TOTA, namely Test of English Teaching Ability, is a systematic test for foreigners who wish to teach in Henan Province (Other provinces of China only allow native speakers to get an English teaching visa). According to the regulations, native teachers who have less than two years of teaching experience and non-native teachers who have over two years of teaching experience have to take to test in order to get a work permit. The test is composed of two parts - written test, and interview.
TOTA website: https://tota.chinagpa.com Registration: (a) Your password should be at least 8 digits and it should contain at least one capitalized letter and number. (b) After you click on “Get Dynamic Code”, a Dynamic Code will be sent to your email account you provided. (c) For each passport, only one test can be taken every three months.
A Guide to TOTA Written Test
The written test has three sections. Teachers have to finish it within two hours since you click to start doing it. Section one is reading comprehension. Three articles are included, which are as hard as TOFEL reading comprehension, and 41 questions have to be answered within 60 minutes. Section two is pedagogy, in which 30 minutes are given to answer 38 questions and this is the hardest part of the written test. Many teachers failed the test because of this. Some questions are simple, and some are very academic. Section three is psychology. You will have 30 mins to answer 90 questions, but those are very simple questions. They just need to confirm that you are not mentally sick.....
To do the test, the first step is to register. You need to fill in your name (full name as your passport says), email (please avoid Gmail, because you probably won't get the verification code the system sends), nationality, gender, DOB, passport No., and education background (please input your English-related diploma if you have and make it clear enough), etc.. They also ask for the level to teach. There are three levels, kindergartens and primary schools, middle schools, universities. Please ask your agent or the school for the information of the school or organization - Name, ID Number, and Contact Email of the School or Organization.
After registration, you can click the first tab left side named "TOTA Test" and then click the blue button after "Test Service Plan" to get the test. After that, you need to wait for the processing of the system for about 20 seconds. Please refresh the webpage then, click the second tab left side "Do The Test", and you will see your test. When you are ready, you can click the "start" button. The timing starts after the click.
They will email you or contact you by WeChat if you pass the written test. And then, they will ask you to add their WeChat to make an appointment to have the interview. We will help to train you before the interview. Please prepare for the test carefully. Many teachers have failed. We will offer guidance and help, but your preparation will be more important. If you have any other questions, please click to contact us.
A Guide to TOTA Interview
A quiet place with good and stable internet access is needed. The Interview will last for 20 minutes, which consists of the following 3 parts:
Part I. Structured interview (5 minutes)
Two questions are to be answered. Questions may include but are not limited to self-awareness, management skills, adaptability, interpersonal relationship, comprehensive analysis ability.
Part II. Presentation (10 minutes)
Level of the Learners
Teaching Objectives
Key points and difficult points
Methods of Instruction
Summary
Part III. Defense (5 minutes)
Based on the interview and the presentation, two questions are to be asked.
If you pass the interview, you will receive a TOTA certificate through your registration email. You can send wechat messages to the TOTA account or ask your agent or school to help you if you don't get any reply 3 days after the interview.
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