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EFLeducator
Joined: 16 Dec 2011
Posts: 595
Location: NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS
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 Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:19 pm Post subject: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mexico |
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Are there currently any TEFLer's in Mexico with a CELTA and if so did it help you in getting a better salary and more doors opening for you? How about the TKT? Did it open the doors of opportunity in Mexico?
I'm asking because "qualifications" are said to be the main ingredients to having a great career TEFLing.
Also because I'm thinking about taking the CELTA at the IHMexico later this year and since the cost is $1,700.00 dollars I thought I would see if it opened any doors or helped with salaries being increased.
Thanks and have a wonderful day my fellow TEFLer's.  |
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Enchilada Potosina
Joined: 03 Aug 2010
Posts: 344
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:37 pm Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| EFLeducator wrote: |
Are there currently any TEFLer's in Mexico with a CELTA and if so did it help you in getting a better salary and more doors opening for you? How about the TKT? Did it open the doors of opportunity in Mexico?
I'm asking because "qualifications" are said to be the main ingredients to having a great career TEFLing.
Also because I'm thinking about taking the CELTA at the IHMexico later this year and since the cost is $1,700.00 dollars I thought I would see if it opened any doors or helped with salaries being increased.
Thanks and have a wonderful day my fellow TEFLer's. |
Experience and networking are what will get you a better salary in my opinion.
Qualifications may get you a slightly better hourly rate or put you in a better position to get a full-time job somewhere but that's about it. And by qualifications I mean a masters or two.
In language schools, they don't really count as anything above native speaker with a pulse and you're doing the school a favour.
What will open the most doors for you and give you credit as a language teacher is learning Spanish - then you can really start to do business. |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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| Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 11:54 pm Post subject: |
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I agree with EP on both accounts--qualifications when talking better jobs should be Master's. A CELTA will not make much difference for someone who already has significant teaching experience. And what will make the most difference is knowing the right people, and being liked by those people. Don't burn your bridges. Not be rude to people in the business--especially not online. You never know who might point you to the right job--or say HELL NO! when asked their opinion of you.
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AGoodStory
Joined: 26 Feb 2010
Posts: 738
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:40 am Post subject: |
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| MotherF wrote: |
I agree with EP on both accounts--qualifications when talking better jobs should be Master's. A CELTA will not make much difference for someone who already has significant teaching experience. And what will make the most difference is knowing the right people, and being liked by those people. Don't burn your bridges. Not be rude to people in the business--especially not online. You never know who might point you to the right job--or say HELL NO! when asked their opinion of you.
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Sound advice, as always, MotherF, worth our careful attention. |
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DebMer
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 232
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:01 am Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| Enchilada Potosina wrote: |
Experience and networking are what will get you a better salary in my opinion.
Qualifications may get you a slightly better hourly rate or put you in a better position to get a full-time job somewhere but that's about it. And by qualifications I mean a masters or two.
In language schools, they don't really count as anything above native speaker with a pulse and you're doing the school a favour.
What will open the most doors for you and give you credit as a language teacher is learning Spanish - then you can really start to do business. |
EP, can you elaborate on this? Are you saying that knowing Spanish allows you to be a better networker or negotiator, or simply that it demonstrates you have an understanding of the process of language acquisition? Or that it will qualify you to teach in a different type of school, such as a private colegio? |
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doublethinker
Joined: 11 Mar 2010
Posts: 57
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:54 pm Post subject: |
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Mmmm, well to put things in perspective...
Off the base salary at my school (a colegio)
I got a 2% increase for having a CELTA
I got a 7% increase for having a Masters (not a teaching-related masters)
I got a 12% increase for being a native speaker.
So.... what is valued the most? |
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MotherF
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1450
Location: 17�48'N 97�46'W
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 2:59 pm Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| DebMer wrote: |
| EP wrote: |
What will open the most doors for you and give you credit as a language teacher is learning Spanish - then you can really start to do business. |
EP, can you elaborate on this? Are you saying that knowing Spanish allows you to be a better networker or negotiator, or simply that it demonstrates you have an understanding of the process of language acquisition? Or that it will qualify you to teach in a different type of school, such as a private colegio? |
I can't speak for EP, but in my experience, it will be a mix of better networking mostly through closer relationships with locals, and proving that you know how to learn a language. I've had a lot of people say something along those lines to me, they can see that I learned Spanish, they would like to speak English as well as I speak Spanish and they think I must know the secret. I do--but they don't like it. THOUSANDS of HOURS of comphensible imput.
Edited to fix the code.
Last edited by MotherF on Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:23 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| they would like to speak English as well as I speak Spanish and they think I must know the secret. I do--but they don't like it. THOUSANDS of HOURS of comphensible imput. |
Ain't that the truth!
The lack of that simple recognition is what makes EFL teaching so frustrating at times. The teacher can't provide that, only the student can. |
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geaaronson
Joined: 19 Apr 2005
Posts: 948
Location: Mexico City
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:09 pm Post subject: |
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I will answer the question directed to Phil K, but not on his behalf, but from my own experiences. When you are in the classroom giving an explanation to an important grammatical point and the students look at you blankly, this is the time to double up in their native language. The educational administrators know this.
When in teacher conferences and your Spanish is shaky, they can`t be sure you have understood all the nuances of school policy.
When you have to discuss a students progress or lack thereof with his parent, it would help to speak in Spanish.
Can you see now why Spanish is so important? |
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uh huh
Joined: 14 Oct 2011
Posts: 110
Location: United States
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:28 pm Post subject: "qualifications" |
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Reporting from south of your border:
I don't know if anyone else has had a similar experience, but I just delivered a four-hour workshop on teaching English to Guatemalan public school teachers and spoke almost entirely in Spanish. Why? If I had done it in English, they wouldn't have understood any of it. |
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Phil_K
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
Posts: 2041
Location: A World of my Own
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| Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| I will answer the question directed to Phil K, |
Thanks, Geoffrey, but I think it was directed to Enchilada Potosina!
I agree with you answer, BTW. I'm also an advocate of comparative teaching for advanced students. Personally, I'm an analytical language learner and a good knowledge of English certainly helped my Spanish. I realize, of course, that not everybody learns the same way.
Also, someone once said that many English teachers are the only teachers that teach something that they can't do themselves, i.e. learn a language! |
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BadBeagleBad
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
Posts: 1186
Location: 24.18105,-103.25185
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 12:57 am Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| DebMer wrote: |
EP, can you elaborate on this? Are you saying that knowing Spanish allows you to be a better networker or negotiator, or simply that it demonstrates you have an understanding of the process of language acquisition? Or that it will qualify you to teach in a different type of school, such as a private colegio? |
All of those, and the fact that you aren't limited to English only advertising. You can search for jobs in many, many other places. And a lot of those are better paying jobs since they are targeted at people who are presumed to be long term residents and not transient as those who work for many language schools are, something the schools know ahead of time, which certainly has an impact on wages. Also, to me, there is something arrogant about deciding to live in another country and not learn the language. Of course, you don't learn overnight, but I think knowing at least some Spanish also says you are committed to living in Mexico and want to be part of the community, rather than just work a few months as a way of staying in Mexico to party a few more months. |
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DebMer
Joined: 02 Jan 2012
Posts: 232
Location: Southern California
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 2:32 am Post subject: |
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Thanks, y'all, for your perspectives. I do speak Spanish and lived in Mexico for several years. I'm realizing from your responses that it sounded, or might have sounded, like I was skeptical about the importance of learning the language of one's host country, which is not at all the case at all. I was merely curious about which of the benefits of speaking the language was most relevant to the success of a teaching career in another country.
I can't imagine being satisfied to function on a superficial level and with superficial relationships while living in another country. Not being able to communicate well would take the joy out of it. |
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Enchilada Potosina
Joined: 03 Aug 2010
Posts: 344
Location: Mexico
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| Posted: Sat Jan 14, 2012 3:40 am Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| MotherF wrote: |
| DebMer wrote: |
| EP wrote: |
What will open the most doors for you and give you credit as a language teacher is learning Spanish - then you can really start to do business. |
EP, can you elaborate on this? Are you saying that knowing Spanish allows you to be a better networker or negotiator, or simply that it demonstrates you have an understanding of the process of language acquisition? Or that it will qualify you to teach in a different type of school, such as a private colegio? |
I can't speak for EP, but in my experience, it will be a mix of better networking mostly through closer relationships with locals, and proving that you know how to learn a language. I've had a lot of people say something along those lines to me, they can see that I learned Spanish, they would like to speak English as well as I speak Spanish and they think I must know the secret. I do--but they don't like it. THOUSANDS of HOURS of comphensible imput.
Edited to fix the code. |
Amen to that. I tell them the same basically. Anyone who speaks a second or third language naturally has put in the hours, all credit to them. If they don't like the answer just send them to the monolingual language teacher (WTF?) who'll no doubt give them a grammar book and a list of irregular verbs.
For the reasons others have mentioned it's a huge advantage to have good Spanish here, especially if you're here for the long-run. I mean, if you (and eventually you probably will) want to go out on your own then it's essential. Poor working conditions in grotty language schools and a lack of well-paid full time jobs will probably force you into it sooner or later and here's where your excellent Spanish really pays off. |
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Prof.Gringo
Joined: 07 Nov 2006
Posts: 2236
Location: Dang Cong San Viet Nam Quang Vinh Muon Nam!
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| Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:56 pm Post subject: Re: "Qualifications" and Career Advancement in Mex |
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| EFLeducator wrote: |
Are there currently any TEFLer's in Mexico with a CELTA and if so did it help you in getting a better salary and more doors opening for you? How about the TKT? Did it open the doors of opportunity in Mexico?
I'm asking because "qualifications" are said to be the main ingredients to having a great career TEFLing.
Also because I'm thinking about taking the CELTA at the IHMexico later this year and since the cost is $1,700.00 dollars I thought I would see if it opened any doors or helped with salaries being increased.
Thanks and have a wonderful day my fellow TEFLer's. |
Why would you even consider a CELTA? If you have been teaching for years, it will be of little value. If you want to go that route a DELTA is a much better option, but it is not needed in Mexico where most folks in EFL have no idea what a DELTA is  |
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