 Hello everybody. My name is Lisa and I'm super glad to welcome you to the weekly live session. So when you guys are joining me, please let me know that you can see me clearly and hear me clearly. And today's live session is going to be devoted to a really popular question in my direct messages. So I've received several requests on talking about some teaching career advice. And I hope everybody will find something interesting in this live stream. But while you're joining, please let me know that you hear me clearly and see me clearly. So we've got the chat box here and you basically can comment with whatever you want. But just let me know that you hear me and see me clearly. As I have already mentioned, my name is Lisa. I am an ITTT TEFL expert and a former ESL teacher. I've been teaching online since 2020 because of the quarantine and because I just want to work remotely. And what else? I'm also a non-native English speaker and I've been studying English since I was six years old. So basically I've been studying English for 20 years already. Well, let me know where are you at your English teaching career and how many years have you been learning English as well. So I'm super interested to know about it. And a little bit later we are going to discuss some challenges online ESL teachers face when they build their teaching career. And not only online ESL teachers but just teachers in general, especially who are non-native speakers. So please let me know if you see me and hear me clearly. And also a little bit about myself. I'm located in Yucatyrnburg, Russia. It's pretty far from Moscow and this region is super cold this year. I don't know why. But today it's about 30 degrees below zero. I hope in your places it's better than here. And my plans were destroyed because of the weather. I usually go to ski after the live streams. But today it's super cold. It's so freezing. So I just have to stay home. Okay, I still cannot see any comments. So I just figure out that everything works smooth and I can go forward with the presentation. So today's topic is going to be how to build your teaching career as a non-native English speaker. I received a lot of questions on this point from one of the TEFL students. And I think it's something really important to discuss because some people who enroll into the course don't understand how to implement this experience after the course. And today I would like to share my personal experience and just give you some pieces of advice on how to build your own teaching career if you really need it. Okay. And yeah, here is some information about myself, but just let's ignore it. The first problem everybody who enrolls into the course faces is some educational background. So in ITTT we have a lot of students who didn't get teaching experience or education in the teaching sphere. And this is the main reason they decide to enroll into the course. And basically I also didn't have this type of education. When I studied at university, I learned English linguistics. I can't say it is the same as teaching English. I feel like it was more about learning English extensively rather than learning how to teach English. And yeah, when I finished university I had that question like what should I do? What career path should I choose? And in my head teaching was just the easiest way because I had some English fluency at that time. And I have already had some teaching experience as a private tutor. So I just decided to stick to that path and wanted just to dive a little bit into the teaching career more by taking some courses and learning a little bit more about teaching methodology and so on. So if you don't have this English teaching expertise, TEFL certification would be the first step I recommend you. It was not my first step literally and I really, really, I feel really miserable that I didn't take TEFL early because I struggled so much teaching without understanding how to do that. And the main reasons why you should take TEFL certification is that it provides you with the basic methodology and understanding how to teach English to those who don't speak English as the first language. And later on getting some more experience, some more teaching experience and finished the TEFL course. I understood that it would be a great addition to my CV to take some more specialized courses. So when I was just working as a private tutor, I also obtained IELTS and when I found my first job, the employer provided me with some really useful teaching courses, for example, multiple intelligences and fixed phonics. These were really, really useful, especially when I was younger and less experienced because when I took those courses, I also could communicate with my peer teachers and ask for some professional advice from the trainers. So it was really valuable. And recently I also joined, I also listened to some conferences and got certificates stating that I took part in those conferences. Unfortunately, it's in Russian. I don't know why, but the conference was international. But anyway, so if you want to build a strong career, it's a great idea to take some additional training as well while you're getting professional experience. So don't be afraid to learn little by little. It's also valuable. The next step or the next idea how to build on your teaching skills would be looking for some practice. When I was younger, right after the university, I applied for various jobs in China. And I got that international job. It was really, I don't know, it was life-changing experience. I was young. I didn't have a lot of plans for the future. And I just wanted to learn how to teach and make some money as well. And working in China was just so precious. I love remembering those times because I found a lot of friends from all over the world. I also learned how to teach from different experience teachers. And that part of my experience is probably the most helpful. It is really something else when you go abroad and try to teach in a real classroom. Then I would also recommend you considering volunteer teaching if you want to find some practice. But you are still unsure if you can charge for your lessons. It's something to try on and to get real life experience. Some other ideas would be a little bit different from teaching itself. But they are still really valuable and helpful in your career. Such as blogging and maybe lesson planning or creating your own teaching materials. So if you want to teach English, you can consider teaching through a blog. It's also a great idea how to get some professional experience and design your online lessons. I have a lot of friends who run their micro blogs on Instagram. And they share either teaching experience or English learning experience with the audience. They also act as teachers because they give useful advice. They create interactive lessons and so on. But they spend less time on it. And they learn a slightly different type of skill such as designing online lessons. And there are teachers who also don't teach at all. They just design their lesson plans and create materials and sell them online to teachers like we. And they also make money this way. And I feel like they also get some teaching experience anyway. Because they plan in their heads how to carry out and deliver the class appropriately. So it's also a great way to practice your teaching skills. So consider it and let me know if you find it useful and if you would like to try it on. Okay. So let me let me know in the comments. And I feel like that is all with my main part. Let me know if you have any questions on building your teaching career. Where are you at with your teaching path. So are you in the very beginning of becoming a teacher or you are a professional already. So please let me know. Hello everybody. I can see your comments and I can see your greetings. Thanks a lot for letting me know that everything is okay. Right now let's just have a little bit of interaction so that we could have a dialogue not just my monologue. And I I'll be really pleased if you ask me some questions because this way I will try my best to be as helpful as it is possible. And while you are thinking of your questions, I would like to mention that this QR code will give you a 30% discount of any ITT courses if you need. You can scan it with your phone or either way you can copy this promo code promo link. And you will also get the same discount. So if you're willing to start your teaching career but you are at the very beginning, you can use this discount to start your Tuffle course like as soon as possible. And yeah, I think it's so cool that you can get this discount. Okay, so if you have any questions related to teaching related to ESL teaching online teaching or building your career, please let me know. Okay, so I'll go back to the beginning of my presentation. So just to give you a reminder of what we have already covered. So we've talked a little bit about your educational background. If you don't have any skills, any educational skills related to English teaching, then Tuffle certification will be a great step to become a teacher. Then it's a great idea to take different additional training. For example, if you are not completely aware of your English speaking or any other skills apart from speaking like reading, listening, whatever, you could definitely think of taking a language test because working on your English skills as a non native speaker is vital. I still have been learning English. And I think that it won't finish at any point of my career or at any point of my life because English is just English. It's the language we have to practice on a daily basis as our native tongues as well. So taking a Tuffle, not a Tuffle, taking a language certificate is a bonus for all non native speakers. And as for me right now, I'm taking classes in a group preparing for a CPE exam. So it's a Cambridge proficiency test aimed at getting C2 level. And I hope I'll pass this exam at the end of this year or maybe in the beginning of the next year. So I'm really looking forward to level up in English. And as for your teaching skills, I've already mentioned you need to look for as many opportunities to practice as it is possible. And right now I would like to check the chat box because there are some questions. So unfortunately, I'm not sure how to pronounce your name, but do you experience talent based learning teaching? I'm not sure that I have expertise with this question. I've never actually heard of this type of learning. So let me make my research and maybe next time I'll be able to answer this question. Okay. And I don't have any teaching experience, but I have bachelors in English literature and masters in another field. Oh, you're so educated, currently planning for English teaching career. So Moses, I hope I pronounced your name correctly. If not, I'm so sorry. I think you have already had this great basis to start your teaching career. And you could think of taking TEFL as a start to know how to teach appropriately. But I feel like you have already been studying, right? You have already been taking courses with us. So I think you're almost ready to begin. And one more thing to mention is that many people believe that it's impossible to start teaching without any certification or diploma. It's not true. You can do it, but maybe you will feel a little bit more unsure of your actions, unaware of your actions, because that was what I felt. And I feel like I still have been suffering from lacking some knowledge and some expertise in teaching English. Because like methodologists, teaching methodologists are so unstable. They change every year and something new appears. For example, this year and the previous year were the most important in online teaching and new methodologists appeared in online education. So what I decided to do was to find a job in an online school. It was underpaid. I should say the hourly rate was so, so low. But I still took the job to make sure I understand how to teach online, how to deliver lessons online. And most of the online schools have their training. So it's a great idea to get some practical knowledge as well through real life experience. So if you want to start teaching, don't hesitate to do that. Don't wait for a perfect moment. Just start right now. Look for a job, be proactive and get this experience. I think it's even more important than certifications and trainings. Because apart from practical knowledge, you can get trained at whatever point you want. So that's it. Okay, all right. So Hannah, thanks a lot for letting me know. Talent-based learning is the last trend and I'll try my best to learn about it and make a research. And maybe I'll try to implement something in my teaching as well. And do you guys have any other questions related to teaching, online career and whatever you want? Okay, so let me know quickly so that we can work fast and non-stop. And as for other teaching opportunities, I would like to mention teaching abroad as well. So as I have already said, I used to teach in China and it was a life-changing experience for myself. But nowadays it's a little bit challenged to go abroad, especially if you're a non-native speaker. But that's not true actually. I still have some friends who found new positions abroad during the quarantine. And actually being a non-native teacher at that time was not a problem at all because schools have the same amount of demand in their countries. But there are no teachers at the time at the moment. So that was a great opportunity to start teaching as well during the quarantine. Did you teach English in China after TEFL? Yes, I did. And TEFL was the certificate that helped me to find a better position at that time. So I found a job in a bilingual school and I worked as a head teacher in one and the same classroom. Because there were actually a lot of different schools and every school had their own approach to teaching English. One school, for example, could deliver classes where teachers go from one classroom to another and they just meet different students every 30 minutes. I stayed in one and the same classroom with the same children and it was more helpful to me as a teacher, as a person, as a non-native speaker who was not able to speak Chinese. So I was more comfortable to stay with the same classroom and also it was helpful in terms of experience. I could try different methods of delivering English and I saw greater results in my students, so something like that. But yeah, the TEFL certification helped me to just know how to work with various groups of people. And at that time in China, I taught children from three years old to seven years old. But my classroom was three years old. And what about you guys? Let me know where are you at in your teaching career and what are your plans? I'm really curious because it's just the most important thing we are here for to discuss your experience and to discuss your maybe challenges and some things you are unsure of. Okay, so I'm not, again, I'm so sorry if I pronounce your name incorrectly, Hadyer, right? So Hadyer says that they have bachelors in English literature and they work in an international school, but the most problematic situation is to deliver writing lessons. I also had the same problem and my advice would be practice your own writing first and then try to implement your experience as a learner in your English lessons, in your English writing lessons. So right now, I am studying in a group to pass not IELTS to pass proficiency test. And we also practice to write essays to write reports and stuff like that. And I noticed that when I practice those skills as a learner, I can better explain my students how to do it appropriately. So here I think that we all are non-native speakers is a win-win situation. We can share the same type of experience with our students. And I also recommend you to check out such services as Grammarly and write and improve. Let me write it down. So Grammarly is a service that helps you to check your writing, like if you have any errors or mistakes or maybe you build sentences in a difficult manner. So it helps, it will help you just to get the understanding that you have some issues and write and improve. It's a service made by Cambridge and it is made specifically to practice your writing skills when you prepare for exams, for example. I used it when I prepared for IELTS and it was really helpful because I learned how to organize my texts. And one more thing to recommend is check out handbooks for teachers. So for example, you prepare your students for IELTS. There should be an IELTS handbook for teachers. This handbook contains a lot of useful information on how to organize your lessons, on how to approach to different tasks and writing is one of those tasks. So I strongly recommend you searching for handbooks or teachers books. If you teach general English, you probably still focus on some specific skills and you use a book or a course specifically for this purpose. And it should have teachers books. This resource is absolutely amazing and valuable. So don't underestimate it and use it in your teaching as well because it has a lot of useful advice on how to organize whatever lessons you need to teach. Okay, I hope that I answered your question. Thanks a lot. Okay, and I'm currently taking an online Teflop course on campus education abroad locations. Okay, so there is no difference between online courses and in-class courses apart from the practical experience. If you feel like taking some in-class courses would be beneficial for you. But I advise you to do that because you will be able to interact with other people and get real life experience in a real classroom. That's what I actually had with my trainings when I was working in an international school as well. We had those trainings at work and we could interact with each other as teachers and exchange our teaching experience. And we could also ask our trainers for advice. It was really valuable. Hello. I'm not sure how to pronounce your nickname probably. But anyways, this person is really experienced in teaching, looks like that. They have already had a lot of teaching background and educational background. I'm really glad that you have joined this live stream and I hope you could share your experience or ask any questions in terms of teaching. So if you have any, let us know. And let us know if this educational experience is helpful in your real life teaching. Okay, thanks a lot for your comment. And I feel like there are no other questions, but if you guys still have anything on your mind, please let me know. And I'll try my best to help you with whatever problems you have. And Hannah has mentioned that project-based learning can be used in digital teaching. And thanks a lot for commenting on my experience as well. I really appreciate it. So what I think is my plan for the nearest future is to research project-based teaching, project-based learning. And what else? Yeah, so we need to check out this thing because it can be useful in our teaching career. Okay, thanks a lot. Yeah, Mohsen has another question and I'm really, really eager to answer your question. Thanks a lot. Wow, that's awesome. That's awesome to know that such experienced people joined this live sessions. I think if you join our ITTT group and share your teaching experience and methodological experience there, it would be really useful for the group and for our community. Thanks a lot for joining. And by the way, Hannah, where are you from? Okay, let us know. And Moses, I am waiting for your question. We have already been live for almost 40 minutes and I think that we are coming to the end of this session. Okay, so Hannah is sharing her email address. If you guys have any questions in terms of teaching and methodology, you can email her as long as she shares her email address. And by the way, later on, myself and my colleague Linda are going to organize rooms, room chats in Clubhouse. So if you guys are on Clubhouse already, follow us and let's have a chat about teaching on Clubhouse as well. I hope we can make a really impressive communities there and we will be able to exchange our experience. Okay, so Moses has his question. Okay, so there is a Teflon in-class course offered in Korea. Yes, that's right. That's taking course in Korea, increase my opportunities being placed in Korea. I'm asking this because I understand that Korea do not accept non-native speakers for English teaching. Unfortunately, I cannot give you an answer to this question because I'm not experienced in teaching in Korea. And I don't know about their legal issues. I would recommend you to join one of the Linda's live streams. She goes live every Friday and she is experienced in Korea because she lives in South Korea. So I believe she will be able to give you a piece of advice on this problem. But the general thing is to check if a country welcomes non-native speakers is to go to their official resources like to the embassy website or something like that and find information related to jobs abroad for non-native speakers. No problem, thanks a lot. Okay, and this was Ivan. Okay, from Mexico. That's cool. Yeah, thanks to let us know that Teflon certification is required by your employer. So this is something to learn about this certification as well. And as you can see, Ivan works in Vietnam and the employers there require Teflon certification. So that's cool. And Ivan also shares some of the most important skills from the Teflon course. Okay, you can check it out on the screen. Thanks a lot Ivan for sharing with us. It's really vital to know that Teflon certification is not just a piece of paper. Yeah, thanks a lot for letting us know. And if you guys don't have any further questions, this is the end of the Q&A session. And I would like to remind you that we share this valuable 30% discount. If you want to take a Teflon course, maybe later or maybe right now, you can scan this QR code with your cell phone, or you can copy the link from the chat box and you will be able to get this 30% discount at whatever point of time you need. And don't forget to follow ITTT on whatever social networks you've been using. If you like Instagram, we have a nice page there. So follow us, subscribe and don't forget to like us. Thanks a lot for coming to this live session. It was a really productive discussion. I hope to see you next time, next week. Hannah, thank you for sharing a really useful information about a new trend in teaching. I'll try my best to check it out and I hope it will be useful in my teaching experience. Thanks a lot for this session, guys, and bye-bye. See you next time.