Category Archives: Teaching English in China

China Radio International investigation of EF

Posted on 30/11/2013 by alexcase

Some of the criticism is a bit random, but the reports of refusing refunds and Western-looking but non-native teachers seem genuine: Behind the Foreign Brand Name (radio programme and transcript) – LINK DEAD

Posted in EF, Teaching English in China | 5 Comments

100,000 foreign English teachers in China?

Posted on 27/10/2012 by alexcase

So claims this article from Forbes, which also has the fact that in almost every country in the survey women had better English than men: English – The global language of business? Click on the Stats tag below for more … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in China | Tagged | Leave a comment

More interesting TEFL/ TESOL statistics

Posted on 18/11/2011 by alexcase

It’s turning into a bit of a collection. Better than collecting stamps, I suppose: 1.5 billion – Estimated number of English speakers up to 400 million – number of Chinese learning English (nearly a third of the population) over 50,000 … Continue reading →

Posted in Teaching English in China | Tagged | 1 Comment

Weekend TEFL courses- better than nothing or bringing us all down?

Posted on 01/01/2010 by alexcase

My feeling is that some people are doing weekend courses where previously they would have done a four week one, which can’t be good. Then again,the majority of people who do weekend courses now would probably just do no training if … Continue reading →

Posted in i-to-i TEFL, Teacher training, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications, Weekend TEFL course | 11 Comments

Losing my best students

Posted on 06/11/2009 by alexcase

Getting back to my paranoid fears of the last post (because a blog might be time consuming and pay nothing, but unlike seeing a therapist it’s free), there definitely does seem to be one kind of student I have lost … Continue reading →

Posted in ALT, Classroom management, Cultural differences/ cultural training, Eliciting, JET, Pairwork and groupwork, Problem students, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching shy students | 3 Comments

How not to teach pronunciation

Posted on 21/07/2009 by alexcase

“Japanese college students who’d had little exposure to spoken English underwent 12 sessions listening to exaggerated “Ls” and “Rs” while watching the computerized instructor’s face pronounce English words. Brain scans — a hair dryer-looking device called MEG, for magnetoencephalography — … Continue reading →

Posted in Linguistics, applied linguistics and SLA, links, minimal pairs, Pronunciation, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Thailand | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Rumours about TOEIC

Posted on 21/06/2009 by alexcase

This is just gossip, so perhaps you can tell me (by comment or email) which ones you have heard or think to be true: – The TOEIC was originally set up by specific request of the Japanese government who wanted to … Continue reading →

Posted in Business English and ESP, EFL exams, ETS, History of English teaching in Japan, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Europe, Teaching English in France, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, Teaching English in Taiwan, Teaching in Japanese companies, TEFL, TOEIC | Tagged | 4 Comments

Live a TEFL dream

Posted on 09/06/2009 by alexcase

A guest piece by the first person to take me up on my offer to be “exploited”, Stevie Jobbers of TEFL course provider EOLCI. “Many people reading about TEFL think it is too good to be true that you can … Continue reading →

Posted in finding good TEFL jobs, first TEFL job, Teacher training, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in China, TEFL, TEFL career planning, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications, TEFL scams | Tagged | 6 Comments

Don’t do the CELTA

Posted on 13/04/2009 by alexcase

A guest piece by “TEFLelastic” I finished my CELTA about a two months ago and it was real shock, and in no way a pleasant one. Read about TEFL in The Guardian and it’s all “working holiday” and “see the … Continue reading →

Posted in Cambridge ESOL, CELTA, Lesson planning, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in China, TEFL, TEFL certificate, TEFL qualifications | Tagged , | 157 Comments

An interview with Alex Case of TEFLtastic blog

Posted on 17/02/2009 by alexcase

No, this post is not the ultimate ego trip or a sign of a split personality (or at least not just those things)- Troy from The Blog with the Longest Name in Spain sent me a few questions a couple … Continue reading →

Posted in Cross cultural training in EFL, Cultural differences/ cultural training, first TEFL job, Teaching English Abroad, Teaching English in Asia, Teaching English in China, Teaching English in Japan, Teaching English in Korea, TEFL career planning | 11 Comments