Job Discussion Forums

[nicomn]

I'm interested in hearing from people who can communicate at an advanced level in Spanish (or any other language they learned as an adult). Basically, I can communicate at a fairly good level. Sometimes I run into problems getting my point across and it's certainly difficult being subtle but generally people don't have too much trouble understanding me. However, I can't seem to get away from using pretty simple grammatical structures and though I'm constantly picking up new words, I feel like I'm stuck.

At the moment, I work with tons of Hispanics in New York (though I'm heading to South America to teach English in a few months) and many of them seem to have the same problem with English, so, how does one get beyond these linguistic limitations? What have people's experiences been in learning a second language? What are some of the methods used as teachers of English to get students beyond this hurdle? Suggestions and practical advice wanted!!

Secondly, how much of a role does Spanish play in the ESL classrooms of Latin American. I understand that many ESL teachers do not speak the local language of the places where they teach and I don't exactly how this works...Aside from learning the names of some common objects and some verbs given the teacher were inclined to theatrics I can't see how much learning would go on. Can someone please explain the methodology used?

Thank you, Nico

[Justin Trullinger]

Give yourself time, and get yourself a lot of practice- languages improve more with use than with studying by itself, so get into situations where you really use it. Watch Spanish films, go salsa dancing, and of course, move to Latin America! (Worth doing even if you already had perfect Spanish- too much fun to miss!)

About what happens with teachers who don't know the local language- it takes practice, and training, but simply doesn't need to be a problem. I'd recommend getting some EFL/ESL specific training. After all, consider the English teaching that takes place in places like New York and London. A single class may contain natives half a dozen or more native languages- must a teacher know them all? Or is there another way? (There is- and it's more effective anyway.)

I, and most of the teachers I work with, do speak Spanish, and this is, obviously, a big help in living in Ecuador. But remember what I said about languages improving with use, not mere knowledge. If a teacher is using Spanish more than very occasionally in the classroom, I would worry that he or she was merely explaining English, rather than giving students the chance (and the tools) to use it.

All the best,
Justin