Job Discussion Forums

[dmb]

It's not all doom and gloom on the financial status for teachers. turks predict that they will be 'in' in about 15 years. foreign news stories are saying 20 to 25 years is more likely. if we were still here when it happens. Would us Brits have to start paying NI and tax in the Uk?

[naf]

Actually I am not afraid of the EU membership affecting our standard of living as teachers in Turkey at all. It is a distant pipe dream for those who want it at this point. The biggest problem affecting our standard of living in Turkey is Turkish inflation. 1000 dollars a month, 1.500.000.000TL, doesn't buy what it did even last year. Prices double every year and apartments have reached new highs this summer. I find myself with no savings whatsoever and wondering how the heck my Turk friends can survive on salaries half ours. Entering the EU would suck for them more. From what I've seen in Greece the prices for everything increased while the salaries didn't. But really, how is it any different now?

[calsimsek]

As of last night, it all looked like a done deal. Now we all have to wait to find out when we get in. My monies on around 2012 to 2015. Four days ago the Dollar was at 1,547,000 today its at around 1,495,000 I think this means that the dollar will stay around this level till the end of the year, unless somthing strange happens. Well we can all argue about Europe and Turke. In the end they both need each other.

[ghost]

When Turkey joins Europe (most likely eventually, despite what some say), the competition for jobs in EFL will be much tougher because a lot of Europeans will be flooding the market, many of whom do not have English as their first language but still master the language, especially the grammar, usually at a better level than the vast majority of EFL teachers one knows in Turkey who are grammatically challenged. One is thinking of Poles, Czechs and the like, who, thanks to their language training, master the intricacies of English Grammar in an efficient way, and more importantly, are able to explain the inner workings of the English language.

Even in Eskisehir, at the Amerikan Kultur Language Centre, one of the best teachers was a Czech National. Czech and Slovak Nationals have the added advantage of often having names which could pass for English names - and they generally have good pronunciation.

It will be interesting to see what the ramifications are for U.S., Aussie, Canuck and Kiwi teachers once Turkey becomes a part of Europe. One can assume that it will be harder for people like Yaramaz (Canuck girl) to keep their jobs, because there will be a ready supply of Brits, Irish and other Europeans at their doorstep, and the paper work will be much easier to process for those nations.

[dmb]

[calsimsek]

What is it with ghost,
Wrong again just read what dmb said. Native speakers will always be wanted here. As for the poor not getting anything from the E.U, well that rubbish too. The so called uneducated mass will benifit from improved legal protction of their right and will get better payed jobs via new E.U companies setting up in Turkey. This in turn will lead to a higher demand for native speakers to help train and develop skills. The E.U will in my view have short term negative impact on all of us, but for those of us not here for a session or two things will improve in the long run.
P.S why are you so negative about this place. What hell happened to you here.

[dmb]

[dervish]

DMB,

[naf]

Teachers of English, or any language for that matter, who have learned it as second or foreign language often have a clearer grammatical knowledge of the language they are teaching because they have learned that language as a second or foreign language and in a largely grammatical context. Native speakers of any language are generally unaware of grammatical rules at the level needed for teaching unless they have had the proper training and learned another language themselves. Many native speaker teachers also gain this grammatical knowledge through teaching experience, especially since a month long certification program is just an introduction. The major advantage most native speakers bring is an intuitive knowledge of how the language is used. I don't know how many times non-native teachers in various countries have asked me how something should be said or written and why it is said or written that way. Language is loaded with cultural context that isn't always adequately explained by grammar.

[dmb]

Well said naf. When I first became a teacher I didn't have a clue. I still remember my very first lesson. It was unit x in NECC where the grammar focus was the present continuous. Did I know what it was. Did I hel*. (Howevever hopefully after 12 years and numerous courses I picked something up )

[Otterman Ollie]

Yes ghost ,don't think you're off the hook ,answer the nice gentlemans question, WTF happened to you over here ?