What are /r/TEFL's favorite Products & Services?

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I don't want to sound like an asshole, but that is exactly what dictionaries are for.

Dictionary use is a really important habit for students to form. So encourage them to look up words in an English dictionary, especially if it is a word they know with a use they don't know.

A learner dictionary is especially useful as their definitions are written for students. I like the one from Cambridge: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/learner-english/

Make dictionary use a part of your lessons and students will gain more confidence and autonomy in trying to understand the nuanced meanings of words. Rather than getting frustrated that a word has more than one meaning.

As it sounds like you're teaching the subject rather than English (an EMI or CLIL situation?) I'd go with a regular subject textbook and provide extra scaffolding tasks to help the learners understand the language. The way I think about this is that you need to provide tasks that help them understand the content and tasks that help them understand the language.

GCSE (9-1) Astronomy: A Guide for Pupils and Teachers

by Speedyhen UK

Learn more:

Amazon.co.uk

Here's an example of an oral placement test I just found from google. There are plenty but they're usually pretty similar. They start with basic present simple questions and get more difficult as the question banks progress. For your purposes you just seem to need a general idea.

https://www.slideshare.net/luisvoid/english-unlimited-alltestoraltest

If they can't answer questions from the first bank, don't bother with the others. If they answer the first question easily then move onto the next question bank. Score it however you like, you're just breaking them into groups. Just be as consistent with your scoring as you want your levels to be pretty close.

if they want to fous on conversation then focus on conversation. It should be fine. Use pair work etc to get them talking.

Hey!

You'd have to be a little strange not to be nervous about moving to a new country, I think. Living away from loved ones is definitely one of the more difficult parts for me. The year for me has gone by so quickly, though. With regular Skype dates, it doesn't really feel like I've been away from people for as long as I have been.

The best advice I can give you about living alone is to meet new people and form a group of friends here. You may be surprised at how easy and quickly friendships can bloom when you're living as an expat. Are you coming with EPIK? If so, a lot of the work will probably be done for you as you'll be introduced to the people in your area at orientation. Keep your eye out for Facebook groups and meet-up events once you move to your city/location.

I've formed some really great friendships in my short time here, and that has been a huge help in combating homesickness.

As for watching TV shows, /u/bukkoktopus mentioned thepiratebay.org and eztv.it for torrenting. If you prefer streaming online, Project Free TV is great for that.

Also, if you have access to a Netflix account, the Chrome/Firefox extension Media Hint will let you bypass the region restriction and watch US Netflix. I think it also works for Amazon Prime and Hulu.

Feel free to shoot any other questions my way, either here or in a PM. And remember that a lot of people have gone this way before you! I, for one, am extremely happy with my decision to come to Korea.

If you do get a degree, especially online, get it from a brick and mortar school that offers an online program. The US definitely has Education with Specializations in TEFL and English / English Education degrees, but they aren’t cheap. You want to earn your degree from an English-speaking country (even if you’re doing it online) so I would steer away from the programs in Spain. I’m sure they’re legitimate but they are viewed differently by employers, especially since you didn’t grow up in a “native” English-speaking country and don’t have one of the golden passports.

DELTA is useful and can be done without a degree (from what I’ve heard). It is definitely a useful thing to do, but if you did a bachelor’s in Education and specialize in English or TESOL from an English-speaking country’s university, you will open up a lot of doors for yourself. If you do an education program, you can even set the course for yourself to get PGCE or US certification through Teach Now or the like. Then, you have access to the higher paying international schools (who are often less picky about your missing “Golden passport” so long as your degree is from an English-speaking country and you’re a certified teacher).

State schools look a bit better than smaller private schools IMO, but University of the Cumberlands just dropped their tuition under $10k USD a year. https://www.ucumberlands.edu/academics/undergraduate/online/bachelors-elementary-education

(I’m actually pushing my sister to finish her Bachelor’s through them ;)

This route is a more expensive way to go, but it has the greatest return on investment IMO if this is a career for you.

Learning coding is rad no matter what you do. I love https://www.freecodecamp.org :)

Medicine for diarrhea, and regular sickness medicine (like Day/Night Quil style). China doesn't have western style medicine, most places, so when she gets sick (not if), she'll be happy for it.

VPN. VPN. VPN. VPN. VPN! Can't just be anything, though, as China has cut down which are usable. ExpressVPN seems to be fine.

As others have said, USB and a reliable, portable charger are good. Possibly also a day pack would be good; you don't always need a big backpack everywhere.

Also, give them the advice to bring enough of their toiletries for the duration of the stay. China does not have most western brands.

Taken from "A Student's Introduction to English Grammar":

>Descriptive books try to describe the grammatical system that underlies the way people actually speak and write the language. That’s what our book aims to do: we want to describe what Standard English is like.

>Prescriptive books aim to tell people how they should speak and write – to give advice on how to use the language. They typically take the form of usage manuals, though school textbook treatments of grammar also tend to be prescriptive.

Anyone reading this, be aware that The Elements of Style is the latter, not the former. It will not explain how grammar works; it will give stylistic advice on 'preferred' usage (preferred in 1959, to be specific). Often this is not even grammar – it's vocabulary choice or punctuation, which are often referred to as 'grammar' in everyday conversation.

If the course doesn't have an in-class practicum, don't waste $250 on it. Choose a $40 one from here and it'll carry the same weight. While you're at it, do the $12 dollar grammar course as well if you really intend on teaching English. Can't be a coincidence that you mistakenly used "their" instead of "there" four times in your post.

You're worrying too much about being Chinese. Korea might be a bit challenging, but you're pretty much guaranteed a job in China due to the demand. The issue is whether or not the jobs you find are up to your standards.

I came about 3 weeks ago and luckily my partner is Chinese so she helped me to sort out my contract. She took me to China Unicom and I have a SIM now with 4G and 40gb of data per month for just 100 rmb. It’s definitely worth checking them out!

As for the VPN I was using ExpressVPN when I came to China on the 7 day free trial. I didn’t really want to pay a load of money to keep their VPN though so I found a free VPN on the AppStore called ‘VPN proxy master’. It’s the one with the key as a logo. It’s completely free to use and it’s connects perfectly fine in China. You can pay extra for their VIP service to get a faster connection, but I haven’t bothered because the free version allows me to go onto Google and Facebook. I’ve also used it for YouTube and it loads videos fine too! Incredible for a free service!

No, but it is helpful. Fortunately (or not, depending on your perspective), if you get hired somewhere, you will have 1-3 months at home waiting for your visa to study. Duolingo.com can get you up to speed.

$392 is waaay too much to pay for an online course! I just completed a 160 hour online course that I found advertised on Groupon- it only cost me $40. When it comes to online certifications they are pretty much viewed all the same- whether it to Bridge or another company. Basically you have in order of value 1.) CELTA/ Trinity 2.) An in-class TEFL certification 3.) Any and all online TEFL certificates.

My background: I'm currently teaching in South Korea and already have a 60 hour in-class TEFL certificate through Oxford Seminars. When applying for EPIK, I was told that to have more TEFL hours would be better, so I took the 160 hour online course.

Browse Groupon for "TEFL." Deals come up all the time. The only helpful thing about Bridge is that they could help you find a job. But since your friend is lining you up with the job anyway you don't need that service. Here's a deal I found on Groupon for a 150 hour course- only $39! https://www.groupon.com/deals/learn-tefl-4-baltimore

Consider looking into this website/browser based game, NationStates - https://www.nationstates.net

If you want to use this for education, there are ways to make a country individually, in groups, or as a shared class. After making some decisions for your country (via an intro survey and some aesthetic choices for flag design, etc), countries are given issues to analyze and make a decision on, affecting the countries' growth, economy, and political and civil rights.

Each issue will have differing viewpoints. An example issue might be, people are concerned about your country's iconic animal population. One viewpoint might suggest "we should set aside wide areas of land for national parks using tax money," another might say "who cares about animals, we can use that land for industry!", and another side might argue "we should protect all of nature, and heavily reduce any industries that pollute or damage the environment!" - most viewpoints are extreme views for complex issues.

I've used this in a small class scenario, where the students get into small groups and openly debate the merits of the choices. They can speculate as to what could happen if a decision is made, and offer advantages and disadvantages of the choices involved. The group must come to a consensus how to proceed with each issue, and face the repercussions of their choices in their national narrative.

It's a great free resource just for ideas, of scenarios and topics for debate. It's role-playing, without the need for traditional role playing tropes (dice, stats, etc) while looking deeply into the idea of how different countries can develop. The language as written on the website is better geared toward more advanced learners, but you can simplify the language involved if you wanted.

You're looking for a learning management system (LMS). There are a fuckload of them. Moodle was one of the first and is pretty customizable (being open source) but there are a lot of other ones now, from free to expensive, that do a million different things. I use iSpring for my online learning business, which is obviously a different kettle of fish than a small language school. Some of them are designed to integrate with sales tools - my school in Vietnam integrated sales, Gmail account creation for students, registration with the online homework platform, attendance and grade reporting, parent reporting tools, teacher professional development tracking, staff performance management etc. etc. etc. all in one occasionally clunky Microsoft database system.

For a small school I would start with a free version of Moodle and see if it suits your needs.

I have been using a program with my school called Zoom, I do not know how much it costs to have a private version, but I cannot imagine it being much more than 10 or so dollars a month. The system is great and very easy to learn even for the students who can join rooms under guest names. It is basically a virtual meeting room, it allows annotation, you can place text in the screen, share your screen and better yet, just a portion of your screen etc. etc.. I have only used it with 4 other participants but I think it can handle more.

https://zoom.us/

I used Express up until early 2020, but had to stop when it would only connect to one location. Sometimes. Apparently it's better now, but life's too short to be testing VPN connections for half an hour so you can watch some bullshit on YouTube.

It also gets completely knocked out during every single public holiday because it's on the Chinese Governments radar, as are all the big VPNs you see on YouTube and the like. So you will go days without service.

My experience was that it was good at the start, but each knockout from a holiday would reduce the number of locations, speed, etc until it was down to three servers on a good day.

Astrill is the way. If you're staying in China for a year or more, it's worth the expense to get something good as you'll be using it every day. Save yourself the frustration, right?

Hello -- Android owner (LG G6) who moved to China last year. I used to see if my phone would work with one of the big three Chinese service providers (Mobile, Telecomm, Unicom). Very glad I did because I discovered that Mobile was not compatible with my phone, but the other two were, so I opted for Unicom and everything has worked fine. I have 4G service from Unicom and regularly access Wi-Fi from Telecomm (who services my apartment). You have to arrive with a VPN already installed on all of your devices. (In fact, I recommend at least two to be safe. I find Express, Astrill, and Nord to be reliable to varying degrees. Windscribe offers a decent (and free) monthly plan.) Accessing the Google Play store is no problem after that unless the VPN is struggling.

There are plenty of foreigners working in international schools these days, many of whom have VPNs an use Reddit.

Don’t expect much of the internet to work without Astrill.

Edit: I think it’s hilarious that people find it offensive that I wrote “Astrill”. Guys, find something better to do with your time.

Whoa. He’s not even in China (or probably a teacher) and is trying to tell me how it is. Nice to meet you, self-hating westerner.

This may not compute with you, but some of us prefer adhering to certain stylistic conventions while posting, such as not using the same words in two consecutive sentences. I picked a Astrill as a synonym for VPN instead of “tunneling software” or “翻墙软件” because I figured it was a good stand in.

I did not expect a tirade, but thanks for the laughs.

I don't know OP, but what I do know is that (a) 5 hours per week isn't even close to the threshold of what anyone would call immersion and that (b) you're gonna get an unnuanced answer about the technical definition of "immersion" from the people who reply on here. It's likely that this term is defined in different ways even among researchers, but don't take the word of somebody on reddit (like me) about this.

If I really wanted to know what immersion is, I'd probably start by looking up some literature reviews and studies by searching for "second language" immersion on Google scholar and seeing how different researchers have defined this term in their publications. If you don't have access to these articles, you can probably find them on sci-hub.se or libgen.is

What about a TEFL? A certification class can be upwards of $1000. If you take it online you can save a lot of money. They have Groupon discounts that make the price really cheap. Here is a link to one of them: https://www.groupon.com/deals/learn-tefl-39-chicago

​

I have not tried it myself, but I read that this is cheaper because it is purely online. It has good reviews though so it seems legit. Hope that helps!

https://www.groupon.com/deals/tefl-fullcircle

Probably this one. However, I find it awkward that on Groupon they have that 160h promotion but I don't see it anywhere on the actual Full Circle website.

I have teaching experience as a Graduate Assistant and a TA in university, would that count?

And is it possible to do you TEFL completely online? Like this one? https://www.groupon.com/deals/tefl-fullcircle

I would really appreciate a response, a lot of information to find out!

If you're a US citizen, you do NOT have to pay the ACA health insurance penalty as long as you are out of the country for at least 330 days in a 12 month period. You're considered exempt for every month within that period.

healthcare.gov

I work in an elementary hagwon (Korea) in a middle class suburban environment. I have 6th graders who can't do anything more than giggle when I say something in English, and I have 4th graders who can tell me detailed stories about their lives in near-fluent English.

Check out this PDF called "Not Hangman Again!" It has a bunch of English games you can play with little or no prep time. Some will be too difficult for them, but some will be a lot of fun. If you are prepared for 4-5 of them, you can easily spend an hour teaching them the rules and playing the game with them.

https://sites.google.com/site/englishdroid2/teaching-tips/not-hangman-again

If you want to teach privately, here's what I've learned in my experience:

1) depends on where you are and what a "good living" means. In NY, it's difficult. You mention the Northeast, so I'll assume here or Boston. I can't give info for Boston, sorry. I have my MA in TESOL and did alright working at a few private schools here in NYC. I would recommend Kaplan, but I sadly haven't worked there and they are very involved. Pay rates range from $18-25 an hour that I've known, and tutoring work at unis can get you over $30/hr.

2) Check out Indeed and search for ESL or TESOL or other assoc. words, that's how I found my gigs.

3) Having looked nationally a few times, if you're open to travel, you might be able to land a uni gig. In NY, you can find an adjunct position probably. More and more are asking for doctorates, though.

GL

I'd never heard it before but apparently a rick is 'a ​large ​pile of ​straw or ​hay (= ​dried ​grass) that has been ​built in a ​regular ​shape'. The paragraph which references the beehive-ricks talks about the thatching skill of a labourer so I think it's fair to say that he is making the ricks in the shape of beehives-probably like this

This isn't really about language teaching but it's teaching in general. You can watch the art of teaching on the great courses. You can also read Mckeachie's Teaching Tips and Strategies. These are more general teaching books that can help you out. good luck.

https://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/art-of-teaching-best-practices-from-a-master-educator.html

I tried googling it myself and linguee comes up with many cases of using "difficulties to" + infinitive verb, so I would assume it is correct. I am also interested in the grammar explanation if anyone has one.

Right from your browser, you can use Mediahint for Netflix, Hulu and Pandora. It's worked for me for a while. If not that, SK has the fastest internet in the world, which is glorious for torrenting. I can usually get a whole movie in about five minutes.

I went with Olleh my first time around. I think, once I get my ARC, I'll likely go with them again. I've known a few people with unlocked iPhones here. I'm going to attempt to do the same with my S4. On a year plan, the last time I came over, I was paying about $80 a month for unlimited texts, calls and data.

It's a lot of fun over here! I liked it so much that I had to come back!

As others have said, ExpressVPN Sucks. It is extremely popular, but not idea why. There are other options, but you need to look for an option that allows for Obfsproxy detecting what looks like VPN Traffic through DPI to see if it 'looks like VPN Traffic' and then essentially cut off the connection. Obfsproxy basically takes OpenVPN Traffice and masks it as something else so it is a lot more difficult for automatic detection.

OpenVPN is basically a dead protocol for China. You need a service that offers OpenVPN + Obfuscation or an entirely different VPN Protocol.

Check out this book on Amazon (Life After ESL): https://www.amazon.com/Life-After-ESL-Teachers-Returning-ebook/dp/B014EL06MC/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533246196&sr=8-1&keywords=life+after+esl

ExpressVPN is one that I can recommend, but using it on a phone can be annoying at times. I also used Astrill (with the StealthVPN add-on which is a must) back in 2015, and it was alright for the most part, but I've read that it's been more inconsistent since then.

I can't sort out your girlfriend issues since I never had one, but depending on where you're placed there should be a foreigner community bubble where you can go drinking. If drinking is not your thing, don't worry! Transportation is lovely for you to take road trips at ease to get away on the weekend.

But yes, definitely use Skype. And since you have an iPhone it's better than using the clunky version on your computer! You can get a 2 or 3 dollar a month unlimited or a few cents a minute credit depending on how much you'll use it. But video chat 1 on 1 is always free (thanks to the support of the NSA).

American TV? They should have at least one English Channel for movies and one international CNN channel. If you have no qualms about copyright, downloading va torrents are fast. If you have issues about that, you can use a VPN like Hotspot Shield (or maybe something better) to access shows on Hulu or Netflix.

Can't help you with the whole unlocking thing as it varies on providers.

Hope that helps. Do what research you can online and message boards outside of ths one. Have a blast for as little or long you have out there.

> How much cash should I take and have converted in RMB to have initial money (before I can set up an account with a bank?

I haven't been to Wuhan. I'm imagine 10,000 RMB should hold you over, especially if your accommodation is covered by your employer.

>How is the internet? Is if fast? What notable websites or web services will I not have access to without a VPN? (Google? Twitter? etc.) Do I have to set up the VPN or any other software before I go? Is it legal to use a VPN? Will the VPN be considerable slower speed? Are there proxies or anything I can use to get around some things without using a VPN?

Access to Chinese sites will be quick, access to foreign sites - even unblocked ones - is slower. What is blocked can vary depending on god knows what. Google/gmail is blocked or prohibitively slow from time to time. Twitter is always blocked. I don't think it's legal to own a vpn but no one will stop you. Make sure you get one before you enter China as vpn sites are blocked. I used StrongVPN for three years and liked it. It slows things down a little but not enough to make me not want to use it.

>What things should I take or not take with me? For example, should I stock up on anything like cold/headache medicine, particular clothes items, etc. I plan I bringing my laptop and my desktop tower (I'll buy a new monitor in China) because I think they are much more valuable than some extra clothes.

Keep in mind that electronics like monitors will probably be more expensive in China than in the states. Bringing strong cold medicine (like NyQuil) is a good idea. If you use stick deodorant you might want to bring extra.

>What should I know about the electricity and outlets? Will I need adapters? I think the only electric things I'm taking will be iphone chargers and the computers.

You can get adapter/power strips in Shenzhen that are really useful. You probably can in big box or electronic stores in Wuhan.

Don't get down on yourself. It's true that you really are stumbling through things, because teachers very rarely get taught the things you're concerned with. And really, there's no way to learn these things before you're in the classroom; you have to learn on your feet, be willing to make mistakes, and learn as you go along.

Get this book: The First Days of School by Harry K. Wong., and watch every one of his videos you can manage to find. Follow this guy's advice, and you'll see tremendous improvements in a very short time.

If you are serious about an answer to your question then I suggest that you read Hutchinson and Water's seminal book on the subject, English for Specific Purposes: a learner centered approach, published in 1987 by Cambridge. (Business English (BE) is a kind of English for Specific Purposes (ESP).)

In Chapter 3, ESP approach not product, H&W note that ESP is not about teaching "specialized varieties of English...hotel words and grammar for hotel staff..." (p. 18). ESP is an approach to teaching that focuses on the learner needs. In other words, what is it that people need to be able to do in English to do their jobs. So if the business English that you are teaching is tied to specific learner needs, for example, teaching them how to chair a business meeting or teaching them the appropriate register for a sales email, then yes Business English is a real thing.

However, teaching them how to be polite and "a couple of fixed expressions" is not ESP or BE, but just general English with a bunch of marketing added to make it look like the GE being taught is something special. If you are employed at a school or by a company that promises to teach students BE, I'd recommend that you start by doing a needs analysis to see what your student's need to learn and then see how you can work those needs into your existing curriculum and materials. It seems like a bit or work, and it is, but your students will appreciate it.

Yes, the round-the-world trip (or at least some extended bike touring) is definitely the option I am most excited about! Look through my post history, and you'll see a man who lacks decisiveness - stay or leave Japan, should I move to Oman/South America/China etc etc, permanent residency etc etc : )

To be honest, I'm pretty ready to move on to something new, though could stick it out in Japan a bit longer to get PR (or try to). My situation is relatively decent, though I hit 40 this year so am not exactly young anymore (extended bike touring might not be an option for much longer, you never really know). One issue with PR is that I'm not eligible until August of next year, which could potentially mean another renewal in April of 2024 depending how long it makes.

I may pick up that book (less than 5 US on Kindle). I have been enjoying this one.

I know there are tech meetups in Medellin, but I don't know if there is alanguage exchange one.

On meetup.com it is possible to change your settings to "change your default city" and later it is possible to see events within a 50km radius, which should give you an Idea of the kinds of events you can find in such a city, this way you can schedule your meetups before actually going there, and you can also evaluate things like how often they meet, how many members, how many people actually go to the events, etc.

If you are not sure what you want to do and retrain in, there are so many online courses and many are free if you just audit the course. This is a great way to see what interests you as you can just do a few courses. It's also worth looking into what jobs are available on job sites to see what skills are in demand.

edX is also great with many courses from top universities - https://www.edx.org/

"I am used to" - present tense of "to be used to" meaning "to be accustomed to" as in, something is a regular or usual occurence. e.g. I'm used to being told lies = being told lies is a regular occurence for me

"I used to" - past occurence that is no longer true (often translated into the imperfect tense in other languages.) e.g. I used to play violin = I played violin in the past but do not anymore

Here's a link to Cambridge for more info https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/past/used-to

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Coversation Gambits has some good ideas. Teaching Unplugged has a bit of a controversial methodology, but the activity list has some real gems.

When you're designing a speaking activity, avoid anything open-ended, e.g. "talk about this question for two minutes with your partner." Some students might engage, but some might do the bare minimum. What you need to include is context (make sure they understand when they'd use this outside of the classroom) and purpose (there should be some sort of an outcome for the task).

For example:

Excursions

Intro: Ask Ss where they like to go on vacation. What do they do there? Do they plan ahead or decide when they arrive? Talk in pairs, collect feedback as a group.

Often when we plan a trip the hotel or travel agent can help with planning things to do. Today we are visiting [location Ss are familiar with].

Task prep: Write down three things you'd like to do when you go to [location]. You need to find different classmates to join you on each activity.

Feedback - Teacher checks that Ss have each found a different person to join them. As a class/in pairs discuss most interesting activities, worst activities, etc.

Sum up: Pair discussion: where will you go for your next trip? What activities would you like to plan? Who will join you?

[Teacher writes exponents for task on board and drills / CCQs]: "What are you thinking about doing?" "Tell me about _____." "Why do you want to do that?" "I'd love to join you." "I think I'll skip that one - what else are you doing?"

Practical English Usage, 4th edition

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Teaching-Principles-Interactive-Approach-Language/dp/0133925854

This is a good well-rounded book.

I used to live in Tay Ho and work in Cau Giay, and it was a pain. I used to take the bus (or buses) to work no problem, but the last bus was always before I finished work so I would have to get a Grab bike back. No problem, you might say. Except my Grab bike drivers could never find me! I would watch them sail past, going the wrong way, see them cancel the ride because they didn't know where I was. I tried local landmarks, supermarkets, even a McDonald's and they could never find me!

Anyway. Rant over.

I did like living in Tay Ho because it was easy - plenty of other foreigners, supermarket, nice vegan buffet - but it would have been much easier to live closer to work. Would have saved me time - it was quite a long commute on the bus - and so much stress.

If you are going to take the bus, I recommend the Tim Buyt app - you can also get it on iphone. Shows you where the nearest bus stop is, which buses go from that stop (and how long until they arrive) and lets you plan routes. Also remember that you need small notes for the bus - it's usually only a few thousand dong.

What you’re after is they different essay types. This book series (by cefr) level is a great primer for that:

https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Academic-English-Fourth-Longman/dp/0131523597

You’ll also want to spend a week or so on each:

1. Persuasive: use articles and things like transition words, paragraph structure to do this.

2. Expository writing: this could take a whole month if you do MLA citations, but I’d do a basic research project with templates.

3. Creative: story structures and quotes will take a solid week. I honestly think you should have some wacky prompts to get class moving.

4. Response to lit: falls in with persuasive essays, so think about spending two weeks on this. I’d do one week for persuasive works without citations, and spend the second week on quotes.

Cool, I get to post the first really bitchy answer.

"So I recently got a job at this hospital, as a surgeon or whatever, now I have a bunch of people signed up for surgeries. One guy says he wants me to remove his appendix... how should I do it?"

"A few weeks ago I decided to start working as an electrician. I got a job on this construction site. They gave me a bunch of wires and stuff. What should I do with them?"

You get the idea. Teaching is a profession, not just a thing you show up and do. Modern language teaching is based on decades of theory and evidence which are constantly being updated. If you want to be a good teacher, get training as a teacher. At the very least invest in literature for beginning teachers - read through this book then get back to us with any questions.

I try to always engage my classes visually, using PPTs with amusing/interesting pictures/gifs (and not too much text), exciting short videos, and sometimes logic puzzles for the higher level students.

> Or any book/website recommendations on this subject?

Google and Slideshare for PPTs that you can work on, Imgur for gifs.

Hi all

I've recently passed the tesol course, and now looking to continue with study. Looking at TEFL courses on groupon, they seem to be quite varied.

I'm considering these, but would like someone (if possible) to confirm these are ok to use as they both provide certificates:

https://www.groupon.com/deals/n-learn-tefl-120-hour-tefl-course

https://www.groupon.com/deals/learn-tefl-215

I didn't say you're a bum, I was referring to the defeatist tone of your post. I don't know you and I'm not judging you, just commenting on your attitude.

Contrary to what a lot of people will say here, I don't think a degree is necessary to start teaching. What is necessary is a happy demeanor. It might seem obvious but the best way for kids to learn is to have fun. So if you can be the funny guy, you'll be a decent teacher even if you don't know what the fuck you're doing. All teachers are shit when they start, we all learnt along the way.

So if you really think you can do this, then what are you waiting for? Start taking the first steps toward your goals. Save up for the cheapest online TEFL you can find, they're all shit anyway, you will actually start to learn when you begin teaching. Here is $36 TEFL, you can save 36 dollars right?

You can start applying for jobs now. Do some research and see where you can work legally without a Degree, and complete your TEFL while you're sending out CVs. You could be out of the country in 2 months with a job and a flight ticket paid for if you really try. Wishing won't get you anywhere, start acting. Good luck

The visa situation will be overcome then. If you know a second language. You're better off being an ESL tutor.

But you mentioned places like Chicago. I've had friends who taught there, who left teaching all together. Chicago is one of the worst funded cities for public schools. The cost of living is so oppressive, I'm not sure you'd make a living off of tutoring.

Most ESL students in America have Spanish as their first language. So they expect the teachers to know Spanish.

You'll also be expected to have a teaching degree and teaching license in many situations. What are your qualifications?

A 50k a year ESL job in Chicago has these requirements.

"2-3 years’ experience. Strong communication skills (written and verbal). Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education, and Professional Education License (PEL) birth to grade 3. English as a Second Language (ESL) Endorsement (preferred) must be completed by first opportunity.

Computer and time management skills.

BA Degree in Early Childhood Education and ECE Credential Level 5 with developing a plan to complete the - Professional Educator License (PEL) birth to grade 3 as set forth by grantee and ISBE."

http://www.indeed.com/viewjob?from=appsharedroid&jk=0c3aa7e02a404dd8

May I ask what your credentials and plan is?

>One thing I wish I did while in Korea was invest in Bitcoin as a retirement.

This is an incredibly risky strategy. There are certainly a lot of people who've made money with Bitcoin. Some have made a hell of a lot. But there are also people who've lost a significant sum. Crypto is far riskier than property or the stock market, that's for certain.

I know for some people it is a cult so they can't see the negatives and talk like a true evangelical about it. I just want to put this warning to say how risky it is.

On international transfer, you were obviously doing it wrong as it sounds like you were using your bank. Companies like wise.com (there are others) allow international transfers with very low fees.

No, I don't. You won't see it in any materials until you start reaching C1. See this. I suggest you switch to using 'why' or just simplifying it by saying 'how come can mean why'.

Hi I want to move to S Korea and teach english and looking at TEFL online courses to help with getting a position. Am I heading in the right direction if I do this groupon course? I am only about 20% confident on the whole process and I would really appreciate someone who is more knowledgeable letting me know if I am on the right track.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/tefl-fullcircle

Hey folks-- What do you think about this course? Seems like a good value but I can't really tell if the cert. is worth anything lol. https://www.groupon.com/deals/learn-tefl-39-chicago?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=us_dt_sea_ggl_txt_ttt_sr_cbp_ch1_nbr_k*tefl_m*p_d*national-RTC-KWService_g*RTC-KWService-learn-tefl-39-chicago-PHRASE_c*243389381435_ap*1t1_t...

This may be more convoluted than you wish, but you could rent a VPS (avoid GoDaddy), and install Cloudron.io on it, which is a VPS manager. The free tier gets you two apps - Easy Appointments, and Invoice Ninja. The former is quite handy with scheduling, and the latter is just super with billing (as well as the other finance needs you mentioned). Both would not need a super powerful VPS.

If you want more of an all-in-one option, on the same VPS + Cloudron you could install just Nextcloud. Then you could add apps as needed from with Nextcloud - Talk, OnlyOffice, appointments, Tasks, etc. But this would require a more powerful VPS (at least 4GB ram, preferably more).

Another route using your own VPS and Cloudron would be to install Wordpress and use its various plugins. The downside to this is potential security problems related to too many plugins in a WP site. This would likely be cheaper than $50/month, assuming you found an afforable and reliable VPS + Cloudron yearly payment (For VPS, I use ssdnodes, racknerds, wishosting, and ethernetservers.com)

This is all self-hosted stuff though, so you probably want to spend more of your time teaching and prepping course content than managing all this. Your question makes me wonder how many others like you are out there, and whether my suggested approach might be useful, _as long as someone else manages it_.

As a former advertising executive and business podcast host, I always enjoy structuring Business English lessons and courses for my students far more than the generic material (such as hobbies, family, holidays etc).

There are a lot of great business resources online, including sites such as Fast Company and Wired which would be suitable for your student.

The BBC have consistently produced great material too, so that's always a good place to check.

Whilst teaching Business English in both Rome and Paris, I started an email list for my clients and have now finally completed an online course 'Advanced Business English' (suitable for B2 - C2 level)

The course breaks down a series of podcast interviews into manageable pieces, allowing the student to learn the idiomatic expressions, phrasal verbs and business specific vocabulary whilst listening to it in context. The course also comes with accompanying PDF documents to go with the downloadable videos.

The bonus is the fact that these interviews were not originally designed for English language learners, therefore the pace of speech is challenging and the native expressions used and constant.

The course also includes business book reviews (such as 'Shoe Dog' the story of Nike), and specific vocabulary sheets for different business areas (branding, marketing etc).

>Do any of you know where I could find such a program that is less supervised, or rather that I could push through it like it's crunchtime?

Groupon courses. Not only can you push through them quickly, they're also incredibly cheap.

For example, this is incredibly cheap, but just as effective in entering the TEFL industry just as well as any online TEFL certificate.

Considering doing a TEFL course over the summer, online, but haven't been able to find ANY reviews on TEFL Fullcircle (https://www.teflfullcircle.com). It's offered on groupon for $39L https://www.groupon.com/deals/tefl-fullcircle . Anyone got any info on this program?

Here, I made a brief write-up. I'm not an expert in this, but it is something that interests me.

https://www.scribd.com/doc/288546249/Learning-Styles

If you want those peer-reviewed papers, let me know. I can probably throw them together and send them your way.

I don't know anything about it, but I followed the links on the Wikipedia page and found the book. Sounds interesting, but I think you'd need some institutional support to carry it out in the classroom.

hard to make a living from it. I make $75-100 per week using swagbucks passively. You wont get rich but if you use it right you can make some pretty easy side money. You answer surveys and watch videos and other small tasks to earn money. If you sign up through my referral code it'll give you a starting bonus and other good offers. I can also send you proof of the income I've earned if you're nervous or need tips. https://www.swagbucks.com/refer/swaguser21276774 (don't leave the page once you click the link or you will not get bonus)

You can also DM me for more info or help.

This is the type of account I have: https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/banking_lending/checking_account

What they told you sounds a bit off to me because you can't send or receive international wire transfers using this service, so for it to be useful in China, you would need another checking account set up that you would send money into your schwab account with after wiring money to the other account.

Also, there is no minimum balance, but I think I had to deposit $1,000 into the checking account before they mailed me a debit card and some checks.

My advice is that if you can, don't put your Chinese address as your address for any of your accounts for anything. If you have family or friends who won't mind, then use their address for these types of things and sign up for paperless statements. Officially, I think that a lot of places might say that they won't deal with you if you have a foreign address, but I've been living abroad since 2008 and have never had any trouble using my parents' address.

For the bank, not sure about Spain but in France you need a EU bank account so they can pay you your stipend/salary (everything here works by bank transfer, no checks for this kind of thing). 3 months is a bit of a short time though, opening the bank account might take a week or two. Have a look at the online bank N26 (I already have an account with them in France). https://n26.com/es-es They seem to provide services in Spain too. The accounts are free and it only takes 10 minutes to open, you can do everything online. They will provide you a free Mastercard Debit card and an EU bank account to receive your salary into.

If you don't need your salary paid into an EU account, then I would suggest you just take a US debit card with you, preferably find a bank which has no or low fees for use abroad. You could also check out the Transferwise Borderless account (but I'm not sure it comes with a bank card).

Regarding phone, your existing provider is telling you to use airplane mode in order to avoid paying the very high data roaming fees. I would suggest that in this case it is definitely worth getting a cheap prepay or contract free sim card when you are in Spain, and just using that Spanish number for the 3 months. You can get a basic sim with enough data and some minutes for around 15€ a month with no contract. Take a look at this one from. Vodaphone for example : https://www.vodafone.es/c/particulares/es/productos-y-servicios/movil/prepago-y-recargas/tarifas-de-prepago/vodafone-internacional/ 7GB data for 15 euros per month.

Hi!

​

The degree is very important especially when you want to find a job with a good remuneration. Fortunately, we live in an era that provides us with the big amount of job opportunities that do not require a bachelor's/master's degree or any other specific documents, licenses, etc. Furthermore, globalization and digitalization gave us a chance to work remotely and worldwide.

Dear, if your English is fluent and you are thinking about teaching people I would like to recommend you find the educational platform/ freelance website/language marketplace and register there as a language teacher.

​

P.S. Online education is in high demand now (my English teacher from Preply told me that last week. BTW, He has 7 lessons per day)

Take a chance and good luck!

Kayak is great for basic travel restrictions, such as where you could do your CELTA.

Nowhere has a centralized list for if you can get a WORK visa, and if so, how, as far as I can tell. kayak MAY mention it if work visas are a noteworthy exception, but not for every country.

This might be worth a look - a new digital market place which removes most of the middlemen, payment is in crypto and you can name your own prices for your work.

https://lbry.com/

Hi there, I love this site: http://www.songfacts.com/ It tells the background of the song, the reason it was composed etc. Good for discussion before or after the song. My students love it. Hope you do too.

Try a crowd contributed word cloud.

I usually use it to recap or summarise a chapter or course. Students contribute ideas and then we project it on the board and discuss.

Also good if you have a questions, and students submit answers for all to see.

https://www.polleverywhere.com/

Funnily enough I made a lesson using the Andras Forgacs talk - feel free to check it out here. It was my first attempt at a flip and was pretty successful - I have improved the vocab section in my second one this week.

Check out alternatives to wordpad.
I've personally tried a few of those, I think something like focuswriter would suit your needs, it's basically just a blank screen to input text on, no fancy word processing business. It's also open source and multi-platform.

True! It's not technically illegal to have a VPN in China, but it is illegal to have a VPN that's unregulated by the government. In reality it's something of a gray area, which won't be resolved in your favor as an individual given the lack of impartiality in the legal system. I'm typing this now from China. Here's a link that could help explain it better than I can:

https://nordvpn.com/blog/is-vpn-china-illegal/

Have your checked out Zotero?

I have access to Endnote (I think that's what it is) through my uni account, but I would rather something opensource for once I am finished

https://www.zotero.org/support/getting_stuff_into_your_library

I use Tencent Meeting with my 50 university students. It's in Chinese but it's free and I can use it for 2 hour class. I don't have the video on, I just do a screen share with audio and focus on a PPT with embedded audios and videos in it. I have my students send me voice messages on WeChat for in-class speaking assignments and have them use the Tencent Meeting chatbox if they want to volunteer to to read or answer my questions during lecture. At times I will call on them to turn on their audio to answer questions. The app also allows students to submit files and use an in-app word document.

I've also used kahoot.com to create a really fun quiz for them to take at the same. I screen share the questions, and they pull up the site on their own browser and click the answers. They had a blast doing it!

Try to switch to using zoom.us Much better for online teaching. Check out Off2Class. Wonderful resource for teaching online. Get familiar with the platform. Can integrate it with zoom. If you like, dm me for good list on teaching resources... good luck!

I remember having to read this book when I did my last course: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Grammar-English-Language-Teachers-Parrott/dp/0521712041

You can buy masks with clear windows over the mouths, they're used often in nursing and care situations with Deaf and HoH folks. Not necessarily this exact one but something like this

The Official Cambridge Guide to IELTS for Academic & General Training with Answers. I've been using it to plan my classes, and it works great. The exercises are short and are meant to be developed individually. It's helped my students score between Bands 5.5 to 8.5 (so, B2 - C1), and I'm talking about mixed-level ESL classrooms, which can be tricky because you need to cater to the individual needs of everyone. The book covers all the little skills that are used in the test, not just the 4 major ones, and it differentiates between Academic and General Training tests.

The problem is not the VPN itself, but rather, the aggressive blocking to the VPN. People mention one particular VPN a lot, but it connects without issue in virtually every country except China. Even the best service in the world could go down if that's the one that the government specifically chooses to target.

The fact that Astrill works well in China despite having been a popular VPN service in China for years should raise red flags.

I wouldn't beat myself up about that! Hungarian is one of the world's most difficult languages. Actually, there is a fantastic book called Budapest by Chico Buarque about a man who accidentally gets stuck there and falls in love with Hungarian. He soon is driven mad by it and it's such an odd story. You should read it while you're there :) and as far as L1 in the classroom, I'd totally disagree with you. L1 is such a hindrance in learning. Since I've been online with my students and there has been no L1 because they're not speaking out if turn, they've passed each level test.

One more thing: I picked up on you saying "in the course" so I assume you're US American? I was surprised to learn in British English they say "on a course"! I was sure I'd read it wrong the first time, lol.

If you are indeed from the US, study your ass off with UK language books. They say you won't be marked down for teaching "American" English but I did in fact get marked a few times in comment for not using British grammar/pronunciation.

English Grammar In Use and subsequent books basically covers what they want in terms of British English spelling/how to formulate grammar, etc...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Games-Vocabulary-Practice-Interactive-Activities/dp/0521006511

This book is still being sold, and the unit on 'technology' seems perfect for you.

You do have to feel for coursebook writers though, either you avoid technology-related topics for fear of them going quickly out-of-date, or you avoid them altogether, which is not exactly good for students either.

try a teaching methodology textbook, e.g.

https://www.amazon.com/Practice-English-Language-Teaching-DVD/dp/1447980255

If she can make herself understood to the average person (I've met "people" who refuse to understand any one with an accent) then don't worry about it. The Peter and Jane book set starts from beginner through fluent and is less than $70 on Amazon(https://www.amazon.com/Key-Words-Collection-x36-Ladybird/dp/0723296782/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1526525143&sr=8-1&keywords=peter+and+jane+reading+books+set). She can read it by herself any time she wants to, and out loud when there's someone around. Google ESL classes in your area, I found 10 or 15 for my wife when we lived in the US.

I downloaded a good VPN before I went to China (ExpressVPN). It was okay, for about 4 months. Then they must've fallen out with the government or something because they started getting heavily targeted and suddenly using it was a total nightmare. Weeks at a time without being able to do anything on the internet other than use Bing.

Yeah, but there's a difference between the US-based air quality apps data & the Chinese air quality apps data. Which one do you think is more accurate? lol. I personally couldn't use Express VPN at all the whole time I was there. I used Astrill & Nord. I also used a couple of smaller Chinese ones.

Astrill rarely let me down last year.

Just be aware that in theory all VPN's can be blocked. The technology must exist because last year I stayed somewhere that blocked them all.

I would not use a VPN openly in China. I also had a strict rule of not talking about them, especially to Chinese citizens.

One teacher I used to work with used YouTube in class (via a VPN). I would never recommend this!

Astrill is an old standby that is a bit more stable than express, but more expensive.

There are several free VPNs you can use that work well as backups, as long as you are OK with them stealing all your personal info like Facebook.

You can always use Shadowsocks, but that's a bit beyond my pay grade

If you bring your phone from the US you shouldn’t have problems with banned apps. For example, my iPhone and account are the US versions so I can still access apps that aren’t on the chinese App Store. You’ll definitely want a local SIM card. A LOT of things require your phone number.

Download your VPN for your computer before you get here! It’s way easier abroad, imo.

A week or so in October and June is when VPNs go down usually. But any big meeting in Beijing might make the internet wonky.

My VPN of choice is Astrill, I’ve been using this company for like 5 years. Works for me even when other people are having problems with their providers.

Please be careful when selecting your VPN! I would never use Express VPN or Nord VPN, express has been identified as a Chinese owned company and Nord previously had security issues with hacker(s) having access to their server. Use Astrill and pay the yearly fee, for iOS there is connection issues from time to time, however, PC has been completely fine.

When I was a noob way back when , I got some Sparkcharts laminated and took them to class for the first year or so.

Just invest in a little self learning and you will soon internalise the 95% of grammar that’s used in daily life.

I got this one from Anker a few years back. Anker makes really good, affordable stuff.

It's small, holds a charge for ages, and the sound is great. Last year I used it for a listening test in a small lecture hall with about 100 students, and it worked perfectly.

Not much in the way of materials. A good TPRS lesson can start with a single interesting photo. The students create the character, you circle the character details, then you can type it up and create a reading for the students. Then (or the next lesson) you can do a story. Ask your way through the story and type it up for another reading. It's a great method for teachers because once you know what you are doing it doesn't require much in the way of resources.

That Routledge book T-Girl07 mentioned is a great intro to TPRS, and if you want to dig deeper, the bible of TPRS is:

https://www.amazon.com/Fluency-Through-Storytelling-Contee-Seely/dp/0929724216/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=fluency+tpr+storytelling&qid=1595050415&sr=8-1

I'm sure there are examples of youtube as well.

I've attended TPRS conferences with Jeff Brown. He's amazing. Standing in line for lunch he speaks Chinese to the attendees from China behind us and the next second he's speaking French to the French teachers in front of us. On the way to the airport he spoke Arabic the entire way to the Uber driver. He uses TPRS in his college Spanish classes. Krashen used to be a strong supporter of TPRS (often saying it was the most effective approach) but now he works closely with Beniko Mason to promote Story Listening. If you're interested in TPRS you can find lots of demos on youtube and there's a big group on Facebook: iFLT / NTPRS / CI teaching. There are 3 major conferences every year: iFLT, NTPRS, and Comprehensible Online. If you're in Europe there are a few smaller conferences. There's lots of research to back the method up: https://www.amazon.com/Teaching-Proficiency-Storytelling-Routledge-Contemporary/dp/1138632813

I've been teaching ESL and EFL for almost 20 years. The last 5 years I've been teaching exclusively with TPRS and it's been the more effective than anything else I've tried.

Good luck.

I get what you mean about including it in a curriculum. It really is just supplementary conversation practice for levels B1 and over; those who are bored with traditional text books. I completely agree with you about having to network with independently owned schools, which is why I think I might have to start with Poland and then work my way internationally, although I think the book would be helpful to everyone regardless of where they are located (students and teachers and schools alike). I will do some research about advertising my amazon page,or perhaps my main website. The teachers that have used it love it, but the students love it more because it gives them a break from grammar. It's a bit tough trying to pin it on just one market. Do you have any information or samples of the ad you mentioned (the reddit ad) with an example chapter? I have something like 6 pages on display on the amazon page but I don't think it's the same as what you're suggesting. Here's a link to show you what I mean https://www.amazon.com/dp/8395146116 just click on the 'look inside' on the left hand side

All the kids will be different. What I recommend is using a grammar book and going through it to see what they need to work on.

I used one page each lesson with middle schoolers and gave them a minute to do the page. This will show if they need more work on it. The first few minute tests they have to get used to the idea of skimming and stuff so it might take time to get used to it.

They finish the page: they know the material

They don’t finish but they do a decent amount: review

They get it all wrong or don’t do anything: reteach

https://www.amazon.com/Grammar-Grades-Wingate-Carson-Dellosa-Publishing/dp/1483805069

This is the book I used for middle school in Korea but I’m sure it would work with high school too.

Try using: https://www.amazon.com/Understanding-English-Grammar-Martha-Kolln/dp/0205209521 it's one of the most used grammar texts.

Awesome advise! thank you. I actually started learning chinese through listening to podcasts on my commute to work. However I am more of a visual learner so it's not going too well. I'll check out !

A couple questions if you don't mind. Was the healthcare good there? Did you have to buy some sort of medical aid or is the government hospitals sufficient?

by google, do you mean even the site google? just looking up stuff?? And would a free VPN tool work like DotVPN?

The food there, can you buy normal stuff to cook normal western food like mince and pasta and burgers etc? or was it mainly chinese kind of food?

thanks again for your help and insight!

This book helped me a ton when I was starting out. step by step instructions on teaching each grammar point

I like Spelling Bee by Socratica. It is free and has levels but lacks a competitive game mode.

Play Store Link

3 years? What did you expect to retain after that length of time if you have not been teaching?

Anyway, for a pretty on-target review, read: > https://www.amazon.com/CELTA-Course-Trainee-Book/dp/0521692067/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1519789486&sr=8-2&keywords=celta

and/or

> https://www.amazon.com/Trinity-CertTESOL-Companion-Education-Preparation/dp/3125016231/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1519789513&sr=8-2&keywords=certtesol