Can You Speak English In Mandarin

Wed, 31 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Problems for Learners of English in Mandarin Speaking China Over the past three years, I've had the privilege of teaching English as a foreign language online for a company called Education First. The format would normally be an internationally diverse group in an audio-only platform. During these sessions, I found that my students from China would have specific challenges in pronunciation that many of my European and Brazilian students would not. I recognized their tendency to add an "a" at the end of words that clearly ended in a consonant. Unfortunately, I was not educated enough in the specific challenges that Mandarin speakers faced in their attempt to learn English. I'm scheduled to begin teaching in China later this year, and...  [Read more]

Tue, 11 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Common Difficulties in Teaching English to Native Mandarin Speakers 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. Table of Contents State of The Problem The Chinese Language Structure Tenses Sentence Structure Do you want to teach English in China? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ashley L. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Fri, 25 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This Is Why Parents Say It's Vital to Travel To Learn A Language Travel had benefits for all of us. Particularly for our children. Our twin baby boys are mixed-race and mixed-cultured and equal importance will be placed on both sides of their heritage while maintaining a truly international worldview. We plan to raise them as true world citizens. Table of Contents Developmental Plan Cultural Exposure Holidays Final Thoughts Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mingke R. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Developmental Plan We plan to focus on a few areas to strengthen their...  [Read more]

Wed, 05 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Differences of Acquiring Mandarin Chinese as the First Language and English as the Second This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Susan T S G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Table of Contents Background Definition of First vs Second Language My Own Experiences with Acquired vs Learning Languages Sentence Structures Verbs and Alphabets Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! Background Singapore is a multilingual and multi-ethnic society. We have four official languages Malay, English, Chinese (Mandarin), and Tamil, with Malay as our...  [Read more]

Wed, 21 Mar 2018 Linda Dunsmore Destinations 5 Reasons Why You Should Teach English in China When deciding to go abroad and teach English, one of the first questions that follows is often: Where in the world should I teach? A quick Internet search reveals that China is among the most popular destinations for teaching English abroad. Table of Contents Over 300 Million English Learners Opportunities in all Corners of the Country Attractive Salaries and Benefits Mandarin is the Most Widely Spoken Native Language Vibrant Culture and Picturesque Scenery Listen to the blog post Are you ready to teach English in China? Here are 5 reasons why you should teach English in China. Over 300 Million English Learners With a population of more than 1.2 billion, it comes as no surprise that China...  [Read more]

Wed, 05 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences How Mandarin Chinese Helps Me in Teaching English Foreign language experience is complexed on so many different levels, it is a window into a different culture, often a different country and even a different paradigm of thinking. There is a multitude of language experiences people can have, each with their own intricacies and uniqueness. As a native English speaker from South Africa, living in China has provided me with extraordinary foreign language experience. Table of Contents The Most Difficult Language Benefits of Mandarin Experience Do you want to teach English in China? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Marlan S. Please note that this blog post might not...  [Read more]

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teaching in Taiwan: What it's Really Like In the current climate of the US, many other countries that are moving to a more liberal culture are becoming more attractive. One does not become a teacher for the money, but for the experience of working with young people or new learners. It is quite a rewarding career if one is open to trying new things, not being rich, and able to adapt to new situations. There is a lot to consider when leaving one's home country for another to teach. The idea of leaving behind everything for a new place can be scary. In researching teaching in Taiwan, there are several things one needs to consider such as the language and the culture of Taiwan. Table of Contents The official language of Taiwan is...  [Read more]

Tue, 13 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My Experience of Teaching Young Students I started my teaching career in 2016. I was an international student in London, doing a part-time job as a private Mandarin tutor for covering my living cost. In London, I was teaching Mandarin for young learners, age between 3-15-year-old from 2016-2018. After I came back to my country in 2019, I have started to teach English for Kindergarten students age between 3-8-year-old in a private English School. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Tutoring The Beginning of My TEFL Career Teaching Teenagers Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nina S. Please note that this blog post might...  [Read more]

Fri, 08 Nov 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Troubles Faced by Students from China When Learning English If you think of Chinese ESL students it is safe to assume that most teachers would immediately worry about how they should teach phonics to Mandarin speakers. It is also true that the media has portrayed the Chinese accent as one of the most challenging to understand or even get rid of. Table of Contents Personal Experience Phonetical Errors Grammar Challenges Problems Due to Geographical Origin of Students Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Graciela G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Personal Experience Usually,...  [Read more]

Wed, 15 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Problems for Chinese Learners of the English Language After China adopted the Open Door Policy, the English language not only gained popularity but also became indispensable in international communication and trade. It was introduced in public schools as an obligatory foreign language and English teaching centers started spreading across the country. Even though Chinese people approach learning English with a great dose of enthusiasm, it poses several challenges, both linguistic and cultural. Table of Contents The History of Chinese Pronunciation Challenges Cultural Issues Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Weronika S. Please note that...  [Read more]

Thu, 15 Aug 2019 Sabrina Segal Alumni Experiences 5 Tips For Raising a Trilingual Child Language skills begin in the womb when a fetus's hearing first develops, they begin to listen to the language of their mother. Once the baby is born they recognize their mother tongue. Though, a baby is born with the ability to learn any language and multiple languages. When babies hear a word repeatedly their brain forms neural connections, which is a step towards their speech. The brain of a child is like a sponge. It retains so much information that by the time a child reaches 3 years of age, their brain has formed double the amount of connections that adults have. Young children learn language through simple exposure. It is possible to learn a language later on in life but the process is...  [Read more]

Thu, 12 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How to Deal With Problems That Learners of English Face in China Nowadays, English is becoming more and more popular and significant in China because of globalization. In big cities, parents send their kids to all kinds of organizations/schools to study English in their early three years. Some capable parents even use English as their communicative language from the first day the baby was born. No matter how early Chinese starts learning English, it's still not our mother language and the atmosphere is still in Chinese, which makes learning English not as easy as those in English countries. Table of Contents Different Dialects Aims of Learning Useful Methods 1. Environment 2. Role Model 3. Games 4. Family guidance Do you want to...  [Read more]

Tue, 10 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Common Speaking Challenges in China I came to China 4 years ago to teach English. I have not managed to learn Mandarin in that time frame but I did learn quite a bit about the differences in pronunciation between Mandarin and American English. The most common errors made by Chinese students generally come from the habit of translating to their native language. English and Mandarin share some similarities such as word order and sentence structure which also complicate the issue. In this essay, I will discuss teaching pronunciation, the problems that can occur when teaching pronunciations, and the issues that occur with Mandarin speakers learning English. Table of Contents Pronunciation Intonation Phonics Do you want to teach...  [Read more]

Mon, 01 Apr 2019 Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences 5 Big Problems for English Learners in Beijing, China It is generally agreed that education is one of the most important issues in every country these days and China is no exception. Table of Contents English is a must to enter better schools and find better jobs in China. Overcrowded classes lead to nonexistent English practice. The Chinese education system doesn't focus on English. Mandarin Chinese and English have very few similarities. The teacher student relationship isn't very close-knit. Are you ready to teach English in China? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ekaterina G. It's a well-known fact that China is the most populated country in the world with a...  [Read more]

Wed, 19 Feb 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How I Was Introduced to the World of Foreign Language Teaching My interest in ESL began without the intention of becoming an ESL instructor in the first place. It was mostly born out of curiosity and interest in relocating to a foreign country which at the time (2009) was China. At the time I had been deeply contemplating a career living abroad. The contemplation came more from a cultural motivation than from a financial or career-minded motivation. Throughout my childhood and beyond, my parents were both avid travelers. Both my Mother and Father had spent considerable periods traveling in Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in particular. Table of Contents Parental Supervision Real Inspiration Chinese Experience Do you want to teach...  [Read more]

Tue, 23 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Commonly Mispronounced Sounds by Chinese Native Speakers Throughout the world, different countries have difficulty pronouncing other sounds from different languages. For many native English speakers learning Mandarin, pronouncing the "x", "sh", "q", "ch", and "z" sounds are not easy obstacles to overcome. Based on my own experience it takes plenty of repetition to master how to pronounce each of these sounds. Chinese students have a similar problem when trying to pronounce certain sounds in English. The three sounds that come to mind are "th", "v" and the difference between "r" and "l". Table of Contents Difficult Sounds Replacing the /v/ sound with the /w/ sound Replacing the /l/ sound with the /r/ sound Do you want to teach...  [Read more]

Sun, 07 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Necessity of Slang and Idioms in ESL Studies Language is an organism that changes as the people using it changes. No living language sounds as it did 1,000 years ago, nor does any use all the same words that were used within it 100 years ago. Just as it is a very different experience to live in a body than it is to study one, so is it powerful for students of a foreign language to be invited to live in a language rather than only learn about it. The endless auditory phenomena of English, such as the "hootin' and tootin'" interjections of Appalachian people or the booming discourse of an African-American preacher, cannot be understood by other peoples unless they are exposed to the context these phenomena were nurtured in....  [Read more]

Mon, 02 Sep 2019 Dorothy Brown Smith Destinations Alumni Experiences Ten Things I Have Learned During My First Year Teaching in China I have always wanted to travel and go abroad. I talked about it with family and friends on many occasions. When the opportunity came for me to teach in China, I immediately said, "NO!" I was thinking of traveling to places like South America, France, Italy, Greece, etc. because I had romanticized these places in my mind from what I had seen on television and read about in magazines. China was not even a thought in my mind! The opportunity kept coming to teach in China. I would see advertisements, run into people who had just came back from China. I even met someone studying Chinese to be an interpreter! I kept running into people who had some kind of...  [Read more]

Volunteer EFL Teacher Needed in Melbourne, Australia Date posted:2011-09-27 | Writer: Salvation Army | Email: [email protected] Are you interested in working with one of Australia’s largest charity organization? Do you want to accumulate EFL teaching experience? We are looking for a TESOL qualified volunteer who is interested in teaching elderly Chinese people. Our aim is to help them to learn basic spoken English. Days and times are flexible. We assist people not only in learning English but also in learning about Australian Culture. The Salvation Army is currently looking for a volunteer English teacher to run our English conversation class. Our group has fewer than 10 people and is located in one of the public housing estates in North Melbourne. The class is going to...  [Read more]

Wed, 06 May 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences What Challenges do Chinese Learners of English Face in their Studies? Teaching English in China has become very popular for ESL teachers and many are looking for job opportunities in China. Finding a teaching job in China isn't too hard but working with Chinese students can be quite challenging. Table of Contents Grammar Challenge Pronunciation Challenge Environmental Challenge Cultural Challenge Generation Gap Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate VIKTORIIA H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Grammar Challenge Chinese grammar is very different from English and many Chinese...  [Read more]

Tue, 24 Dec 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Issues in English for Learners from China There are many behaviors and simple acts of conduct that may or may not be considered appropriate in any given circumstance or country. There are multiple examples for specific regions of this world. In this assessment, I would like to focus on China. Mandarin is the main language, within which there are multiple dialects. In a way, I can see a similarity between the English language and that of China. Taking the major English speaking countries of the world, that's including the United Kingdom, United States, or any other speaker of English in the first language including Australia. Every country has words that if not in slang, are spelled, worded or pronounced differently. This leads me...  [Read more]

Thu, 20 Aug 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences What Are The Main Problems For English Learners in China? There are many behaviors and simple acts of conduct that may or may not be considered appropriate in any given circumstance or country. There are multiple examples for specific regions of this world. In this assessment, I would like to focus on China. Mandarin is the main language, within which there are multiple dialects. In a way, I can see a similarity between the English language and that of China. Taking the major English speaking countries of the world, that's including the United Kingdom, United States, or any other speaker of English in the first language including Australia. Every country has words that if not in slang, are spelled, worded, or pronounced...  [Read more]

Jobs in China For English Teachers Date posted:2018-07-17 | Writer: Pioneer & Beyond Ltd | Email: [email protected] Do you dream of faraway places and want to use your TEFL skills to experience adventure in a different country? With new opportunities to learn a new language? China offers all the above, environmentally the landscape is vast and diverse as the cities that are built in and around the country itself. China enjoys the commercial advantages of all the western main cities such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. In contrast, China also celebrates her natural culture and environment in cities that are not so exploited by capitalism. It’s worthwhile exploring. Pioneer & Beyond are here to help. We have a range of job positions available across many cities in...  [Read more]

Thu, 09 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Problems for English Learners in China versus Zulu-Speaking Learners I have been fortunate enough to have taught English in South Africa to Zulu speaking learners and for the past six years to Chinese students. The ability to acquire the language differs greatly between the two. There are multiple reasons for this which I will briefly discuss. Table of Contents School timetable Family support The lack of English environment Extra-curricular activities Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Tania C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. School timetable The students in China have...  [Read more]

Tue, 03 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The World Status of The English Language A global language is a language spoken internationally, the most popular one being English. It is learned by many people as a second language. Table of Contents Word Origin Global Communication Language Structure Cultural Importance Challenges For Learners Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Damian B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Word Origin A big part of the lexical units in the English language was taken from German, Latin, French, and other European countries. People think that languages have a strong relation between...  [Read more]

Tue, 14 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Classroom Management in an EFL Setting: Transcending Language to Enhance Learning Educators have debated on the topic of classroom management since the first class began. In the same way curricula and teaching cultures vary, as do the intricacies of classroom management. A topic that is, in my opinion, not taught enough in the realm of TEFL, is finding ways to manage a full classroom of young students for an entire day. As the trend for "kindergarten" prep courses rises in China, the void for managing 20+ five-year-olds has been dark and silent. Because many principals in these prep centers refuse to allow Mandarin in the classroom and the fact that these students do not initially understand basic commands in English, this creates a...  [Read more]

Fri, 16 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Benefits of Speaking a Foreign Language There are about 6500 spoken languages in the world today. 11 of those are here from my home country of South Africa. The most spoken language of them all is Mandarin. Language is what defines us. It is what divides us. It what we are taught and brought up to understand and one day pass on to the next generation. It is like being a unicorn. When there are none left, you will only read about it in books and professors who learned and studied about it. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Linguistic Diversity Challenges Pros of Learning a New Language Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate...  [Read more]

Easy TEFL Lessons Check out tefl tesol about Easy TEFL Lessons and apply today to be certified to teach English abroad. You could also be interested in: This is how our TEFL graduates feel they have gained from their course, and how they plan to put into action what they learned: Check out ITTT's Blog Posts C. P. - U.S.A. said: Problems for Learners in ChinaTeaching English in china presents a unique set of difficulties to an expatriate teacher from a western country, as there are numerous difficulties facing learners of English in china. Some of these problems are cultural, while others are caused by lack of exposure to English and English speakers, or the enormous differences between English and Mandarin chinese (for the purpose of this article, it should be assumed that references...  [Read more]

Tue, 14 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Differences Between Public and International Schools in China As an English teacher who has experienced both education systems in China, I feel uniquely qualified to answer this question. Based on my experiences, there are several major differences between public school and international school. Table of Contents 1. Curriculum 2. Ways to teach English 3. Faculty and Professional Development 4. Class sizes 5. After school activities 6. Tuition fee Are you ready to teach English in China? Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Di W. 1. Curriculum An international school provides a curriculum that is not the national curriculum of China. Instead, it may offer an international curriculum, such as...  [Read more]

Tue, 06 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences The Difficulties and Rewards of Teaching Chinese Students For the past twenty years, I have had the pleasure of teaching English to Chinese students of all ages in both Taiwan and mainland China. The following are my observations: Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Ancient Culture Differences in Students' Behavior Lack of Confidence Acceptance Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eugene E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Listen to this blog post: Ancient Culture If one were to argue that Socrates was the beginning of modern Western Civilization, one could...  [Read more]