What Do You Need To Be An English Teacher

  If you want to teach English as a foreign language abroad or online, you will need to obtain certain qualifications. One of these is a TEFL certificate with at least 100 hours of study. Requirements for teachers vary from country to country, but a TEFL certificate is almost always a requirement.  [Read more]

  If you plan to find a job teaching English in Latin America you need to be aware of which destinations offer the biggest market for foreign teachers, the best time of year to go, what visas are required, and how much it will all cost.  [Read more]

  Being interviewed for a TEFL related position is much like any other interview situation; it can be an intimidating prospect. However, if you do your homework and prepare for some general questions in advance, you can remove a great deal of worry from the whole process. Unfortunately you cannot predict exactly how any interview will unfold but most will include a similar range of questions that are aimed at assessing your suitability for joining the existing workforce. So what questions should you expect to be asked? The employer will certainly want to form an impression of who you are as a person, so expect questions such as: What do you like to do in your spare time? What are your strengths and weaknesses? Where do you see yourself in five years? If the job is outside of your...  [Read more]

Our TEFL course in the Colombian capital of Bogotá is situated in the beautiful Andes Mountains at an altitude of 2,640 meters. Bogotá is one of the highest capital cities in the world and is a city that citizens from all over Colombia call home. The city is the thriving hub of Colombian culture and South America in general. Bogotá always has something exciting to draw your attention, whether that may be soaking up the local culture in the historic downtown or experiencing the country’s beautiful views and diverse flora and fauna on the outskirts of the city. Bogotá also has plenty of restaurants, clubs, cafes and bars to keep you fed and entertained. You can also find a large number of parks which host many different events and activities such as concerts, plays, films and much...  [Read more]

  This video is a sample EFL lesson in a real-life classroom setting abroad. In order to have a successful activate phase of the lesson, the teacher gives clear instructions to all students. Then, the activate activity starts and the students go around the classroom to "find someone who" fulfills various statements on their worksheet. 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. While a lot of this stuff isn't new to me as I went to many classes that...  [Read more]

  This video is part of our series on the past tenses in English. We start off the series with the past simple tense. This tense is used to express completed actions in the past. In this video, we focus on the structure of the past simple. 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. In this unit we look at different ways of evaluating students levels and progress, as well as some of the common external exams that you may need to prepare your student for. I...  [Read more]

As a result of government restrictions and official requirements for visa applications, there are a variety of countries where it is hard for teachers to find a job without having a 4-year university degree on their CV/resume. However, if you are able to be flexible and are willing to look for employment in areas where the demand is high and restrictions are less rigorous, TEFL qualified teachers without a degree can still have several great destinations to choose from. To increase your chances of landing a position in the country of your choice, it is highly recommended that you first complete an internationally accredited TEFL certification course. Those who are TEFL qualified will find they have a big advantage over non-qualified teachers in most countries worldwide. Cambodia is...  [Read more]

ITTT’s Chongqing TEFL training center gives attendees the chance to study an in-class TEFL course in just three weeks. This is the perfect option for trainees who want to attend a classroom based course but have time restrictions. Chongqing is a busy industrial city in southwest China located on the Yangzi River. The city has a population of over 18 million people and is an important transport hub and manufacturing base. Famous for its spicy cuisine which makes extensive use of Sichuan pepper, Chongqing attracts visitors from all over the country looking to try its most famous dish, Chongqing hot pot. This spicy broth is available at thousands of hot pot restaurants around the city and is celebrated in a yearly hot pot festival when over ten thousand hot pot restaurants give discounts...  [Read more]

Tashkent is Uzbekistan’s capital city and is based in the east of the country. With a population of around 2.5 million people it is Uzbekistan’s and Central Asia’s largest city. Tashkent became the capital of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Tashkent’s architecture is a testament to its rich, interesting history and culture. The city’s exhibition halls and metro stations have unique and fascinating styles, which never fail to amaze visitors. To truly experience local Tashkent life you should head to one of the local markets where locals meet and socialize in addition to doing their shopping. Tashkent’s nightlife is growing and the city is place to find the best clubs, restaurants and teahouses Uzbekistan. Food lovers will find...  [Read more]

  While the Present Tenses are each covered individually in other ITTT videos this particular video reviews the four Present Tenses together. Looking at the tenses together helps to clarify and compare the different usages and structures. The video also highlights some of the problems that students may experience when learning and using the Present tenses. For example, in the Present Simple the use of the third person singular and the formation of the question form -- these can be problematic for students. In the Present Perfect, the Past Participle and irregular verbs can often be confusing for students. In the Present Perfect Continuous, the use of non-action verbs needs clarification. A TEFL certification entitles you to unlock the door to any one of a number of TEFL jobs...  [Read more]

  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 to do some ice breaking activities that will allow the students to interact with...  [Read more]

  The next example is going to be that of a boomerang lesson and remember the structure is like this. So, again, we're going to start with an engage phase and for our engage, the students are just going to have a discussion about jobs. What happens at interviews and so on and so forth. So, during that engage phase, what we'd hope to do is to elicit some useful language about jobs and interviews and the types of questions that are being asked. Then, we're going to move immediately into an activate activity and this is going to involve a role-play. So, we'll break the students into pairs. One will be an interviewer, the other will be an interviewee and they'll generate the language that that role-play will produce. What the teacher can do whilst that is taking place is to go around...  [Read more]

  Take a look at any online TEFL forum and there is a good chance you will come across stories of unscrupulous employers taking advantage of their teachers. Due to the huge number of English language training providers operating in countries all over the world, it is inevitable that there are some that are badly run. The good news is that by asking a few simple questions you should be able to avoid the jobs you don't want and greatly increase your chances of landing the right position to suit you. Whether you are an experienced EFL teacher looking for a new challenge or a newly qualified TEFL graduate looking for that all important first teaching position, it is vital that you ask the right questions during the job interview process. Although you can never guarantee that any job...  [Read more]

  Just to finish off this particular section on lesson planning, we're going to go through a couple of procedures that should take place during the study phase periods, particularly when we're doing the activities. It is quite important that before we actually go into a study activity that we go through a process of showing how that activity is going to work and one acronym that is often used for this is D-E-GO. The D part of this stands for a demonstration of the activity. Now, it's very important that you don't try to explain how the activity is going to work but rather you actually demonstrate the process. An example of the demonstration of the process of the activity could be something as simple as taking the first question and using it and writing it on the board. This will...  [Read more]

There is no simple answer to this question because there are so many different TEFL providers offering a wide range of different TEFL courses. However, at ITTT, we are happy to state upfront what is and isn't included in our TEFL course prices. Essentially, the course price you see advertised on our website covers everything you need to complete your training and receive your TEFL certificate. Unlike many other TEFL course providers, we will never ask for additional payments to cover additional things such as study resources, exam fees, or certificate fees. Our online TEFL certificate courses include high-quality course materials that you can download and print out for you to keep. Even though we do provide you with a recommended reading list during your TEFL course, you do not have to...  [Read more]

As one of the most cosmopolitan countries in the world, Singapore is a fascinating place to live and work. Located at the tip of the Malay Peninsula, the city-state once known as the “Jewel of the British Empire” is steeped in British colonial history evident in the city’s monuments and architecture. There are four official languages in Singapore: English, which is the language of government and instruction, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. A major transport hub, Singapore is accessible via direct flights from hundreds of locations as well by ferry from a number of ports in the region. Despite being a well developed urban environment, Singapore has plenty of green spaces to enjoy. There are also a number of world-class attractions in the city including Universal Studios Singapore, Resorts...  [Read more]

China is without doubt the largest market for English language teaching in the world. With a population in the region of 1.4 billion people spread across a vast area, there are a huge range of opportunities to suit all tastes. Whether you prefer big city life, the peace of rural living, tropical or seasonal climates, China has it all. However, one big question is often asked by teachers who want to live and work in the country: Until quite recently the answer would have been yes, as schools in China generally don’t care whether their teachers have a degree or not, and this still hasn’t changed. What has changed is the government has tightened the rules on who is eligible for a Z (work) visa which is what every teacher needs to work legally in the country. The simple truth is that you...  [Read more]

  Why bother with a lesson plan? IT'S AN AID TO PLANNING: A lesson plan helps you identify a clear destination for your lesson. IT'S A WORKING DOCUMENT: It helps you to mark out the route to that destination. IT'S A RECORD: A lesson plan helps you keep track of what you have covered with your students. It also helps other teachers cover your lesson if you are ill. LESSON PLANNING DO'S AND DON'TS Keep it simple. If you need to refer to it in a lesson, a quick glance should tell you what you need to know. Don't write a script of the lesson. Structure your plan and keep the same structure. Note the expected timing for each activity. Activities should be connected giving the lesson a logical pattern. Variety is needed to keep students engaged. Try to anticipate student...  [Read more]

  The Present Simple tense teaching idea in this video is called "20 Questions." The teacher frames this game in the context of, What's my job? Who am I? What am I? (for objects) A student comes to the front of the room and selects a card. The class then asks appropriate questions such as; Do you work in an office? Do you wear a uniform? And try to guess the job, person or object. The student with the card answers using the Present Simple. Each student has a turn and there is a two minute time limit for each person. When teaching the Present Simple tense or any other grammar point, a good English language teacher will always model the language correctly. Students need to be exposed to new language, they need to understand its meaning, they need to understand how it is constructed...  [Read more]

  The final stage of the lesson will be the activate and the activate phase is going to form the main speaking activity within the lesson. So, it's very very important that here, we do a good demonstration of what it is that we're expecting them to do, that we elicit the type of target language we're expecting them to produce from the activity. So, one way we could go around it is to, firstly, form pairs. Each pair is going to be given a card and onto that card they're going to write the country and a month. What the teacher can then do, just to add a little bit of spice to it, is to collect all of the cards and shuffle them around and then redistribute them to the pairs so that they get a card that doesn't have their country or their month on it. What they're then going to do is...  [Read more]

Bangkok is a vibrant, hectic and awe inspiring Asian metropolis with gleaming sky scrapers rising above the incense infused air of the local Buddhist temple. Traditional floating markets are a short trip from 21st Century shopping malls selling the latest fashions and technology. The city is also home to some of the top restaurants in the region if not the world and its street food is delicious, cheap and available almost everywhere. The city is the gravitational centre of the country and attracts Thais from all over the kingdom with the promise of work as well as good schools and universities. As such, it is a great place to experience the unique cultures of the different parts of the country. ITTT’s Bangkok TEFL training course takes place in a working English language school that...  [Read more]

Take your TEFL International course in Barcelona and you’ll gain an internationally recognized teaching certification as well as an experience of a lifetime. Barcelona is a city of a magnificent depth that offers a wide variety of things to do and sights to see. With our TEFL International certificate, you’ll go on to gain employment in Barcelona, Spain, Europe or nearly anywhere else in the world! Jobs are plentiful in Spain, as well as many other worldwide locations, and we’ll help you find a job where meaningful work meets fascinating culture. Barcelona is an ideal location from which to start your TEFL career. Our course is intensive and challenging but our incredibly talented and dedicated trainers will help along every step of the way. While on the course, you’ll learn all...  [Read more]

Around the world there are always a huge number of EFL teaching jobs waiting to be filled which means there are potential opportunities for almost everyone. So what qualifications, background or characteristics do you require to take a TEFL course? First and foremost, anyone thinking about earning their TEFL certification with ITTT needs to be enthusiastic, motivated and determined as every course requires a considerable amount of commitment in terms of both time and effort. If you are fully committed to becoming an English language teacher, either at home or abroad, then you should have little trouble successfully completing the course and becoming a qualified EFL teacher. In order to be an effective English language teacher you do need to have a thorough understanding of the...  [Read more]

Take a look at any online TEFL forum and there is a good chance you will come across stories of unscrupulous employers taking advantage of their teachers. Due to the huge number of English language training providers operating in countries all over the world, it is inevitable that there are some that are badly run. The good news is that by asking a few simple questions you should be able to avoid the jobs you don't want and greatly increase your chances of landing the right position to suit you. So what questions should you ask the employer during an interview? Exactly what is expected of teachers varies considerably from one school to the next. You may be expected to complete reports on your students, attend regular staff meetings, consult with student's parents, provide lesson plans...  [Read more]

Our training center in Ecuador is located in the city of Loja, the capital of Loja Province in the south of the country. Loja is a peaceful city known as the Music and Cultural capital of Ecuador because of its rich tradition in the arts with public art dotted throughout the city and an extremely active music scene. There are many examples of colonial architecture such as the beautiful Church of San Sebastian and the city gates. Throughout the year there is always some kind of musical or cultural event taking place in one of the city’s squares and it is always a pleasure to wander around the cobbled streets taking in the atmosphere and enjoying the entertainment. Just ten minutes outside of the city is the Podocarpus National Park, a large cloud forest covering over 1460 square...  [Read more]

  So, now we're going to fill the actual procedure of the lesson plan out itself. We mentioned at the start, the first thing we do, is to get some general information about the class that we'll be teaching and then, in order for someone to be able to cover our lesson, we need to present enough information in our lesson plan that they can actually carry it out. What I'm going to do is for each stage of the lesson, I'll indicate what I'm going to do in the lesson and then, we'll cut away from that to have a look to see how that will actually be achieved. So, our lesson is going to be based on a 45-minute lesson and the first phase is going to be the engage phase and it's going to be a straight arrow ESA lesson. I'm going to take approximately five minutes on my engage phase and in...  [Read more]

  Then, we have a set of objectives and aims. Here, the learner objectives relate to what we're hoping the students are going to be able to do by the end of your lesson and quite often, that can be a useful way of writing out what the objectives are. So, we would start the sentence "By the end of the lesson, students should be able to?" and then a list of two, three or four items that we're expecting the students to be able to do by completing this lesson. The learner objectives are different to the teacher aims the teacher aims are what you are expecting from that lesson itself. Now, when you first start teaching, quite a normal aim might be to complete the lesson successfully, to get through the whole thing without having any problems. As time goes on and you become more...  [Read more]

  Now an example of a straight arrow ESA lesson for our engage phase. What we're going to do is to show the students a video of animals and they are going to say what they like about those animals and try to create a list of some more. So, remember what we're trying to do here is to get the students talking and thinking in English. We're using a typical engage activity, which is to create a list and we try to make sure that all the students have been involved in some way in creating those lists. Moving on to the study phase, the first part is going to be the board work and the teacher is going to try to elicit from the students what each of those animals can and can't do. Typically, what the students will say is just single words, so "run," "jump," "fly," etc. What we would then...  [Read more]

Mexico is one of the leading travel destinations in the world. What makes Mexico so appealing for travel? The food, the people, the culture, the natural beauty and so much more. Mexico offers its visitors a taste of every possible landscape that you can imagine, from sandy dune deserts to snow pine forests or buzzing cities to majestic beaches… you name it and Mexico’s got it. If sightseeing is your thing when you explore then take your pick; Mexico has Mayan and Aztec pyramids like Templo Mayor or Calakmul, colonial jewels like Museo de Bellas Artes and Castillo de Chapultepec. Mexico’s past is not all that glorious, but its future is brighter than ever. Impressive urban developments throughout the country place it as one of the most important economies in the world. Puerto Vallarta...  [Read more]

Formerly one of Europe’s leading centers of education and culture, Leipzig today is still a leading light of music and culture in Germany. The city’s long and fascinating history can be witnessed in its architecture and the many museums that are to be found in Leipzig and it is easy to see why Goethe once said that Leipzig was “A little Paris that educates its people” as you enjoy the café culture in the arcades surrounding the city center. Johann Sebastian Bach worked in Leipzig for several years in the 18th century and the city is home to the Bach-Archiv Leipzig, an institution that documents the life of Bach and his family. Classical music remains an important part of the life of the city and the Oper Leipzig is one of the most famous opera houses in Germany and the third...  [Read more]