Job Discussion Forums

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

My guess would be that certification helps a lot. When I looked into nanny years ago, I found colleges out there that would get you certified. Kind of like the difference between a backpacker teacher and a proper teacher. The proper one gets certified. Or like the difference between an institute teacher and a university lecturer. You need to get qualifications.

Perilla · Joined: 09 Jul 2010 Posts: 792 Location: Hong Kong

I've been following this thread with interest. IMO, the OP stands a much greater chance of earning good money as a highly paid nanny. In HK some English-speaking western nannies (as opposed to the more usual Fillipinas or Indonesians) make big bucks - and the lack of overheads (no rent, food costs etc.) mean that you could save fast for the degree you probably need in the long run. However, I can well understand that nannying isn't for everyone ...

fieldsofbarley · Joined: 12 Nov 2010 Posts: 47 Location: Mexico City

To the OP:

I think the degree issue is something you need to get sorted if you want to stand a fair chance in the ESL world. I�m not justifying the way things are, just saying it.

I�m a non-native teacher too, got a CELTA and I�m currently teaching in Mexico, where I get paid more than I ever did in the 12 years I spent in the UK. In my case, I have a degree from an English-speaking country, which may be helpful in the future when I move to another country, but I can tell you that here in Mexico having a degree or not is not such a big deal IF you have a CELTA and look "foreign enough".

Also, and this might interest you, the Mexican Ministry of Education has reached an agreement through which if you have the CELTA and you took it in the last 3 years, you can be granted the equivalent to a degree in English Language Teaching. You just need to attend an interview and pay around 150 euros. But, to do that you need to have a valid working visa for Mexico, which can easily be arranged once you�re in the country and have a job offer (which I don�t doubt you�d have).

That could be a good option for you. PM me if you want more details.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sat Jun 11, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject:

fieldsofbarley · Joined: 12 Nov 2010 Posts: 47 Location: Mexico City

Yes I�m sure. It would be the equivalent of a "Licenciatura". I know a couple of teachers who just received their degree this way. Whether it will carry the same weight as a degree from an English-speaking country is a different story, but it�s something to start with and worth considering in the specific situation mentioned by the OP.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 12:17 am Post subject:

Well, that's interesting but I wonder how all those Mexicans who have real licenciaturas in English-language teaching will feel about this. What Mexican university issues these so-called degrees? How on earth can a four-week course like a CELTA be at all equivalent to a 5-year degree, which is how long it takes to get a licenciatura in Mexico? It sounds weird to me.

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

Licencieturas are two years FT in Peru if you have a first degree. If you don't, then it's 5 years.

CELTA doesn't hold a candle to that.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 1:51 am Post subject:

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

"baccilarato" is before you're thesis, then you have a "titulo" once you do your thesis. I'm sure I spelt those wrong though.

Personally, I think five years is a waste of time, if they went to secondary school for a year longer and had 12 years of education instead of 11, it would be much better. They'd be more mature.

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:00 am Post subject:

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

Isla Guapa · Posted: Sun Jun 12, 2011 3:09 am Post subject:

In Mexico titles are important, so everyone who has finished the first university degree is entitled to be addressed as "licenciado/a", no matter what they studied: business, accounting, law, computer science, and so on. However, for a few professions other titles are used: for example, Ingeniero for an engineer, Arquitecto for an architect, and Bi�logo for a biologist. Right now I am working on a scientific translation, and my contact person is a young woman who has a licenciatura in biology. She signs her emails to me like this: Biol. Mar�a Su�rez.

Mamainak · Joined: 27 May 2011 Posts: 31

Hi everyone, sorry I disappeared like that.

Thank you for all your comments, I've read through them all.

So, while I was away some things happened. One of them is that I'm privately tutoring 2 Italians, both with a different level of English which doesn't make it easier but I can deal with it. So far so good. Let's say I'm earning pocket money from that. In a way, it puts less pressure on me, knowing that I'm not being paid much for my first teaching experience (outside the CELTA course, I mean). If they were paying me lots of money I'd be more nervous about delivering great results and fulfilling their expectations.

Second news is that I applied to volunteer with the Refugee Council. It's voluntary and therefore not paid but it will get me experience.

I thought, since I can't change the fact I'm not a native speaker, can't get a degree and don't have an English speaking country's passport, I can at least work on getting some experience. I have an interview on Tuesday and I hope to get a position. I'd be teaching Basic English (if you have any advice on teaching that level, please tell me!)

Most of my CELTA course classmates found summer jobs which put me down a bit, but I'm not going to just sit and mope.

Third thing is that I decided to improve my Italian via language swap, it'd look good to speak two foreign languages fluently.