Anyone can be taught to do anything but they can#t be taught how to do it well. There are those that transmit everything they have been taught, without fault who are perfectly acceptable teachers. Then there are those that have a gift and can enthrall people in whatever they are trying to pass on, I am sure we have all come across the exceptional teacher that has really opened our eyes to something, that have just explained it so well, we know anything is possible.
Certainly we're speaking English.
Anyone who believes that they can provide a professional service teaching English, just because they are English nationals is an amateur.
Are they capable of demonstrating the subtlety of English tenses when they probably haven't had a lesson in English grammar since 1975 - the year when "Creative writing" became more important than tense structure and spelling in English schools.
Sorry are we speaking English here??
Unfortunately the 'amateurs' bring a lot of criticism to us professionals.
I disagree with you Catharine - the techniques of classroom management and phrasing questions can be taught and should be learnt for anyone who hopes to "teach".
I qualified as a teacher in the UK in 1973, rose through the ranks for 20 years taking professional training courses every year and left the country as Deputy Head of a Large Comprehensive school. I was one of the first people to pass the CELTA course when it was new and discovered that TEFL is a lot different from mainstream teaching in the UK
If someone hopes to do the odd bit of soutien scolaire then they need to know how to organise a syllabus that progresses from stage to stage so that the student learns step by step.
The real problem with French English language text books is that they do not follow a logical sequence, they are badly organised (they assume knowledge of tenses that the pupils have not encountered) and even the CDs that go with many of them are ill thought out and not user friendly - I know - I have had to use many.
@Mike Staubes:-
Notice my comment about "faute de frappe" - we can all do those.
I was tempted to make a more pertinent remark, but .... ça ne vaut pas la peine.
Can you, perhaps, explain why "A high man" and "A tall mountain" are wrong?
Or maybe you could give me examples of the differences between
"I have worked here for 20 years" and
"I have been working here for 20 years" and
"I worked here for 20 years"
@ Teena
You can be taught the techniques of classroom management - where to place yourself, how to move around the room, how to formulate questions, how to prepare a course, how to progress a course, how to test, orally, or how to write an exam paper.
Even how to clean a blackboard/whiteboard.
Those are skills that are essential in a classroom.
Unfortunately the 'amateurs' bring a lot of criticism to us professionals.
Hmm. Interesting discussion.
Personally, I don't think you can be taught to teach. Yes, the theory and practical experience helps but it is often a case of either being able to transmit knowledge. Or not. And this goes for everything - not just languages!
I have to agree with you Peter. I trained at Saint Giles College in London and the observing teachers and feedback was invaluable. Even on the course, learning your grammar is only half of it, the other half is learning how to communicate and assess what each student needs.
I had a woman come to my class who was doing the on-line course and she needed to complete a certain amount of hours observation of a teacher and a class. I said that she could stay as long as she joined in and taught at least one part of the lesson every session. She replaced me when I moved from Monaco to the Herault.
Learning how to teach and teaching people to learn is ABSOLUTELY necessary.
To the original poster:-
"and more impotently",
I hope this is a 'faute de frappe'
If not I can agree with you that you are obviously not an English teacher.
A TEFL certificate has limited value - especially if it is an on-line cert, then it has zero value, but costs you a lot of money.
You really, really need to have a 100 hr course over 4 weeks with observed teaching time. This MIGHT give you the possibility to work in a Centre de Formation.
Teaching as a vacataire (supply teacher in schools) is possible as long as you register with the Rectorat (Regional Education Authorities) and they accept the translations of your Degree synopsis. Then you can do is register as a 'vacataire' = supply teaching.
Teachers who qualified in the UK do NOT have the same status as qualified teachers in France - to be a qualified teacher in France you have to pass the CAPES (pronounced CAP-ESS) and many French people fail this competitive exam each year even after taking 1 year preparation courses after their Degree courses. France does not accept English teachers' qualifications.
If you are doing soutien scolaire, it's probably better to help the kids with homework and forget about teaching them English - in school it's all about keeping up their "moyen" - so do what their teachers tell the kids to do.
The French system still has "Dictée" teacher reads a passage and the kids write - every mistake is minus 1 mark and it soon gets down to zero from 20.
If you're teaching 'Business English' you need to find out what the trainees need - what are their objectives - what they need to do.
Just because you are English doesn't mean that you can teach English.
When was the last grammar lesson that YOU had? Do you know why we say "A tall man" and "A high mountain" ?
Do you know why we don't say "A high man".
Can you explain the difference between the present perfect tense and the past simple tense?
How can you show the difference between "I drive" and "I am driving" Are you able to explain that "I am driving every day" cannot ever be correct?
Sorry, but I'm a qualified teacher, with 20 years experience in the UK and CELTA qualified with20 years experience in TEFL. I don't have a lot of patience for those who think they are experts as English teachers just because they are English. I also don't have a lot of respect for Primary school teachers who have been forced to provide an 'apprentisage en anglais' and still try to insist that they are the fount of all knowledge.
Hi Emily
Lots of good responses, but a couple of ideas that might help.
First be very clear with the parents from the word go - on what it is they are looking for - and decide if you are able to supply. I am very laid back and very clear with my parents that I have no intention of following a rigid structured approach - or at least not in primary. In college they need you to adapt to what they're doing in school so that they can make progress and build up their confidence. At primary level we do lots of art activities and I also have a website with songs and activities (and stories which I use less). My kids love it and use it often at home themselves during the week and of course the parents are impressed too. My main motivation for this was that there should be reinforcement during the week. Most of it is very light and just play. There's a lot of information on the site, but it's easy to find a few favourites and forget about the rest. (www.lartdelanglais.co.uk).
If you want help with structuring, buy the Chouette (Hatier) entrainement books - they are less than €5 and very good.
Best
Ann
You took the words right out of my mouth. I see it all the time with my step-kids, two of whom are learning English through repitition and nothing is 'applied'. I now help them with their homework but also do exercises where we can apply whatever they have just learnt.
Indeed my partner says that this rigid approach applies to all subjects in French schools
It's a shame and is the main reason I turn down the dozens of people who knock on my door asking if I can do courses - I'm sticking to translation/interpreting only!
Hello Emily, hello everyone,
I’m Nadege and I’m French. I have of course experienced the French educational system and learnt English the conventional way. No need to say that it didn’t do much good and that I was fortunate enough that my parents sent me to England when I was 18 which is where I started finding an interest in speaking English.
I now organise, with Anthony (who is English) stays with British families for French people who wish to improve their command of the English language. We have registered 450 British hosts to date including many teachers of English who have often written that they were amazed at the poor level of English of students who had learnt it for 8 years at school !!! This of course wasn’t a surprised to me !
Yes French parents tend to find it strange when teachers work outside of the expected school norms and are probably waiting for « proof» of the work done because that’s what they have unfortunately been used to.
For that reason, the teachers who are working with us ask their guests to write a little diary (in English) in which they explain what they’ve done during the day.
This being said, please don’t ever change your creative approach which is of course more beneficial.
As a British person, you have your personnal British way of teaching, which is obviously not the same as the French’s and which should be considered as a big Plus by the French parents.
If you wish to discuss thjs further, please do not hesitate getting in touch.
Good luck,
Nadege
PS : I was writing this comment when strangely enough I received the message below from a French lady :-) "Je vous remercie de m'avoir transmis notre confirmation de séjour. Je ne manquerai pas de vous donner de nos nouvelles à notre retour mais je suis d'ores et déjà très contente de cette formule d'apprentissage qui me permettra non seulement de partager une aventure humaine avec mon fils et en plus d'améliorer notre anglais de façon ludique"
Hi, I have my tesol qualification, which I got in France in order to be able to teach. I have found that when parents are paying for their college-level kids to have lessons, they are just interested in their kid getting better marks at school. At school of course they don;t don conversation, reading interesting materials etc, they do grammar! My adult students have sometimes not spoken english at all, even if they got great marks at school - ie great grammar but have zero ability to speak. They all know their conjugations though! At school they seem to still be teaching english exactly as they did 20 and 30 years ago!!
I have therefore concentrated on working with adults myself - as generally they DO want to speak and once they have got over not being constantly corrected and I tell them that they can speak perfectly good english without worrying about "will" their confidence grows and they start to benefit from a more modern and fun approach.
I have also found that there is a reluctance to pay adequately! There are french uni students here offering lessons for €7 per hour! I can't afford to work for that when I consider travel time and preparation so I find it quite hard to benefit from private work. Getting a contract from a college or uni is better as you have more control over methods and material etc.
This is just my experience though...and I agree with everything Elaine says too.
been replacing the english teacher in a school in Panama for 30 hours a week , over there kids are different --they really suck it in ..using each word they are thaught as a treasure ... over here in France I sometimes help with their homework , all they want is getting rid of it as quick as they can with as less work possible
Hi Emily et al ( The last 2 words in Latin not French :-)) - sorry I can not help with the initial question but would like to piggyback on the subject if nobody minds.
I would like to start giving English lessons and prepared by doing the equvialent of a CELTA course. I also gave lessons to a group of mothers at a primary school in England whose children attended the school eg Mums from Pakistan, Somalia, Portugal etc. I was employed by an agency and the class size was approx 12.
I suppose my question is if I can not get a position in a school or college, what price should one charge for lessons to students. Bearing in mind I am hoping to teach adults and children in groups and 1-2-1.
A wide question I realise but I would be grateful for any help.
Many thanks
Dave
I have taught English in France, business to some managers and also private to kids. I found that parents really wanted me to do immersion, that is to have the kids for a day or at least a few hours. It is hard then to gauge the value of what you do with them I found. I have not done homework with any kids, but I tried to teach through different means, sometimes a set lesson with exercises, sometimes internet interactive exercises, sometimes making things and learning that vocab, so making cards, even some soldering projects, walks outside and so on. However they were short injections, small inputs to boost their confidence. I think maybe with continuous teaching you can check how much the kids are retaining revisiting material later on, then you can always return to the parents and show them how you can measure their 'progress' whether it is confidence, pronunciation, grammar, vocab or just motivation I guess?
Hi
Lots of sensible advice given already so I won't repeat. The main thing in my opinion is to communicate. Communicate your approach (after you've listened to the needs) and jointly agree what the goal is (just to be better at English is not enough - it needs to be concrete, based on their own individual circumstances). Communicate regularly their progress and SHOW them where they have progressed (recognition of achievement helps motivation). Motivate, enthuse and praise (both student and parents) - learning any second language is hard and french schools tend to be a little short on communicating any praise (in general).
Of course it helps to be a confident French speaker to do all of the above with parents & student. If a teacher is not SEEN to be progressing in French themselves, it's hard for the parents to be confident in them teaching their children a second language.
Hope it works out
Chris
I think the problem is English is taught in schools very poorly here, just like French is taught badly at home. People are actually learning mistakes, and odd accfents from their teachers ( French people can tell me apart from people from the UK, because I didn't "have the accent", and they can often tell that I learned here, and not in school)
This is also the reason French people do the "ze" for the "the"... they're TAUGHT to.
If you try to get the kids to pronounce words right, the parents will of course think "n'importe qoui', because the kids are learning it differently in school.
Hope I've not repeated anyone, I didn't get time to read through the comments yet..
Hi Emily,
I have had the same problem a few times. Stop blaming yourself. I use the method you do. But now they are giving free English lessons in schools. So ther you have it.
Chant