How Old Are Japanese Middle Schoolers

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Teaching English to high-school students and teaching English to university students are uniquely different and require different skills and teaching methods. High school students are in a period of development known as adolescence. One of the leading developmental psychologists, Erik Erikson, defines adolescence as a period of struggle between identity versus role confusion (Hutchison, 2013). During adolescence, high schoolers are going through many physical, cognitive, emotional, and social changes (Hutchison, 2013). They are struggling to define who they are in this world not about their parents. They want to make their own choices in life based on their reasoning. A high schooler may choose on their own to learn English as a foreign language, but...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anle Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stop in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stopped in French. Almost all drivers in North America would know that this means stop because it’s the same octagon red stop sign. In Japan it’s very different, stop signs are triangular with Japanese script on them but, beneath the Japanese, you can find English subtitles which read ‘stop’. In fact, if you travel anywhere in Japan, the majority of signs and announcements related to travel are offered in Japanese and English. English has been taught in Japanese schools since the American occupation after World War Two. However, according to an EF English Proficiency Index in 2017, Japanese English proficiency is 35th out of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In Japan, elementary schools typically employ an Assistant Language Teacher (ALT) to provide support to homeroom teachers during English classes. I have been working in such a capacity for the past two and a half years, first through an international program and currently as a direct-hire via my local city hall. Until recently, mandatory English classes at the elementary school level have been limited to the fifth and sixth grades, but new national requirements are being rolled out that will require mandatory English classes as early as third grade while doubling English classroom hours for the fifth and sixth grades. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rodica C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Bǎihe Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Chengdu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Even though English is a mandatory subject in Japan, most students end up High School without even a basic level of English. Some facts about this is the measure done by TOEIC that ranked Japan 40 out of 48 countries, and on the TOEFL they score as one of the worst countries in Asia. Teaching English to Japanese native speakers may be a challenging experience with a...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Throughout high school and college, I mainly focused on learning how to speak Japanese as my second language. Unlike English, Japanese is a fairly phonetic language. Two of its three writing systems, hiragana and katakana, are phonetic. This makes it easy for foreigners to learn because each syllable, also known as sound clusters in some circles, is almost always said exactly how it is spelled. The third writing system, kanji, is not and, as such, is much more difficult for foreigners to learn because kanji are essentially pictures that describe their meaning. They are much more difficult to learn and use in everyday speech. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicole H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Bailong Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Linfen Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I am a Brit, born and bred but I now live in Japan.
In the summer of 2017 I finished up my university degree and moved to Japan following my graduation. I got married to the Japanese man I had been dating for the previous 2 years and we began our marriage together in one of the rural areas of Yamaguchi Prefecture. 

We started to live together in Kudamatsu...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is my first language, however, I studied Spanish throughout high school growing up in the Midwest and eventually received a Master’s degree in Spanish Literature. I learned to speak Spanish very well after becoming a high school Spanish teacher for eight years and then a principal for elementary and secondary schools for 26 more years speaking Spanish to new immigrant students and parents the whole time. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rex P. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. In reflecting on the title question I first asked myself how Spanish had influenced me over the years. The first obvious answer was that I became bilingual and began communicating...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a Pacific Island nation whose history is marked by periods of nationalism and seclusion, as the Japanese government closed the borders to international trade. The lack of foreign influence in Japan has enabled a unique culture to flourish and the population to remain nearly 98% homogenous, meaning nearly everyone that lives in Japan is Japanese. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Andrew C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Within the past hundred years, government policy has changed and Japan has opened its borders to trade and tourism, becoming a major global economy and popular international tourist destination (Lambert, 2019). To catch up to global trade...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Anren Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Chengdu Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I began learning the Japanese language when I was in middle school, around age twelve. Many of my peers thought it strange to decide to choose to learn a foreign language as a hobby; most of my peers at that age were interested in typical pre-teen things: going to the mall, visiting friends, going to local football and basketball games. Looking back, I think my choice...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Dachaidan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Haixi Mengguzu Zangzu Zizhizhou? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Problems for Learners in a Country of your Choice Despite being one of the world's most developed nations, Japan lacks English fluency. According to the Education Testing Service, which administers English proficiency exams, out of the 30 Asian countries that took TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) exams in 2015, Japan ranked fifth...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Description: When teaching English in Japan, there are a few common problems all learners, young and old, face. Two main issues students face are with grammar, as well as pronouncing and hearing certain sounds. As this course was designed for teaching young learners, in this paper, I will address the issues above and possible solutions as they apply to this age group. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Rebecca E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Grammar is difficult to learn, no matter where you are from. However, some critical issues for Japanese students, in particular, are sentence structure and word order, articles and plurals,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences What’s the most difficult part of learning a new language? Is it writing? Perhaps it’s the reading or memorizing new vocabulary? Well for some it’s speaking the new language, specifically when it comes to pronunciation. Every language has its unique ways or pronouncing their vowels and constants as well as how they form their sentence structure. Especially this write up will focus on Japanese English as a Second Language (ESL) students and the difficulties they face while learning English and its pronunciation. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. First, it helps to understand a little background of the Japanese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Japan is a developed country, with well above 126 million inhabitants, that during the past decade has been gaining more and more popularity as a destination for travelers and as a residence for people from all kinds of countries. Yet its inhabitants often seem to struggle with gaining English language proficiency. In this essay, I’ll try to resolve the question, which problems students in Japan typically encounter when attempting to learn English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Philipp S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first aspect of this issue is probably the most obvious one. The differences in grammatical structures between Japanese and English are...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas So, you’ve just finished a delicious meal of sushi at your favorite sushi restaurant in Tokyo. The waitress comes by and leaves the check at your table, you place your money inside, hand it back, and she shortly returns with the receipt. You proceed to place a generous tip on the table to thank her for her wonderful service, and you show yourself out of the restraint, back to the busy streets of Tokyo. Can you spot something that you shouldn’t have done in this scenario? This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Zachary B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Most Westerns won’t be able to, as this scenario is perfectible acceptable in the Western part of the world. However,...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This essay will be a comparison of my personal experience teaching English in Barbados, a country whose main language is English versus teaching English in a rural area in Japan, a country whose main language is Japanese (not English). Firstly, I will briefly discuss the definitions of teaching. Secondly, I will summarize English education for young learners in each country. Finally, I will compare and contrasts my personal experience in both countries and the valuable lessons I have learned. To protect the anonymity of the schools, the specific areas and any other identifying information will be excluded from this essay. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desriel G. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In the wake of the upcoming 2020 Olympics in Japan, there has been an increase in elementary school level English classes. As an assistant language teacher half into my fourth year, I have had the rare chance to work the entirety of my time in one elementary school where I have had many great memories. However, being present every day I began to notice that some students were struggling or in some cases, not even trying when it came to English class. Talking with my peers and colleagues from other elementary schools as well as my own, there are some common problems that many students seem to experience in an English class. These problems include learning in a counter-productive environment, inconsistent exposure to the language, and a lack of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This essay seeks to explain how the Japanese ‘Katakana’ and ‘Romaji’ alphabets cause barriers to the introduction of English education in Japanese elementary schools. It will look at how these alphabets affect the pronunciation, writing, and reading abilities of Japanese students. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ethan M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The main two, ‘Hiragana’ (the base Japanese writing system) and ‘Kanji’ (Chinese characters), are not relevant to English. The remaining two, ‘Katakana’ (used for ‘borrowed’ words from other languages) and ‘Romaji’ (Roman letters) are often used as the base for Japanese elementary...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences As a young child, I was, for some reason, obsessed with the idea of learning French. I tried a couple of languages, including Finnish at some point, but kept going back to French. I have no idea why because I was never exposed to the culture or the language itself at that age. I doubt I even knew anything about the country itself. I think I assumed learning French would make me sound smarter but, the joke's on younger me, I have no skill in French and never have. I tend to struggle with romance languages in general. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nicole H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When I was in high school, my friends and I petitioned to get Japanese...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas In between the lesson structures of teaching a five-year-old how to ride a horse and a 20-year-old did I first witness the relationship between age and abilities, attention spans, and structural needs of the different students. As German riding schools would follow a structured pyramid system to train a horse and rider from the ground up, so can teachers of a first or secondary language. Questions to discuss in this essay are, “What is early childhood development? What comes next?” and “How can a teacher encourage students through the different stages of development?”. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kate S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. According to the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Dongzhai Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xinzhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Foreword: When i initially saw this list i had to admit i felt somewhat daunted.Two reasons for my feelings were first of all the fact that from a professionel perspective,its been a while ever sincei had the time to reflect and write an essay about the nature and/or future of teaching and all its diverse aspects, but also because of the fact that the list...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I love flashcards. Honestly, I really do. For me, they are a never-ending source of games and activities. Nowadays I work as an ESL teacher in a training center and I teach mostly young learners (students from 3 to 8 years old) and I am strongly convinced that this age group may learn a foreign language only through games, entertaining activities and live communication. Therefore, I am trying to be creative and use plenty of teaching aids and props, such as IWB, OHP, whiteboard, course books, board games, balls, balloons, hoops, various arts and crafts, etc. However, I find that using flashcards is simple yet one of the most effective tools to increase my student’s vocabulary. And here are some of my favorite games: This post was written by our TEFL...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Wangzhuangji Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Liaocheng Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. The English language has passed through three phases of development: Old English, Middle English and Modern English. Old English, dates from the 5th century when Germans invaded Britain. Therefore English was formed by the Anglo-Saxon language. The Anglo-Saxon people are the mixture of Germanic people - Anglos, Saxons and Jutes (Danes) - from a region near...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Next year, Japan will host the thirty-second Olympiad in the capital city of Tokyo. To correspond with the timing of the 2020 Olympics, Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (hereafter MEXT) has laid out a plan for the reform of English education to meet the future needs of Japanese students in a globalized world. However, this plan presents several challenges for current and future learners of English in the Japanese educational system. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Philippa K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The thrust of MEXT’s plan is to roll back English education in Japan so that students in the public education...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Leiya Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Weinan Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. I have had the opportunity to study several foreign languages, some in a formal setting, some self-taught. Through my personal experiences learning other languages I have developed some insights into language learning. I would like to describe some of my experiences, and some of my thoughts on what I have learned from them, and from this course. My first experience in...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Many challenges come with teaching English in Japan that is unique and not innately obvious to some people. In addition to the more universal challenges of learning a new language, there are inherent cultural obstacles that English learners must overcome in Japan as well as several problems with the current course of study that is being taught. However, English teachers should do their best to work within the limits of the system to foster an interest and passion for language that lives on outside the classroom and beyond the school years of learners. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Issei E. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Japanese does not use the Roman...  [Read more]

Wisconsin is a state rich in natural beauty and history. Located in the Midwest of the USA, south of the famous Great Lakes, the landscape of Wisconsin is lush and diverse. It is not hard to see why Wisconsin earned the title ‘America’s Dairyland’, as it is home to the country’s most renowned dairy products, cheese being the most famous. Wisconsin is a particularly great place to escape from the city rush by hiring a cabin in the woods. Hike around lakes, climb waterfalls, or simply relax in the peaceful atmosphere of the countryside. Whatever you are looking for, you will find it in Wisconsin. The area around Lake Superior is a wonderland for outdoor enthusiasts. Some of the best outdoor activities include biking and hiking in Chippewa Valley, and enjoying a great day out kayaking...  [Read more]

Mahmoud Maihoob Destinations Alumni Experiences The first question that pops up to the minds of many experienced and aspiring English teachers who want to teach abroad is: where in the world should I teach? Asia? Africa? The Middle East? Well, my answer to this question is and will always be Egypt. Here are 6 reasons why teaching English in Egypt is an awesome and wholesome experience. In most Arabic-speaking countries, an obligation of fluency and eloquence in English has become pivotal for jobseekers and parents who desire the best possible education for their children; especially in English. In Egypt, it is incredibly easy to begin tutoring or to teach full-time at a school, even if you have limited experience. A bachelor’s degree and experience will get you a high salary starting...  [Read more]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word thorough. This word is used as an adjective and means being careful about detail. The word comes from the Middle English word thorow, which came from the Old English thurh. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to grips with each section before moving onto the next. There are so many ways to keep lessons interesting and to use many different forms of activities in teaching. This keeps excitement and interest in the students as well as the teacher. Variety...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Taiyuan Gaoxin Jishu Chanye Kaifaqu [Taiyuan High-tech Industrial Development Zone]? Are you interested in teaching English in Taiyuan Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Language is a uniquely human cognitive skill. Undeniably animals communicate in a variety of ways: bee dance for honeybees, bird song for aviary species, pheromones for ants, etc. However human language remains unique in its complexity and variety. Human language has the unique characteristic of...  [Read more]