How To Use Epik

  So how do we actually make Best use of the course book? Well, just a couple of factors that you need to keep into consideration when using these types of material, use the course book to help you create a balanced lesson in terms of the range of skills that are being taught and the actual types of material within that the grammar or vocabulary. Secondly, don't use it all the time, particularly with things like activities, we can create our own materials and we can tailor those materials much more specifically to the actual class that we're teaching. As very often the actual creations in the book are very general, we can make our own materials much more specific. The third thing you need to be aware of is that you can't always rely 100% on the information that's presented in those...  [Read more]

  We now consider what we might call the technology that we could use within the classroom then that could include things such as cassettes, the use of CDs, the use of DVD and video. Some general issues surrounding the use of these types of material, make sure whenever you're using any of this type of technology though you know how it actually works when using it for a listening activity, for example. How long does it take for the whole tape to play through? How long does it take to rewind and so on. Other issues that you might need to think about is if you're using a cassette player or CD or something that you set the volume level before you actually start the lesson so that when you switch on you don't shock everyone with a very loud sound or that they can't actually hear it....  [Read more]

  The next idea we're going to consider is the use of visual aids and visual aids can include some examples such as real, objects, which we call realia, the use of pictures and photographs and also the use of models. So let's consider some of the ideas surrounding the use of visual aids. Well, why are they useful? Well, first of all the use of a visual aid can reduce teacher talk time. It's very much more simple just to show a real object than to try to describe it so that we could just ask the students ?what is this,? and they would say ?this is a pen,? rather than trying to actually describe it. Again if we were trying to show examples of fruit and vegetables rather than to try and describe them why not use an actual model and this is going to be much more visually stimulating...  [Read more]

If you have done any research into teaching English in Europe it is likely that you have read something about the Schengen Area that is made up of 26 countries with a combined population of over 400 million people. Set up in 1985, the Schengen Area has essentially removed all border controls between member countries allowing the free movement of people within the whole area. Prior to this, anyone wanting to travel between any country in the area would need to go through full passport checks at every border they wanted to cross. Now TESOL teachers are free to travel at will across the Schengen Area without any restrictions. Please note that the Schengen Area should not be confused with the European Union which is a separate institution. Once you have entered any country that is a...  [Read more]

As our TESOL courses vary in length and in the method of study, they all have their own individual price. Our online courses offer great value for money, while our in-class options are more expensive as they include invaluable teaching practice and other benefits. For your convenience we accept course payments in a variety of ways. The quickest method is by using a credit or debit card. These transactions are completed via our secure online payment page. If you prefer, you can make your payments via Western Union, PayPal, or bank transfer. Please note that these options can take up to seven days to process and may also include bank charges. No problem. If a family member, a work colleague or friend wants to make the course payment on your behalf, simply let us know their details by...  [Read more]

  ‘End of course exam’ is a phrase that can strike fear into the hearts of many people and this can often translate into results that fail to live up to our true potential. At ITTT we try to remove any exam anxiety from our online TESOL courses by using a system of ongoing assessments as you work through the course materials, rather than a final exam. Our courses are divided into individual units and each unit concludes with a multiple choice assessment that you need to complete before you move onto the following unit. Also, you do not need to hit a specific score for each individual unit assessment. In order to pass the course you need to reach an overall score of 75% across all of the assessments in your chosen course. As long as you achieve an average of 75% across all the...  [Read more]

  Our online TESOL courses offer many different features and one of the most popular with our trainees is their high level of flexibility. There are no set times when you have to be online and no fixed timetables for any part of our online courses, which allows you to fit your studies around your own personal responsibilities and lifestyle. You are free to decide for yourself when to study and how much you want to do at any one time. This freedom means you can take one of our online TESOL courses and still carry on with your existing commitments, such as work, family, or study. As there are no timetables to stick to, you can log in to your study dashboard whenever you have a bit of free time and do as much as you can with the time you have. The only real restriction we have with our...  [Read more]

  Next, a couple of issues surrounding the use of worksheets and workcards. Firstly, these types of materials can either be bought or they could be made by yourself. Very often many of the book series that we use will have workcards in their teacher resource book. Worksheets and workcards are very useful because they can act as a prompt to introduce an activity or topic. They can also be used for role plays and one of the things you need to be aware of when making worksheets and workcards yourself is that you need to make them durable. So whenever you create a workcard, if you put it on some hard backing and then put it inside some cellophane or covered plastic just to make them durable then those types of workcards and worksheets can last for years. So examples of worksheets and...  [Read more]

No, TESOL certificates are valid for life, they do not expire. As soon as you complete your online or in-class training course you can use your certificate to find a teaching job, or you can keep it until you are ready to look for work in the future. A TESOL certificate is a very versatile qualification as it can be used to gain employment at any time, in any country worldwide. Although your initial TESOL qualification is valid for life, it is still a good idea to continue your development as an English language teacher as you progress through your career. Specialized courses such as the certificate in teaching business English (CTBE) and the certificate in teaching English to young learners (CTEYL) will expand your knowledge of these specific areas of teaching and lead to...  [Read more]

  The next item that we're going to consider is the use of resource books. There are many different types of resource books available and within those books there tends to be a general pattern and typically the resource book pack will come in a three book series and typically that three book series will be in the form of the student book, a workbook and a teacher's resource book. So for example here are those three books for this particular series called ?Total English? and in the student book the type of information that we can gain from here is the actual background to the teaching points themselves plus some additional information in terms of short worksheets and so on and so forth and tape transcripts at the end for listening activities, which these days often come on a CD...  [Read more]

  This presentation is going to focus on the use of course books, materials and teaching aids. There are many materials that we can bring to our classroom that will help with the teaching of our lessons and these include, though they're not limited to, things such as the wipe board, similar to the one that we're using here, various types of visual aids, created or bought worksheets, the use of cassettes CDs and DVDs and the use of video and in these classroom materials, we can also include things such as dictionaries and course books, various types of resource books that we'll have a look at and other materials such as photo copiers, computers, OHPs. So what we'd like to do is just to take a general look at some of the issues relating to each of these types of materials. Below you...  [Read more]

There is a very large market for ESL teaching books and all the major publishers have some amount of involvement in their production. These books fall into a number of different categories and here we will look at the three main categories. Every teacher will have come across a few different book series that have been specifically written for the ESL teaching market. This type of resource generally comes in five different levels: starter/beginner, elementary, pre-intermediate, intermediate, and upper-intermediate. Each series will also contain three types of book: the teacher book, the student book, and the resource book (or something similar). The teacher book is key as it outlines the syllabus covered and it also breaks each subject up into individual lessons. Each of the lessons...  [Read more]

  These 10 teaching ideas for the past simple tense will encourage your students to use the language in fun communicative ways. Grammar lessons can often be quite daunting and boring for students so it is important to have activities that students will enjoy doing. These ideas offer plenty of student-to-student interaction and allow students to draw on their own life experiences as well as encouraging them to use their imagination. Are you ready to live and teach abroad? Click here and get started today: https://www.teflcourse.net/?cu=YTDESCRIPTION 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....  [Read more]

  There are certain instances where we tend to use the passive voice instead of the active voice. This is true when the agent is unknown or unimportant. We also use the passive voice to change focus or to conceal the agent. Find out more about this topic in this video. 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. This unit covers the conditionals and reported speec. Conditionals are referring to sentences that contain \"if\"/\"when\" and \"will\. \"if\"...  [Read more]

TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. It is also commonly used to refer to the qualification that teachers need in order to be eligible for most good quality teaching jobs in countries all over the world. If you want to take advantage of the huge worldwide boom in English language learning, you will certainly want to have this certification on your CV/resume. Equally, if you are learning the English language you will also want your teacher to have a TESOL qualification to ensure they have the knowledge needed to provide a good standard of tuition. As mentioned, a TESOL certificate is the standard qualification required by employers for anyone who intends to work as an English language teacher at home, overseas, or online. The main benefit is that as a...  [Read more]

  This teaching idea is very similar to the activity we can use for the future continuous. We pair up our students, give them diaries and have them find the day on which both of them are free to meet. This video shows you exactly how to execute this activity in the classroom. 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. Receptive skills(reading and listening) and productive skills(speaking and writing) are necessary to lean any language in the worl. This...  [Read more]

You may or may not be aware that TESOL courses are often assigned to a certain level that reflects their position in the global scheme of ESL teacher training. Thanks to this classification it is much easier for teachers to compare all the options available to them and hopefully pick the best one to suit their personal situation. However, it is also necessary to know that there is not one set of TESOL course levels to be aware of as many countries and teaching organizations use their own system when setting course levels. While this might seem a little confusing, the good news is that they are all generally designed using the same criteria and are usually very similar. The main areas that are used to decide the level of a course include the type of study involved, the number of study...  [Read more]

  In this video we'll be looking at the international phonemic alphabet and how it's used in the classroom. There are other phonemic alphabets but this is the most popular and the system, which is most widely used. You may have seen some of these symbols before as any good dictionary will supplement standard English spellings with the phonemic spellings to aid in pronunciation practice. Here we have a situation where we have what are called phonemes and each phoneme represents a sound within the English language. How is this helpful? Well, what it does is help students understand how to say words rather than simply relying on the often archaic English spellings. To illustrate this point let's for a moment put ourselves in the shoes of our students when trying to understand how to...  [Read more]

  Dima from Ukraine is planning to use his 120-hour certificate from ITTT to teach English to children in China. In this TEFL review, Dima recommends the course for those who want to learn how to teach English professionally around the world. ITTT’s online TEFL and TESOL courses will give you the skills you need to teach English successfully. Our certificates are internationally recognised and enable you to find work as an English teacher almost anywhere in the world. 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...  [Read more]

  Even though many people use "may" and "might" interchangeably, they actually have slightly different meanings. The word "may", for example refers to a possibility, while "might" conveys slightly more uncertainty. In the example "There are dark clouds in the sky. It may rain later", we use "may" because the dark clouds suggest the possibility of rain. The sentence "I'm sick but I might come to the party" uses "might" because it is not certain the person will go to the party. This means, you should use 'may' when there is some kind of a sign that predicts or indicates future happenings. You should use 'might' when expressing something a little more unlikely or uncertain. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification...  [Read more]