Sunday, May 1, 2011

How To Be An Effective ESL Teacher

In becoming an efficient teacher you have to acquire the perfect temperament for the position and integrate that into your esl lesson plans. A great educator secures a relationship with their pupils through providing compliments and acknowledging effort and hard work in in the class. Moreover give regard to ones' views and thoughts about the class. Also, provide them with a bit of flexibility and you will create a positive connection with your students. Remember to be accommodating and constantly grant individuals some control over what happens in class to inspire a feeling of independence.

Often include humor in your class and become pumped up about the subject in which you're instructing. The sensations you express will multiply onto your students and promote a beneficial classroom feeling. On the other hand, if you happen to seem to be tired, mad or not confident enough then these adverse sensations will unfold onto your pupils in the same way.

A good educator will need to have patience with low-level students and create solutions to charm those students into being active class members. Encourage your students to do very well by producing competition and by offering awards for efforts. Take the time to be straightforward when introducing your lesson plan and give help to those that are having difficulties. Discover your learner's needs and be supportive to those specifications. Acquiring empathy entails listening without criticism and being compassionate in regards to how your student is feeling.

A typical mishap many educators make when they're TESOL teaching for the first time is appearing too artificial or just plainly going overboard with their character. It is essential to be upbeat and be funny, but more importantly instructors have to be authentic. Don't attempt way too hard to market yourself to your pupils given that they might wind up believing that you are too artificial. Be genuine.

Grant learners more control over making decisions in the classroom and this will supply them with feelings of self-sufficiency. You should not always force pupils to pair up using certain friends; allow them to decide on their very own colleagues so long as they work effectively on the activity alongside one another. Offering some self-managing opportunities to your learners and building up the confidence of them is a good trait to create.

Your pupils consider you as a nicer and more approachable educator if you try to work on developing personality. In addition it aids the academic method and your learners will discover a great deal more because they will fundamentally being giving you more of their attention.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

ESL Teaching in Korea: How to Get a Letter of Release

If you are ESL teaching and you current school insists that you give notice based on contractual agreement, but they won’t give you a letter of release or a reference then there is no need to stay if you have a new job lined up. While it is true that if you don't have a letter of release then you need to be with the school at immigration to cancel your own visa, the school must cancel it on their own if you don't show up for work.

So here is what you need to do to get the letter of release. First, tell them you won’t stay unless they give you one. If that doesn’t work then don’t show up the next day and call them again to ask one more time. There are two outcomes that could happen if you decide to try this method. The first will be the ideal outcome and the second is the unfavorable, but still workable outcome. Bear in mind, schools will call your bluff if you do not act. This means most likely even if you say you won’t return, they might think you are bluffing.

The best outcome is for you get the letter of release. Why will they give this to you? Because it takes time to find a new teacher and when they do find someone suitable to replace you it takes 2 to 4 weeks to reprocess your old visa. Moreover schools are allotted only a certain number of visas and they will need to start the cancelation process immediately in order to use your allotted visa for a new teacher. Unless they have the resources to cover all your old teaching hours, they will have no other option than to give you this letter. Otherwise they will owe big money to their customers for not having a foreign teacher.

The worst case scenario is that your employer still does not agree to give you the letter of release after you decide not to return to work. Here your employer will be required to cancel your visa and you will be required to do a visa run. You will be given a 30 day window from the day your old job cancels the visa to either find a new job or leave the country. You will not be blacklisted, but rather the Korean government will give you a 30 day window. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. I suggest having a job lined up because it will take this new job two weeks to process a visa number before you can go to Japan. Additionally, without the letter of release you won’t need a new criminal check or health check from the hospital. But you must not leave the country until your new visa confirmation number is processed at your new school.

I have tried this method before. I changed from a private to a public school and my private school initially refused my letter of release. So I didn’t show up the next day, called them and told them I would not come back unless they gave one to me. This method can seem kind of harsh, but it works. They gave me the letter of release, provided I would work another month until they could find a replacement. This method has also worked for other teachers I know. Don’t show up for a day; let them feel the heat and they will write out the letter for you provided you come back until they find a replacement.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

Differences Between ESL, TESOL, TEFL and TESL

TESOL or Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages is definitely the most discussed acronym that includes all aspects of teaching English to people that happen to be non-native speakers. The TESOL method was born out of an absence of a guiding emphasis for teaching English to speakers of other languages. In the past, many institutions had developed their own special themes for teaching English, but while only concentrating on particular aspects of TESOL. Eventually these orgainzations came together to develop one standarized way for teaching English to speakers of other languages and this is currently known as TESOL. Over the years TESOL has expanded and became a unique broad term for various other types of teaching variations.
ESL or English as a Second Language is a term widely sought out by potential teachers looking for a job in the field, but many would be surprised to learn that this is a student-centered term. In part, this expression is speaking about those who are wanting to learn English as a second language for a particular aim in mind. One example is, a non-native English speaker living in China who chooses to master English so as to study or work in an English speaking nation.
TEFL or Teaching English as a Foreign Language is a teacher-centered acronym to describe teaching in a country in which the official language isn't English. The 1940’s triggered the creation of an interest in TEFL. The arrival of Linguistics plus the construction of what is now referred to as American Defense Language Institute is largely recognized for preparing teachers to teach English in foreign nations. The earliest teachers to analyze language relating to linguistics existed in 1940 at the University of Michigan and presented a foundation for understanding how etymological structures operate. The Army Language School a division within the American military, what later came to be known as the American Defense Language Institute, dabbled in the study of numerous different languages throughout the advent of World War II. Both of these establishments paved the way in the progression of teaching English as a foreign language.
TESL or Teaching English as a Second Language can be involved with teaching English to non-native English speakers which are living in an English speaking region. An example of this would be a Chinese immigrant studying English in America.

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ESL Asia Guide

ESL Asia Guide

ESL Asia Guide has been created to be used as a resource for both current and prospective ESL teachers. What will you find our website? Well a whole lot actually. Here is what you should expect to accomplish by registering on this site.

Making Friends That Are More Like You on ESLSocial

We at ESLAsiaGuide want to create a community for ESL teachers in Asia because we feel the community here is lacking solidarity. Maybe you plan to come to Asia, but worry you won't meet any friends with similar interests. By joining ESL Asia Guide you will be able to connect to the friends you want. Many times in Asia you are limited to meeting only people at your job or their friends. While these friends might be good, they might not exactly share all your interests. Let's face it, in real life you choose your friends carefully based on matching personalities, music interests, hobbies etc. We have developed ESLSocial as a social networking website that allows you to connect to people with similar interests in your ESL country. Additionally, the site has been developed with many features similar to Facebook. You can even integrate your facebook to ESLSocial. To find out more about these features click on the ESLSocial link above!

Download and Share Usable Lesson Plans With TeachShare

If you're a current teacher in Asia you should by now know that things can be sprung on you out of nowhere. In these cases it is important to have a developed lesson plan quickly at hand. TeachShare is a filesharing system that has been developed for any registered user to quickly download and upload lesson plans. Find out more by clicking the TeachShare link above!

ESLBarter Allows You to Barter Books and Sell Your Services or Goods via Classifieds

There are two components to ESLBarter.
1. Barter - We are bring the barter system back from the old days. Trade anything you own by posting the item in a free advertisement and explaining what you would like in return. Ads are then viewed by location via our barter system search tool. This is ideal to trade read books for unread English books. Don't want a book in return? Barter anything collecting dust around your apartment for something you actually need.
2. Classifieds - Search general sale, housing, services, community, substitute teaching, or pets by your ESL Asian country and in your region. Post what you have to offer here for free, the interface is simple and easy to understand.

ESLJobs Lets You Find the Job, Not the Other Way Around

ESLJobs has been developed to allow you to easily search for jobs you want. We will list only trustworthy recruiters that have the experience, credibility and know-how you are looking for. Our list is currently growing, so be patient!

ESLForum Is Being Updated With the Latest Information
Tired of searching the forums only to find too much or outdated information? ESLForum will have all new content as it is a developing forum. Please contribute and do your part by helping others in the community! Post answers to questions, post questions, or get a discussion going.

Teaching in Korea
There is an excellent guide book that helps college graduates start their career as an ESL teacher in Korea.