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earthyroots
Joined: 05 Nov 2004
Posts: 2
Location: Calgary Alberta
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 Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 7:49 pm Post subject: Re: Teaching Kids in Finland |
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| My name is Stephen Belgrave, and have recently completed Oxford Seminars TESL certificate. Looking to teach children in Europe. Could anyone point me in the right direction. Is there a way of getting a list of ESL schools in finland - I heard that there are numerous opportunities there to teach kids. Have valid EU passport - I was born in UK. I am also a Canadian citizen as well. |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2004 8:40 pm Post subject: Suomi - no chance |
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Your chances of landing a job in Suomi are very slim indeed. They have too many teachers of English there, who speak perfectly adequate English, and who probably take us to school on the grammar side of things too.
If you want a country that has some cultural similarities with Suomi, and is not far, hop on a boat and go across to Estonia, where there are more openings for EFL teachers. You will be able to go to Finland on weekends, and short vacation breaks.
Forget Finland - or Scandinavia in general - there are too many people who can do the job. You need skills the Finns do not have, and EFL teaching is not one of them. |
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poro
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274
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| Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 7:05 pm Post subject: It isn't quite as hopeless at it may seem |
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It's quite true that jobs for English teachers are not on every street corner, but this doesn't mean there aren't any. It's just that they just aren't so visible to English speakers, because most of them aren't advertised in English.
Stephen, please check your "personal message box".
Last edited by poro on Sat Dec 04, 2004 7:11 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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poro
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274
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| Posted: Sat Dec 04, 2004 7:09 pm Post subject: Re: Suomi - no chance |
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| ghost wrote: |
| They have too many teachers of English there, who speak perfectly adequate English, and who probably take us to school on the grammar side of things too. |
Thankyou for your kind words, but please don't overrate us - we're no better than anyone else. |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 6:17 pm Post subject: Nordic power |
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| Quote: |
| Thankyou for your kind words, but please don't overrate us - we're no better than anyone else. |
The point is - nordics in general (Finland, Sweden, Norway), and Denmark and Holland - have very high standards in English language for most people who have completed secondary education.
Why is this so? Several reasons spring to mind.
1. Nordic languages resemble English in structure, more so than Romance languages, for example.
2. Motivation. Most of these countries are small, and recognize that their own languages do not suffice in a global economy.
3. Small things - like most t.v. programs/films do not dub. films into their respective languages, meaning that children from a very young age are exposed to English on a daily basis.
4. Identity. People from the nordic countries and Denmark and Holland, view English more as a "second language" rather than a "foreign language" per se. Go to any University in those countries and a large percentage of the text books are in English, with no need for translation.
This means that there is no red hot EFL market in those countries, since most educated people are functionally bilingual anyway.
In fact, many people from those countries could "pass" as native speakers, such is their mastery of the language. |
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poro
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 274
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| Posted: Sun Dec 05, 2004 11:00 pm Post subject: Re: Nordic power |
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| ghost wrote: |
The point is ..- |
... that no foreigners speak our languages. so we have to learn yours.
It is the best way to communicate. |
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kurivaim
Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Sun Dec 12, 2004 4:13 pm Post subject: Re: Nordic power |
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| ghost wrote: |
The point is - nordics in general (Finland, Sweden, Norway), and Denmark and Holland - have very high standards in English language for most people who have completed secondary education.
Why is this so? Several reasons spring to mind.
1. Nordic languages resemble English in structure, more so than Romance languages, for example.
2. Motivation. Most of these countries are small, and recognize that their own languages do not suffice in a global economy.
3. Small things - like most t.v. programs/films do not dub. films into their respective languages, meaning that children from a very young age are exposed to English on a daily basis.
4. Identity. People from the nordic countries and Denmark and Holland, view English more as a "second language" rather than a "foreign language" per se. Go to any University in those countries and a large percentage of the text books are in English, with no need for translation.
This means that there is no red hot EFL market in those countries, since most educated people are functionally bilingual anyway.
In fact, many people from those countries could "pass" as native speakers, such is their mastery of the language. |
Whatever a 'Nordic' language is, the Finnish language does not even slightly resemble English in any way, since it belongs to a completely unrelated group of languages.
As an American studying abroad in Estonia this year, I have had the opportunity to make friends with educated young people from all over Scandinavia (although I haven't met anybody from Iceland). While they do tend to speak English very well, the only people I've met who could even come close to passing as native speakers are (a) a Finn who spent a year in Wisconsin when he was in high school and (b) a Dane who speaks about 6 languages very well. |
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ghost
Joined: 30 Jan 2003
Posts: 1693
Location: Saudi Arabia
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| Posted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 1:08 am Post subject: Correction |
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| Quote: |
| Whatever a 'Nordic' language is, the Finnish language does not even slightly resemble English in any way, since it belongs to a completely unrelated group of languages |
You are correct. One was referring to Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian - as being fairly close to English in structure. Finnish, as we all know, is in a different family group - just as the Hungarian language (Magyar) bears no relation to other languages.
Well - ghost is sorry to disappoint you, but having met a lot of Norwegians and Swedes working in London and other places, one can assure you that these people would pass as "native speakers" were they to go to places like China/Taiwan/Korea etc....for the purpose of teaching.
If you are attuned to languages, as you appear to be, you will pick out a few idiosyncrasies in their use of English, but these will not be noticed by people who are not native speakers of English.
Furthermore - A Swede/Norwegian/Dane would compete favourably for a post teaching EFL when compared with a South African/Irishman (especially from the West of Ireland)/Scottish guy (especially heavy Glasgow). Nothing wrong with South Africans, Irish, Scots etc...but if they have heavy regional accents (which many of them do), they do not help the language learners who may be unfamiliar with many of those varieties of English.
When Scandinavians speak English - the tone/rhythm etc....is rather flat/plain, making it easier for foreigners to understand and assimilate. |
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sara.ede
Joined: 28 Sep 2004
Posts: 100
Location: Boston
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2005 7:25 pm Post subject: for american's wanting to teach in Finland |
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I dont know much about this organization but thought it might be looking into for those Americans wanting to go to Finland....
http://www.amscan.org/tefl.html |
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