assignments and activities that will engage your students and do not call for a teacher dominant role. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Johnelle M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Using activities in the classroom that engage the students is very important. For example, instead of going right into a lecture, using a pass the ball activity allows the students to get engaged...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Most teachers come to China to teach English with only a general idea about Chinese culture and language which they should have to deal with as soon as they arrive in China. The reason I chose this topic is that I am fluent in Chinese and have experienced Chinese culture in all its facets for over than seven years. But let’s not beat around the bush and get down to the nitty-gritty. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ruben M. Chinese people often seem to be shy or introverted, especially in front of foreigners or in the classroom. However, they are not always. Chinese society is built on 关系 Guanxi, which means “relationship(s)” and can be described as any kind of connection...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Speaking like a native speaker is always expected from learners. However, they encounter many factors that prevent their success. Therefore, as an English teacher, I want to explore some common difficulties that Vietnamese students face when they learn to pronounce English so that I can teach effectively and help them communicate more confidently. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Thuong L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Four major features can cause problems for them. Firstly, the complexity of tense and lax vowels in English creates confusion for Vietnamese learners. Secondly, a variety of dialect differences and consonant...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas In China, Parents realize learning English is essential to their child's future. There are many reasons why Chinese have to speak okay English; they also know that the best time for one to master another language, the earlier the best. The biggest challenge we face in China is that parents are reluctant to use English in daily life. It is easy to understand why most Chinese are unwilling to speak English if you know our culture, "Saving Face," they are afraid to make mistakes in front of others, take "English" as a complicated subject, only teacher and school can handle it. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mengru W. Please note that this blog post might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Music is a uniquely human characteristic. No other living creature can recreate frequencies, beats, pulses, and harmonies as we do. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mariana V. It is known that music has deep psychological effects on us. After all, the human ear is the first sense to develop. That's why many pediatricians recommend classical music (specifically Mozart) even when the baby is in the womb. Neurotransmitters are stimulated and connections are done effectively, which increases cognitive abilities. A study showed that “elementary school students who listened to mood-calming music while completing mathematical problems were able to complete more problems and solve a higher...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas My personal opinion is that teachers should not “punish” students for bad behavior. That said, I also believe that if words or actions transpire in the classroom that is not allowed, or are inappropriate or disruptive, the teacher should address the situation to reduce the risk or likelihood of it happening again going forward - however, in a positive, constructive, solution-based way. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Lindsay G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Punishment can take many forms and degrees, from being sternly spoken to, being assigned extra work, having a reward or privilege taken away, being sent to the...  [Read more]