Category Archives: Teaching English Abroad

What does Brexit mean for TEFL?

Posted on 24/06/2016 by alexcase

The answer is, of course, that nobody knows because it all depends on various negotiations and maybe individual policies of the countries involved on working visas, but here are some possibilities: Americans finally have equal opportunities with Brits when it comes to … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in Europe | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Stop speaking Japanese (etc)

Posted on 04/11/2014 by alexcase

… or How to React to Random English in Your Everyday Life Abroad. This was supposed to be in Tokyo’s freebie listings magazine Metropolis, but it was so badly mangled by the editor that I decided to publish the original version for free … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Japan | 3 Comments

Do you really need a degree to TEFL?

Posted on 11/10/2014 by alexcase

And is that right? I really got a bit het up when I realised that someone had got a job and working visa with a degree that they had awarded to themselves , and I even thought about dobbing him … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English Abroad, TEFL qualifications | 9 Comments

A hilariously bad TEFL course model lesson plan

Posted on 08/10/2014 by alexcase

Discovered this while researching something else and my jaw just dropped with its awfulness (and I say that as someone who still has to teach with materials made up by random teachers in other branches of my schools). I’ve highlighted … Continue reading →

Posted in Online TEFL certificate, Teacher training, Teaching English in Thailand | 11 Comments

TOEFL to improve high school English?

Posted on 29/07/2014 by alexcase

The British government has finally learnt its lesson about dealing with ETS after many cock ups including the recent big fraud which means that TOEFL can no longer be used for immigration purposes, but that’s not stopping schools in Japan: … Continue reading →

Posted in ETS, Teaching English in Japan, TOEFL, TOEIC | Leave a comment

Why do the Japanese add extra vowel sounds to English?

Posted on 03/05/2014 by alexcase

Three answers, including one that had never occurred to me before, on my JapanExplained blog (recently more active than this one, maybe for the first time ever): Why do the Japanese pronounce English like katakana? Much more on Janglish and … Continue reading →

Posted in Janglish | Leave a comment

Filipinos not the solution to countries’ English teaching problems?

Posted on 20/01/2014 by alexcase

This is one of several recent news stories from Vietnam recently including claims that Filipino teachers are unaffordable, hard to find and/ or not suitably qualified, funnily enough exactly the complaints most often made about Western teachers.

Posted in Teaching English in Vietnam | 1 Comment

Janglish which we should all start using

Posted on 15/01/2014 by alexcase

What I prefer to call Janglish is better known as Japlish, Japanese English or wasei eigo. The direct translation of the last term is “English made in Japan”, but a more correct explanation would be Japanese words and expressions made … Continue reading →

Posted in English as an International Language/ Lingua Franca, Janglish | Leave a comment

New teaching Japanese learners page

Posted on 12/01/2014 by alexcase

Given how I’ve spent eight of the last ten years and four of the six years of this blog teaching in Japan, you can be fairly sure that all my worksheets and teaching advice are suitable for that situation. I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Janglish, Teaching English in Japan | Leave a comment

Pearson buys Brazil’s largest chain of language schools

Posted on 05/12/2013 by alexcase

Story from FT here, and The Wall Street Journal, The Independent and The Daily Telegraph have all covered the story too. Forbes profile of the founder Carlos Wizard Martins, including explanation of the name, here. It was a bit tricky … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English Abroad | Tagged | 2 Comments