Teacher Discussion Forums

[ssean]

I've recently completed a masters in language teaching and looking around it seems pretty obvious that if I want to make enough money to get some savings together, business english is the way to go. although i've been teaching 6 years, i'm currently thinking i will have to do a postgrad in business studies- international business looks interesting - to get my foot in the door. any comments (but not on punctuation please).

[emile]

There'll come a time when you want to move from ESL on to other things, and when that happens you'll see the value of your International Business course.




my site: www.roadtogrammar.com

[ssean]

yeah, that's where i am at the moment, i enjoy teaching academic english, and nursing english, whereas general english i find kind of pointless. with business english, however, are the jobs still in private schools or with the corporations themselves?

[sbourque]

First of all: if you get a graduate degree in business (I'm assuming you mean an M.B.A.) you will find that there are a lot of jobs that pay much more than teaching ESL or business English. Here in the USA, however, those jobs require you to work 50 weeks a year, and usually more than 40 hours a week.

Next: You don't need another degree to teach business English, although I should say that International House's Teaching English for Business course was extremely useful to me, and I have an M.B.A. and had been teaching business subjects for a number of years. What you need is a familiarity with business terminology and concepts. You can get that from a basic business textbook, "The Portable MBA", or other books of that type. Start reading The Economist and The Wall Street Journal on a regular basis, and you will find that helpful as well.

Finally: Once you get familiar with the terminology, you will discover that business English is simply ESL with a business focus. Thus, the need to know the terminology and concepts.

It's up to you. I got my MBA specifically to get a higher-paying job. I worked in business for a few years, and when my nest egg had gotten to a decent size, I went back to teaching.

[ssean]

thanks for the reply, and i was very interested in what you have to say. my post graduate would be a post graduate diploma in international business studies not an MBA and once that is completed i'm thinking of either the far east or the middle east. financially and time wise this would be a big decision for me. i have 3 years experience in management in language schools and am just being a bit cautious before i commit myself to another round of academic study.
i am currently reading business section of the papers, which previously was the first thing that got thrown away, and reading the economist sounds like a good tip.

[tigertiger]

You don't need business qualifications.

Some corporate background goes a long way, in fact much further than an MA linguistics.

If you are in Asia, suggest you try being creative with your CV, turn up in a suit and you will get the post.

[famousone]

Hi all.I am a new member here.My name is Fateh.I am a teacher of English from Algeria.I teach EFSP that includes human resources management, accountancy, marketing,computer science, software maintenance, hardware maintenance,insurance,management, archiving, secretary works....Earlier I used to teach General English.I also taught at the university in the fields of political science,sociology, commerce...I found it boring to teach general English whereas it is so interesting to teach business English and EFSP.Teaching ESFP makes one work harder and like a software programme i.e one should update his or her knowledge.Let us share methods of teaching and everything related to teaching ESFP.Wish I could receive your replies and emails soon insha Allah.

[tigertiger]