English-teacher as a non-native ?

[jingjoh]

There are stacks of non native speaking teachers around, a close friend of ours is French, been teaching for a few years, he teaches alongside Philippinos, Aussies, brits, a swede, a german.

In fact I went for an interview with a quite well known Chinese Thai school with half a dozen branches. The head of the English department was German and his letter to me inviting me to the school was so poorly written I thought it had been written by a Thai!

Needless to say I did not accept the job, best thing I could have done LOL.

[jingjoh]

"For what it's worth, I have found the Dutch to speak the best English of all non native English speakers"

From the Dutch people I have known I would have to agree with Sticky, but generally in Bangkok, the Philippinos are better qualified than most of the Native speakers! they almost all have real teaching degrees from back home and these degrees are usually in English.

Its funny how colour and race screw up the Thais, one woman I know has 2 degrees and a masters, speaks reads and writes 3 languages fluently, yet is paid less than some bozo with no qualifications because he is white and she is not.

[Guest]

thanks all for the feedback. This is very helpfull for me, because now I know that it's possible for me to teach in bangkok. But, first I have to have a nice nest of eggs...otherwise the risks are too high in my opinion.

mischa.

[Long Gun]

quote:

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Originally posted by mischa28:

thanks all for the feedback. This is very helpfull for me, because now I know that it's possible for me to teach in bangkok

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I posted a lengthy response to this but have no idea where it went! Anybody seen it? Anyway, what I suggested doesn't seem to have been mentioned elsewhere so, have you considered the possibility of teaching Dutch? Most of the major international schools here offer the International Baccalaureate Diploma program to senior students (Years 12/13; Grades 11/12). As part of this, in an effort to produce bilingual/multilingual students, all candidates must study English and another language, commonly their native tongue. Depending on the level they study at the emphasis may be on literature rather than purely language. Some schools will bend over backwards to accommodate the needs of their students (typically, of around 50 different nationalities) by offering maybe 20 language options within the program, hiring teachers for individual students if necessary. I know one school which is currently looking for a Swedish and a Danish teacher, and certainly last year one student was taking Dutch. Obviously, this would be only part-time, maybe just a few hours, but might be a nice supplementary income for someone teaching English in the afternoon/evening.

As far as your other qualifications are concerned, international schools offering a British curriculum will frequently offer courses in Business Studies and/or Economics at IGCSE (exams at 16) and Business Management and/or Economics at IB Diploma level. The biggest of these in Thailand would be Bangkok Patana which has a thriving and successful department. Unlike many, they don't tend to use recruitment fairs but recruit directly through ads in the Times Educational Supplement, usually in early Jan for an August/September start. The TES is available on the web. Patana's website is at http://www.patana.ac.th - worth a look! Advantages of working somewhere like that? Good salary - way above Thai Unis and double or treble that of an EFL teacher, plus free housing, good medical cover, great holidays (paid), flights, bonuses, small classes, well-motivated students and in Patana's case, a superb working environment. Nice work if you can get it!

Maybe a combination of Business, Economics and Dutch might be a winner! If not, you might want to consider Jakarta or elsewhere in Indonesia.

LG

[Guest]

Hello Long Gun, thanks a lot for your information. I really appreciate it. I never thought about the possibility to teach dutch, although I think openings will be rare.

By the way do you know what kind of level of english is required for a non-native teacher ?

I am planning to get the qualification from the Cambridge university: Cambridge Certificate of Proficiency in English. Are you familiar with this certificate ? and if so, do you think this level will be sufficient. They told me that this certificate is proof of language competence near that of an educated native speaker of english. But I am not sure.

thanks in advance,

mischa

[Long Gun]

quote:

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Originally posted by mischa28:

Hello Long Gun, thanks a lot for your information. I really appreciate it. I never thought about the possibility to teach dutch, although I think openings will be rare.

By the way do you know what kind of level of english is required for a non-native teacher ?

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Hey Mischa

Where I work they even give jobs to Americans and Aussies! And Scots!! I really don't know anything about the Cambridge certification but I'm sure someone here will. I suppose it might help you get to the interview stage (unsurprisingly there are a LOT of applications for these jobs) and after that it's down to you convincing them of your ability in the interview.

You should also bear in mind that a large proportion of the students will be speaking English as their 2nd language anyway, so you can get away with a lot.

LG

[Guest]

I don't what the fuzz about native english teachers is. I have translated many letters to bargirls from their ex-bangkok based english teacher boyfriends, some of them came close to what i would call illiterate.

[lembeh]

quote:

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Originally posted by mischa28:

But, first I have to have a nice nest of eggs...

mischa.

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HI Micha..good luck, but I would avoid idioms if I were you. They are damn easy to screw up (like you did I am afraid...)...its "nest egg" (i.e. money tucked away to fall back on..).

-j-