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Teach English in Xiangyangyu Zhen - Hulunbei'er Shi — Hulunbuir

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Xiangyangyu Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Hulunbei'er Shi — Hulunbuir? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language.

“You’ll get his back up if you talk to him straight away”, “my sister kicked up such a stink about being told she couldn’t see her kids”, “they’re in a bit of a pickle”, these are but some of the expressions I’ve heard in only the last couple of days. As someone who has been studying TEFL I have become acutely aware of the language that is used around me and how commonly slang, colloquialisms and idioms are used in general conversation. Is it important though to teach them to students of English? Taking a brief look through the multitudes of language learning apps I was able to clearly see the language learning goals of people. The most common goal by far was “having a conversation in English” or words to that effect. Part of the reason language sharing apps are becoming popular seems to be because people want to converse, understand and be part of other communities, not just learn the rules of language. Those who embark on a language learning journey usually want to talk to people as equals in a conversation. The only way to do that is to know, understand and be capable of using slang and idioms in the right situations. Of course there are arguments against teaching slang and idioms in a formal setting. Foremost amongst these is the fact that idioms change depending on the location. “She’ll be right mate” is an Australian idiom meaning that it’s going to be ok, it’s not something that an English speaker from the USA will necessarily understand. As such it is difficult to teach idioms and slang expressions unless the teacher has a good understanding of the particular local English that is being taught. It’s also worth noting that some English learners have very specific goals in mind and may not be particularly interested in informal speech. When conversing with a Japanese friend of mine recently she used the expression “they’re in a bit of a pickle” when referring to a group of people in a little trouble. It was a nice moment as I had explained to her some time before what the expression meant and now here she was able to use it in a conversation. She was excited to use it, and I was excited to hear her say it, it was as if she became an equal in the conversation, she was now ‘one of us’ in that she could express herself informally as a native speaker. As motivation is one of the most important facets of language learning, what better way to motivate someone than allowing them to feel equal in a conversational setting. I have no doubt that my friend will never forget this simple expression and I look forward to the next opportunity she has to use it. There have been a number of occasions where I have given my friend some English lessons. It’s worth noting that the most enjoyable of these lessons are the ones where I taught slang and peculiar Australian expressions. She has a number of favourite phrases and she has remembered these small lessons significantly more than when we discussed grammar or formal speech. We use slang, colloquialisms and idioms all the time as native speakers. People who are learning English as a second language usually express the desire to improve their conversational English. The only way to truly have a natural conversation in English is to be aware of idioms and slang that can be used, when we teach these we will enrich and motivate a students learning.


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