Whats V Day

  The simple answer is no, you do not need to have any knowledge or experience of languages other than English to take a TEFL course or to become an EFL teacher. The ability to speak other languages is not required as the vast majority of TEFL classrooms around the world rely on the communicative approach to English teaching that specifies that English is the only language used in the classroom. In multilingual classrooms where the students could have a dozen or more different first languages, being able to communicate in one or two of them would obviously be of no particular advantage. In monolingual classrooms you may also find that students are more inclined to revert to their mother tongue during the lesson if they are aware that the teacher can understand what is being said....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences When it comes to learning a new language, people have certain insecurity, fear or embarrassment about speaking in front of strangers, for making mistakes can be quite embarrassing. Learning a new language is always a challenge since you need to know a new grammar, a new culture and a language that is, in general, relatively different from yours. There are people who, until they get the hang of their new language, die ashamed to speak in front of others. Others are already more comfortable with whom they share doubts. But which is better? Individual or group class? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Claudia V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In today’s world learning English is no longer a possibility, but an essential part of being a world citizen. However, we must face the fact- for some people- to learn English grammar is not so easy and fun, they hate grammar and even think it is the most boring part of learning a new language. On the other hand, others are extremely interested in learning grammar rules and practice it as much as they can. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Glaucia S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Whoever wants to become an effective language learner cannot run from grammar lessons; it is a crucial part of the learning process besides...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teachers face several and different situations inside their classrooms every day. These situations may be even beyond their comfort zone. A teacher’s commitment, confidence, and interest create a more positive pleasant classroom environment that will also radiate to students towards becoming efficient and productive learners. Aside from that, a confident character among teachers would consistently and positively impact not just their learners’ achievement, but also their attitude and even socio-emotional growth. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Renato V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Heightening a teacher's...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences A lesson plan is one of the English teacher’s most useful tools. A lesson plan makes a teacher think concretely about what they want the students to have learned by the end of the lesson, and the steps for making that possible within the allotted timeframe. It allows a teacher to estimate how long various activities will take, and to think about what students will ideally learn from each activity. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Katherine V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A lesson plan also functions as a record, helping a teacher to remember exactly what was covered, and when. Such a record will show the teacher...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Pronunciation is an essential part of the English language. Clear and cohesive speech can create meaningful conversations, meanwhile incorrect pronunciation can lead to misunderstandings. Every, non-native English-speaking country has pronunciation problems. One of the countries which come across with pronunciation errors is my homeland Azerbaijan. It is a lovely country, with nice traditions and people. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Narmina M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. There are many different nationalities that live in my country. People speak various languages. Our official language is Azerbaijani; however, the...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas To Teach, Travel, Work and Live abroad! Says the ITTT website. Indeed, the main reasons for wanting to be a certified TEFL teacher are most probably these. If you are a student, to travel the world, discover different cultures, meet new people and learn the local language. If you are an office employee, frustrated by the routine and bored with your job, to escape to China or Japan to teach and learn about Buddhism. If you are an experienced teacher, to give a new dimension to your teaching. If you want to help others, to do volunteer work in Africa. There is a multitude of personal and professional reasons that may motivate people from all walks of life to do a TEFL course. For me, it was to be a real teacher....  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences When I was young, I dreamt about thousands of different jobs, but being an online English teacher was never one of them. However, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Chinese students ranging from 5 to 13 years old and it has been one of the best experiences of my life so far. How am I going to communicate with them? Am I ready to be a teacher? How will I transmit what I want to teach? These are some of the questions that went through my mind before accepting the job, but when I finally decided to take it and started to be an ESL teacher I knew I was doing what I love the most, transmitting knowledge. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Karla V. I first started teaching with a Chinese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Lesson planning is important because it gives the teacher a solid direction of what he/she wants to teach for the day. Proper classroom planning will keep you organized and on track while teaching, allowing you to teach more and manage less. Further to this classroom planning also forms an important part of educating and performance management. It is important for classroom planning to have set rules and consequences as this will help the students to stay focused on the lesson. As a new teacher, you must be committed to spending the necessary time on lesson planning. It is also important to realize that the best-planned lesson is worthless if interesting delivery procedures, along with good classroom management...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What are the pros and cons of teaching a language to adults and young learners? First of all, let us talk about learner groups. Adults are people 18 years of age and more and young learners are split into three groups: over 13, from 8 to 12, and under 7. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Phuong V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Obviously, the language is formed not only when we are born but partly during pregnancy. A baby in a womb can listen to sounds outside and when its mother talks to her baby every day, it can also feel touches and sweet words from its mother. The baby starts speaking by listening to and copying whatever...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Although all parts of a lesson are important, the engage phase (or warm up) may be the most important. The engage phase is the departing point of the lesson, where you need to draw the attention of the students away from other occurrences of the day and make them focus on learning the English language. Choosing an activity to grab the students' attention can be a challenge, as it needs to work within just a few minutes. Through various studies, music has shown to be an activity which utilizes many parts of the brain at once, and therefore is a great activity to “jump start” the brain, and get students to focus more quickly. This post was written by our TEFL certification...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Although all parts of a lesson are equally important, the "engage phase" may be the most important. The “engage phase” is the departing point of the lesson, and where you will focus the attention of the students away from the other occurrences of the day, and make them focus on learning the English language. Choosing the activity in which to grab the students' attention can be a challenge, as it must grab the students’ attention within one or two minutes. The best types of activities are those in which students are fully engaged in a cognitive, critical thinking process. Through various studies, music has shown to be an activity which utilizes many parts of the brain at once and therefore is a great activity...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Having been professionally teaching for a year now, this course provided me with a lot of new information, which I can incorporate in my teachings of the English language. I am not able to narrow down to a specific unit within this course because every unit had some information which I was not familiar with prior; however, I would have to say the units that stood out to me the most were: theories, methods, and techniques, managing classes, and teaching special groups. I currently teach students ranging from ages 4-12, and these three units, in particular, helped me to better understand the different levels of students, how to teach each level accordingly, the ESA lesson plans and the different styles, how to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences "To be a good teacher, you need to love what you teach. Teachers are given the word not to put their thoughts to sleep, but to wake someone else's." - V. Klyuchevsky, Russian historian This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zarina S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. A teacher who is able to learn will also be able to grow as a specialist, improve in his/her pedagogical activity and perfect his/her professional skills. The first and constant helper in this process is a teacher himself (herself). I believe that along with many well-known forms of improving the qualifications of teachers, self-analysis is one of the most effective...  [Read more]

Dan Sloat Destinations Alumni Experiences Volunteer teaching in Nepal is thoroughly rewarding! The need for engaging and enthusiastic teachers is so great and the positive impact you can make, even in a short period, is significant. Personally, I had a modest classroom of 16 students comprising a broad range of ages and competency. Those kiddos were quite a handful, but being their teacher was an incredible privilege. Their maturity was striking and yet, at the end of the day, they are still growing boys. They would get rowdy at times and often pulled pranks on each other. I loved their curiosity, their excitement for learning, and their playful spirits. Between lessons they would often draw pictures for me. I suppose I’m the...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences Throughout my ITTT TEFL course a specific teaching concept persisted, entitled “ESA”. This methodology has been proven over several years to be effective in teaching English to students in the classroom. A precursor to this concept was “PPP” (Presentation, Practice, Production) which has been used by many teachers, though it lacks in engaging the students resulting in a less successful environment. Jeremy Harmer noticed this and in turn put forth a new and improved model, labeled “ESA”, consisting of three steps; Engage, Study, and Activate. This methodology has continued to remain relevant to this day through its flexible and fluid approach to teaching English. This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Gianluca Costa TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Many people have the dream to travel the world. However, it's hard to travel a lot unless you're rich or work for a big international company offering your business trips, right? What do you do about a visa, and what if you don't speak the local language? Fret not; it's actually easier than you think to find a job in an exciting foreign country. If you are a native English speaker or speak English fluently, why not consider a job teaching English abroad? English teachers are always in demand in countries where the English language is not the native language. Before you start your travel, you should consider getting TEFL qualified by completing a TEFL course, like the ones...  [Read more]

  Thailand’s capital city is a thriving, modern metropolis with gleaming sky scrapers rising above the exquisite Buddhist temples that dot the city. Traditional markets mingle with the latest shopping malls selling up-to-date fashions and technology. Bangkok is also home to some of the top restaurants in Southeast Asia and its street food is delicious, cheap and ubiquitous. Bangkok was named as one of the world’s Top Ten Cities by Travel + Leisure and the number one visited city by Global Destination Cities Index Bangkok is one of the most exciting places to visit in Asia if not the world. Whether you’re interests lay in exploring the history of the city and country or in finding the best place for a night out, there is bound to be something for you in Bangkok. Register now...  [Read more]

  Choosing a TEFL certification course can be a difficult decision as there is no standardized duration of training or a fixed syllabus for providers to adhere to. This seemingly free-for-all situation means there are a multitude of companies offering a wide range of courses of varying quality. The good news is there are several long established TEFL course providers out there who do offer high quality courses that provide all the skills and knowledge you need to start a new career as an EFL teacher. So what should you look for when choosing the right course for you? The overall length of the course is a good place to start. There are many providers who offer short format online courses of 40 hours or even less, as well as in-class courses that can be completed in one weekend...  [Read more]

  There is no simple answer to this question as it depends entirely on which type of TEFL course you choose to study. At ITTT we have a range of courses that are designed to suit the various needs of our trainees, each with its own time scale for completion. Please see below for a breakdown of our various course options. Online courses are often the quickest route towards TEFL certification. If you are in a real hurry a course such as our 60-hour introduction to TEFL may be a good choice as you can conceivably complete it in as little as five days. Even those who prefer to study at a slower rate should find they can complete the course within one month. However, it is worth remembering that the majority of employers worldwide insist on job applicants having a TEFL certificate of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can be difficult, and this is especially true when the learners L1 and their target language are completely different in structure, sound, and tones. An English as a second language student who speaks French, German, or any other European language will have an easier task than one who speaks a language that is not of European origins. One such language is Mandarin Chinese. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The areas that native Mandarin speakers most often run into difficulty are pronunciation, tones, tenses, and sentence structure. A Chinese speaker might...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Brazilians are learning English all over the country, for various reasons and with diverse goals. In this text, I would like to approach some very common deviations to standard English dialects, such as General American and Received Pronunciation, by Brazilian speakers. I have chosen to address some problems in phonetics and pronunciation that are the most frequent in my classes. I also give attention to some problems in word linking that generate tough challenges for English teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Linecker M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The country's official language is Portuguese. As a result of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the word “hindsight” as “the ability to understand an event or situation only after it has happened.” That is why people tell you that “hindsight is a perfect science.” So with the benefit of hindsight and looking back after completing some 220 hours of TEFL training, I see that there are, indeed, several things that I wish that I had known before starting the course, both on the positive and the negative sides. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desmond V. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Let me start with the positives. First and foremost, I wish that I had come across...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas As a teacher – and it does not matter if you teach kids, toddler, teenagers or adults – you have to think about a wide range of things: the content of your classes, class troubles and discipline, the evolution of your students skills, time management in terms of your classes and in terms of the content development in a period of time, students assessment, schools/professional compromises (either if you work in a language school or if your area a private teacher), how to create a nice learning environment and so on. These are only some of the things that a teacher – in the first years of his/her career or for an experienced professional – has to manage in his/her teaching routine. This post was written by...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas A method of teaching contains the techniques used by teachers to impart knowledge to students. These strategies are determined partly on the subjects to be taught and partly by the nature of the learner. In this task, I will give some examples of different teaching methodologies, compare these techniques, and explain why it is important that teachers, mostly who are teaching in a foreign country should know these methods. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nathalie L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of the most effective methods of teaching is ESA (Engage, Study, and Activate); this teaching method allows your student to be...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas What is the key objective of a teacher? It is simple: ensuring students learn well and don't forget what they were taught a few minutes after a course ends. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Cinzia G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Solid and comprehensive knowledge of the subject a person is teaching is a very important piece of the puzzle. Students have the legitimate expectation, that teachers know as much as possible about the subject they teach and keep themselves up to date in this world which changes very rapidly nowadays. When entering a class for the first time, no matter if as a student or a lecturer, you can easily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many variances exist between teaching English as a Foreign Language to Young Learners vs adults. Despite these dissimilarities, the fundamentals will remain the same. Teachers should motivate their students to communicate in the target language, and utilize students’ previous knowledge while maintaining an engaging atmosphere in the classroom. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Marlon W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The classroom is not the place for superficial work. Any teacher who is gratified with superficial knowledge will not attain a high degree of proficiency. The teacher should carefully study the disposition...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In speaking of any language is global, and in our case, particularly English, several categories could be discussed to give us more understanding. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Frederic S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first is the history of the language, where did it originate? If we say English was an obscure German dialect we can also say that without knowing more of the history behind it, there would be no way for us to plot its progression or understand its popularity. The second is the spread of the language, how and why did it occur? The third is economic, what were the factors that propelled its growth,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Most everyone has a favorite game that they play over and over again. Games go further than just a simple competitive interaction between two people or teams. In a way, games teach the average person how to navigate life with two outcomes; either the joy of winning or the disappointment of losing. Although it is not necessarily bad to lose it is an inevitable outcome for each person who participates. The idea is to learn from the failure to gain experience in which you can strategize a new way to achieve victory. The act of winning is simply the reward for playing the game as it is expected to be played. The main concept of games is competition and how we as human beings are constantly competing whether we realize...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Lesson plans are a guiding document created by teachers for a specific learning objective for a target group of learners. Lesson plans are essential to every teacher, whether you teach young learners just starting or adult students business language. Lesson plans are necessary because they are a guided plan, visual and written documentation to work from, and a historical record. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Jennifer C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Lesson plans are guided plans created for your specific students. It starts with a learning...  [Read more]