Teaching Foreign Language

Tue, 21 May 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Foreign Language Experience in The Teaching Practice Although many ESL teachers do have foreign language experience, many are not aware of how much this experience benefits them. Sure, if they are teaching English in Japan, having Japanese language experience is helpful for daily life situations, but how could it bleed into the classroom as well? And the language experience doesn't necessarily have to involve the first language of the students, either. Having foreign language experiences allows the teacher to understand just how hard learning a language is, can understand where certain errors may come from, see English from a different perspective, and gives them a stronger grasp on English grammar. Table of Contents Having...  [Read more]

Mon, 06 Jan 2020 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences My Experience Related to Foreign Language Learning and Teaching Nowadays, we are living in such a multicultural world that speaking English has become essential to be able to communicate with people from different countries, to travel and to expand working opportunities. Table of Contents What is my experience related to foreign language learning and teaching? The experience of learning English as a Foreign Language: My personal experience in Australia The benefits of learning a foreign language What an incredible and fulfilling experience it is to be able to speak fluently a foreign language after one year only! The experience of teaching English as a Foreign Language: My personal experience in Vietnam Do you want to teach...  [Read more]

Fri, 30 Aug 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Young Learners Teaching English as a Foreign Language in a Kindergarten could be interesting, challenging and rewarding at the same time. The outcome of the experience mostly depends on the following but not limited to the school environment, norms and cultures of the country, attitude of the teacher, rules and regulations of the school to mention but a few. Table of Contents Kindergarten Teachers First Experience Useful Methods Do you want to teach English abroad? Take a TEFL course today! Related Articles: This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Olamiposi Blessing I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT....  [Read more]

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 Charli HelloGrads TEFL Information How to Get into Teaching English as a Foreign Language Do you want to use your skills and knowledge to educate others? Do you feel that you could connect with young people and change their lives? If so, maybe teaching is the career for you. Table of Contents What are the benefits of teaching? A fulfilling career Job satisfaction Being a positive role model Variety Multiple opportunities How to Get into Teaching Bachelor's degree in Education Post Graduate Certificate in Education PCGE Teach First Schools Direct Teacher Training Teaching English as a Foreign Language TEFL/TESOL Are you ready to teach English as a foreign language? Related Articles: Check out what our course grads say in our many video testimonials! The HelloGrads...  [Read more]

Fri, 26 Oct 2018 Linda Dunsmore Teaching Ideas 10 Tips When Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Children Most EFL teachers abroad will - at some point in their career - teach children. The English education market catered to young learners is a billion dollar business and many countries hire teachers to fill this need. What you can do to brace yourself besides taking our 50-hour specialized TEFL course in Teaching English to Young Learners is to take the following 10 tips to heart. Table of Contents Listen to this blog post: Don't Think it's a Piece of Cake Involve Your Students in Hands-On Activities Don't Talk for Long Periods Children Learn Through Personal Interactions Cater to Multiple Intelligences Review, Review, Review Encourage Self-Correction Use Learned Information...  [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]

Thu, 02 May 2019 Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Using the ESA Method in Teaching English as a Foreign Language ESA stands for Engage, Study, and Activate. It is an effective and logical method used to teach new Language (Jeremy Harmer). Table of Contents The Engage Stage The Study Stage The Activate Stage Advantages Of Using The ESA Method In Teaching English As Second Language Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post: By using ESA, it gives teachers the flexibility to conduct a classroom in an organized and productive way. ESA is extremely important when it comes to teaching, in the sense that it keeps the students interested, motivated and eager to learn more. ESA is particularly appropriate for trainees and new teachers, hence the...  [Read more]

What is the difference between TESOL and TEFL? TESOL and TEFL, though frequently confused, address distinct teaching environments. TESOL encompasses teaching English to non-native speakers, whether in English-speaking countries like the U.S. or elsewhere. Conversely, TEFL is specifically geared towards instructing English in regions where the language is foreign. TEFL = Teaching English as a Foreign Language TESOL = Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Table of Contents Where are TEFL and TESOL most commonly used? What are the technical differences between TEFL and TESOL? Where are TEFL and TESOL most commonly used? TEFL is predominantly used in the UK and Europe, whereas TESOL is the preferred term in the United States, Canada, and Australia. These terms, while often...  [Read more]

Can I learn a foreign language while teaching English abroad? Yes. One of the many benefits of teaching English abroad is that it can provide a great environment for learning a foreign language. It is no secret that being fully immersed in a different culture, where you are constantly surrounded by a new language, is the most effective way to quickly develop your understanding. Throughout your time living and working as an English teacher abroad, you will inevitably have endless opportunities to practice your language skills. What are the benefits of learning a foreign language when teaching English abroad? As well as using the language as you go about your daily life, there is also a good chance that you will have access to local language courses that are far cheaper than those...  [Read more]

Can I learn a foreign language while teaching English abroad? Certainly! Teaching English abroad uniquely positions you for rapid foreign language acquisition. Immersion in a new culture, surrounded by native speakers daily, is one of the most effective methods to grasp a language. As an English teacher abroad, every interaction - from daily errands to classroom engagements - becomes an invaluable opportunity to hone your linguistic abilities. Table of Contents What are the benefits of learning a foreign language when teaching English abroad? Can I learn Chinese while teaching English abroad? Can I learn Arabic while teaching English abroad? Can I learn Spanish while teaching English abroad? Can I learn French while teaching English abroad? What other languages can I learn while...  [Read more]

Tue, 23 Apr 2019 Mark Crocker Alumni Experiences The Benefits of Foreign Language Experience When Traveling the World In April 2018 I quit my job and began traveling around the world. Since then, I have taught myself Russian and improved my teaching skills by helping others with languages I am familiar with. The more places I visited on my journey, the more I became interested in foreign languages. I had the chance to teach people German and English, while also learning other languages and alphabets from them. I realized that while helping others, I developed a passion for teaching. I then decided to travel to Southeast Asia and acquire a TEFL certificate, which will enable me to teach English and live in a foreign country. Table of Contents My First Experiences Overseas How Travel...  [Read more]

What is the difference between TEFL and TESOL? Where are TEFL and TESOL primarily utilized? TEFL finds its main application in the UK and Europe, whereas TESOL is the preferred terminology in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Despite their interchangeable usage, these terms reflect regional preferences for English teaching accreditation. Nonetheless, both TEFL and TESOL certifications offer comparable training and qualifications. Table of Contents What are the technical distinctions between TEFL and TESOL? Should I get TEFL or TESOL certified? Why get TEFL / TESOL certified. Video Testimonials. What are the technical distinctions between TEFL and TESOL? TEFL and TESOL, though frequently interchanged, possess distinct technical scopes. TEFL is geared towards teaching English to...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Rapport Building   Our next consideration is going to be building and maintaining rapport. The importance of rapport is that within our communicative activities, we're asking the students to talk to each other. If they feel comfortable with each other and with us, then that interaction is much more likely to be useful. So how do we actually build and maintain rapport? Well, it's easiest if we consider two stages of the course itself. What we can do at the start of the course and what we can do throughout the course to help build and maintain that rapport. So at the start of the course, it's very useful if we ask the students to create a name card and to make that name card visible to everyone. Secondly we need to try...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Desk Layout   So now we'll consider the actual classroom arrangements themselves in terms of the physical desk layout. There are possibly three main types of arrangements that are used within classrooms and we're going to indicate the desks here as being boxes and the arrangements of the students within those desks will be blue crosses. So here we have the desks ranged in rows and the students sitting within those rows. The second arrangement could be the use of horseshoes or semi circles and finally the use of individual desks. So for each of these arrangements what are the potential advantages and disadvantages of arranging our seating in this way? Let's take the rows first of all. One of the potential advantages...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Giving Instructions   Our next consideration is that of giving instructions to our students. In order for those students to effectively carry out an activity, we need to make sure we have given clear and unambiguous instructions. It's also very important to check that the students understand the activity before you start. If you've done that work correctly then the teacher shouldn't need to say anything once an activity has started because the students are very clear about what they're supposed to be doing. So some ideas when giving instructions. As we've mentioned use simple language. Secondly, rather than trying to explain an activity, then do a demonstration which is visual. Thirdly, try to use wherever possible...  [Read more]

English Grammar - Future Perfect - Usages - Teaching English as a Foreign Language   This training video from one of ITTT's teaching English as a foreign language courses reviews the usage of the future perfect tense. This is used to talk about actions that will be completed by a point in the future. "I will have finished my TEFL course by the end of the year" If you are interested in teaching English as a foreign language the first thing you should think about is getting qualified. Many EFL employers require their teachers to have some form of teaching qualification and a 120-hour TEFL certificate meets that requirement. Follow the link above to browse the selection of TEFL courses that ITTT has to offer. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Grouping Students   Our next consideration is going to be how we actually group our students. There are perhaps three types of grouping arrangements that we can consider and within those we'll have a look at the potential positive and negatives of those particular arrangements. So firstly, what arrangements can we use? We could arrange our group as a whole class so all of their activities will be done as a whole class. They could be working as individuals and the final grouping arrangement we'll consider is that of small groups or indeed the use of pair work. So for each of these types of arrangements what are the potential positive and negatives with that type of arrangement? For the whole class certainly one of the...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Classroom Arrangement   The dynamics of classroom interaction is often dictated by the arrangement of the classroom itself and the way in which the classroom is arranged could depend upon a number of factors and they might include things such as the age of the students, so for example we're unlikely to have the same arrangement for adult learners as we would have for young learners. It could also depend upon the actual physical space available. The physical space may determine how we have to arrange our classroom to maximize the opportunity for interaction and so forth. It will also depend on what material is available and by material in this case we're talking about the actual desks and chairs and so on and so...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Giving Individual Attention   Our next main issue is going to be that of giving students individual attention. Here many classroom management and leaving potential discipline problems can be avoided by applying some simple rules to giving your students attention. The first one is to think about the way in which you ask questions. Don't ask questions in a predictable order. If you just go around the class asking questions from one person to the next then the person at the end of the class will know that it's going to be some time before you actually get to them. So try to mix up the way in which you're asking questions. In terms of answers to questions don't allow individual students to dominate all of the answers....  [Read more]

English Grammar - Future Perfect - Teaching Ideas - Teach English as a Foreign Language   This video from one of ITTT's teach English as a foreign language courses covers three teaching ideas for the future perfect tense. The future perfect is used to talk about things that will have been completed by a certain date in the future. The first idea involves asking students the following question "What will you have done by ...?" with an appropriate time in the future. For example: "What will you have done by the time you are 25?" "I will have become an English teacher". The second idea involves giving students monthly calendars to complete and asking them to say what they will have done by the end of the month. The last idea involves asking questions about a famous person and what they...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Common Issues   There are some other classroom management issues that we need to consider and they may include issues such as writing on the board, giving students individual attention, the use of teacher talk time, the way in which we should give instructions to our students, the building and maintaining of rapport with our students, and finally the one that perhaps most new teachers particularly spend a lot of time worrying and thinking about, is the issue of classroom discipline. So what we'd like to do is to take each of these in turn and look at some of the major issues surrounding these classroom management issues. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Using Students' Names   It is very important that whenever we?re doing an activity that we use the students names wherever possible when we're asking for feedback and so on and so forth. There are a number of benefits to using the students? names and they can include helping to actually organize the class itself, certainly to acknowledge when a student has given the correct answer and so forth, to indicate who should respond, rather than just asking a general question to the whole class. By using the names we can ask an individual to respond to that particular question. One point to note here is that if you are going to ask an individual student it is very useful if you put their name at the end of the question. This...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Teacher Talk Time   When considering Teacher Talk Time, we can perhaps look at the major advantage and disadvantage of the teacher actually talking. The major advantage is that you as the teacher are usually the only real model for the language, the source of correct English. So at some stages, your talking time is very important to the students. So when you?re modeling language, that use of Teacher Talk Time can be very advantageous. There are major disadvantages to overusing Teacher Talk Time, however, and perhaps the major one is that whenever the teacher is talking, the students are listening and if the students are listening, then they themselves cannot be talking. So, Teacher Talk Time reduces the opportunity...  [Read more]

Tue, 18 Dec 2018 Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences Why I Love Teaching English as a Foreign Language Abroad - A TEFL Alumni's ESL Story When I started teaching English 25 years ago, I honestly did not know what I was doing. I naively assumed that it was enough to know the language myself. But soon I came to understand, that there was definitely more to teaching. Table of Contents Different needs and motives of students Requirements I had to meet Special moments Are you ready to teach English abroad? Related Articles: Listen to this blog post This post was written by our ITTT graduate Karin W. Different needs and motives of students My first student ever was brought to me at the tender age of eight months and his mother's aim was to get him accepted in a bilingual kindergarten....  [Read more]

Tue, 17 Dec 2019 Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Things I Wished I Knew When Teaching English as a Foreign Language in a Kindergarten If someone asks me what I think about teaching kindergarten children as a native English teacher (NET), I would say that it is one of the happiest and most rewarding experiences that I have ever received. But, if someone asked me what I thought about teaching kindergarten children when I first started, I would have responded differently. I would say, "I can't seem to get my students' attention," or "Some of my students still have trouble learning new words." It was after a few weeks into teaching and some wonderful advice from my coworkers I realized that I had overlooked the fact that the students' age, perception, and interests play an...  [Read more]

Classroom Management for Teaching English as a Foreign Language - Writing on the Board   One of the major ideas here when writing on the board, is that we need to be aware that whenever we're using the board to write down information, we should not be talking and whenever we are talking we should not be writing on the board. This will inevitably lead to what's known as dead time when nothing is being said as we're putting information on the board. This dead time is not a problem but we can actually minimize it by using a number of techniques. We could use pre-prepared material. So we put information onto large pieces of paper and then instead of writing on the board, we actually stick those materials onto the board as we go through the class. Another idea is to actually ask...  [Read more]

What does TEFL stand for? TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language. In other words, it is a teaching qualification for teaching English to anyone whose first language isn't English. TEFL certificates are academic qualifications that are provided upon successful completion of a TEFL course. TEFL certificates can be used anywhere in the world, although the TEFL acronym is most commonly used when referring to teachers in the UK and Europe. Almost all schools expect their ESL teachers to be fluent in the English language, with sound communication skills and an ESL teaching qualification (TEFL/TESOL/CELTA). CELTA shares some similarities with TEFL and TESOL courses. It is overseen by the Cambridge university and is predominantly a qualification for teaching English to adult...  [Read more]

English Teaching Courses with ITTT English Teaching Courses with ITTT We offer a world-renowned TEFL/TESOL certification course that equips you for the professional task of teaching English overseas, or in your home country. Our TEFL certification courses last for four weeks in a variety of exciting sites around the world, and have a very practical emphasis. There is no need to speak any language other than English, as our courses concentrate on training you to teach English with the international standard communicative approach - where English is the only language used in the classroom. Our TEFL certification courses Our TEFL certification courses are certainly demanding; however, we do everything within our power to encourage TEFL students to pass the course and to promptly acquire a...  [Read more]

4-week, In-Class TEFL Certification Courses with ITTT International TEFL and TESOL Training, in conjunction with TEFL International, provides internationally recognised and accredited TEFL courses in a wide variety of interesting and exotic locations, right around the world. Why choose us At ITTT we are proud of our in-class TEFL certification courses and what we are able to achieve in four short weeks of training. The majority of our trainees arrive with no prior knowledge or experience of teaching English, yet by the end of the course they leave us feeling confident in their ability to take on teaching positions in countries all over the world. Please click on the following links for further detailed information relating to our courses: Please click on the links below for further...  [Read more]

What does TEFL mean? TEFL stands for 'Teaching English as a Foreign Language.' Beyond its definition, TEFL also denotes training courses that English language instructors undergo and the certification they earn upon finishing. Completing a TEFL course equips individuals with the necessary skills to teach English effectively across the globe. Table of Contents What qualification do I need to teach EFL? How do TEFL courses differ? Which TEFL course provides the most comprehensive training? Is an online TEFL course sufficient for teaching English abroad? What will I gain from my TEFL course? What qualification do I need to teach EFL? To teach EFL, the most widely recognized qualification is the TEFL certificate. Given the absence of a uniform standard for TEFL certification,...  [Read more]