One Interesting Fact About Japan

Maddy Payne Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Assistant Language Teachers in Japan come from different countries worldwide, bringing different kinds of English with them. In my experience, American English is often the most sought-after version of English. Some countries highly value Language Teachers from the USA, which often matches their American-style textbooks and resources. Sometimes people are even overlooked for job opportunities due to their Australian accent and British English background. Well, Japan is no different in this regard. Many Japanese schools hold American English in high regard, so what is it like being an Australian-English teacher in Japan? It's no secret that Japanese students love America. A frequently asked question when doing any kind of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences British English (BrE) and American English (AmE) are two of the main varieties of the English language. There are other different varieties of English that exist such as Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, South Asian and African English. Although English was introduced to America through the colonization period by the British, the two varieties of English have evolved to be quite different from each other in certain areas. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Shanique H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. One of these areas is vocabulary, which is one of the most notable differences between the two varieties. For instance, British English – post, American English –...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Ciyao Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Tai'an 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. As an ALT (Assistant Language Teacher) in Japan for the last 9 years, I worked in elementary, and junior high schools and it can be a lot of fun and great but also challenging. In the past, to teach English in Japan was a relatively simple affair – as long as you spoke English, you could often expect to get a job. These days, the Japanese education board are...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Hi everyone, here's Linda again from ITTT. Today we're talking about something really interesting and exciting, teaching English in Asia. Also, all you need to know about how to get to Asia, the countries in Asia with the highest demand, and also the best sort of recruiters and teaching job platforms where you can find the best jobs for teaching English in Asia. I'm super excited about this topic today as I have been pretty much based in Asia since 2012. I spent some time in China and I am now in South Korea where I've been for the last six years. I'm so excited to share my experience with you guys and hopefully maybe some of you can also share your experience, if you have experience in teaching English in Asia. If you want to know anything...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences English is causing many problems in Asian countries which can be seen just by the high demand for English teachers - including ESL teachers. One of the countries is Japan, a country with a good economy and a society well known for their kindness and politeness, but unfortunately also for the low number of English speakers. There are many reasons why English is likely to pose problems in Japan but there are many possibilities to improve the English lessons to offer lessons that help Japanese students to achieve a higher English level. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Eileen Cathrin B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. So why is it that Japanese students struggle...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japanese is certainly one of the most interesting languages in the world thanks to its three types of writing (hiragana, katakana and kanji). This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desiree I. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. After the outbreak of intercontinental travel (therefore with the appearance of commercialization and missionaries around the world) many terms of different languages, including English ones, also became part of the language of Japan. The main problem is that many sounds present in the English language are non-existent in the Japanese language; this means that the pronunciation of many terms has been adapted according to the language standards of...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences There are several challenges Japan faces when it comes to learning English as a second language. Japanese culture is a bubble. Everything, including their ad signs, TV, games, government, studies, work and even the internet is filled with one language; Japanese. In a world of globalization, where your goods and services can come from literally any part of the globe. Japan is one of the few remaining homogenous cultures where English is still seen as an optional language. As the global economy becomes more global, the English language will likely become less optional, but essential. In addition to the cultural issues, Japan's English curriculum in the school is largely unchanged from the ‘60s according to my Japanese cousins and uncles still living...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information oday’s exciting topic is the top hiring seasons for teaching English abroad. We're going to go over different countries on different continents and what their hiring seasons are, so when's the best time to go job hunting. Also there will be some tips for job hunting in those places as sometimes you need to get hired in advance when you're still in your home country and you can do online interviews, but in some countries you need to apply in person. So we're going to talk about that as well. Thanks so much for tuning in and as always please don't forget to like and subscribe so that you never miss a live session. We go live twice a week, one time with me on Fridays, or Thursday depending where you are in the world, and my colleague Liza goes...  [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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences In recent years, the most popular destination for EFL teachers all over the world has been China. China is the country welcoming many foreign teachers, native and non-native, and is probably the country with the most rapid development of the English teaching industry. Online teaching has become just as important as face to face teaching and has been a teacher for an online company for a long time, I have experienced a variety of students, levels, and groups. Therefore, in this essay, I will write about the most common problems Chinese students face and some ways of dealing with them. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Aleksandra Đ. If you are ever in China, you will notice that you will often be required to focus more...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas The accelerated growth of English as a global language has made people from all around the world realize how important this one is nowadays, even in our everyday life we find English words and content wherever we look, technology, movies, tv, business, and internet are only some of them. Therefore, people from different nationalities around the globe, show a lot of interest in learning the English language. This time we are going to focus on Latin and Hispanic students and the challenges that these Spanish speakers encounter when learning English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Dayana M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. People assume that the term Spanish speaker is...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hi my name is Linda from ITTT, international TEFL and TESOL Training and I'm back again today for another live session. If you can hear me and see me please let me know as I'm trying out a new mic today so if that is working well it would be good to know. So please leave a quick comment to say hi and where you're watching from. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years, so for me right now it's 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. Let me know where you are tuning in from and what time it is where you are. We can get started on today's topic which is the best government programs for teaching English abroad. If you're interested in teaching English abroad then you should definitely keep watching as there's a lot of good stuff coming...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Chengdu-shi? 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. Check out which city/town you may be more interested in and start your journey| Learners of English living abroad, whether residing in a non-native speaking country for work or study, will face stressors that will be brought into the regular classroom, as well as the ESL classroom Do we have to learn grammar? This is probably the most repeated question in a typical...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas I started teaching children and youth ten years ago. Most of these children are diagnosed with learning difficulties, and I am teaching them in a class of four or five students. My students have different learning abilities even though they are all enrolled in the same class of a year level. These students have a session with me twice-a-week, one hour per session, which I feel is not enough to help them catch up with their academic lessons. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Xue L. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. From handling these type of children, I had learned a lot of strategies in teaching. I also believe in the uniqueness in terms of how a child learns and that...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Huaikou 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. Upon signing up for this course I had a great, dreamy vision of how wonderful it would be to teach English in a foreign land. But as is often the case when someone first has a dream regarding an endeavor they want to pursue, the dream was lacking in a complete understanding of what it would entail to be successful. I feel through working on the TEFL coursework I now...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Xianyang-shi? 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. Check out which city/town you may be more interested in and start your journey| If you ever find yourself driving in French Canada, you will be stopped by stop signs that say ‘arrêt’, which is stop in French Most teachers come to China to teach English with only a general idea about Chinese culture and language which they should have to deal with as soon as...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages (which became today’s Spanish, French, Italian, etc). But Japanese (as most Asian languages) was formed from entirely different roots. These fundamental differences mean that the method of learning these languages has a lot to do with memorization and repetitive practice of the Chinese symbols and the words they represent. Which means it is difficult to find any common ground between it...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Heze-shi? Are you interested in teaching English in Heze-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. Check out which city/town you may be more interested in and start your journey| There are four basic skills in any language; Receptive skills – Reading and Listening, and Productive Skills – Speaking and Writing Depending on the teaching situation, you might think that maintaining discipline isn`t so important The use of songs in classrooms is not only an excellent way...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Hello and welcome to the weekly ITTT live session, my name is Liza and I'm glad that some people have joined already. I hope everything works smoothly here and you can hear me clearly and see me well, if not please let me know in the comment section so that I can fix it quickly. Today we are going to talk about the vital topic of lesson materials. I know that many people struggle looking for resources and content for their lessons so this is something I want to look at today. While we are waiting for some more people to join us, please let me know where you guys are tuning in from. I'm located in the Euro region of Russia in Yekaterinburg city, it's pretty chilly today and it is also snowing so my plan is to go skiing...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations The Middle East has been a popular region for teaching English abroad for many years but how do you know which country is the best fit for you? Each individual country has its own attractions and characteristics, some you might like and others you might not. Take a look at our country match guide to help you decide which destination is the one for you. Mark Crocker Destinations Although Latin America is a popular destination for teaching English abroad, there are many different countries to choose from and they each have something to offer. Our country match guide should help you decide which of these top destinations would best suit your individual personality. Jon ITTT Destinations This ITTT TEFL article looks at ten different and popular...  [Read more]

Mark Crocker Destinations The Middle East has been a popular region for teaching English abroad for many years but how do you know which country is the best fit for you? Each individual country has its own attractions and characteristics, some you might like and others you might not. Take a look at our country match guide to help you decide which destination is the one for you. Mark Crocker Destinations Although Latin America is a popular destination for teaching English abroad, there are many different countries to choose from and they each have something to offer. Our country match guide should help you decide which of these top destinations would best suit your individual personality. Jon ITTT Destinations This ITTT TEFL article looks at ten different and popular...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Beiji 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. Japan is a country with a long history, deep tradition, and vibrant culture. Within this culture sits the Japanese language. At first, being a spoken language and then adopting the Chinese Writing System, Japanese has grown and changed into what it is today. If you look at all languages, most Western languages originate from a set family, such as Romance Languages...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Yes, in my opinion, English is for sure a global language. Even as a little girl I was simply intrigued by that language. I like it so much, that I even tried to make up some words. It seems to me that it's a kind of language that can easily go through your ears. It's elegant and very special, al least that's how I see it. Nowadays, it's a world spread language that is taught in schools around the globe. English is everywhere. We can find it to be the main language in computers, mobile phones, video games. Meetings are being held in English, there are restaurant menus all around the world, written in English, there are street signs in English. Youngsters communicate in English via e-mails, social networks, video games and so much more... English has...  [Read more]

Zainab Sadriwala Alumni Experiences It’s almost been many months since we started the process of transitioning towards online education due to the COVID-19 outbreak. In fact, there has been a complete shift from the traditional way of teaching to a virtual method. The world has come to believe, and more so understand, that virtual classrooms remain the need of today. Initially, it seemed a rather uphill task for many but with time and effort, teachers around the world have jumped on the bandwagon of teaching online. This remodeling of our classrooms has generated new innovative methods of teaching which, even in the post lockdown period, should not be forgotten or done away with. In this blog post, we discuss some of these useful methods and learn how we can incorporate them into our...  [Read more]

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

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Wangchuan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xi'an 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. Globally students learn a second language for a variety of reasons, whether it is for personal satisfaction and the desire to take on a new challenge, or due to job requirements, or even as a result of an over zealous parent that wants their child to improve their cognitive abilities. As a teacher or a student you will be faced with two main types of lessons: one to...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Language acquisition often involves four skills. These skills are further divided into two groups receptive skills (reading and listening) and productive skills (writing and speaking). Not all languages have a corresponding writing system however, learners of English will have to learn all these skills to be proficient in their use of English. Reading is more than just calling words on paper, In this essay, the importance of reading in language acquisition will be discussed on the basis that reading influences vocabulary expansion, facilitates the practice of word pronunciation and finally sparks and improves the imagination. These concepts will be discussed from the standpoint of English language acquisition in Japanese senior high schools. This post...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi everybody wherever you are right now. I'm in South Korea and it's 10 a.m. Friday, so good morning. I'm back here again today, my name is Linda from ITTT if you've been here before hi and if this is your first time watching thanks so much for tuning in and taking the time, we really appreciate it. If at any time during this live session you have any questions, feel free to drop your comments in the comment section from whichever platform you're watching from. We are streaming live on Facebook and on YouTube at the same time. If you can see me and hear me just leave a hi in the comment box, that would be highly appreciated so that I know that everything is working well. For the first couple of minutes let's just have a chat...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Qiangbai 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. When is the best time to use songs in a classroom for young learners? I was an English teacher in Japan for over three and a half years. In that time, I gained a lot of experience teaching young learners. My students were aged from two to fourteen. As I taught these students, I learned a lot about how songs can be used effectively in the classroom. Songs can be used...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I believe teaching English is a very important job, one that has a large impact and takes great care to do well. As teachers, we are the vessel through which our students receive information and how we present it can have a great impact on what the students learn, how much they learn and how thoroughly they learn it. Part of what makes teaching so challenging is that all students learn differently, a strategy that may help one student, may not resonate with another. Therefore teaching requires not only that a teacher is engaging and effective for one student, but that they find ways to reach every student. I believe a big part of achieving this as a teacher is the personal qualities a teacher brings to a classroom or lesson. I think a teacher should...  [Read more]