english teaching in Institutes?

[irishvan]

I am extremely grateful for all the comments. I have found daves esl cafe to be a total loss when it comes to Argentina, and I am not aware of any other sites.
I have applied for the job but am not hopeful as Im not american, but I dont know if that is particularly relevant.

Please everybody check my new post!

 

[mendozanow]

I am extremely grateful for all the comments. I have found daves esl cafe to be a total loss when it comes to Argentina, and I am not aware of any other sites.
I have applied for the job but am not hopeful as Im not american, but I dont know if that is particularly relevant.

Please everybody check my new post!

Good luck. Suerte, amigo/amiga.

Haha, yank envy, eh? It depends on the prejudice of the school in terms of your native country or where you were trained. Try this trick: an Irish lass tried here to get a course ahead of me: "Well,you know that we Dubliners have the clearest and most neutral English accent of all, to be sure, to be sure". What crap (we all have accents, except I always stress that Canadians sound more American than Americans when I apply to an "American English " institute! And, that we have a more neutral mid-Atlantic accent when I apply elsewhere!)!

I know why you still want to work for an institute. For us English teachers , performing before a full proper class is often better than sex and the afterglow lasts longer. After all, everybody is a frustrated something, and most teachers are frustrated actors. As well, there is the collegiality and (in Argentina sometimes) some helpful material and resources. In addition, for future job search it looks better to have a reference from an actual school rather than Joe Blow.

 

[CA2BA]

Thanks for this thread. I want to teach english here as well. I am worried though about not making enough money. I can use my savings but I reallly do not want to use it if possible.

 

[Melilelen]

With all due respect to everybody out there who is trying to secure jobs as english teachers. I am currently taking the English Training Course which is damn difficult (7 subjects every 4 months). And I see a great difference between somebody who trained to be a teacher than somebody who teaches english because they are native speakers. Grammar and phonology are very difficult and are very necessary to teach. The course takes 4 years to finish if you take 7 subjects at a time, most people make it in 6 years. Do you think there is a difference between somebody that studied 6 years to teach than somebody who teaches who has not learned how to teach?
having a good pronounciation must be 20 % important, you learn the language by studying a lot of grammar. We had an american gal come to our class and she couldn´t explain any of the questions we asked regarding use of english.
good luck to everyone!

 

[mendozanow]

Melilelen makes some good points, which I recognize as a trained English teacher now working in Argentina alongside both Argentinean and foreign English instructors of varying ability. Most foreign native teachers of English are very weak on Grammar because we are not taught Grammar, for the most part, in elementary or secondary school.

Often the best solution is to have classes jointly taught by native and Argentinean teachers, as having a native speaker teach even beginner classes is a good way to stop bad practices which Latinos (and I include English teachers) later have trouble correcting. This is Argentina, however, and logic and good sense usually have little to do with how things are done.

However, no matter how highly trained the Argentinean English teachers are (and the training here is not of very high a standard, which most teachers and students here honestly admit), there are some areas where a native English teacher are usually superior, such as: teaching writing (Argentineans cannot write properly in their own language for the most part, and have a great deal of difficulty with basic sentence structure, as Melilelen`s post itself shows), natural English or pronunciation, and natural expression. It is but a small example, but, as I have said before, over 95% of experienced and trained Argentinean English teachers cannot even pronounce the basic word "would" (usually pronounced as "good") or the expression "Thank God." (usually said "Thanks God.").

I agree, however, that it is a bit presumptious for foreigners to come here without training expecting to teach English (other than engaging in basic conversation sessions). However, there are opportunities, especially for the young and good-looking foreigner in situations where style is more important than substance.

I should also add that I am a great admirer of Argentinean English teachers, who have learned both the language and teaching in incredibly difficult circumstances, and are poorly paid and poorly respected by many of their countrymen.

 

[Liam3494]

OK - Silly question to Mendozanow - How do you pronounce "Would" properly?

 

[mendozanow]

OK - Silly question to Mendozanow - How do you pronounce "Would" properly?

Haha. There is no such thing as a silly question, except for the silly question that isn`t asked (now I am sounding like my Grade One teacher, God bless her old soul).

Basically, "would" is pronounced the same as "wood" (the material from a tree). Of course, how THAT is pronounced depends on which dialect or subdialect of English you speak, as English pronunciation is not only illogical, it is variable (ESPECIALLY the vowels). There is no standard international pronunciation of the vowels (although there is an accepted version of General American Dialect from North America, or Received Pronunciation from the UK, or the BBC accepted Edinburgh dialect as a snobby alternative to the snobby RP), but the "w" should never be pronounced as a hard "g", as it often is here.

Pronunciation:
\wəd, əd, d, ˈwu̇d\ Etymology: Middle English wolde, from Old English; akin to Old High German wolta wished, desired see and hear: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/would for the General American Dialect version



Even if you did not intend too, Liam3494, you have made a good point. English does not have to be pronounced in an exact standard way. However, what is important is to know how not to say it , and to ensure that your students say it in a correct basic way. Language is all about communication, and the niceties involved in the instruction are not as important as the ability to teach people to have the ability to make people understand you. The training of teachers and their different abilities are just tools towards this end.

Oh, and Liam, sorry about the crack in my March post about the Dubliner. I could have just as easily used a fellow Canadian as an example. I LOVE the Dublin accent (but not as much as the Cork accent).

 

[tinto]

Lots of good points made in this thread. I would only add that for private students, a decent teacher with experience should be able to charge between 30 and 40 pesos per hour (which is not that much if you are trying to live on your earnings). The problem is that a lot of Argentines are tightening their belts because of the economic crisis, leaving few opportunities right now.

I've been teaching private English classes here for three years (part-time) and will be moving back to the U.S. at the end of July. I have some materials that I would like to sell if anyone is interested. Please PM me for more information.