Teach Pronunciation

  When learning the English language students are regularly confronted by vocabulary that is new and unfamiliar to them. In order to learn how to pronounce these words correctly the students needs to hear them modeled correctly by the teacher. 3x3 or choral drilling is a technique that is often used to aid students in learning correct pronunciation. The 3x3 technique involves the teacher clearly enunciating the new word to the class who then repeat the word back as a group. The process is then repeated twice more. After the choral drilling the teacher then indicates an individual student to repeat the word to the rest of the class. This process is again repeated twice more with different students. In addition to teaching the pronunciation of new words, 3x3 drilling can also...  [Read more]

Phonetics and TESOL Phonetics, the study of the sounds of human speech, and in particular “Articulatory Phonetics”, are not commonly taught to native speakers of English, let alone learners of English as a second language. However if the learner is serious with their English and wish to progress to an advanced level, learning phonetics, in particular the International Phonetic Alphabet, would be of immense benefit. English spelling is often contradictory, devoid of relation to the pronunciation of a word, and lacking in clear patterns. Patterns that do exist are numerous, with a large number of exceptions, and all of this makes it very difficult for the learner of English as a second language to master pronunciation. The International Phonetic Alphabet puts all of the individual...  [Read more]

{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ [ {"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh0","name": "What English accent should I teach my students?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/do-accents-matter-when-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh0"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh1","name": "How do English language students learn English accents?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/do-accents-matter-when-teaching-english-abroad/#nameh1"} ] ] } Accents in English, influenced by geographic and cultural backgrounds, vary significantly around the world, with noticeable differences among British, American,...  [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]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word mirage. This word refers to an optical illusion such as the appearance of water in a desert. This word comes from the French 'se mirer' meaning ‘be reflected'. 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 taught me different ways to assess a student's language level and progress. Specifically, practice test should be given in the format and structure of the external examination that the...  [Read more]

Peculiarities of the English Language The English language was created in England. Throughout history, this language has spread to many parts of the world. It is used as a link language for International business and diplomacy. According to Madhukar N. Gate, it has taken thousands of words from other languages such as French, Latin, German, Greek and so on. We can even find Sanskrit words in English. For example: Guru and Pundit are two Sanskrit words used in English. English grammar is quite simple, in many languages nouns have grammatical gender which makes some verbs and adjectives change. This doesn’t happen in English. The adjective “big” is used with all nouns such as man, woman, child, book etc, as well as applying to both singular and plural nouns. Counting large numbers in...  [Read more]

  This video focuses on the difference between "bored" and "boring". Using those two words incorrectly is a very common mistake, especially for English learners around the world. The word "bored" is an adjective describing the feeling when there is nothing to do or when a person is not interested, for example, "she was so bored that she fell asleep". "Boring" is also an adjective but this word refers to the cause of the bored feeling rather than the feeling itself. For example, "the class was so boring that she fell asleep". Here the class is the reason for the feeling. The same concept can be applied to similar word pairs such as 'interested - interesting' or 'tired - tiring'. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL...  [Read more]

Problems for learners in a Country of your choice: Italy In this paper I will address the issues I face as a teacher from the context of living and working in Italy, as well as the common problems my students encounter while learning and speaking English. I also want to draw attention to the input culture and society has on language, and look at how these factors influence dynamics within the classroom. Of course, it is nearly impossible to view ones self outside your own given cultural perspective, so as a result of this I will also be discussing my own assumptions on how I "imagined" people might act, compared to the reality of the situation. Often I neglect to take into account these differences, simply because I was raised in America, where I am used to a different set of cultural...  [Read more]

  Within the teaching of ESL throughout the world, there is a whole spectrum of the types of groups that you may be involved in. It's worth breaking those types of groups down to have a look at some of the more specific things we need to do when we're teaching those groups - and this is what this video focuses on. 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 focused on receptive skills. Receptive skills includes both reading and listening which...  [Read more]

  Whereas stress is typically concerned with one individual word, intonation is generally concerned with the variation in volume and pitch throughout an entire sentence. Intonation carries the message of a sentence. It's particularly important when questioning or agreeing, disagreeing and confirming statements. It's also very important when expressing emotions and feelings. The normal pattern for intonation is the rise-fall. Few examples would be ?I haven't seen him for a week,? or a simple word as ?okay?. With the falling intonation, we?re indicating that we're finished speaking. Again, ?I haven't seen him for a week? and ?okay?. A few more examples would be ?I'll see you at six then,? or a question of information ?How do you spell rough?? These are straightforward statements that...  [Read more]

{ "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ [ {"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh0","name": "How do I start teaching English to total beginners?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/what-should-i-teach-english-beginners/#nameh0"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh1","name": "How do I teach English pronunciation to total beginners?","url": "https://www.tesolcourse.com/tesol-faqs/tefl-tesol/what-should-i-teach-english-beginners/#nameh1"},{"@context": "https://schema.org","@type": "SiteNavigationElement","@id": "#nameh3","name": "How do I quickly build vocabulary for complete beginner students of English?","url":...  [Read more]

  Besides the actual future tenses, we can also use present tenses to talk about the future. Two of them are the present simple and the present continuous. Find out when to use which tense for future statements 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 explains how to teach productive skills like speaking and writing. When teaching writing; penmenship, spelling, and punctuation are the primary focuses. In speaking; fluency and...  [Read more]

  For statements in the negative form, what we have to do is add the auxiliary verb 'to do'. For subjects 'I', 'you', 'we' and 'they', we simply leave 'do' as 'do', use the word 'not', and keep the base form of the verb now for the negative statements. However, for 'he', 'she' and 'it', we have to conjugate our auxiliary verb into 'does'. We still use 'not' and we still keep the base form of the verb. The pattern performing questions is very very similar to the pattern performing negative statements. However, what we've done is invert our subject and our auxiliary verb so that the questions read the auxiliary verb first. Of course, again, we use 'do' for 'I', 'you', 'we' and 'they' and use 'does' for 'he', 'she' and 'it'. In both cases, we've left our verb form as the base form of...  [Read more]

  There are many different types of groups of students that you will encounter when teaching English as a foreign language. This video introduces you to the five different types of student groups. 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 helps me identify the different ways of evaluating and assessing students' level. The several tests at different stages. The importance of placement test and diagnostic test. It is also very necessary to often...  [Read more]

  In Chantelle’s thirteenth video diary entry she talks about unit 13 of her 120-hour online TEFL course. Unit 13 covers pronunciation and phonology. As Chantelle notes there is a lot of information presented in this unit including phonology, stress, articulation and the phonemic alphabet. The unit also looks at how to teach individual sounds and when we should teach pronunciation to our students. 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. The...  [Read more]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word assertation. This word is a noun and describes the act of asserting. The word comes from the Medieval Latin word 'assert?ti?n' meaning “to affirm or assert”. 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. Planning lessons is the most important thing in the life of a teacher. This determines everything: the future of the class, the progress and motivation of the students etc. I always try to...  [Read more]

  http://www.teflcourse.net The future simple tense can be used for threats, promises and predictions. In this video we look at a teaching idea for the predictions usage. In pairs students are given a card with some prompts and responses. One student reads the prompt and the other responds with the given comment and their own sentence in the future simple tense. For example: Student 1: I've lost my shoe. Student 2: Don't worry. It'll turn up somewhere. For anyone wanting to teach English certification is the best route to take. An online TEFL course from ITTT will equip you with the skills needed to be successful in the classroom. Not only will it cover tenses such as the future simple featured in this video but it will also cover other grammar points such as modal verbs,...  [Read more]

Volunteer Teaching As I began my TESOL course in Phuket, I met all types of people wanting to be teachers. Some students needed to work immediately after graduation and others were going on to a college or university to further their academic careers. I was in the position of having to return home and finish other work commitments before I could embark on a teaching career. I soon realized that if I was going to be confident in my new found teaching skills and to have the opportunity to build on what I had learned, I was going to have to do something proactive in the area of teaching English as a second language even though I was not in the position to take a full time teaching position. In pondering my predicament, I realized that I did have an option that would serve me and people...  [Read more]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word ilk. This word describes a person or a thing that is similar to a person or a thing previously referred to. Suitable synonyms for ilk are type, category, sort, and class. 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 was the hardest so far. Sometimes its to mush information before the next information comes. But this will not stop me. Its still interesting and i know i will like this job as a...  [Read more]

  In this episode, we cover the pronunciation of the word "deterioration". This word is used as a noun and describes the process of something becoming progressively worse. Some synonyms for deterioration include decline, collapse or drop. 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 lesson was great! I learned so much about the structures of sentences. It also helps that I have been to another country and have seen the common mistakes in their speech....  [Read more]