Teacher Discussion Forums

[mynameismartin]

I have been hired by a recruiter to teach English to kindergarten kids in Korea. Since I am here I have been surfing on the Net, and all the jobs offers specify that you MUST BE A NATIVE SPEAKER.

When I discovered that, I started to ask myself many questions. First, that the recruiter had probably told my employer that I was a NATIVE SPEAKER...(They will never know...I have a Canadian passeport, I have a "white face"...) But the fact is that I am a French Canadian and speak English as a "second language". I have a high level of fluency in English, I understand when I watch the news on TV, when I watch a moovie...I read books in English, I read the newspaper in English, I've been working in an English environment for many months, etc...but I still have a "French accent" when I speak it...

Can my "accent", that I minimize as much as I can when I teach, cause damage to my students??? ...I don't think so, because I also use audiotapes and children seem to understand the tapes (in "american standard English") as well as they understand when I speak to them...I think it takes a high level in a language to be able to recognize differents accents...I have a korean friend who teaches English as a higher level (elementary school) with a good level in English, and she's not able to perceive my accent...But I still sometimes feel as an "impostor"....???

What about the korean teacher who is in the class with me who says "led" to children, when I say "red", who says "lice" when I say "rice"?Should I tell her not to speak? She is also an English teacher...

Is it a misconception to hire only NATIVE SPEAKERS..? What is the reason? Why don't they ask potential teachers to pass a proficiency test instead? I think the importance is to be understood when you speak than trying to copy am hypothetical "american English standard"...

Do we live in a society where THE WAY we say things is more important than WHAT we have to say? Do we want a planet where everybody is "white" and speak an "American English"???

When I've asked people WHY it is so important to learn English, I have been told that is it to prepare for the "University exam" or the "job exam"...Why do people have to pass a proficiency test in English to get a job where they will never have to speak the language?...I'm sorry, I really don't understand...Does speaking English make a person more intelligent?????? All those exams are writing exams...Why the so-called "Native English" is so important in the children's education?

Any honest NATIVE and NON NATIVE teachers who have experiences to share

Thank you,

A Citizen of the world who tries to understand the world he's living in...and who doesn't want to "cause damage" to his students that he loves so much...

[dduck]

Martin, would you please not crosspost your messages. This is the third time I've read this one. It was interesting the first time.

Iain

[mynameismartin]

Ian,

I'm trying to delete it now, but I can't....

[Lorikeet]

It appears that you can delete posts that have no follow up by clicking the X in the right-hand corner. It shows next to the "edit" button when it's your own post. However, if someone has answered you, it seems that you can no longer delete a post. Anyone have any other information about it? I was able to delete a double post I made in the same thread that way.

[dduck]

Thanks Lorikeet, for the info. I didn't know it was possible to delete messages. Good to know

Iain