Job Discussion Forums

[marcoelgrande]

Hi everyone,

I'm heading down to South America next year for a TEFL course (and hopefully some subsequent teaching!). One of my motives for travelling is to learn fluent Spanish, though after reading posts here over the past few months I get the impression that ESL teaching doesn't offer THAT much opportunity for doing this (one is there because of their ENGLISH skills after all).

So I've been wondering, would backpacking and interacting with locals this way be better for picking up Spanish? (Of course, I realise the disadvantage is that it pretty much rules out any real chance of earning).

Along the same lines (language learning), has anyone here ever worked short-term in hospitality overseas, in order to further fund their travels? I would have thought that shop assistants and the like would get plenty of opportunity to practice the local language, and am considering looking into this. Good/bad idea?

Opinions?

Any help greatly appreciated,

Marco

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

Honestly, I think your best bet is to teach in South America, and learn it while there, but with an idea of being there for a long time.

that way you earn money, you immerse yourself and get to really know it as opposed to tourist knowledge of itand you gain much better understanding of how the language works by real people.

The only thing is that you could well find yourself a career EFL (not ESL) teacher- and that's only really a thing if you are adverse to that idea.

[william wallace]

Color/colour ...left turn/left turning ...English as a Foreign Language/English as a Second language... or...

You say either and I say either, You say neither and I say neither
Either, either Neither, neither, Let's call the whole thing off.

You like potato and I like potahto, You like tomato and I like tomahto
Potato, potahto, Tomato, tomahto, Let's call the whole thing off.

[naturegirl321]

[william wallace]

I'll take backpacking, fewer scams.

[rusmeister]

[mdk]

Marco, yer in LA. You don't need to go to South America to get practice speaking Spanish.

I am gringo puro, but I learned to speak fluent serviceable Spanish right here in Califa. I am not kidding you. If you want to go see South America, well and good, but you can build up your Spanish very well here in LA. Shucks, if that won't do it for you, then move to Chula Vista and stop talking to english speakers.

[william wallace]

Dave Sperling seems to like ESL,eh ?

[Justin Trullinger]

Some people make a distinction between the various acronyms. (Some don't, but here's the distinction I've heard-if it's useful, great. )

EFL- English as a Foreign Language: Used to refer to teaching English in countries where English is not generally spoken, and is in fact a foreign language. (Such as Ecuador, where I live.)

ESL- English as a Second Language: Used to refer to English language teaching in countries where English is widely spoken. Teaching immigrants in Britain would fit into this category, as, while the immigrants don't speak it, English cannot properly be called "foreign" in a country where it is the most common first language.

ELT- English Language Teaching: Includes both of the above. A more general label for absolutely any circumstances.

ELL- I've only heard this one used to refer to students (English Language Learners) but I suppose it was only a matter of time before it got applied to the subject as well.

Another note; apparently under some circumstances in US public schools, there is a distinction made between EFL and ESL according to where funding for it comes from. This was explained to me (not clearly) by one of our US exchange partners. I don't know much about it, though. Anybody?


Best,
Justin

[MELEE]

I wonder why you think you'll meet the locals backpacking. If you go backpacking in South America you'll likely to meet, Germans, various Scandinavians, Israelies, Brits, other Americans, Australians, etc.
Maybe a couple of young upper middle class Mexicans, Argentinians and Chileans. The hostels, national parks, archealogical sites, etc. where backpackers go will be peopled with, well backpackers. You are likely to meet a lot of interesting people from all over the world. But it's not really a way to "hang with the locals".

If you main motivation is to study Spanish, then do that. Either on a study program in Latin America, or in Los Angeles. You can look into one of the various programs that have you volunteering to get more interaction with locals. There are also some programs that offer internships that either pay you a small stipen to help offset your travel costs, or provide you with room and board.

[shuize]

[william wallace]

Well backpackers may be more financially secure, with fewer illusions of grandeur.

[Sgt Killjoy]

I'm with Melee. As a backpacker, you're gonna be removed from the locals and be considered as a tourist no matter how much of a zen experience you think you are having.

The best way to get an experience living with the locals is to actually live with the locals. One of the great books out, The People's Guide to Mexico, did just that. It was about experiencing Mexico, not from a backpacker persepctive but from long term stays in different places. Living on a local budget, living like a local as much as possible.

[marcoelgrande]

Thanks heaps for the responses (and pop-culture reference!),

That's a very valid point re the small number of Spanish-speaking backpackers in a Spanish-speaking country. I suppose I was thinking that EFL/ESL... teaching would mean spending a lot of time (especially nights) preparing lesson plans, material etc...time which as a backpacker I could spend out meeting locals. I write this simply because while I'm sure it becomes easier over time, lesson preparation would take me a fair amount of effort (at least to the point feeling confident walking into the classroom).

As for staying here in LA and learning locally, I agree that that would almost undoubtedly work. However, I'd miss out on the whole self-sufficient travel/finding myself experience!

Which makes me wonder, is _ _ _ teaching just a means to an end (travel) for most people here on the forums? Do any of you put them both on equal footing, or even have teaching as their main priority? I apologize for my suprise if that is the case, I'd just always assumed that for most people teaching was a means of extending travel.

Marco

[denise]