Job Discussion Forums

[adventuramust]

Do European countries have preference for EU over US teachers? On the other hand, Central and South America may prefer US.

I know that China has no preference. I seem to have read some place did.

[spiral78]

They prefer EU to the degree that US (and other non-EU teachers) can very rarely get legal work permits in many EU member countries.

This is mostly true for the 'old' EU members (western Europe) and less true for Central/Eastern Europe, where North Americans, Aussies, and others can still get permits, though it's a hassle.

Check out individual country forums for exhaustive information on these 'preferences.'

[adventuramust]

The preference of EU over US is about the degree? I thought it was because of the difference in spelling and accent.

[Mike_2007]

Most students in the EU don't care too much which make of native speaker they learn from unless they have a specific goal of living, working or studying in an English-speaking country, in which case they might prefer someone from that target country. Similarly, a lot of schools don't particularly care either.

However, it's obviously easier for a company or school to employ a 'local' (i.e. a teacher from a member state such as the UK or Ireland) than to employ a 'foreigner' (i.e. from the USA, Canada, Oz, etc.). This is because an EU state may employ someone from another EU state without any additional paperwork, whereas people from outside the EU need to have work permits and residence visas organised and paid for, which takes time, money and hoop jumping.

[jonniboy]

Here in the past I heard some students say that they wanted British English since they were going there (or Ireland) to work. Also they needed visas for the USA which made Britain a preferred place for holidays. The visa situation no longer applies and Canada is a target for many students here to emigrate to now. In any case it was always a moot point as in practice I rarely heard students complain about North American colleagues.

The reality is that if you're born in North America but have an EU passport you'll be at no disadvantage in the job market.

[spiral78]

The preference of EU over US is about the degree? I thought it was because of the difference in spelling and accent.


I was going for the unnamed issue - that non-EU citizen teachers can't get legal work in much of the EU, regardless of accent and spelling.

So far as actual student preferences, I'm from North America and have worked with British colleagues in Europe for 12+ years (I have residency and work visas here through marraige and exceptional circumstances).
I've rarely had students who strongly preferred one or the other.

[adventuramust]

When I taught in China, my students that had previously had a teacher from the EU spelled words differently. When given games like word searches and puzzles, it was noticeable. It would only be important if someone was employed as a writer I suppose.

I do hope people realize I am talking about ESL teachers as this is a website for that.

[adventuramust]

I thought off and on I would see requirements indicating EU and they were from the Middle East or Europe.

[jonniboy]

[adventuramust]

Now that makes sense. Thanks.

[AndrewR]

[spiral78]

One might be eligible for a passport from an EU country by ancestry. For example, there's a current poster on the Germany forum whose parents were German citizens at the time of his birth, though he himself is from the US. He is eligible for German citizenship.

Ireland has some of the easiest laws on this (or did). Something about grandparents....

I have my eye on Czech citizenship through marraige. The kicker is that, today, I would have to give up my US passport to get it, as the CR doesn't currently allow dual citizenship. However, that is scheduled to change in 2010. I'll be applying five minutes later, I can assure you.

It is kinda rare and lucky, but very useful if it's an option.

[Sashadroogie]

[mozzar]

How long do you have to stay married to someone to get an American green card? I've often thought of setting up a European-American marriage just to get that and then have a divorce a few weeks/months later. It seems easier this way than actually convincing someone to fall in love with my ugly mug.

[spiral78]

It took my friends a few YEARS...the US is/was pretty strict about this. They had to prove that they were really living together, had joint finances, etc. Lots of hoops to jump through. Probably not feasible to try to fake it