Is Halloween Everywhere

Singapore is the world’s only island city-state and is located on the tip of the Malay Peninsula in Southeast Asia. The city was founded as a British trading post by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819 and continues to be an important center or global trade and investment today and it is one of the original “Asian Tigers” alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan. A population of over five and a half million people lives side-by-side on an area of 277 square miles and sixty-three islands. Although the city is highly urbanized, with the majority of people living in high-rise apartment buildings, the government’s “Garden City” policy has created beautiful tree-lined street and there are plenty of green spaces to enjoy. Singapore has a long history of immigration, with the British...  [Read more]

Nine thousand years of history, and a present-day physical division between Greek and Turkish society guarantees an interesting place to visit. Along with this, fabulous scenery, and wonderful stretches of unspoilt coastline make this an ideal place to relax and soak up the culture. Popular with the Pheonicians, the ancient Greeks, the Romans, and the crusaders, there is an architectural treat to be found almost everywhere you look. Greek and Turkish are the official languages; however, English is quite widely spoken amongst the Greek Cypriot community. The population is 750,000, so it’s none too crowded. The local religion is 75% Greek Orthodox, with 14% Muslim. Prospects for teachers are very good. There is considerable enthusiasm for English on the Greek Cypriot side because of...  [Read more]

{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ [ {"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh0","name": "Will I make friends with work colleagues when teaching English abroad?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/how-will-i-make-friends-while-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh0"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh1","name": "Will I make friends with the local people?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/how-will-i-make-friends-while-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh1"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh3","name": "How can I find like minded people in the local area?","url":...  [Read more]

Thailand is a central Asian country enjoying a tropical climate with 3 distinct seasons - summer from March through May, rainy with plenty of sunshine from June to September and cool from October through February. The average annual temperature is 28 C (83 F), ranging, in Bangkok, for example, from 30 C in April to 25 C in December. The exchange rate for the Thai baht is around 30 to the US dollar. The night life, friendly people and the air of tropical paradise all make Thailand very popular amongst ‘traveller teachers’ and, hence, wages are quite low at around B25,000 to B40,000 for schools, but up to B60,000 working for private companies. Nevertheless, living expenses are extremely low, and it is important to recognize that as a teacher you will be going native and not paying...  [Read more]

Mighty big place, Partner. As Ferdinand Braudel, the great French historian observed, ‘the land dictates the people’, and it is a good idea never to stray too far from this theme. If you want to know what ‘cold’ is then head up to Minneapolis, north of Toronto, in the mid winter. If you want to know what ‘hot and humid is’ then try Orlando in the height of the summer. If you transcribe a line from Los Angles to Miami and turn this into a road trip then the number of different peoples and environments you will encounter is immense. By all means there is a thin veneer of Americanism, and everywhere you will find both McDonalds, and the presence of the Federal Government; however, you shouldn’t let this take your eye off the ball of the fact that the people and environment of...  [Read more]

Chiang Mai, the capital of North Thailand and once the capital city of the Lan Na Kingdom is the home of the TEFL International course in northern Thailand. Chiang Mai was founded in the thirteenth century, and is one of the oldest cities in Thailand; it’s recognized as having an independent cultural personality it its own rite. Outside the city, Chiang Mai is surrounded by beautiful scenery of mountains, rivers, meadows, waterfalls, forests and valleys, stemming from the foothills of the Himalayas. Chiang Mai offers a different experience for TEFL International TEFL Courses in Thailand.  Many feel that Chiang Mai is an essential part of any journey to Thailand. Located more than 700km northwest of Bangkok, Chiang Mai has in excess of 300 temples, with an impressive 121 within the...  [Read more]

English as a Global Language In the last few months that I have been traveling, it has become even more apparent to me how important it is to be able to speak English to interact in the world today. Many of the people that I have been talking with over the last few months have not been native English speakers. And it became very clear to me that if they had not learned English, I would not be able to communicate with them, they have to learn a second language to be able to broaden their opportunities for travel, work, and general communication with people from other countries. As a native English speaker, you take this for granted. And as a result, many native English speakers only speak the one language. As a result of the Industrial Revolution, the British economic predominance in the...  [Read more]

British english vs american English With English being recognised as the global language of choice, which one is considered the official language? So just how did American English diverge from British English in the first place? American English roots back to the early colonial days of the late 16th century, were a whole gamut of cultures converged into a single society. In some colonies English wasn’t even a spoken language and in those colonies that did speak English it was quite different from the English we know today. The Elizabethan English of the day consisted of many varieties of regional English dialects. All these different dialects, intermingled with a multitude of cultures formed one big boiling pot, of which over time, a new variant was produced – American English. And...  [Read more]