Job Discussion Forums

[bjcor]

Hello, everyone! I just joined the forum and I hope that those who are already out there teaching in Mexico can comment on my situation,

I've been to Mexico once for language immersion and I totally fell in love with the country. Although I know I couldn't expect to make good $$$, I'd like to teach English there at least for some international working experience. As long as I make enough to pay rent and food, I will be ok.

So here are some of the facts about me that could be

Possible disadvantages..
1. I'm not a native speaker of English. (minimal accent, only native speakers seem to notice it..)
2. I'm East Asian.
3. Little professional experience in the field. (recent graduate, some volunteer experience)

Possible advantages:
1. I hold a B.A. in Linguistics and Modern Languages (Spanish & French)
2. I speak 3 languages fluently (one of which is Spanish), and I can communicate in 2 other languages fairly well.
3. I'm TESOL certified at a renowned (for that matter) institution.
4. I'm a Canadian-passport holder.


So taking all this into consideration, would you say that I stand for any chance to get hired? I need some advice and comments..
Thank you.

Br3

[MELEE]

This
4. I'm a Canadian-passport holder.

effectively nulifies this
1. I'm not a native speaker of English. (minimal accent, only native speakers seem to notice it..)

We all have accents after all, whether it's Australian, New Jerseyian, or one of the many British accents. I once worked with a teacher from New Foundland who was probably a lot harder to understand than you are.

Apply as a Canadian, you've got good credentials, if you must, you can mention you come from an immigrant family, and play up how that makes you more sympathetic to Mexicans who may have immigrants in their families.

Good luck and welcome to the forum.

[spiral78]

Melee's right (as usual). You're Canadian. And more qualified than most Canadians, with your knowledge of languages and education in the field.

Forget (and drop from your resume) any notion that you're not a native speaker.

You can really be entirely confident in what you've got to offer as a teacher, I think.

[dixie]

[leslie]

Bye

[dixie]

[MELEE]

Jeez dixie,

Since every other "new" place in the English speaking world, from New Hampshire all the way down to New Zealand, has new as a separate word, I think you'd give me a break on that one.

[dixie]

[marg252]

[MikeySaid]

An option for teaching French would also be to look for and then contact the Alliance Francaise in whatever city you end up in.

Being Canadian does seem to be an advantage over being from the US... everywhere.

[bjcor]

thank you everyone for the encouraging comments!

just one thing.. is me being racial minority not really going to matter? because i realized, when i was down there, that mexicans can be really eurocentric (turn on the tv and you see it right away), and employers might think that having an Asian English teacher in their school won't be so appealing to students because they always try to relate Asians to the indegenous people of Mexico while valuing anything that's european.

i don't know, i think i just should have more confidence about what i've got.

[MO39]

[MikeySaid]

For one... our hockey-playing-mullet-wearing-moose-and-putin-eating-maple-syrup-smelling-barenaked-lady-listening friends from Canadia seem to be able to get a work Visa for just about anywhere.

Second, I noticed this sort of "Canada esta chido" attitude from the fresas in Torreon. Not that Canada isn't chido... it just seemed to be looked upon more favorably than being from the States. I think Mexicans have less pre-conceived notions about you people than about us.

[Oreen Scott]

What is chido? I'm not familiar with the word and couldn't find it in my Spanish dictionary or translator.

My understanding, from Melee, is that many Mexicans don't know where Canada is, or what a Canadian is.

I do know that our Canadian Language Benchmark system of anyalizing English language capabilities is considered by linguists to be the best in the world, along with Austrailia's system.

I've often wondered if Mexico and Canada have a simliar envy/distrust of their American neighbour simply because it's wealthier and a greater power. But I have no experience with this. . .only a curiosity.

[Oreen Scott]

Scrolled down and discovered chido means, just as I suspect, cool.

Last weekend we were very warm up here in the great white north. in the 70's F.

Then the wind came. It got cold. It snowed. The snow is still on the ground. We certainly are very cool.