Job Discussion Forums

[GreekGirl]

Hello nice people of the ESL world. I send my greetings as a new member of the forum and I move on to a question...

So, I'm Greek, right? Therefore a citizen of the EU, so I don't really need a visa or anything to teach english with a TEFL in Italy, right? Just to be on the safe side... It will be legal for me to work there, yes? It will only be a matter of whether the Italian people will wish to hire me as a teacher since I'm not native, or not... right? Would anybody have any experience on the matter? Meaning of non-natives (in english of course) teaching in Italy? Do you reckon it will be hard to get a job?

I see now it's more than one question already...
My love to you all...

[jnesta1]

Hi GG,

I 'reckon' it might be harder (you certainly didn't learn teh queen's english)...though I don't know for sure. Most ads I ahve seen want mother-tobgue teachers. You might contact a few schools and see what they say?

buona fortuna,

jeff

[GreekGirl]

So, Jeff, is it? Why you're being hostile to me? Something I did wrong? I didn't realise you need to speak "The Queen's English" in order to teach english... Or you're trying to tell me that most native-english-teachers out there actually speak the queen's english? Cause I pretty much doubt that! Guess what! I have a TEFL and that means that I went through the same course with anybody else from any part of the world in here, which makes me equal to them and you have no right to try and put me down cause something doesn't sit right with you... The way I see it at least my post didn't have typos...

If you can't play nice go back to your room, ok? A snob's opinion doesn't count for me. Maybe I didn't learn the Queen's English but I can speak more than my native language, I can speak (and have the certificate to teach) English, Italian and French! What can you do? Other than jump from thread to thread and play expert?

I thought the site was for people to socialize and help each other not be rude and make fun of another person's effort...

[jnesta1]

Dear greek Girl

You've totally misread me, teh disadvantage to cyber communication and teh inability to see faces and hear voices. I should have put smiley faces all over. I was trying to joke with you. You are right this is a very informal adn social place adn obviously I don't speak teh queen's english either. But you also needn't be so defensive, I was just making conversation.

good luck in your search.

[Teacher in Rome]

Greek Girl,

I'm just going to add that I don't think Jeff has been hostile. Any reference to "the Queen's English" was only meant in a lighthearted way - please don't take it the wrong way.

In my experience - which has only been in Rome - schools always ask for mother tongue English teachers. They also tell their clients and students that their teachers are mother tongue. That doesn't mean to say you won't find work, but be aware that you'll be in competition with teachers from English-speaking countries who are mother tongue. I wouldn't be able to guess from how you write that you're not mother tongue though!

As regards living and working in Italy, you won't have any legal problem, being EU.

[Brentadictable]

Hey i like the fact that the two of you are fighting, lol. i was just wondering what its like out there in Eu. Currently i am in Canada and i am looking into teaching in Italy aswell. Greek Girl if you had any information on where to get started it would be great!

[spiral78]

There's a big difference between Brent and Greek Girl - she's at least legally allowed to work in Italy, whereas unless Brent's got some additional citizenship besides Canadian, he/she's looking at living/working illegally. That said, Italy's a popular destination for legal, well-qualified British native speakers and the job market is tight, and not generally in favor of either non-native speakers (however fantastically well-educated) or non-EU member citizens who face near-insurmountable legal hassles, regardless of qualifications.

[Boy Wonder]

Greekgirl.....
Try any branch of Inlingua in Italy.....they employ non native speakers, non degree holders and people without any experience of teaching before in their lives!!!

[mamma mia]

Arg! You're lucky to be EU!

[John ELS]

[Nickyboy]

Greek Girl, you're a bit fiery aren't you?! You'll go down well in a classroom if there's an issue to be resolved...

British people can laugh at themselves, which is a skill not learnt on a TEFL course...

Whilst your writing is pretty damn sharp, you may have an accent that confuses learners or a difficulty in forming final consonant sounds properly. Greek people do have trouble with 'ch', for example.

Sorry if I sound patronising.

[Gregorio]

Sometimes I feel that non-native speakers can make better teachers because they had to struggle themselves to learn the language, but then I think back to my high school spanish classes being taught by Suzy BeenNoWhere, and think differently.

One kind of lame example... I was observing a Romanian woman teaching a class of Italians. The lesson was on 'occupations' and the teacher put the word 'sportsperson' on the board along side a basketball or football player or something. One of the Italians raised his hand and asked, isn't there a different word or shorter word to describe these people? In my head I'm thinking, "yes, the word he is looking for is athlete." The Romanian woman said very firmly in a thick Romanian accent, "NO, the word is sportsperson, there is no other word."
I kept my mouth shut so as not to be belittled by the Romanian. She probably would have told me I was wrong, and I would have believed her.

[John ELS]

[Anytime now]

I believe Greekgirl is in the right. Not only does she come from an EU country, but is certified in 3 languages, including English.

I believe it was Prince Charles who said that English English is the only true "standard English". The rest of the country seems to take their cue from him.

If we all spoke the Queen's English, the language would be just about as popular and widespread as Portuguese.

Wake up!

Anytime Now

[John ELS]