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erracht
Joined: 13 Oct 2003 Posts: 22
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Posted: Mon May 03, 2004 2:14 pm Post subject: job market in Western Europe EU countries |
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I am curious as to what the market is for native English speakers in Western European countries. It's very easy for me to find work in Prague and I was wondering (not because I want to go elsewhere, I just need to know to compare/tell others) if it is true that it's hard to find work in Germany, France or Spain for native English teachers. Do those countries have to give priority to EU citizens and do they have too many locals who can do it to need native speaker employees? |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 9:00 am Post subject: Job market |
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It's easy for native speakers to find work in Spain, as many Spanish English teachers (I'm talking about school teachers) struggle to construct a simple sentence in English. I fear the Filologia Inglesa course is largely responsible.
If you're not a citizen of an EU member state, you'll find it difficult to work legally there. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 9:42 am Post subject: Students from Spain and elswhere |
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The problem with some approaches to teaching "English Philology" is that it leads to graduates who cannot speak or write the language. The traditional way round that was for students or graduates to spend a year in an English-speaking country.
With satellite TV, video and the Internet that is no longer strictly necessary but is still important. People can be exposed to spoken English without actually going to Barnsley or Brixton.
I recollect a few years back while spending a sabbatical at the great seat of learning Wolvetrhampton, how the Spanish exchange students went around in packs, never using English. They would have gained more by staying in Valladolid or wherever and watching TV in English.
Incidentally at the same university in a class on German Literature a student expressed shock and dismay that he was expected to read a book. "The whole book ? In German ?" he asked the lecturer in disbelief.
I suspect that this unhappy sould had not read a "whole book" in any language. |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945
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Posted: Tue May 04, 2004 10:59 am Post subject: Can't speak, won't speak. |
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A Spanish ex-colleague of mine who's studying Filologia inglesa has opted to spend a year in Liverpool with a view to improving her English. I stress "opted": her fellow students seem content to stay at home.
Until the year abroad becomes compulsory, demand for native speakers will remain high. |
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SueH
Joined: 01 Feb 2003 Posts: 1022 Location: Northern Italy
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 6:45 am Post subject: |
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Perhaps summer schools here in the UK have taken over from a full year abroad. Last year I taught at an FE college which was overrun with students from esSpain, to the extent that they tended to swamp the other nationalities.
Many were staying on beyond the summer, but I can only recall one potential language teacher. She did ask the most awkward grammar questions and spoke freely even if her pronunciation did need the practice. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Posts: 15343
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Posted: Thu May 06, 2004 8:18 pm Post subject: |
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Certainly students from Germany and France used to come either as students at universities or as Language Assistants in secondary schools and universities. Because Spanish was not so widely taught as a foreign languiage in the UKofGB&NI, there were not so many chances for them to work in schools.
I am not sure that an intensive month or two in a private language school is as good as spending a year immersed in English.
But those students I saw in Wolverhampgton were wasting their time. Wy come to Britain and then spend all your time talking in Spanish to fellow-countrymen ? |
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grahamb
Joined: 30 Apr 2003 Posts: 1945
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Posted: Fri May 07, 2004 9:18 am Post subject: Unbelievable!!! |
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When I was teaching in Madrid I had a student who spent a year in London to improve her English. It turned out that the people she stayed with there also spoke French, so she spent the year practising French instead. Afterwards she tried to make up for lost time with a couple of weeks' one-to-one classes in Madrid.
It's true what they say, some people have more money than sense. |
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dreaming_saturn
Joined: 25 May 2004 Posts: 37 Location: Netherlands
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Posted: Wed May 26, 2004 9:49 pm Post subject: |
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scot47 : I have seen then all at Uni in Wolverhampton, you're right on the mark
In regards to the post, The Netherlands is difficult but Germany has some great freelance positions if you're qualified - but both countries seem to be in a recession now and teaching jobs are scarce. . France (well, at least Paris) is impossible from my experiences a few years back. |
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