Job Discussion Forums

life_is_adventure · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Calgary, Alberta

My mother language is Polish. I have been living in Canada for 20 years, but I still have a noticable european accent. I am thinking of taking a TEFL course and teach ESL abroad. What are my chances of landing a teaching job? All job posts I've looked at require a native english teacher.

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

I assume you carry a Canadian passport?

You'll probably be fine for jobs in many places as long as you know what you're doing. You can probably even teach in the EU if you have links to Poland still.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

If you have a Canadian passport some schools will not even notice that you were born in Poland. Not to mention that a Polish born Canadian probably has a better chance in Korea than a Korean-American or Korean-Canadian.

In Taiwan, even true Polish girls who have student visas can find part-time English teaching jobs. Of course you cannot get a working permit as an English teacher with a Polish passport.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Fri Nov 21, 2008 12:58 am Post subject:

If you're Canadian, you're Canadian. And if your passport says Canadian, you are Canadian. End of story.

If your passport says Polish, there are still plenty of places, but some, like Korea, are pretty much closed to you. (Though if you're a graduate of a Canadian university, this will help some places. Not Korea, I don't think.)

But if you've got a Polish passport, or even better, dual nationality and two passports, then Europe is a great option!

Best,
Justin

PS- Be open about having another language. But your accent, after 20 years, is probably not something most non-natives will even notice.

life_is_adventure · Joined: 19 Nov 2008 Posts: 2 Location: Calgary, Alberta

Thanks a lot. I do have a Canadian passport so I guess my chances are good??!!

naturegirl321 · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 9041 Location: home sweet home

Yep, start applying.

Sleepwalker · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 454 Location: Reading the screen

Don't worry about your accent - we all have one.

I would say that most non-native speakers find any accent difficult. They tend to be used to American accents because of the movies.

Go for it and apply for jobs.

kingkristopher · Joined: 11 Feb 2006 Posts: 62

I agree with the other posters, a Canadian passport and 20 years in Canada is just as good. Everyone has an accent, that's not the biggest part of being a native speaker. The big draw to being native is being able to understand slang, idioms and jargon. With two decades in Canada I'd think you have that down. Go on and apply, good luck and drop us a line from wherever you end up.