All Kinds of Education

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English Teachers and students,  follow my blog

Hello fellow English teachers and students of all descriptions,

Please follow my Tumblr blog as I explore language learning products, chat about issues facing schools today, and talk about life as a teacher in general. I’m planning to update this blog once a week or more frequently, but right now I have no subscribers, so there’s really no reason to...

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Myths About ESL Teaching:

 You have to be multilingual to teach ESL

While knowing a foreign language helps tremendously, it is not a requirement. Believe it or not, communication is possible between speakers of other languages even if those people don’t speak the same language. How is this possible? Most communication is nonverbal; this is true the world over.  How do you think the first settlers communicated with the Native Americans? They didn’t have some kind of superhuman language learning prowess, but they had the same tools everyone else has; they could read body language and translate that body language into simple words. Ironically, most “modern and intuitive” language learning software seems to follow the same general principal that was used to learn and translate languages before we had access to language learning textbooks! I’m not saying the software is a bad thing, but it should at least provide evidence that such software is unnecessary.  You don’t have to know the language to teach ESL; in theory, you don’t even need a textbook to teach ESL, although I will admit that the textbook helps you organize your ideas and provides a good general reference point for your learners.

 Only English teachers can become ESL teachers

No, only native English SPEAKERS can become ESL teachers in most cases, but having an English degree is not necessary. Most of the organizations looking for ESL teachers want native speakers with which to practice conversation, master accents, and learn about culture and customs. They aren’t looking for master translators, tutors, or even grammar experts! Sure, it helps if you have those credentials, but an English degree is not required by many schools around the world.  

What they do require is an open mind and a few weeks of ELT certification training. In fact, the ESL certificate is usually one of the first things schools and recruiters ask for.  You can probably find ESL certificate training where you live; there’s no reason to go overseas and waste your money on paid training programs. Do a Google search and check out what the community has to offer first. Local churches and community centers sometimes offer training to volunteers who want to work with international refugees. Ask around; you might be surprised what you find for free.  

If you do want to go the school route, though, consider partnering up with a teach abroad program. These programs are no more expensive than a semester’s worth of college tuition, and they teach you a lot more. In most cases, you are on location in a foreign country, learning about culture and communication from the natives. It’s well worth the investment, in my opinion. Most programs also provide you with ESL certificate training if you don’t already have it. It’s certainly something to consider if you are still in college and are thinking about teaching as a profession. Plus, having teaching experience in a foreign country makes you marketable for sure!

 There is no market for ESL teachers where I live

Are you sure? Refugee programs exist all around the United States, and most colleges recruit foreign students. If your college or community has an ESL program, they probably need ESL teachers and tutors. Now, they may not hire you as an ESL teacher. It’s easier to find a position as a volunteer in most cases. Start as a part-time volunteer and work your way up from there. Eventually, you may find a niche as a tutor after you’ve worked with the available populations and have a better idea of your strengths. Tutoring groups is a great place to start! After you’ve developed more confidence, you can start charging for your services.

 Recruiters are scam artists

There are reputable companies that recruit students interested in becoming ESL teachers. Start with a Google search and thoroughly check out the company’s background. Look for reviews online and ask around. Ask the recruiter to put you in touch with people currently working in the field, and ask them about the salary and working conditions at the schools where they are placed. Keep looking around until you are satisfied. Look into becoming a teacher for American owned or European-based language schools.

 Most people already speak English

Do they speak it well, though? While it is true that some countries teach their citizens English, ESL teachers are still in high demand. Think about when you took a foreign language in school. Did you automatically reach proficiency in that language just from studying the textbook and chatting with your classmates and teacher? If the answer’s, “no,” then why do you think it’s any different for English learners?

The real difference is that English is the international language of business and trade and proficiency in the language is, therefore, a highly sought after and valuable job skill

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Weird

Sorry, I’m new to using Tumblr and thought I would just post again to see if anyone clicks on it. I’m an ESL teacher and aspiring writer. I’m planning to update my blog weekly, but that won’t make sense if I have no subscribers. 

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Are you considering Rosetta Stone? There ARE more affordable options out there.

I tried Rosetta Stone a few months ago, and this is my blog entry reviewing the product. As a language teacher, I think it is important to keep prospective language learners informed. Below is my unabashed opinion.

Rosetta Stone software is touted as one of the fastest and easiest ways to learn a language, but, although they do a pretty decent job, they charge a pretty penny. There’s no reason, though, for people to have to pay for foreign language knowledge when there are hosts of websites that offer similar services for free.

Also,

 I have a few issues with Rosetta Stone, like:

They charge for what should be a free service.

I teach English as a Second Language, so I know for a fact that knowing and speaking English fluently is a valuable skill. That means there are people learning English who want to get in touch with people who speak it. All of these people are native speakers of valuable foreign languages. You don’t want or need to pay to connect with each other when you have similar goals and there are free platforms.

It’s great that Rosetta Stone gives its clients a chance to connect with native speakers and test their pronunciation against a pretty accurate pronunciation meter, but a similar service can be found on free sites like Duo Lingo and Conversation Exchange.

The “see it say it” model is ineffective for some languages. While Rosetta Stone software is great for teaching pronunciation (which, I’ve already pointed out is a service that can be accessed for free), it is actually pretty bad at teaching grammar, sentence structure, word meaning, and pretty much the whole language outside of the basics. It never progresses past the “see it say it” model and expects you to be able to guess other aspects of the language intuitively. This approach may work for simple, albeit not the most effectively, for Latin-based languages like French, Spanish, and Italian, but it is ineffective for lesser-taught languages like Arabic, Chinese, and Japanese.Most English speakers aren’t going to pick up the alphabet and grammar of these languages intuitively; Rosetta Stone appears to fail to take this into account.

It is SUPER SLOW! Rosetta Stone’s main strategy for reinforcing learning is repetition, repetition, repetition.  It never branches out and tries anything more fluid with the learner. There are no reading and translation or story activities, no interesting facts about the language, no complex reading and translation activities (which a learner should be able to do after a certain number of lessons). Nope, the whole program from level one to three treats the learner like it’s his or her first encounter with the language. The most we get to enjoy are small sentences reinforced with pictures and repeated ad nauseum. Language reinforces itself. If this software really taught people like they learned their first language, it would give them context to build off of, but, sadly, it doesn’t. 

The whole “children can learn languages faster than adults” is a myth anyway.

Past a certain point where they are just learning their first languages, children are no better at language learning than adults. Actually they’re probably worse. We adults understand complex grammar rules (which, by the way, are intuitive, not complicated like the language learning “experts” who sell the software would have you believe) and are therefore better able to learn and master sentence structure, reading and decoding, and other complex aspects of a language as easily as listening and speaking.

If you are considering downloading Rosetta Stone, try this first. It’s not that “see it say it” programs don’t have their place in language learning, but Rosetta Stone promises a lot but delivers very little. Instead of forking over $300 for three or four levels of downloadable software (which may also make your computer run super slow), invest in a high school language textbook, practice on Duo Lingo and similar sites for free, and search the various, also free, language exchange sites around the web for a face-to-face conversation partner. Believe it or not, many people want to learn English as badly as you want to learn the language you want to learn. A native speaker can break down his or her language better than a piece of software. Taking the time to do a language exchange is about like having your own private tutor, and it is an hour or two a week well spent. If you don’t feel confident enough to participate in a language exchange, work your way up by completing the exercises in the textbook, practicing on free “see it-say it” programs, corresponding with an online foreign language pen pal, and watching foreign language television with the foreign language captions on. Download the transcripts, if they are available, and translate sentence by sentence. At first, this process is a bit slow, but your brain will start to automatically recognize words and phrases after a while. You can also use foreign language audio books. It is strongly recommended that you start practicing with a conversation partner as soon as possible, however. Speaking and being spoken to in the language you are trying to learn is the most effective way and fastest way to learn it.

What are you waiting for?

The plan I’ve outlined is not difficult, although it does take some dedication. It is not at all true that you need a tutor who is fluent in your language and theirs to benefit from a language exchange. I don’t know who made that up, and you shouldn’t be afraid of connecting with foreigners via Skype, Google, or any of the other video calling sites. For that matter, you shouldn’t be afraid to connect with English learners in your own community!