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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]

  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]

Although there was a time when it was not uncommon for people to teach the English language without any relevant training or qualifications, it is now largely a thing of the past as most employers realize that being able to speak a language fluently is not the same thing as being able to teach it effectively. This move towards suitable training has led to the development of TESOL certification courses that have been designed to provide native and non-native English speakers with the skills and knowledge required by anyone who wants to earn a good living in the classroom. Here we take a look at what a TESOL course actually teaches you? For many people the thought of understanding and trying to explain the different areas of English grammar is somewhat daunting. The average native...  [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]

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]

ESL stands for English as a Second Language and refers to non-native English speakers who live in countries where English is not widely spoken. It refers to people who study English as a second language in addition to their native tongue. From Japan to Spain, students all over the world study English as a second language. Teachers from English-speaking countries frequently head abroad to teach English. Popular destinations for ESL teachers include Vietnam, Spain, China, South Korea, Japan, and the United Arab Emirates - but pretty much anywhere around the world is an option! Many schools offer ESL as a subject to students who speak a language other than English. ESL teachers will assist students with their speaking, reading, writing, and listening skills. ESL teachers can be native...  [Read more]

Before we address the main question it is best to first give a brief outline of the different types of class levels that English language classrooms adopt around the world. Although there will be different names used for the different levels taught in some countries, the five standard teaching levels indicated by the main resources books available (Reward, New Headway, etc) are: Now that we have established the general language levels of our students, we can now look at the four skills of the English language. As an ESL language teacher it is vital that we are aware of the four skills required by any student who wishes to become fluent. Reading and listening (receptive skills) and writing and speaking (productive skills) are all as important as each other when it comes to learning a...  [Read more]

The typical salaries for teaching English abroad are determined by a number of factors, including your qualifications, previous experience, and the country you wish to teach in. Let's look at how much an average TESOL teacher can make in different regions around the world. The pay for teaching English in other countries varies, but you should usually be able to make a decent living. Teachers in high-paying countries may earn anywhere from $2,000 to $5,000 USD per month. Many factors can influence your TESOL salary, including the type of employer, your qualifications, previous teaching experience, and the location of your school. Teaching English abroad can be an attractive career path, but salaries vary greatly by region. For example, first-time English teachers in several Asian and...  [Read more]

As TESOL courses come in a range of different shapes and sizes, the answer to this common question will vary depending on the one you choose. In order to meet the needs of all our trainees, ITTT has developed a set of unique courses that should cover every situation. As you will see below, each individual TESOL course has its own contents of study and its own overall timescale. If you are looking for the quickest turnaround when it comes to your TESOL certification, a short-format, introductory online course might be the way to go. At ITTT we have a 60-hour TESOL course that provides our fastest and most convenient route towards TESOL certification, although this option does come with caveats. Around the world many employers will expect their job applicants to have completed a...  [Read more]

When it comes to choosing the best online TESOL certification course you need to consider all the main options, what you want the qualification for, and what you hope to achieve with it once certified. First we will look at all the main online course options. The different types of online courses are easily separated by the average number of hours they require to complete them. Weekend courses: These are often marketed as “taster courses” and are done mainly at weekends to give those who are already employed a chance to see what TESOL is about. Due to time constraints (they usually last about 10 hours in total) there is limited material covered in terms of teaching and learning, but they can be useful to help you decide if doing a full course would be worthwhile for you. Short...  [Read more]

Due to the ever growing popularity of English language learning, the number of TESOL certification providers is also increasing. Considering the fact that there is not much in the way of regulation in the TESOL industry, prospective applicants should be cautious when choosing one. Luckily, there are certain steps you can take in order to check the validity of a program you are interested in. In a nutshell, what you should look at in the first place is the course provider’s accreditation by an independent body. If a TESOL course is accredited by a third party institution, it means their academic standards have been thoroughly checked and recognized. When considering a specific TESOL course, try to carry out some proper research of the provider’s credibility. Start with their own...  [Read more]

Making the decision to leave your home country to teach English can be a big move for many people and it inevitably brings some concerns along with it. One of the most common issues that can cause some degree of worry is the fear of losing close contact with friends and family. Those you leave behind might also have similar concerns, so it is likely to be good for everyone if you are able to maintain your close relationships while you are enjoying your overseas adventure. Although human nature often leads us to make excuses when it comes to maintaining long distance relationships, it is really down to you as the one hitting the road to make the effort. Those left at home will understandably have little concept of your new work schedule, the time zone changes, and the simple...  [Read more]

  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 main positive features is that it gives that class a sense of belonging. Secondly...  [Read more]

There is no single answer to this question as it can refer to different areas of the English teaching world. However, below we try to answer the most likely questions regarding the purpose of TESOL. The simple fact is that the vast majority of ESL employers around the world expect their teachers to have the minimum qualification of a 120-hour TESOL or TEFL certificate. There are three main reasons for this: Teaching is a profession and as with all professionals, we can expect that they have at least had the minimum required training to do what they do. The main purpose of a TESOL certificate course is to give you an introduction to language awareness (English grammar and so on) and some basic teaching skills. Under these two headings a typical 120-hour course will include: There...  [Read more]

  Here are helpful tips how to identify the various future tenses in the English language and complete worksheets successfully. The video also helps you to structure an effective lesson around the future tenses in an EFL classroom around 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 grips with each section before moving onto the next. Unit 13 introduced the new topic of ?teaching pronunciation and phonology? and the first aspect discussed was pronunciatio. I have learnt that pronunciation is...  [Read more]

  Here are helpful tips how to identify the various past tenses in the English language and complete worksheets successfully. The video also helps you to structure an effective lesson around the past tenses in an EFL classroom around 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 grips with each section before moving onto the next. Unit 6 gives information on the past tense in English gramma. The past tense consists of four forms; past simple, past continuous, past perfect and past perfect...  [Read more]

  In this TEFL review video, Maria discusses how she is very pleased with her experience of studying with ITTT. Having completed the 120-hour online TEFL course with videos and tutor support she received her certificate within just a few weeks. Maria points out that the course is suitable for anyone no matter their level of expertise. 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. Unit 9 is one of the best units so far about teaching aids, step by step to...  [Read more]

TESOL stands for: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, which is also commonly referred to as TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Whilst these two terms have slight technical differences they are generally used interchangeably within the industry to say the same thing. The first distinction in certification types comes about from the differences between an in-class course, an online course, and a combined (or hybrid) course. In-class courses are undertaken at a physical location, somewhere in the world. These locations are typically in countries where English is not the first language, but many people are learning it. This means there are plenty of English language learners (ELL’s) available for real teaching lessons, which is a very useful addition to these...  [Read more]

Teaching English online generally requires all the same skills and knowledge as in-class teaching, although you will also need to be confident with the technology involved. Some online teaching platforms operate their lessons via their own software, while others operate using general communication programs such as Google Classroom or Zoom. If you choose to go down the online teaching route you will find that there are just as many different potential scenarios as there are in traditional classroom teaching. You might find yourself teaching only kindergarten children or only adults, or any other mix in between. Your lessons might be strictly one-to-one or you might have groups of various sizes. Specialized courses such as business English are also a common option. As online teaching...  [Read more]