Individual Pronunciation

Elizaveta Pachina Liza is a translator, freelancer and ESL teacher from Russia. She had been teaching in a Chinese bilingual school for more than two years and recently moved to Thiland to run her blog about teaching and freelance job. Read my articles 3 Changes TEFL Teachers Need to Make When They Switch Between Individual and Group Lessons | ITTT | TEFL Blog Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate shares their thoughts on teaching one-to-one and groups. Common Studies of the English Language Variants | ITTT | TEFL Blog Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In this blog post, our recent TEFL graduate explains the differences between British English and American English. Why I took the ITTT TEFL course? | ITTT | TEFL Blog Elizaveta Pachina ...  [Read more]

Pronunciation and phonology in the EFL Classroom - Intonation   Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How...  [Read more]

Rate TEFL Courses Check out tefl tesol about Rate TEFL Courses 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 H.K - Korea said: Pronunciation problems for KoreansMost EFL students find pronunciation the most difficult aspect of English language; pronunciation of English is very versatile because depending on stress, rhythm, and intonation, the meaning of a sentence can totally change. Majority of language students share problems pronouncing s endings, ed endings, stress, timing, articulation, intonation, rhythm through use of contractions, blends, flaps, pitch, inflections, linking(3)....  [Read more]

Tue, 08 Oct 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Challenge of Learning English as a Second Language The process of learning a foreign language is not an easy one because they are expected to cover various aspects, and the challenges faced could cause a learner to take a longer time to learn the new language. Table of Contents Students' Feelings Language Aspects Cultural Specifics Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Payton P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Students' Feelings One of the difficulties that learners face is their attitude towards learning the language. An individuals' attitude relates to how they feel...  [Read more]

Mon, 29 Mar 2021 Regan McAllister TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas The Value of Perfecting Pronunciation Learning another language has many different components. There is vocabulary, grammar, new sounds and sometimes a new alphabet. There are the receptive (passive) skills of reading and listening and the productive (active) skills of writing and speaking. Ideally, all components are learned at a similar pace to achieve a well rounded grasp on the target language. Unfortunately, this often isn't how language learning transpires. Instead, it is common for learners to excel in certain areas while others will require more time and effort. As a teacher, it can be easy to lean into students' strengths and focus less on their weaknesses. Generally, the receptive skills...  [Read more]

Mon, 11 Nov 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Advantages and Disadvantages of Teaching Phonetics This will be a discussion aimed at presenting both the advantages and disadvantages of teaching phonetics. We will show how teaching phonetics help create approachability and reinforce language similarities. Inversely we will look at how English suffers from inconsistent phonetic rules and the conflict between words as written and words as said. We will also look at methods to mitigate these issues. Table of Contents Self-awareness Noticing language similarities English rules Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Mitchell D. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent...  [Read more]

Fri, 09 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Several Pronunciations Troubles Faced by The Japanese Native Speakers The differences between many Asiatic languages' pronunciation and that of English form the basis for a multitude of miscommunications between international interlocutors. My experience living in Japan provides plentiful evidence to support this assertion. When my Japanese associates and I communicate in English, I notice three significant pronunciation struggles for my conversation partners. For the Japanese who are learning English, the clear enunciation of the /th/ sound, the fricative quality of the /v/ consonant, and the distinction of /l/ versus /r/ formation of the tongue. Table of Contents Language Structure Difficult sounds Do you want to teach English...  [Read more]

Tue, 19 May 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Repetition alias Drilling: Is it an Effective Way to Remember Language Points? Drilling refers to the teaching method by which students repeat words or phrases that are said by the teacher. With this learning method, the teacher fulfills his or her role as a model by being the source of correct English pronunciation and vocabulary. Students are then prompted to emulate the words and phrases in a repetitive manner. Table of Contents The effectiveness of drilling as a teaching method can be seen in its many benefits. These include but are not limited to the following: Drilling is not only beneficial to students as outlined above. Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by...  [Read more]

Wed, 25 Mar 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Challenges for Brazilian Learners of English 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. Table of Contents Official Language Influence Pronunciation Vowels Consonants Diphthongs Linking Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our...  [Read more]

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]

Fri, 02 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas How Teaching One-to-One Increases Teacher’s Confidence When teaching English as a foreign language there are a few settings a teacher can choose from such as teaching online, in a traditional classroom, instructing a large group, or one-on-one, among others. I will be discussing the motives, advantages and disadvantages, special considerations, and activities associated with the one to one set of instructions. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Students with special goals and requests Anticipated problems Building relationships Engaging activities Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Austin S. Please note that this blog...  [Read more]

Wed, 27 May 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Phonetics/Phonology: Why Teaching this Neglected Aspect of Language is Important I chose this topic for my essay because it is not something I had ever given much thought to. As a native speaker, I don't recall studying correct pronunciation in school along with other aspects of language learning such as grammar and vocabulary. Correct, or at least acceptable and understandable, the pronunciation was something that just happened. Table of Contents Why is Teaching Phonetics Important? What is the Best Way to Teach Phonetics? Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: I was initially somewhat surprised when I saw that an entire online module had been devoted to the topic, but as I read the module,...  [Read more]

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Common Struggles of the Chinese Native Speakers Learning English Most researchers agree that the learner's first language influences the pronunciation of the target language and is a significant factor in accounting for foreign accents. So-called interference or interference from the first language is likely to cause errors in aspiration, stress, and intonation in the target language. Table of Contents Phonetics Unusual Sounds Language Structure Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Vesna A. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Phonetics Some Chinese students tend to have...  [Read more]

Mon, 06 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Overview of Howard Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences The theory of Multiple Intelligences was developed by Howard Gardner. The theory postulates that there are many different types of intelligence, which involve different skills and ways of thinking. Gardner (1989) relied on that intelligence was divided into the following categories: linguistic, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal. Table of Contents Linguistic Intelligence Visual/ spatial intelligence Bodily-kinesthetic intelligence Logical-mathematical intelligence Musical intelligence Interpersonal intelligence Intrapersonal intelligence Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles:...  [Read more]

Fri, 07 Jun 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Ideal Tool for Pronunciation Training Helping students improve their pronunciation can be challenging for teachers and students alike. For students, they may have a strong desire to sound fluent but might struggle in knowing what mistakes they make and how to correct them. For teachers, they may be aware of the mistakes but may lack tools to help students accurately and precisely correct them. Table of Contents Common Methods Feedback Correcting Techniques Technologies and Pronunciation Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kent L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Fri, 17 Apr 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The Most Common Issues Faced by English Learners in Japan Given the increase in globalization during the late 20th and early 21st centuries and the growing inter-dependencies of domestic economies within the international marketplace, English, as a primary language medium for conducting international business arrangements, has become an increased priority both socially and within the business environment. However, notwithstanding the importance of English fluency within contemporary society, Japan and Japanese English learners face difficulties when trying to achieve competency. These difficulties and issues can be shown by the 2018 EF English Proficiency Index which ranked the English level of Japanese learners as rank 49 out of 88...  [Read more]

Thu, 04 Mar 2021 Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Would You Rather Teach One-to-One or a Group? All English language learners learn differently. The kind of environment they study in dramatically affects their learning experience. Teaching one to one and teaching in groups both have their advantages and disadvantages. English language teachers may come across both situations in their teaching career and what the student gains from each case is unique. Table of Contents Planning Classroom Activities Group Dynamics Are you ready to teach English abroad or online? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Paulina T. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Centre Easy TEFL Check out tefl tesol about Centre Easy TEFL 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 V.H - France said: PronunciationAccording to the dictionary definition, pronunciation is defined as ?the act of enunciating or articulating sounds, words and sentences; to utter or articulate in the accepted and correct manner.? It is indeed one of the most important concepts to teach an ESL student. The importance of proper pronunciation and accept elimination for a non native speaker will not only impact their ability to truly communicate in the English language, assure the proper...  [Read more]

TEFL 120-hour Course - Unit 13   In Chantelle?s thirteenth video diary entry she talks about unit 13 of her 120-hour online TEFL course. Unit 13 covers pronunciation and phonology. As Chantelle notes there is a lot of information presented in this unit including phonology, stress, articulation and the phonemic alphabet. The unit also looks at how to teach individual sounds and when we should teach pronunciation to our students. 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...  [Read more]

Fri, 06 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Secrets of Teaching Beginners Being an educator is one of the most gratifying and rewarding careers of all time. I have been an ESL teacher in Vietnam for the past six months. I have worked with various age groups and I prefer working with young or beginner students. I believe that it takes a special person to teach these young children. Table of Contents Who Can Teach Beginning Students? Start of Your Course Provide With Visual Clues Engagement Stage Study Stage Activate Stage Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ahmed T. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Who Can Teach...  [Read more]

Which English should be taught in the TEFL classroom? The type of English taught in different countries will vary according to the preferences of that individual country. We focus here on British and American English as they are the most commonly taught variations of English worldwide. Many countries have a clear preference for the type of English taught in its schools and language centers. Some examples are shown on the map below: Map created by reddit user Speech500 Source: moverdb.com How exactly do these forms of English differ? There are a number of major differences which we will examine. The following are in no way exhaustive and you should investigate for yourself for more examples. Spelling Differences Mainly due to the influence of Webster (of dictionary fame) American English...  [Read more]

Fri, 04 Feb 2022 Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Teaching Special Groups in ESL - Top 10 Tips When Teaching Beginners Regardless of which type of beginner class you are teaching here are my top ten tips for the teaching of beginners. Table of Contents Watch the video about this topic 1: Keep it simple 2: Be visual not verbal 3: Keep them talking 4: Repeat Repeat Repeat 5: Use pairwork 6: Praise often 7: Teach to their needs 8: Be patient 9: Play games 10: Don't overcorrect Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! Watch the video about this topic 1: Keep it simple The first thing is to keep it simple, you have to remember when teaching beginners that your language level...  [Read more]

Fri, 19 Jul 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas 3 Changes TEFL Teachers Need to Make When They Switch Between Individual and Group Lessons Teaching English is traditionally done in a classroom setting; however, a growing number of teachers and students are attracted to the convenience and flexibility of teaching one-to-one lessons. Whether teaching privately or for a company, in-person or online, to young learners or adults ESL teachers know their approach must change when switching from group teaching to teaching individuals. How is this done and what changes need to be made? Switching from group lessons to teaching one-to-one involves much more than modifying materials for a smaller audience; ESL teachers also need to make changes to teacher-student roles, syllabus and...  [Read more]

Tue, 28 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Problems for Learners in China and How to Help Teachers Overcome Them After spending five years in China as an ESL teacher, corporate trainer and university lecturer I would like to share a few of the most common problems for Chinese learners and ways for teachers to overcome them. I will focus on problems regarding cultural differences, pronunciation and first language interference. Table of Contents Social challenges Pronunciation First language influence Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Michal W. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Social challenges Despite China's opening...  [Read more]

Thu, 26 Sep 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English in Britain and in America British English versus American English are often discussed during the class, students frequently ask which one is the standard English to learn and would it cause any difficulties in communication. Both of them have differences and similarities, but individuals from the UK and the US can communicate without too much difficulty. Table of Contents What is Correct? The History of English Pronunciation Differences Spelling Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate JIN G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. What is Correct? Besides, there is no right...  [Read more]

Thu, 29 Nov 2018 Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas 9 Small Details That Matter When Teaching EFL When you teach English as a foreign language it's important to pay attention to details that we sometimes ignore when communicating with other native level speakers, either in spoken or written English. Some people have got into the habit of writing in uppercase/capital letters, use abbreviations, and don't think much about punctuation. We also tend not to be too critical of people's spoken English as long as we get the point across. 'There's a lot of cars on the road today' is grammatically incorrect for example. Table of Contents 1. Punctuation 2. Upper and Lowercase 3. Abbreviations 4. Use of Colour on the Board 5. Avoid Boring Gap-Fills 6. Avoid Changing What Students Say 7. Maximizing...  [Read more]

Wed, 08 Jul 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Striking Reasons to Obtain a TEFL Training I recently discovered that in countries where English is not the natively spoken language, there is a great demand for learning the English language. Thinking about this fact, and remembering my many friends from high-school and university whose native languages are not English and who consequently took many ESL classes to improve their English, I began thinking about the possibility of becoming an ESL/ EFL teacher. Having been a teacher in the past, this strengthened my belief in myself that this is something that I could do. So I began looking into the possibility a little more. Table of Contents Personal experience of finding a course So what is a TEFL qualification? Why is TEFL so...  [Read more]

Thu, 21 Nov 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Common Problems for English Learners in Nigeria Although the English language has been the official language in Nigeria for decades, there are a good number of challenges that learners of English language continuously encounter. These problems are not only peculiar to learners but may also be existent in so-called fluent speakers. One of the most basic problems is mother tongue interference. Table of Contents 1. Mother Tongue Interference 2. Phonological Interference 3. Code-switching and code-mixing 4. Other problems learners in Nigeria encounter include: Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Awazie T. Please note that this blog post...  [Read more]

Thu, 02 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Group Teaching or One-to-One: What Will You Choose? Teaching a group or having private lessons can be as beneficial as challenging. Let's try to understand which kind of teaching is more suitable for us. Table of Contents Advantages of Group Teaching Disadvantages of Group Teaching Pros to Teach One-to-One Cons to Teach One-on-One Are You Ready to Teach ESL Students? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post: This post was written by our ITTT graduate Catalina R. Advantages of Group Teaching Teaching large classes has many advantages. A large class offers a greater variety of activities. The teacher can have students work alone, in pairs, in groups or as a class. This allows the focus to be placed on the students instead of the...  [Read more]

Class Short TEFL Check out tefl tesol about Class Short TEFL 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 W.P. - U.S.A. said: Common Linguistic Problems Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories: language form, language meaning, and language in context. English is an extremely complex language. Before students? can be considered truly proficient, they must not only master a variety of tenses and irregular verbs, sentence structure and parts of speech, but they must also work to understand and master lexical and...  [Read more]