Job Discussion Forums

[shantaram]

[spiral78]

Ok, now you've piqued my interest.
Are you teaching this/other students from Montreal in Calgary?
Or at/for some private language school in either city?

The absolute worst teaching month in my 12+ year career was for a GEOS school in Calgary, where the Client is King/Queen, and the pressure is hugely on to Please the Client By All Means.

As a teacher who takes the job of both teaching and learning language seriously, I found walking this tightrope extremely stressful. When students didn't take the course seriously, this made me very uncomfortable. Why were we all wasting our time when all they really wanted was to be language tourists, and have some fun? Even when the outcomes were high stakes for them (lose a visa!!) it was difficult for them to believe that simply paying for the course didn't equal achievement - and that I was consistently making sure that they were aware of that (though I hope I was both tactful and polite in conveying the message that if they didn't work harder, they would fail_).

I'm so glad THAT 30 days of my life are long over, and nearly forgotten - and that I've spend the other 11years and 11 months of my teaching career in an environment that values a teacher and a learner with a serious approach to the process, and a real interest in success.

[Chancellor]

[shantaram]

[Vanica]

[J.M.A.]

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

In Quebec, there is a massive campaign to promote speaking French as promoting Quebec culture, because the province IS French. There's nothing wrong with that. There is something wrong with the idea that learning English is ANTI-French (and may people seem to believe that this is the message). It isn't.

Their argument runs along the lines of "We'll learn English just as soon as you learn French". And by and large, people right by the border of Quebec and Ontario DO learn French- or at least learn more than someone further away from it, but this is because they actually USE it in their lives, or NEED it for employment (even getting a retail store job in downtown Ottawa often requires French).

However, the difference is that English is an international language in a way that French is not. That's why so many countries are requiring it earlier and earlier on in their education systems. There are more non-native speakers of English now than there are native speakers. And people are learning English because they need it to work with people from other areas. A unilingual Japanese entrepreneur cannot work with a unilingual Korean entrepreneur because they would have no way to communicate. A unilingual Anglo-Canadian entrepreneur cannot work with a unilingual Franco-Canadian. But the unilingual Anglo-Canadian CAN work with any other person who speaks English either as their native language or as an additional language. The Franco-Canadian has much MUCH narrower choices. Less people speak French as a native language or as an additional language than English.

The reality is that Quebecers not learning English will (is) turn(ing) Quebec into a provincial equivalent of a Little (insert country name X here) in Toronto. If the kids don't learn English, the area changes from a community of people with the same culture that lives and works in Toronto, into a ghetto of that group where people end up feeling trapped because they don't have the tools to work outside of the community, even if their quality of life in the area is no longer how they want it (too many people to support the number of jobs etc). Fortunately, this doesn't actually happen in Toronto, the kids DO learn English, and can work outside of the community, but still belong to it (live there if they want etc). The same cannot be said of many in Quebec and allophone immigrants (neither English nor French) who arrive there speaking neither of the Canadian national languages often perceive this issue in a very short time, and so they put in a bit of work to learn French, but usually move to Toronto after a year or two and start over with English.

Quebeckers need to know English as a business language, if nothing else and that means realizing that there is a difference between learning English and looking at all the ways that English-speaking Canada did them wrong in the past.

And then, there is also just the problem of teenagers just not really wanting to do the work to learn English when they're in high school or post-secondary education and then quietly regretting it later (just like many of the Anglo-Canadians with learning French) but thinking that there's nothing they can do about it now.

[Symphany]

[matthew156]

[santi84]

Ah, the vieux (vieille?) Francais vs Anglais My French is terrible, sorry. There is some animosity! My partner is French, we banter back & forth about it. My family is from Quebec too. I've noticed that the Quebecois students are much more outspoken compared to my other students (mostly from Korea and Taiwan). Perhaps it is just a Canadian thing? There's no saving face here! Since they will often tell you to your face when something isn't working in the classroom, I say grab at it and work with it! There's always room for improvement.

[shantaram]

A quick update on this:

Since getting feedback from many students saying 'more conversation needed' I let more conversation into the lessons.

Then, one day last week, in the first class for a new group, a student complained a role-play activity (the first role-play) because she felt 'the other students can't correct me'. I explained that I was going to monitor the role-play and give feedback later, but she wanted me to work with her through the role-play. So I did, and I asked the student who would have been working with her to listen and identify the major errors (which she did competently). I let the role play go for a few more minutes while I did this. At the end of the role play, the student I had been working with complained that role-plays are not structured, a waste of time etc. She thought I'd just asked them to talk to each other because I was lazy. I tried to explain that I usually monitor the role-plays and give feedback at the end, rather than work with students individually correcting mistakes as we go.

Aargh! I can't do anything right! I spoke to my supervisor, telling her I thought the student was going to complain, and sure enough she did. One of her complaints was (predictably) about my accent, the other complaints were about the role-play. The student then pulled out of the class (I think she had harsh words with my supervisor). My supervisor then came along to the next class and assessed it, and actually gave me very good feedback. She noted that although my accent had been complained about, the students had only needed me to repeat one thing during the whole lesson. So, good outcome

I just think some of my students are hopelessly moody and demanding. It isn't anything to do with anglo/franco stuff, these students are intelligent people. They bring their issues from their workplace into the classroom, and some of them are pretty highly strung about my accent, seemingly without good reason.

[santi84]

Well, you can't please everybody! It is unfortunate. Bottom line: you can't please every student. You can try, and you can work on your teaching style, but you will never have 100% satisfaction throughout your career. I teach a mixed-level class, where one student won't speak more than two words, but another could talk for hours. You have to find balance.

[Chancellor]