 Hello, everybody, it's Lisa here and I'm glad to welcome you at today's live stream. So this live stream is provided by ITTT, a leading TAPL and TESOL provider. I hope that you are doing great and if you see me and hear me clearly, please let me know via the chat box so that I could know that you are guys here and you hear me and stuff like that. So feel free to comment on the chat box and we're going to discuss whatever points and whatever things you have on your mind today because it's a Q&A session. So if you have any questions related to TAPL and TESOL certification, if you are a non-native ESL teacher, feel free to ask me whatever questions you have. So let's have this conversation going and I hope you'll get some useful tips and maybe you'll learn something useful from me today. Hello guys, also let me know where are you tuning in from. I'm located in Russia, in the rural region of Russia. So it's a beautiful city of Yekaterinburg. It's pretty far from Moscow. However, I really love it because it's greenish during this summer period and it's warm, so it's really nice here. Where are you from? Okay, so let me know so that I could know that we are like global here. I know that many people come to these live sessions from different parts of the world like India, Thailand and even some Western countries. So let me know where are you guys from. And if you have any questions TAPL or TESOL teaching in general, please let me know right in the comments section. So the first question is here. Let me share it with you. Okay, so hello Fatih. I hope I pronounce your name correctly. So let me look through the question quickly. Okay, all right, so you're an English teacher and you are pretty experienced, like 10 years is a great experience. And of course, the answer is yes, you are able to work abroad, but you have to meet the requirements of those countries you are going to teach in. For example, I taught in China some time ago, and as a non-native teacher, I had to have my TAPL certificate. At that time, it was possible to work without this native speaking country passport. So I wasn't a U.S. passport holder or something like that. So I found a job in China. But when I was at the end of that, when I was in the end of my teaching career in China, the year policies got severe. And it was harder to start working at that time. Also, as for China, I had to be over 24 years old, which was just impossible for me because I was 21 at that time. And yeah, I had some troubles. They couldn't provide me with a working visa, so I was on my business visa. And that was the main reason I actually left China. But they had opportunities to provide a working visa for those teachers who were over 24 years old, who had bachelor's degree, TAPL certificate. And yeah, they provided working visas even if they weren't from native speaking countries. And by the way, if you are interested in working in China, you can check out one of my previous live streams, which I did together with my friend who is actually teaching in China right now. He's not a native teacher. His name is Eugene. And I did an interview with him several weeks ago. I strongly recommend you watching that video, because he gave a lot of useful tips on how to go to China and how to travel there without this US passport or without this, you know, like Canadian passport. So there are possibilities to work in China, even if you are a non native speaker, but you have to be really flexible. And you have to be super picky when finding jobs there, because not all the schools are eligible to hire foreigners in general, not not just native speakers or non native speakers, but foreigners from any countries. Okay. All right, so here is actually a person who is currently staying in China. And the Doreen, am I pronouncing your name correctly? Are you a non native teacher or a native teacher? Let us know. And what about your visa status if you're allowed to talk about it actually. Okay. So all right, so nice to see you guys. Thanks for joining. Thanks for coming to this live session, because I was a little bit scared that if I do this Q&A session, no one is interested. But it looks like there are some questions to me. Okay. The next question, how can I develop my teaching methods? Like, are you talking about your teaching methodology and about your teaching approach? If yes, then the first suggestion would be if you don't have a TEFL certificate, start your course as soon as possible in your teaching career, because TEFL certification provides you with this basic knowledge of methodologies, teaching approaches and stuff like that. For example, as for me again, I can give you examples based on my experience, because I wasn't a TEFL teacher. I was trained as a linguist. So I got my bachelor's degree in English linguistics, and I learned how to translate from Russian to English and from English to Russian. So that was, teaching wasn't my major. And when I finished my university, I knew that like I didn't want to work as a translator or as a linguist. And I knew that I, at that time, I was actually, like, I had some experience in teaching, because I worked as a tutor, as a private tutor during my university years. So I was like, I want to be a teacher. This is what I can do. And this is what I like in general. So I decided to look for different opportunities, like how to become proficient in teaching, even if I was pretty skilled in English, as an English learner and stuff like that. I didn't know how to teach. And the first suggestion was, like, take a TEFL certificate, take a TEFL course. And when I went to China, well, it was actually a requirement to have a TEFL certificate. So I just did that course, and I got some pieces of knowledge about this methodology and teaching approaches. And I think that it worth it. So this is probably the first way to understand how English teaching works. If you're a lifelong learner in English, but then this is probably not enough. So if you have already have a teaching certificate, TEFL or TESOL, whatever, that's actually not enough. You have to work on your experience and skills. So speaking of some teaching approaches, the best way to get this experience is by teaching regularly. So I would recommend you to look for students as much as it is possible. And another point is check out different resources. We have the internet, actually, and it is super easy to find whatever points you are interested in. And here I can actually recommend you several free resources. So I really like to read information on the Cambridge website. So if you know Cambridge, I think all teachers know Cambridge. So go to Cambridge.org. They have a huge section related to teaching, teaching methodology and all stuff related to that. So this is probably the first resource I'd go to. The next is that it is also possible to get some free courses on future learn or what else, course error. So there are many massive, massive online courses, which you can actually attend. But if you want to get a certificate, you have to pay some extra fee for it. But if you don't want to get this paper, then it is possible just to watch and listen during the course. And this is the way you can learn about methodology as well. And as for future learn, for example, it's a really great resource which contains courses from the leading universities and institutions like Cambridge, British Council, Oxford. So you can actually find whatever trainings you are interested in. For example, some time ago, I was really fascinated. I really liked the idea of teaching special needs children. And I found a lot of courses related to special needs education on future learn. So that was how I learned about dyslexia, orthoism, autism. And yeah, so that resource is just great. And I know that many professional teachers actually take such courses because these resources just super cheap if you want to get this certificate. But if you don't need the embossed certificate, it's just allowed to watch their courses, to watch their videos, to attend them, and that's all. So if you are really interested in teaching methodology, it's just 100% on you. Look for as many resources as it is possible on the internet. But if you're at the beginning of your teaching career, probably tuple certificate is a great idea as well. Hello, guys. Thanks for coming. Thanks for joining actually. It's okay. Yeah, so today we're talking about tuple teaching and all stuff related to it. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. Yeah, I give some pieces of advice based on my non native teaching experience. And if you're a non native teacher, and if you have any questions related to it, please feel free to ask me. I'll try my best to help you out. And we've already discussed teaching in China. And Doreen gives several tips over the comments section on how to teach in China. Okay. Well, actually, unfortunately, I don't have any contacts in China anymore, any longer, because I don't work there. And I just deleted my WeChat. The only person who I contact is that guy from the interview. I mentioned it earlier today. So if you're really interested in teaching in China, I would recommend you watching that video because it actually contains tips on where to find jobs, where to find those contacts, and stuff like that. But as for now, unfortunately, I cannot share any contacts because I simply don't have them. Okay. So, all right, so guys, if you have any further questions, feel free to ask me right now. So we've already discussed China, we've already discussed what we've already discussed teaching methodology. Okay. The next question. Okay, so personal ideas on being a professional non native English teacher, and a native speaker with no teaching experience. Okay, so it's a really hard question, but I'll try to explain like my point of view here. Well, so both sides have benefits and drawbacks. I believe that native English teachers, what they can give learners best is pronunciation and this language exposure. However, non native English teachers might be more comforting, especially for beginners. And at the same time, we can actually explain English grammar better. And that's probably because we have the same like, we have the same experience, we have the same experience of learning this language. And this is probably how we can relate to our English students. But I can't actually add more. I still believe that it's a great idea to combine like, classes with a non native teacher and with a native English teacher. Even if, for example, your advanced or proficient, sometimes native English teachers are not that helpful. But it really depends if teachers are professional, if native teachers are professionals, if they have this experience in teaching ESL, if they have education related to ESL teaching, they can help you out a lot. They can help out ESL students a lot. However, if they aren't experienced, it's just a waste of time probably and a waste of money sometimes or vice versa. Like sometimes it's a waste of money. Sometimes it's a waste of time because they just can't explain you some specific details. For example, several years ago, I decided to work on my pronunciation. And what I did first was finding a teacher, just a random teacher on italki. I really liked her pronunciation. I believe she had like neutral American pronunciation. And I just contacted her and explained her my goals. And she said, like, okay, I can help you. But we finished up doing regular English activities and tasks related to general English versus pronunciation activities. And I was like, well, probably that's not the person who I have to work with. However, she was a great ESL teacher because she had this specific training. She knew how to approach non native speakers. And yeah, she was just a great person. However, she couldn't give me this specific training in pronunciation. And that's how I actually started looking for a specific course. And that was actually more helpful compared to taking private classes with a teacher who wasn't trained as a speech coach. Yeah, I hope that I answered the question to some extent. But yeah, it's really hard to explain what's better and what's worse. But yeah, as for as for non native teachers, of course, we have to get this special training. We have to be we have to work on our professional skills. And we have to learn English as hard as it is possible, because we compete with somehow compete with native teachers. And just thinking of my time in China. Of course, at that time, I had less experience. I was younger, and I had like more problems in teaching than today. But I was really sorry to see those classes who were taught by native teachers having no experience, having no training in teaching. Because it was so pathetic, they simply taught like one and the same song every day. And that was actually all they didn't do their job well. But they were paid higher, because they were just native teachers. And yeah, finally, it's it's all about personal qualities, probably, because, you know, if you are really interested in doing your job well, you will you will do whatever is possible in terms of getting experience and professional education, and so on. All right, so that's all probably. As for this point, and if you guys have any further questions related to TAFOL, TESOL, what else, ESL teaching, online teaching, probably, go ahead and ask me whatever questions you have on your mind. And I just want to mention that last week, I did a really nice workshop on how to organize lessons based on video materials. And if it is something you are interested in, if you want to give your students a little bit more value in terms of content, make sure you check out that video, because I think that was really interesting. And I actually get a really positive feedback. Yeah, after that live stream. And I also want to share the final result of the lesson I was creating last week. And yeah, I'm going to do it as soon as it is possible, because I decided to spend some time on designing the lesson and also adding some teaching tips like providing a specific lesson plan so that you guys could use it as a ready-made lesson plan and as a ready-made lesson in general. So, stay tuned. I'm going to share that lesson on my Facebook group. If you didn't see my Facebook group yet, just feel free to join via this link. Yeah, I'm not that active on the Facebook group yet, but I'm trying to understand how to approach this content creation and stuff like that, because they have a lot of things to do apart from this group. But I really want to be consistent there and share useful tips and materials. So, I hope that today or maybe tomorrow I'll share this final result of the ESL lesson plan based on the previous live stream. Yeah, and the lesson plan is actually about ecology because it's one of my favorite topics. I really like discussing this point with my students and I like to be proactive in terms of recycling, waste sorting and stuff like that. Hello, guys. Thanks for joining. I can see your greetings on the chat box. If you have any questions related to TEFL, TESOL, online teaching, teaching abroad and whatever just comes to your mind, feel free to ask me over the chat box. I'll try my best to answer. Yeah, so yeah, just feel free to ask me whatever you want. Okay, so teaching kids. Again, I have two types of experience as for teaching kids. When I was in China, I taught children from two and a half to several years old and that was really hard. Probably the first reason why that was challenging, that was due to my age. I was super young at that time, like 21 years old was just not suitable for small children. However, that audience was really demanding. Well, Chinese companies, they had a slightly different vision, which I actually had at that time and which I have right now. They wanted me to come up with a strong lesson plan and I had to teach specific points and children had to show that they learned something. However, life is slightly different and in reality, none of us like not, children couldn't come up with all of those vocabulary units. I couldn't provide them the best training as it was possible. So it was a disaster probably. However, we spent some great time together and we had a really nice bonding, especially with the youngest students. I don't know why, but they were so open. They really liked to spend time with me. I like to spend time with them. I tried to teach them. They tried to teach me and we had this two-sided communication and exchanged our experience and exchanged our cultures. That was really great. But as for teaching, that was complicated. Nowadays, I actually work with older students. I teach them online and I should say that this is probably the most comfortable way of teaching for myself as a teacher. School kids are really great learners in terms of online teaching. I don't know why, but they do everything so fast. They learn so fast and they benefit from this online teaching mode. It's just really strange how fast they can assimilate and get this understanding of how to learn online, but it's probably the best way to teach. But children are older. When you work with them online, they should be older. They shouldn't probably be younger than eight years or something because younger kids still need this game and activities and as much physical activity as it is possible as well. You cannot provide it via the internet probably. What else should I tell here? Let me think. It is also extremely important to organize your lessons properly and to lead your children, lead your young students like step by step so that they could focus on the content, but at the same time feel that it is fun and that they are engaged. I would recommend using whatever resources you find based on game. For example, here I could recommend your word wall. Let me write it via the chat box. The resource called word wall is just an incredible thing for creating your games. There are different game techniques. Let me just actually show you because I pay for the subscription and I use word wall from time to time with different levels, not only with kids, but also with older students as well. Let me share my screen and I'll show you how it actually looks because word wall is just awesome. I've created several activities based on my teaching content. You can see it here. For example, let's see this one. I taught my student, not a young student, but an older student. However, you can actually try the same technique with younger students as well. It looks like a random wheel. What you have to do is spinning it and then giving directions to your students and asking to do what is shown as an option. We learned functional language. I pre-taught functional language before this game. Then I showed pictures and they had to respond using the functional language. It's actually hard to see what is here in the picture, but it's related to a movie. I forgot the name of the movie. It was about the movie and they had to say something related to the movie using the word absolutely. That was the idea of the game. There are several other options and they had to practice the vocabulary. Also, I taught this teaching point like should we or should have. They also had to open boxes and they had to do something related to should and should have, like giving some pieces of advice or criticizing. That was the idea. You can create different game types using WordWall. It's super interesting, super convenient. Also, it is possible to find any other games that were created by other teachers in the community. If you don't want to spend time on creating an activity, you can actually pick from hundreds of ready-made activities. Let's say this one. It looks great. I think this one is possible to use with young children. There are actually also a lot of options how to create and how to design your games. For example, you can choose a template out of interactive, but also it is possible to create a printable activity. As for printables, I actually create a printable using this resource. Then I just put it on my mirror and we can work together on mirror. Probably, yeah, but you can also print it out and just scissor, cut, and that's all. As a teacher, you can be flexible with this resource and it's super helpful when you teach either children or adults. But as for teaching children, make sure that you choose the most fun interactives. Yeah, so that's it probably. There are some other options like how to approach to teaching children, but I would probably ask you for more details like what exactly do you want to learn, what is your actual problem like, maybe you are lacking something. Let me know. Let's see the next question. I'm not sure. Am I right to understand that you completed our T-SOL certification course in Bangladesh? And what's next? I'm not sure. Because was it an online course or an in-class course? Please provide me with some more information because actually, if you are talking about ITTT TAPL courses, you are actually not required to provide a TOEFL exam because TAPL, T-SOL, and TOEFL are different things. The best teaching methods for teaching non-native people, okay, or let me see, what are the best methods of teaching to non-native people? Well, actually, all methods of teaching are perfect for whatever speakers you teach. It's a strange question to me because there are teaching approaches which can be applicable to teachers or to speakers of different languages. There are many ESL teaching methods, for example, grammar translation, which is a slightly old-fashioned approach, however, some students still prefer being taught by this method. Lexical approach, TPR, so there are many various teaching approaches and they all are suitable for ESL students, okay. If you want to learn about a specific teaching approach or teaching methodology, let me know, okay. And by the way, if you know that ITTT has a YouTube channel, we actually have a lot of useful videos related to teaching methodology. Let me show it right now. I'd like to show you our YouTube channel as well so that you could find our best teaching methodologies and the most interesting content related to it. Okay, so let me share my screen right now. Okay, so this is our YouTube channel and you can find different videos on the playlists and we've got tips on in-class courses, for example, what else. Teaching methodologies like evaluation and testing, coursebooks and materials, lesson planning, what else. English, grammar, ESA methodology. So there are actually many videos related to teaching methods, teaching specific students and so on. So feel free to check out our ITTT YouTube channel. We try to share different stuff on various social media. Please go ahead. All right, guys, I hope that I answered your questions fully, at least to some extent, because some of the questions weren't completely clear to me. If you still want me to explain something in details, please ask me specific points. For example, if you're interested in specific teaching methods, feel free to ask me about those methods. Okay. All right, I think we will stay here for several minutes more and yeah. So the answer is if you want to try a specific methodology for your classroom, in your classroom, you just have to follow the guidelines for this specific methodology and try it with your class. It depends like if you teach a group of students, if you teach a large group of students or, for example, if you work one-to-one, just make sure that when you apply this or that teaching methodology, you are flexible now because when you work with a large classroom, it's not the same as when you work one-to-one. I cannot give you a specific answer like how to take and apply this methodology because it's always unique and it's always different. Just try different ways to apply this methodology based on your students and based on their needs because what you have to think about is what are your teaching goals and what are your students' needs and based on that, you actually choose the most appropriate methodology. Yeah. Okay, guys, I think that is all for today. That was a really nice discussion. I hope I could help you to understand how to apply this or that method. It's actually really hard to dig deeper into details because all cases are different and we all are unique. What I can suggest is try to apply whatever approaches, whatever methods are possible when you work with your students because we cannot understand how to do this or that when we don't try, when we don't practice. That's probably it. I hope to see you guys next week. I'll try to come up with an interesting topic next week because I want to give you more benefits and more useful ideas. I hope to see you next time. Just a reminder, I have a group on Facebook. I'm going to share some useful tips there and I'm going to share a lesson plan on this group from the previous week. If you're interested, yeah, just go ahead and follow the group. I hope to stay in touch with you if you want to add me as a friend on Facebook and ask me some special questions. Feel free to do that. I'm open to any conversations. That's all for today and I'll see you next week, guys. Thanks for joining and bye-bye.