03/02/2021
hello everybody so liz is here and i'm super glad to
welcome you to the itt weekly live session
uh so today's session is devoted to international exams and the reasons to
take them as a non-native esl teacher
and before we begin please let me know if you see me and hear me clearly um
just because i want to make sure my equipment works smooth so we've got this comments section
and you can basically communicate with me so please let me know that you hear and
see me well okay um and in addition uh while waiting for some
more people to join okay i see that everything works thank you so much for letting me know
and uh in addition while waiting for some more people to join me
uh let me know uh where are you tuning in from so um as for me i'm located
in the euro region of russia uh in the city called ekaterinburg um it's
pretty needy today but really sunny and it means that um spring is just
around the corner i hope so and what about you guys
so let me know where are you from um and i'll show uh some of your answers
uh on the screen uh and well just other people will be able to
know that uh we are actually a global community okay so let me know guys
um by the way thanks a lot for uh joining me today uh it means
um everything to me because i'm still a little bit nervous every time i do
these streams so okay so joe says he is currently teaching
in vietnam that's great to know um i used to teach in china and then um
i lived in thailand for a while um and i love southeast asia
these countries are just so um sunny and people are really kind there
okay yanisha is from panama that's so cool what time is it
there um i believe it's like um early morning or uh even it is even yesterday maybe
like monday uh monday evening okay cool so um
and by the way uh i'd like also to draw your attention uh to this uh qr code uh at the top
uh right corner right it's here uh somewhere here um of the screen uh so
if you scan it with your cell phone right now because at the end of the session um
i'll remind you about this incentive so but if you
want uh to scan it you can do it at any time at any point uh so
and um one more time uh if you guys are willing to
communicate with me i'll be absolutely happy uh we have this comments uh section
and you can uh send your questions i i don't know uh some uh remarks
and stuff like that so if you like you can use them and
uh coming back to the main point of today's discussion uh
let me just quickly change the slide and the size of the screen so you could
see it clearly so [Music]
let me just know if you guys if any of you have already taken any english level
tests so uh if you did why did you do it and
on this slide you can see some of the most popular english level tests among
english teachers so of course there are many more english level tests
aimed at different levels but these four
um are widely recognized by english teachers
particularly and um as for me i took ielts in 2019
uh to find out where um i was at my english learning path
uh plus uh at that time i was really eager to uh enroll into a
university um and i really needed uh the evidence of my english
proficiency for the application so what about you have you taken any of these exams or
you're willing to take one of them let me know please uh let's have this
discussion because i feel like if um i'm not just speaking it's it's much more
interactive and um more interesting for you to uh watch
okay and as i have already said
there are several uh options english teachers prefer to take
uh so for example toefl cae cp uh all of these exams uh
are aimed uh to some higher levels of english
proficiency that's why we english teachers non-native speaking english teachers
choose these exams um and when it comes to international
language tests we are dealing with the common european framework of reference
for languages you can clearly see it here on the right side of the screen
but as for the framework itself it is an international standard for
describing uh language ability so it describes
language ability on a six-point scale from a1 for beginners
up to c2 for those who have mastered a language and um this also makes it
easy for anyone involved in language teaching and testing uh such as teachers
or learners to see the level of different qualifications it also means
that employers and educational institutions can easily compare
our qualifications to other exams in their country so
when you really want to work for somebody in another country
they will probably need you to prove that your language ability can be
comparable to their local one okay
all right um so mahmoud said that he has taken
uh he has taken pte uh all right that's cool uh so uh am i
right to understand that uh it was a preliminary english skills test right uh b1 level or
something um okay um
and the next thing i want to mention is that if you look at this scale you can see that
ielts for example is a multi-level test so it means you can take it at whatever
stage you like however its main uh drawback is that it expires after like two years
so um unfortunately my ielts will get expired um in december 2021
which is really pity because i haven't um i haven't go i haven't gone to
any university yet but i'm still like hope hoping that um
i'll do that one day so probably um i'll need to pass ielts again
uh but it's not a problem um because it's just a test and that's all
and also it it requires some investment um and by the way right now i'm prepare
preparing for uh the c2 level uh cambridge exam um
it is called proficiency english test and um i i am really really um
willing to take it uh maybe in the beginning of 2022
or even in the end of this year um all right and um
as for some other exams uh they are actually aimed uh to test a set
of particular skills related to a specific level for example
as mahmoud has already mentioned pte is
a preliminary english um test uh which uh tests uh
some b1 skills so when you prepare for this language test
you know for sure what skills are required or for example you you help your
students to prepare so it has some particular
amount of things to teach all right um and let's see
some of the reasons to take uh these english tests uh if you are a non-native
english speaker so um as for me um
the first thing uh to consider when you prepare for
english level exams it's your extensive language skills
training so when you're committed to taking a language level test
your main point is to show the skills you've already acquired and it means that
uh while constantly while preparing uh you're constantly working on various
abilities like speaking reading um use of english writing
etc um and for non-native english speakers um particularly
non-native english teachers it's extremely important because we want to guarantee our students
um learn from the best and that they they have chosen us
not just in vain um okay and um another reason
to uh take ielts for example or some cambridge exams um
is uh to continue your education because for enrolling to uh some
teacher teacher development courses for instance delta uh they require uh to show the
higher levels of english before this session i have checked um one
training center requirements where you can
like take delta module one or module three uh they require to have um
c2 level uh with grades from b to a so um
if you for example have h have scored uh grade c um at the proficiency test
uh they won't probably let you go through delta so something like that and
um let's see some other ideas which i consider the most important
um so having a language level certificate opens a lot of doors to career
development as well so most of the international exam um
international exams are recognized around the world and valued by employers
so for example when i worked in china um in back in 2016-17
my school asked me if i had a level certificate
and it was not a must actually but they wanted to make sure my english was good
enough unfortunately at that time i didn't have ielts and i couldn't prove it i couldn't prove
that i was worth it um however uh they just like ignored it
but said that like recommended me to pass ielts so um
i believe it's important for employers around the world um
and um right now knowing my level and having this
experience of going through the test i can help students to prepare and in
fact i stopped teaching general english and focused on international exams
because it's more interesting for me as a teacher and i feel like um my students
are more motivated to learn english when they prepare um for
for an english test so um i think that um choosing
this uh career path uh is also really fulfilling for uh english teachers
and last but not least uh when you have a proof of your english proficiency
you can raise um your rate per hour and believe me students are willing to
learn from the best teachers but they won't be sure if you don't show
it so um plus exam preparation is a great demand these
days and uh there is a slim chance um you'll struggle finding students
because so many people are willing to pass ielts or cambridge exams or toefl
so it's really important to have this skill and right now i would like to know about
your experience guys let's have this conversation i have um i
can see uh your comments uh and i'll go through it right now but um while
i'm dealing with uh some of the comments please uh the rest of you who uh
who are watching right now uh share your stories um have you taken uh have you taken
an english level test or uh you are willing to do that and if you if you have taken
uh ielts for example or cpe um why did you do it and uh
how have you benefited from it so i i would really like to
know your experience and uh i'd like to show other people that um
this experience is actually vital uh okay
okay so there are some people from india glad glad to know that uh we're from
different uh parts of the world here we're a really global community as i have already mentioned and
muhammad sorry mahmoud asks according to um
the framework which is considered as a employ
employee employee to hire non-native b2 or c1 please um
could you please give me some more details like um are you an employer and are you
willing to hire a teacher or what
i'm not completely sure if i understand your question but uh if for example you are an english
teacher and you are willing to work abroad as a non-native
english teacher then your employer will probably consider uh you to have
um the higher level of english which is actually like c1 um
c1 plus okay [Music] all right
yeah so that i have already mentioned that ielts is just a two a two year
certificate so for example i took my ielts
in december 2019
and it will expire this year in december so it's it's a really really um short
uh term certificate and it is quite pricey but you still can take it however
i recommend you to take a cambridge exam instead because
they are um their tests are more affordable and they do not
expire so uh if you for example get um
well let's say cae uh it won't expire in three years or four
years so you will be able to use it during your life
okay all right so joe says that uh currently
um in vietnam they have a requirement of um having c1
to get this work permit by the way joe where are you from uh what's your
country of origin
okay that's right uh so uh if you if you want to teach
um or work uh in another country most of the embassies
and employers uh require you to provide these documents that's right okay
hello everybody hi moses i can recognize you by your um picture
nice to see you again uh today we're talking about um language level certificates for
example ielts or cpe um and um
we are sharing our experiences of taking this level tests
have you have you had this experience please share with us if you if you have
[Music] okay so um if you if you ask about the
uh english level tests uh i would say that uh cambridge tests are more affordable
than ielts or toefl however toefl is less pricey than ielts
but if you want to have a certificate that won't expire uh you'd pro
you'd better to look at the cambridge exams for example
b2 level exams c1 and c2 so proficiency advanced and
fc so those level tests um won't expire uh those
uh level certificates won't expire um and they cost less
okay so uh if you are really eager to show your english level or just to know
it um for yourself to work on your english skills
it's a great idea to choose between multi-level exams and cambridge exams
and for example as for me right now i'm preparing for cpe
which is the highest english test
in cambridge and um the reason i chose it is that it won't
expire first but secondly uh the exam is more
interesting compared to ielts uh because this exam uh when you're preparing for it you
practice different types of skills like communication skills uh extensive writing not only
uh writing essays or writing uh some specific
reports but also reviews um proposals and stuff
like that so i think it's it's more um important for you personally
because it it helps to build uh this life skills not just to pass
the english test but also to um use it during your uh own life
and uh for your career purposes okay um so
okay sorry uh amitabha has said that uh they have already taken a tefl
certificate um okay um
so uh when we talk about tefl and language level certificates they are
not equal so tefl certificate uh is aimed at building uh
teaching skills rather than language skills but if you are thinking
of uh building uh the language skills as well as a person as a non-native
english speaker then i'd recommend you to consider
cae which is c1 [Music]
yes the c1 level exam or cpe uh because
i i have like figured out that you are already proficient quite proficient quite skilled um in
english and it's a great idea to show that uh you can do more okay
oh so look linda is watching us as well linda is my colleague and uh she also has her
um streams weekly uh on friday on fridays i believe um
okay so are ielts general and academic both acceptable for non-native
eel team uh again ielts uh and tefl are not equal
so tefl is more about land uh teaching skills ielts is
just to check your uh english level uh that's why it's just up to you which
version of ielts of aisles to choose uh if you want to um
show that you are more like academically skilled then choose academic if you want uh to
show your general ability uh general use of english then choose general but
the main difference between ielts academic and general is that academic is for
study for example you want to go to a university
and if you choose general you are probably going to move to another
country to get a visa or i don't know like a green card
something like that uh so but as for ielts and tefl they are not equal
they are different uh how much is the cost of cp
uh i'm actually not sure but uh let me check i know um the amount of
money in my local currency but i don't actually know how much is it
in in us dollars so let me just quickly check it [Music]
okay so um
yeah so it's about 160 dollars which is really really cheap compared to
ielts because um ielts was about uh two
260 or 270 at that time so it's a pricey exam
uh especially when you know that it will uh last not forever and just for two
years um yeah so that's that's it moses uh
that's the the main problem of taking a language level test if you choose between ielts and toefl
but if you want uh to um if you still want to take a tough a
language level test then cambridge exams are really beneficial from this perspective
okay yeah it's it's a quite expensive certificate
that's right uh so uh basically if you want uh to prove your english level
it's better choosing some less expensive options which
are cambridge exams i believe okay so do you guys have any other questions
related to uh english level tests or tefl uh let me know
and by the way i wanted to mention that uh if you want to enroll into a tefl course
you don't need to to prove your english level so um you can you can do this
course with any level you have so that's absolutely normal
okay and um let me see
okay so i would like to mention that this qr code will give you um
a nice bonus to all of our courses so if you want uh to take a tefl course
with itt you can scan it or let me um let me send you
a link if you are watching from your desktop so if you copy this link from the chat
box you will be able to get the same uh
you will be able to get the same incentive uh so make sure you click on the link and
uh go to our our website and um you will get this 30
discount uh however no pressure here uh if you want to take a tefl course a
little bit later it's absolutely okay you don't need to worry that
it will expire uh because it will be stored on your computer on your
browser browser up until
next month or something so it will be stored for 30 days um okay
any other questions related to tefl or i don't know aisles or other exams
let me know quickly um and also if you
uh guys have already taken any of your or any of this language level
certificates please let me know and i'll show um your answers
to everybody because this experience is really vital and i believe um it's so cool to
exchange um
uh so uh i cannot recommend you any um
any website because it is um because in english level uh tests are
taken locally uh for example i found a test center in my
city and i i found it when i visited an international
education fair so i i believe it's it's quite local uh
so it's better to uh check um just on google uh if you have any test
centers in your city or in your country okay um
but i feel like if if you want to find the cambridge level test
then you can check the cambridge website um okay if you want to join
any of our tefl courses uh you need to click on this link
yeah here um you you need to click on this link get a 30 discount and then choose
whatever course uh appeals you and just pay and start
working on your tefl certificate that's all or you can scan this qr code on the
screen here uh it will also give you the same 30 discount okay
so do you guys have any further questions on uh tefl or language level
certificates please let me know and by the way uh if you could
suggest me any other ideas for our future
streams what would you like to know about what would you like to learn from
me let me know as well um because
if you suggest me a particular topic it would be easier for me to prepare and uh it would
be more interesting for you to learn more about the topic you like
so let me know please if you have any uh special suggestions
i'd really appreciate it okay or
um and don't forget about this qr code as well
all right and let me also mention that itttt oh no it's actually a
different one but still uh worth it so we linda and i are
presented uh on clubhouse we have profiles on clubhouse and
if you have already um got into clubhouse follow us and uh
let's have a chat some time uh we are thinking to create a room one day related to
english teaching and tefl so let's keep let's keep in touch
and the last thing to mention is that itttt is presented on
various social networks so if you want to uh stay connected and get
updates please follow us on your favorite social media and i hope that um we will
hear from you soon okay
okay so mahmoud uh has said that uh he has been
in english language and literature this is awesome uh great to know that this much
educated people are coming to this um
screams uh he has already said that he finished the professional
diploma at itt t that's awesome as well um how could you apply to teaching abroad
you basically need to choose a country you would like to go to and then um
the second thing is to look for the local employers who are currently
hiring english teachers for example when i
taught in china we had a very a very popular um service for
english teachers to look for jobs it was called
e china cities let me send it
something like that and yeah they uh they
uh post different uh job offers from various um employers and you can
just uh easily apply from their website but you could also check out uh our
itt job section because we also post uh different job offers there
and um i believe on facebook there is like a regular rubric to
post job offers as well so um make sure you go you visit our
website and check out the job section there and then what you
have to do is to send your cv send your resume okay
um hello joelle i hope or joel um i'm not sure how to pronounce
your name i'm so sorry uh but to prepare for online english teaching
i would recommend you to check out our newest
course for teaching online and you could also take a tefl course
as well uh like a general one 120 hours or more um and then
you can also think of um taking a language level test we have
uh we we have talked about it a lot today um so
if you are not sure about your english level and you would like to improve your
english skills it's a great idea to take an english level test
but if you are willing to focus on your teaching skills then um take tefl um
yeah it's these are just uh the main options and um let me send you a link
to our teaching online course
uh it's a really cool course by the way i have been uh taking it as well
right now but i don't have much time to go through all of the units so i um
often postpone and don't work on it but it's a really good
one let me find it
um okay so
just one moment
yeah it's in the specialized section so if you want
to start teaching online this course would be great for you
okay uh thank you for your question and if you have any further concerns
just let me know i i hope to be as useful as it is possible
okay okay thank you moses i'm i really
appreciate your feedback and um i'm i'm so so welcome
to see you every time uh that's so great that you visit like every week
some familiar faces are always great okay mohammed asks how can they
prove uh improve my english speaking skills um
well the the general suggestion would be speak as much as it is possible
there is a nice application for um for your smartphone
it is called elsa speaks uh you you need to check it out
uh it helps to improve uh english pronunciation
but generally if you want to speak fluently it's um it's a great idea to communicate
more so maybe it's a great idea to join um a speaking group a speaking club or
something like that and by the way i am currently working on my project
um related to speaking clubs so stay tuned and i hope um
it will be useful for you as well okay
okay yeah the job section is on our website
and there are more uh job offers i believe uh they are
listed uh in like different country sections
uh it's right here uh copy this link and go to it
yeah check it out
all right so i feel like these are the only questions
yeah so amitabha make sure you click on the last link and
you will be able to see different job offers placed in different countries
sections so for example if you want to teach in let's say africa
you can click on it and see the job offers there okay
or there are also online jobs and by the way uh as for online jobs um i have
uh done i have already done um a stream related to different
platforms online english teaching platforms uh for example italki is the most
popular one and many teachers are willing to uh get into italki but they don't
uh they don't accept new teachers right now so uh in that stream
i'm referring to i talked about uh some other options which are less
popular but they still um provide a high quality of um like uh
website and they also show different uh useful
they also have different useful uh things for teaching and you can basically
look for students on those websites and it's quite easy to work through them
all right okay so guys um it it's
actually the end of the live session i believe because we have already covered
all of the things um related to um english level tests and some of you
has also asked me about different uh tefl courses
and other things i'm really really um grateful for you
coming here today thanks a lot and i hope to see you next time uh
still if you have any suggestions uh on the topics please let me know in the
comments so um i'll finish this live stream right now but you will be able to send your
comments still so if you have any particular
suggestions on topics let me know and i'll try my best to be as useful as it is possible
and to make a new live stream related to your uh to the topic of your choice okay
uh thanks a lot and i hope to see you next time
right um thank you and bye bye
