I can talk good inglish… I’ll give it a shot…

You spelt teach rong, y’eejit

wud b gr8 yeah. learn em proper.

Well spotted.

@Sean – I can only speak of my own experiences in Thailand and the number of times I was offered teaching roles simply because:
1. I’m white
2. English is my first language

Granted you won’t get a role in a gov school or one of the internationals but plenty of language schools would hire you on the above criteria.

@Sean: It looks like you’re suffering a bit from Your-You’re Syndrome yourself. 30 CV’s? Ow, my eyes!

Exactly. I used to run an EFL school, and it was painful to read the CVs and application letters of potential teachers. And then they’d get stroppy when I replied to their demands on why I wouldn’t employ them. There are skilled teachers, but it’s the chancers who drag down standards and, as standards plummet, so does income for schools and for teachers.

@ Cathal – then your not a teacher. I have teeth. I brush them. I floss. I’ve paid attention when I’ve visited the dentist. But this doesn’t make me a dentist and I wouldn’t have the brass neck to claim to be a dentist. But, sure, teaching isn’t a real job.

No one picked up on the “your”. What a pity.

@ Emma – try plowing through 30 CVs a day on top of a fully-filled teaching schedule.

@karswell: I do plough through plenty of teachers’ CVs every day, with misplaced apostrophes that would make your eyes water, but I wouldn’t lose any sleep over it -it’s just punctuation folks – I just couldn’t resist the irony.

Actually you CAN walk in and start teaching English in many “language schools” without a Tefal in Thailand. Not supposed to be the case but it happens day in day out.

Actually, there’s thousands of positions out there for people who haven’t done TEFL. This chart is pretty cool for anyone looking for work (with or without experience). Pay no attention to the salary and living costs section.
http://www.internationalteflacademy.com/country-chart-world-index-english-teaching-jobs/

In fairness, if a school is willing to hire a teacher without a TEFL or CELTA, then that is a problem with the school, not the teachers. Yes, teachers should have a course is teaching, but if a school makes stupid decisions like that, then its them that should be targeted as they are the ones promoting bad teaching standards.

Why do you need a frying pan to teach English? Sorry, couldn’t resist:)

Then please reread your post. Especially the capitalised “can”. Straight out of the “You too can make €1,000 a day working from home” style of advertisement.

Another great example of someone not reading the article before heading for the comments.

There’s a difference in proving your proficiency to speak English, and your ability to teach. This issue was in relation to the need for first, and not the second.

Hi Seán,

Just to clarify, the issue here is whether a person is recognised as a native English speaker (as those who aren’t are required to prove they can communicate in English by taking a series of tests).

Someone wishing to teach would have to gain teacher training/qualifications on top of a language proficiency test.

Hope that helps.

It not exactly a victory for the EFL industry that teachers are not obliged to take either a teaching exam or a language proficiency exam. For those who are not aware, there is no practical regulation of teachers, as teachers are not legally required to have any qualifications, and the vast majority of schools do not verify that teachers have the qualifications they claim to have. Imagine if the same standards were applied to medicine, nursing, law, electrical and plumbing trades, etc. no wonder that TEFL is often looked down on as not really being a “proper job”. This is bad for students and for serious teachers.

Kars,

You’re not wrong, and you posted some very sensible comments on the previous thread on this topic. That said I think it’s fine for schools to take on a teacher who has a recognised ESL qualification (min. 100 hours + teaching practice) as long as they monitor them for the first while to make sure they’re up to it. A lot of exams are just an expensive racket.

@ Petr – a little known fact, but in many countries schools are not allowed to monitor or observe teachers in the classroom if they are working as freelancers and not staff-members. And almost all EFL teachers work on a freelance basis, at least within the EU. It sounds crazy, but I was involved with an EFL school on Germany that was taken to court over this and lost.

Incredible. Did not know that.

It is more than a little insane, but it’s true. I agree with you, if schools had an active policy of verifying a teacher’s credentials and properly assessed the skills of that teacher, then there would be absolutely no need to charge teachers to be assessed by an outside body. But it’s a business with a damaging lack of oversight. It’s a huge pity, because it is a challenging and rewarding job, and it should be respected as such.

Totally agree with you. I only do it now and then but it is an important job and those winging it give the good teachers a bad name.

No the issue here is nothing more than an internal Thai issue.
Also not a bad way of them getting more much needed money into their country.

I just don’t like overly-entitled backpackers, and enjoy winding them up any chance I can.

“I was outraged a week ago when this came up a week ago!!!” Case settled.

I teach in a primary school in spain and recently had to prove my level through standard testing. Seems bizarre but necessary all the same.

I’m just not buying your sincerity. Convince me some more.