Site Search:
 
Get TEFL Certified & Start Your Adventure Today!
Teach English Abroad and Get Paid to see the World!
Job Discussion Forums Forum Index Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Students and Teachers from Around the World!"
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

job market in Western Europe EU countries

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Europe Forum
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
erracht



Joined: 13 Oct 2003
Posts: 22

PostPosted: Mon May 03, 2004 2:14 pm    Post subject: job market in Western Europe EU countries Reply with quote

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?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
grahamb



Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 9:00 am    Post subject: Job market Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 9:42 am    Post subject: Students from Spain and elswhere Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
grahamb



Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945

PostPosted: Tue May 04, 2004 10:59 am    Post subject: Can't speak, won't speak. Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
SueH



Joined: 01 Feb 2003
Posts: 1022
Location: Northern Italy

PostPosted: Thu May 06, 2004 6:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
scot47



Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343

PostPosted: Thu May 06, 2004 8:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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 ?
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
grahamb



Joined: 30 Apr 2003
Posts: 1945

PostPosted: Fri May 07, 2004 9:18 am    Post subject: Unbelievable!!! Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dreaming_saturn



Joined: 25 May 2004
Posts: 37
Location: Netherlands

PostPosted: Wed May 26, 2004 9:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

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.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    Job Discussion Forums Forum Index -> General Europe Forum All times are GMT
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


This page is maintained by the one and only Dave Sperling.
Contact Dave's ESL Cafe
Copyright © 2018 Dave Sperling. All Rights Reserved.

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2002 phpBB Group

Teaching Jobs in China
Teaching Jobs in China