# Teaching English



## emmajhickson (Aug 21, 2015)

Recently moved to Ontinyent, Valencia and and looking to teach English in multiple settings e.g schools, academies, from home, on line etc and with varied age groups and levels. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I am British and have a Psychology degree and PGCE in Counselling and Interpersonal skills. I have experience working in the care industry with children and adults and have lots of varied experience working with and for people. 

- Should I complete an online, accredited Tefl course? Are they required for all teaching positions? 

- When contacting prospective employers, should I make the effort to write CV and cover letter in Spanish (my level of Spanish is quite limited) or stick with English and hope that it finds its way to the correct person?

- Any tips and advice on finding positions locally. Currently researching all options and have heard that it is best to approach in person rather than sending emails? 


Thanks in advance


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

emmajhickson said:


> Recently moved to Ontinyent, Valencia and and looking to teach English in multiple settings e.g schools, academies, from home, on line etc and with varied age groups and levels. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I am British and have a Psychology degree and PGCE in Counselling and Interpersonal skills. I have experience working in the care industry with children and adults and have lots of varied experience working with and for people.
> 
> - Should I complete an online, accredited Tefl course? Are they required for all teaching positions?
> 
> ...


Your qualifications, although fine, say nothing about your ability to teach English. There are many people who come here with the idea "I speak English, so I can teach it!" Erm No! Many of them have the worst type of Estuary English and teach children to speak like the females in "Birds of a Feather." I case you are not familiar: 




Many of the examiners for English qualifications in Spain know how to speak properly and are likely to fail any child who is unable to speak correctly.

E-mails in Spain are, often, ignored. Face-to-face is always the best and you may well do yourself a favour, if you get your Spanish up to speed, since the owner or administrator of an academy may not be fluent in English (which is why they employ native speakers to teach!)

You should be aware that the pay for teaching English is often low and the hours are later (typically 4pm to 10 or 10.30pm).

As far as state schools are concerned, you will have to sit "Oposiciones" - open competition - and even if you pass, you may find any available job could be 50-100km away or even at the other end of the country!


----------



## ccm47 (Oct 15, 2013)

Baldilocks, the OP has already said they are well educated I.e. with a degree and a teaching qualification viz PGCE. It really is unlikely that this is not reflected in their spoken English. Carrying your comment through to its logical conclusion this would exclude all Scots, Irish, Welsh etc from teaching English or to put it another way Andalusians from teaching Spanish.
As a child I spoke with a mid-Kent voice and had that educated out of me but now everybody thinks I come from the west country because I lived there for 25+ years. I adapted my voice to suit my environment. Also as an ex- modern languages teacher I hear nuances in people's voices and sometimes mimic them subconsciously.

Probably a TEFL is a good idea but maybe doing some private tutoring in English in the meanwhile?


----------



## snikpoh (Nov 19, 2007)

emmajhickson said:


> Recently moved to Ontinyent, Valencia and and looking to teach English in multiple settings e.g schools, academies, from home, on line etc and with varied age groups and levels. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I am British and have a Psychology degree and PGCE in Counselling and Interpersonal skills. I have experience working in the care industry with children and adults and have lots of varied experience working with and for people.
> 
> - Should I complete an online, accredited Tefl course? Are they required for all teaching positions?
> 
> ...



Have you tried the many academies in town? Gareth at FastForward would be a good start or Gina at Capital (she's recently opened two more locations).

I think you would definitely need TEFL as you will need to know how to teach English as a foreign language - it's quite different.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

ccm47 said:


> Baldilocks, the OP has already said they are well educated I.e. with a degree and a teaching qualification viz PGCE. It really is unlikely that this is not reflected in their spoken English. Carrying your comment through to its logical conclusion this would exclude all Scots, Irish, Welsh etc from teaching English or to put it another way Andalusians from teaching Spanish.
> As a child I spoke with a mid-Kent voice and had that educated out of me but now everybody thinks I come from the west country because I lived there for 25+ years. I adapted my voice to suit my environment. Also as an ex- modern languages teacher I hear nuances in people's voices and sometimes mimic them subconsciously.
> 
> Probably a TEFL is a good idea but maybe doing some private tutoring in English in the meanwhile?


I'm curious as to who awarded the PGCE in 'Counselling and Interpersonal Skills' as this is new to me.
I took a PGCE after my Hons Degree in order to obtain QTS -Qualified Teacher Status. I too was a teacher of MFL as well as a freelance translator/interpreter, my last job being teaching English in Prague at the Czech Statistical Institute.
Without QTS and being registered with the General Teaching Council you cannot teach in a state school in the UK.
I wonder if this qualification is recognised in Spain..
Baldy is right...speaking English and knowing how to teach English are two totally distinct skills. Being a native speaker is insufficient qualification.


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

My two cents here...more on the issue of teaching than availability of jobs. And I admit my bias up front: I finished a rather costly (about 2000 euros) intensive course (CELTA) to become certified as an english language teacher earlier this year. I'd made my living for 4 decades waiting and editing in English and had a deep and strong understanding of grammar. If I hadn't done the course, I'd have had no clue, however, how to teach it properly. There are lots of online TEFL courses, but most of them aren't worth much. Solid training comes only with the kind of critiqued, live teaching practices and input you get from a CELTA or TESOL course....or the equivalent in university training...
at least IMO.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

It is also useful to have a good grounding in the local language so that you can explain things in a language the pupil/student understands, i.e. to go from the 'known' to the 'unknown.'


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> It is also useful to have a good grounding in the local language so that you can explain things in a language the pupil/student understands, i.e. to go from the 'known' to the 'unknown.'


Actually Baldilocks, in teacher training, we learned that while it's OK to occasionally use the mother language, it's better not to. And I've been offered several jobs in Germany teaching English...and have no more German than I do Mongolian. Most trained ESL teachers can teach students of any language (and often have to teach students with multiple mother languages and no common language in classes). It's all done in the target language...ie. English.


----------



## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

Melissa58275 said:


> Actually Baldilocks, in teacher training, we learned that while it's OK to occasionally use the mother language, it's better not to. And I've been offered several jobs in Germany teaching English...and have no more German than I do Mongolian. Most trained ESL teachers can teach students of any language (and often have to teach students with multiple mother languages and no common language in classes). It's all done in the target language...ie. English.


It depends on the age group(s) you are teaching.


----------



## Melissa58275 (Apr 14, 2014)

baldilocks said:


> It depends on the age group(s) you are teaching.


Well, no. At least not under the Cambridge certificate method of teaching. But there are certainly plenty of disagreements about the "best" way to teach and I'm sure people have been successful using a variety of methods.


----------



## xolo (May 25, 2014)

I teach Spanish. Our program uses the Communicative Approach combined with other techniques. I speak Spanish virtually all of the time even at the beginning of the first year. 

What Melissa is describing is the modern approach to teaching language. 

So in regards to the OP, speaking Spanish will help you smooze a potential employer, but, while a convenience, it is not mandatory in the classroom.


----------



## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

I taught ESL to adults for many years in the States before retiring in Mexico. My students were always from a wide variety of language backgrounds (Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, Russian and Arabic, plus a few more), and I taught them very effectively in English. I would sometimes tell them that I spoke Spanish, so that they would know that I knew how hard it was to learn a second language, but I never used anything but English with them, both in and outside of class.

Ove the years, I also taught English to adults in Spain and Mexico, never using Spanish in the classroom. However, my knowledge of Spanish grammar and vocabulary was useful for pointing out differences and similarities between the two languages and helped me to know in advance what sorts of mistakes my students were apt to make.


----------



## mrypg9 (Apr 26, 2008)

I have taught French and German to all ages from four years to seventy, from primary schools to PhD students.
I never used English with younger learners and nearly always with my PhD students...they were Czech, I taught them English and my Czech isn't fluent enough to be of much use in a classroom situation.
What is important is knowing how to teach and I agree 100% that being able to speak a language as a native no way means you will be able to teach it without proper professional training.


----------



## Pesky Wesky (May 10, 2009)

emmajhickson said:


> Recently moved to Ontinyent, Valencia and and looking to teach English in multiple settings e.g schools, academies, from home, on line etc and with varied age groups and levels. I have a few questions and would really appreciate any advice or suggestions. I am British and have a Psychology degree and PGCE in Counselling and Interpersonal skills. I have experience working in the care industry with children and adults and have lots of varied experience working with and for people.
> 
> - Should I complete an online, accredited Tefl course? Are they required for all teaching positions?
> 
> ...


Cut and paste from older threads...


> I think it's vital, if you are interested in doing a good job, to get a good qualification and that means doing CELTA or Trinity and that will include a teaching practice element, which is one of the most important aspects of the training. I would recommend going to class rather than online if possible because the contact with other people is really motivating, but if you can't you can't. Make sure the course you are doing is the CELTA or Trinity and not just a TEFL.





> You can do a 4 week intensive or longer extensive course to get a basic qualification. You should do the Cambridge CELTA at a reputable place like International House which will set you back 1, 400 pounds approx. You'll see other cheaper and quicker courses advertised but any "good" academy here will only accept the CELTA from a well known organization, and usually some experience too. The teaching qualification is more important than the speaking Spanish requirement for this type of work, although any Spanish you can learn will certainly help you. You could also do a PGCE to work in a British school/ International school.


There is lots of info on the forum about this if you search Teaching English, TEFL and the like.

As for speaking Spanish, I don't think I ever sent my CV in Spanish to an academy. I have to sometimes now as I'm dealing with companies.

And just my take on using the mother tongue in the classroom...
When I trained it was not the thing at all to use the student's mother tongue. After all there was no guarantee that teachers would know Spanish or French or indeed Swahili, Korean, Turkish or Ukranian. I think there's still little chance that native English teachers are going to be proficient in these and many other languages where they might end up working. The idea of a good TEFL course is give you skills so that you can teach, if necessary, without using the mother tongue.
Also, if you end up teaching in a country where English is the native language you're probably going to end up teaching multilingual groups where the students don't have a common native language, so again, you teach without translating.
However.
I do use Spanish in my classes at times. I don't give instructions or explanations in Spanish as that's not doing them any favours. The quicker they pick up the classroom lingo the better. Usually it's a vocab thing. I'll explain, they'll say "Oh like bla bla bla in Spanish," and I'll say "yes". That kind of thing. I do have one handout that I like to give when studying present perfect as the use is quite different and it's great for pointing out some of those differences (Like _llevo tres años viviendo aquí _versus _I've been living here for 3 years_ for example)
Translation, like all aspects of language learning, is another language skill and it's a very useful one to have at your fingertips.


----------

