 Hello everybody, it's Lizzie here and I'm super glad to welcome you at the new IATTT live stream session. So today's live stream is devoted to just a talk, so we're going to discuss things and I hope that you have several questions in your mind. So feel free to ask me at whatever point you want and let me just quickly introduce myself and make sure that everything is working. So while I'm waiting for some more people to join, I just want to say that these live streams are provided by the by International Teflon and TESOL training. We are a leading Teflon and TESOL provider. So if you are considering getting Tefl certified, the chances are you are here watching this session and having some questions. So feel free to ask me about whatever is on your mind and I will try my best to help you out. And as for myself, I'm a Teflon and TESOL expert at IATTT, first of all, but at the same time, I'm a non-native ESL teacher working online primarily. So some time ago, I taught in a real classroom, but after the pandemic, I just switched to the online teaching mode and I should say that it is my favorite teaching mode. I don't think I will ever go back to a real classroom because I feel like I am a digital savvy. I'm not ready to work in a real classroom anymore. So as I have already said, this live stream is for your questions to be answered. So feel free to ask me anything. And I should say that my level of expertise is primarily connected to Tefl itself, but at the same time, if you have questions related to teaching abroad or stuff like that, feel free to ask me as well. I will try my best to help you out. And just while waiting, guys, please let me know where are you from? Where are you tuning in from? So I'm located in Russia in a city called Yekaterinburg. It's pretty far from Moscow or St. Petersburg. However, it is still a pretty big city. It's a metropolitan area and it's not that popular around visitors, around tourists. However, some people stay here, some people visit, especially when they travel the Trans-Siberian. If you know about this railway, you know that. So that's it. And what about you? Where are you from? So are you native speakers or non-native speakers? And why are you interested in Tefl? Let me know. I'm really curious and I think that if you type in whatever you think, it might be more helpful for me to dwell upon it and to chat. So feel free to ask whatever questions, feel free to answer my questions as well. I want to have this conversation going, you know. And I also want to share my great news with you. So I have already mentioned that I'm an online ESL teacher. But my specialty is not general English. Some time ago I narrowed down to exam preparation. And last month in August, one of my students, one of my teenage students, successfully passed the Cambridge test. And I can be more proud because she passed with merit. And I would like to show you her results. I think it might be interesting for you. And let me know if you also prepare students for exams. What do you think about exams in general? So let me share my screen with you and show you how it's organized. Because it's actually a really interesting thing. So exam preparation is quite a significant achievement. So passing this international English test isn't easy, especially for a teenager. But she did it well. So these are the results. I think that I have to, yeah, oops, not like this. So yeah, these are the results. And as you can see, she got a great B. And the overall score was 155. So she achieved the B1 level. And I'm super proud of it. I think that it's a really, really great achievement for both of us. Because basically she worked a lot. But at the same time, I facilitated that success, you know, facilitated her progress. Although I feel like we have to work a lot on reading and writing. But the test actually helped a lot to understand what areas are much weaker and where to put more efforts. So that's something like that. And by the way, the speaking results were extremely successful. So she got 161, which is considered to be the B2 level. So it's like at the lower border of the B2 level. But at the same time, it's a great thing for a 13-year-old. So that's it. My great news. Yeah, let me change my screen. Let me switch it off. Yeah, like this. So I can see that there are some questions. There is a question from Bakawa. I hope to pronounce your name correctly. If I'm mistaken, please let me know. So what is the highest level of TAPL to write? If you refer to the number of hours to complete during the TAPL certification, the minimum requirement for international TAPL teachers, international TAPL certified teachers is usually considered to be 120 hours. However, there are actually packages that contain more hours. The chances are you will have the standard 120-hour certification and then some additional trainings. So let me show you what I mean by sharing my screen and showing you our TAPL website, our ITTT's website. So just one second. Yeah, like this. How to do that? All right, here we go. So if you go to the TAPL course.net to our website, you will see this. Yeah, so I am on the website right now and we have this section called courses. If you go to the online courses section, you will see that there are different options possible. So the minimum requirement, as I have already mentioned, is 120 hours, 120-hour TAPL course, and then the 170-hour course follows. How is it different, you would ask, probably? So this package contains the general course, which is 120-hour course, plus an additional certification in teaching English online. So you will have the 120-hour standard course, standard certification, which is the minimum requirement all over the world. And then you will proceed with getting experience and learning how to teach online as well. So yeah, these are probably the lowest number of hours possible. But if you see some other options, you will also see 220-hour master package, 370-hour diploma course. So they all have some specific features. But generally speaking, these certifications, these options contain the main course, the primary course, and then some additional trainings related to specific skills. For example, if you want to teach business English, you can choose a package that will suit your needs. Yeah, that's probably it. So in total, we've got eight possible types of courses, eight possible options. Yeah, so you can just go to the website and see whatever fits you best. And also, let me just quickly remind you that if you are considering getting TEFL certified with ITTT, here is a nice QR code, which can give you a 30% discount of any TEFL and TESOL courses. So if you want to get TEFL certified as soon as possible, you can scan this QR code or let me quickly drop the link to the chat box. Yeah, so or you can follow this link from the chat box and you will also have the same opportunity, like the QR code. Probably QR codes are not as convenient as links for some people. Just, yeah, choose whatever is best for you. Yeah, so that's probably it in terms of the level of training. All right, and let me just go to the next question. So there is a question from our beloved friend, Leterg. I'm super happy to see you again. Thanks a lot for coming to the sessions. I hope that they are helpful and valuable. And yeah, let me answer. I'm super happy to see you again in an online teaching. How do you conduct students evaluations if there is? So basically, I don't evaluate them if you think of this usual system, evaluational system. However, I provide my feedback as much as it is possible. And my feedback usually depends on the type of task. So for example, when I teach a grammatical point, I probably want to make sure that my students don't make mistakes during the training, during the actual teaching of those grammatical points. But at the same time, I don't pay attention to some other mistakes. I don't do this additional error corrections if it is not the point of teaching at a specific point of time. At the same time, when it comes to practicing speaking skills, for example, I usually allow my students to speak out and I completely ignore their grammatical mistakes or some lexical issues. So my feedback is usually flexible and it is based on the point of teaching. But I never give any marks. I never evaluate them. I never give them scores. The only exception is that when it comes to preparing for specific exams before the exam itself, we start practicing those tests. We do a lot of mock tests. And I usually explain what scores they are going to have, they are going to get if they do this or that. So, of course, when it comes to doing specific tests, I show them the results in scores. Yeah, that's it. Thanks a lot for the question. By the way, I think that feedback is really valuable and English teachers have to evaluate but probably not in a standardized manner. Because students, especially private groups or one-on-one students, they actually don't need to know their marks. They are here to progress, not to test themselves. Okay, so there is another question from Tarak. Okay, so if I'm not mistaken, Tarak is curious about getting TEFL certification in a European country and then to find a job there. So, Tarak, the thing is, basically, you can take a TEFL course online and you won't have any disadvantages from this perspective. Moreover, our TEFL and TESOL are ITTT certification. Let me show you this certification quickly. So, it actually doesn't state that the course was taken online. And by the way, online courses even have some benefits because they help you understand the teaching process in terms of the online setting. So, basically, those employers who ask you to be TEFL certified in a real classroom, they don't understand that online settings are even harder to understand. And probably it's not the best company to work for because they're not that progressive and last year actually showed that those teachers who are flexible enough can switch between modes. And here in Russia, we had so many schools that are presented offline that have real offices and they lost all of their students and couldn't make any income. They completely lost their income flows because they couldn't provide their students, their clients with an online option. But those companies that quickly switched to the online mode, they successfully provided classes via Zoom and their teachers proved to be more flexible. From this point of view. So, if you want to take a TEFL certification, don't worry about getting TEFL certified in a real classroom. I would even say save your time and take a TEFL course online. It might be even more beneficial. And when it comes to teaching around Europe, I should say that it might be a challenge for non-native ESL teachers and for native teachers as well, actually, because it is subjected to the specific country's rules and regulations. So, if you want to go to a specific country in Europe or wherever you want to go around the world, you have to check their policies. So, for example, in Russia, it is 100% that you have to be not just TEFL certified, but you also have to have a degree in teaching specifically. I'm not completely sure about that, but I know that those TEFL teachers who even come from native speaking countries, they have to have the same degree as they are going to work in the same field as they are going to work. Plus, they have to be qualified as English teachers. And the same situation might be in any other country. So, make sure you check out the requirements and you make sure that you are qualified. And TEFL certification is one of the requirements usually. By the way, on our TEFL course.net website, we have a section called jobs. So, let me quickly drop out the link as well. Just one second. So, we've got this link on the website with different jobs related to specific countries. So, if you're interested in a country, in a specific country, you can check out the list of countries we've provided and see if there are any guidelines on some specific requirements. Of course, we cannot make sure that the information is updated and it is as updated as it is possible. So, I always recommend that you guys go and check on Google, like on such websites as embassies websites or other governmental websites. Because if you want to know the most recent updates on regulations, visa policies, whatever, you have to research yourself. So, make sure you are proactive from this perspective. Because nobody can guarantee the 100% clarity and stuff like that. Okay. So, let me see another question. By the way, Tarak, I hope that I have answered your question. If you haven't understood anything, just let me know. I will try my best to clarify. Okay. So, all right. So, thanks a lot for coming to the sessions. This is one of the fans who visits regularly, who shows up regularly. I'm always happy to communicate with you guys. So, let me see the next one. So, how long does it take to complete the 120-hour course? So, basically, the course consists of two parts, two general parts. The first part is a test part, and it is more related to theory than practice. So, it can be done quite fast, but it depends on your personal schedule, on your personal way of processing information. If you are that type of person who can quickly read and go through all of the theoretical points and then do the test, it can take really short. When I did this test, when I did this course three years ago, or no, actually not three years ago, four years ago, it took me about two weeks to finish to complete the test part, but then there was the second part that was really challenging for me. It was related to creating a lesson plan, and that part was more practical. So, it took me a while, and by saying a while, I spent like two months to finish the practical task, and I should say that the main problem for me was that I couldn't understand the procedure related to the lesson planning. So, because it is closely connected to the methodology, and I didn't completely understand the methodology at that time, it took me a while to produce that lesson plan, and then to remake it because I failed the first attempt. So, I would say that if you consider taking a TEFL course, especially this one, the general one, think about taking the option with the tutor help, because if you have any doubts, if you don't understand some theoretical points, you can always email your tutor and ask whatever is on your mind, whatever challenges your most. So, yeah, don't underestimate the tutor's help. It may be really, really important, and it can save you a lot of time, especially if you want to get certified as fast as possible. Yeah, so TEFL and TESOL are basically the same. So, the course itself is the same. However, the difference is that you can choose either to have TEFL on your final certification paper, on your final certificate, or to have a TESOL name. So, what is the difference? TEFL stands for Teaching English as a Foreign Language, and TESOL stands for Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages. And on my TEFL certificate, I actually have a certificate in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, because at that time, when I got this TEFL certification, I worked in China, and I thought that probably if it is a foreign language, then it means that I have to be able to teach native speakers as well, like sometimes you teach the same language or a different one. So, that was my thought, but maybe I didn't get it right. So, it's actually up to you which caption to choose. So, it is just a matter of titles. And that's all. All right. And there is another question, a question from DuMini. DuMini. I hope to pronounce the name correctly again. Names are really challenging for me when it comes to foreigners. You know, there are so many interesting names that are especially challenging for pronunciation. Okay. So, you can take a TEFL course online to do so. Just follow this link from the chat box. Let me drop it out once again. Yeah. So, you can follow this link. Oh, oops. This link is incorrect actually. It doesn't contain a coupon. So, if you follow this one, if you follow this one line, you will get a 30% discount of any TEFL course you choose. So, feel free to choose the second option. So, yeah. We have a long list of TEFL courses, of online TEFL courses, and you can choose whatever suits you best. So, basically, you have to understand what needs you have, like do you need just a general certification or you want to specialize in something. Just make sure you read through the guidelines on the website, and then you choose that option which suits you best. Yeah, that's it. But we also have in-class courses listed on the website as well. So, if you're interested in taking an in-class TEFL course, it's also possible. Just make sure you check out all of the guidelines. Okay. And let's see. And the next question is actually closely connected with the previous one. Master courses, like master level courses, are related to the number of hours. Let me share my screen once again, and I will show you what I actually mean. So, here we go. So, I think you can see my screen right now. Let me also, yeah, like this. Okay. Let me show it to you now. So, this is actually a job section where you can see all the guidelines related to different countries. But as for master level packages, you can either go to the online courses section or to the, let me see, online diploma. So, in this section, we have those courses, we have those options that contain the biggest amount of hours. So, if you want to just get TEFL certified and be generally TEFL certified, you can opt for the 120-hour TEFL course, which is our basic course. It is also the most popular one because the minimum requirement all over the world usually is 100 hours or 120 hours. But if you want to either to open your level or you want to get this higher level from scratch, you can go for this section and see the 370-hour TESOL diploma course. It is also the same for TEFL. So, they are just interchangeable. Or, you can also check out the 470-hour package and the expert package that contains 550 hours. We have all this explanation, like what is in this package. So, for example, if you see what is the difference between this one, between the pro and expert package, you would see that in the expert package, you will have all specializations included. So, apart from the general 120-hour certification, you will also study business English and teaching young learners. And additional training would be teaching online as well. But the most valuable parts for me, as for me, are this one's academic planning and certificate in... I forgot the explanation of this one. So, it is CTPR. It is a certificate of teaching practice recognition. So, if you get this expert package, if you go for taking this one, you will, apart from all of those certifications, you will also have a possibility to get some teaching practice recognition. It is especially valuable for those teachers who don't have any prior experience in teaching. Basically, what you will be supposed to do is to find a group to teach or to find a school to work for. And then, while studying at the course, you will get several assignments related to practicing methodology and stuff like that in your real classroom or in your online classroom. And upon completion of all of those assignments, you will get an additional certification that will state the number of hours you practiced and how successful you did it. It is really valuable if your employer requires you to have some initial experience. Because in some schools, I know it is extremely important to be not just TAPL certified, but also to have some primary experience. Okay? All right. So, there is a really long question from Jon Snow. So, I will not share it on my screen because probably it will cover me. But let me quickly read it. You can also do so, because I think that question is really interesting. Just give me a second or so. All right. Okay. Hello. Hello. Nice to see you guys. Thanks for tuning in. Even almost at the end of the session. Anyway, if you have any questions, feel free to write them and send to the chat box. And I will try my best to assist you. Okay? Okay. So, it's a really interesting question, though I can't answer it fully because I'm not completely sure. So, basically, the master package includes this lesson planning part in terms of the initial 120-hour certification. So, you will do the lesson planning part for sure there, but I'm not completely sure about the other certifications. Probably you will have some type of lesson planning or a different type of assignment. You will definitely have some assignments in terms of those initial, in terms of those proceeding courses, but I'm not completely sure about the lesson planning. Let me write down this question and I will come back to you after the session. So, I will answer this question after the session when I get the information. Okay? So, I will reply to you or maybe I will direct message you. So, just stay tuned. Thanks for the question. It's a valuable one. And if you guys are interested in the same point, just make sure you get back to the live stream recording in a couple of hours or maybe tomorrow and check out the answer. So, I will definitely reply this one just to make sure that I provide the updated information. Okay? And as for the certifications, yeah, it's also up to you. I personally prefer to have separate papers just to show off, you know. When a teacher has a lot of different trainings, it actually shows that you are interested in your professional development and you want to make sure you provide high quality services. And every time I get some training, I always make sure I get this piece of paper and then I show it to my students because it's really valuable. Even especially you work one-to-one privately as a freelancer. This is a great idea to show different certificates just to make a point that you are specialized in different areas and stuff like that. But it's up to you always. You can also share just the main certificate and it's going to be fine, I think. All right, yeah. So, the next question, not probably a question, but some piece of thought related to doubts. Yeah, guys, we all have a lot of doubts. So, basically, as I know and just judging from my personal experience, what is more important than holding a specific passport is that you are a professional. Besides being capital certified, it is of primary importance that you work on your English skills if you're a non-native speaker, that you spend time a lot practicing yourself because your clients, your future clients, are going to evaluate you, going to judge you by the picture and by your speaking skills, by your presentation and stuff like that. But don't think that you are limited in options just because you are not from the US or you were born in a Middle East country or somewhere else. It's not the point. You just have to work a lot and make sure that you progress and you develop as a professional and as a person. And actually, last weekend, I participated in a conference. So, I was a listener at the conference related to ESL teaching. And the thing is, the research results show that actually native teachers sometimes have a disadvantage compared to non-native speakers because they can be 100% sure that they provide all of the answers and stuff like that. Sometimes native speakers don't know how to explain really simple things just because they've never thought about them from a different perspective. So, sometimes native speakers, they actually lose when it comes to teaching. Just make sure that you work on yourself and you are not afraid of being asked some tricky questions and stuff like that. Yeah, something like that. And you also have to try to work as much as it is possible. So, if you want to develop this career, you want to get experience as well. So, make sure you work in different situations, in different settings. You try to work with different groups, with different levels and stuff like that. So, it will definitely help you out to develop this career if it is actually important to you. Well, yes, I understand that completely, but the point is I'm trying to work a lot on my speaking skills. I'm not a native speaker and I'm not a professional presenter, you know. So, I try my best to help you out. And if my speaking skills, my speaking patterns annoy you, just feel free to leave this session. I don't insist on listening to me, especially when it comes to some situations that I can't, unfortunately, can change right now. So, I just can say that I work a lot and it takes a lot of effort to present every week. And I know that I have to work as well. So, just sorry, but not sorry. Okay. So, guys, if you have any further questions related to TEFL, TESOL, teaching in general, just let me know. I will stay for another moment in here. And if you have any further questions, I will try my best to answer as well. But probably it's almost the end of the conversation. I should say that you've asked me so many questions today. Thanks a lot, guys. I hope to... I try to be as helpful as possible, but it is not for everybody sometimes. All right. And I also want to say that these live streams, they are actually recorded every week. And you can find a separate folder on Facebook and a separate folder on YouTube and see what interests you most. Check out some previous live streams. Maybe there are some answers in those live streams because actually we did a lot of live streams devoted to some specific points like methodology, teaching online, planning lessons and stuff like that. And my colleague Linda actually goes live every week as well. She goes live at the end of the week. And she usually dwells upon teaching abroad because she is experienced in teaching in different countries. She used to work in China. She also worked in South Korea. I think she's still working there, but not sure completely because of the pandemic situation. That period changed a lot in all of our lives. So probably she's also teaching online these days, but she's experienced in working with that audience in that part of the world. So if you're interested in the Asian countries, make sure you check out Linda's live streams as well. And if you like to listen to live streams, if you prefer just ignoring the visual aids, you can also download our podcasts. So these live streams are transformed into the podcasts and you can find those podcasts on whatever possible platforms. There are like Apple podcasts and some other ones, some major platforms. So yeah, thanks a lot for your kind words. Yeah, basically, I also thought like that, that if you're not a native speaker, then you won't be able to get a chance to work somewhere. But I just tried and it worked out. So several years ago, I worked in China. Then I started working online. And these days, I work with international students online. And I actually work for an American company. And that employer just gave a preference to hire me because I showed how valuable I am, how much value I can give to the employer and to the clients as well. So every week, I work with a big group of international students from all over the world. And it's not a problem that I'm not a native speaker. Yeah, sometimes it might be challenging to find yourself, to find a job, but you are 100% responsible yourself. It's not on some other people. If you want to achieve something, just to make sure you work for it and you try as much as you can. All right, thanks a lot, John. If it's your real name or whatever. Yeah, thanks. By the way, as for my speaking skills, if you go back to my very first live streams, they were done actually almost a year ago. You would notice that my speaking at that time was way worse than these days. And at that time, I got super intimidated by those people who gave those comments saying that, well, your speaking is bad and you are not as credible as you can be and stuff like that. But it's not the point. I can be a good teacher. I can be skilled in speaking. However, I can be just a bad presenter. I think that it's not my cup of tea to speak in front of the audience. And when speaking here, I know that these live streams are going to be seen by so many people and it drives me crazy. It makes me feel really stressed about my speaking and stuff. So every time, since those days when I was immature and when I spoke way worse, I started working on my speaking abilities and I tried my best to practice as much as possible. So basically, yeah, I think that I have some progress but I still have to master so many things. And yeah, as a teacher, it is really helpful to work on the speaking skills. And I know that many clients actually prefer to get an audio or to get some understanding of a teacher's pronunciation and speaking before scheduling the first class. So my recommendation is make sure you also practice your speaking, especially if you work for some teaching companies like Proply or Italki, that you know have just a marketplace where you have to put your video and represent yourself that way because we're on those platforms, clients, potential clients, they just choose judging by the picture, by the recording and by the speaking skills as well. Yeah, but spontaneous speech is something to master for everybody, not just for non-native speakers but for native speakers as well because we're just humans. Sometimes it might be stressful to speak in front of the audience and yeah, that's it. You just have to work on it. Okay. All right, thanks a lot for saying your nice words. Thanks a lot for your feedback. I also want to say that your questions were so nice and so important today. I think that all of your questions were really, really interesting. Yeah, I hope to see you next time quite soon again. So I will go live next week at the same time. Feel free to message me on Facebook or feel free to ask questions under this recording on the Facebook group. And also don't forget to like us and subscribe. So we are presented on various social media and make sure you save the link from the chat box if you want to get taffle certified and you want to make sure that you don't lose too much money, not lose actually, you don't spend too much money because this QR code or this coupon link gives a really nice incentive of 30%. So make sure to scan or make sure to click on the link and just save it and feel free to become our student as soon as possible. Thanks a lot guys for staying with me today. It was a nice hour of communication. I really appreciate that and we will see next time. So yeah, just enjoy your week and come to the next live stream next week.