Robert Newman
- 2005-01-11
Dear Fatma,
If you are really interested in teaching in other countries, you might consider Thailand. It is a that does actively practice discrimination, but with a IELTS score of 7 you can get jobs in both government and private schools, as well as most of the language schools. If you are interested the new academic year starts in May, and the schools start looking as early as March. Send me your full CV along with a recent photo and I will do all I can to help, but no promises. Most schools will not offer work with out a personal interview, but female teachers are in short supply, and there is active sex discrimination in favour of females.
Robert
Gary Ja la bi
- 2005-01-09
Question
When is an esl teacher a non-native speaker?
1. When he or she is not born in a country where the first or official language is English!
Or....
2 When he or she ARE born in a country who's first language is English, but they don't have white skin and blonde hair!
Or.....
3 Both of the the above!
Gary Harwell
- 2005-01-08
Fatma,
Unfortunately Robert is correct. Teaching is a business and they are in it to make money. Students vote with their pocketbooks. Owners are not about to say to an empty classroom, "Boy, I showed them."
However, working with Non-Native speakers is always a pleasure. They know the language and when students say "I'll never learn English." I always reply... something about the Non-Native teacher learned English and is an good example of what can be achieved. Learn from them. They know their stuff.
I would suggest a yahoo group called
creativeenglishteachers
It's a great group and they are very supportive. They have lots of mailings with good material and a lot of the members are Turkish. You will find a lot more positive support and feedback there.
Good Luck
Robert Newman
- 2005-01-07
I couldn't agree more. As an agent that tries to look beyond the nationality of a person, I am sometimes (quite often actucally) appalled at the blatant racial and colour prejudice that occurs in Thailand.
Just this morning I have had the mispleasure of taking a teacher to a achool that is crying out for a qualified teacher. The teacher I took is an old friend of mine, he is English, but from Arabic parents. The school refused to even try him on a temporary contract for fear of upsetting the parents.
This behaviour has no place in a civilised world, but who said the world is civilised?
The best ESL/EFL teacher I have ever known was a Yugoslav. Who taught the TEFL certificate course I took 14 years ago in England.
Unfortunately until education stops being a business, and teachers a commodity to be sold, this attitude of favouring an accident of birth will persist.