The role of teachers

There's a post on EL PAIS's "Trans-Iberian" blog that talks about the role of English teachers during the crisis -- and how well-prepared English teachers should be.

Personally, I don't think much of the blog post. Until the government establishes some kind of minimum qualification for teachers of English as a Second Language, you're probably not going to see much of an improvement.

This is actually something I've always wondered about, to be honest. When I taught in the Czech Republic in 1999, Teachers of English as a Second Language were required to have completed a TEFL/TESL course (minimum 40 hours, though most schools wouldn't hire you if you had less than 100) to get a visa. We were told that this requirement was an EU requirement. If it is, it doesn't seem to be one that people in Spain use. As many of you know, language teaching is controlled by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, and not the Ministry of Education. (That gives a whole new meaning to the expression "you get what you pay for". Or "buyer beware.")

Can anyone confirm if the requirements have changed? In the nearly twelve years I've spent here, I have never heard of a government requirement for private language teaching.

Bad teacher!

This ad is so...bad...on so many levels, it almost doesn't bear thinking about:

http://tinyurl.com/5uhuzbr

If you're not sure what I mean, take a look at the various meanings of "oral" in an English-only dictionary.

Somehow I don't think this guy's ad has anything to do with language.

If you're looking for a private teacher....

So here we are, in the middle of August. Within the next few days, as people start returning from holidays, many potential English students are going to start looking for English classes. A lot of people will choose to attend classes in an academy. Many will start looking for private English teachers, either for work or for fun. In most cases, the relationship between teachers and students will generally be pretty positive.

That said, every year, there are cases where one side, or the other, ends up disappointed. A lack of communication can prevent students from getting the help they need, and it can also prevent teachers from really understanding how they can work effectively with their students.

I'm not going to say that I'm an expert on student-teacher relationships. I have, however, taught for twelve years in different countries, and I hope that the information I can offer you will help you find and work with the teacher who's best for you.

THOUGHTS FOR STUDENTS:

Be honest with yourself before you're honest with your teacher. If you're going to hire a private teacher, be aware that you are helping provide someone with a salary. Who are the students who give up after three weeks? They're the students who do not have a clear idea of what they want to accomplish, or what they want to do, BEFORE the class.

Sit down with yourself for an hour and ask yourself the following questions:
- What are the things I currently do with my level of English?
-What are the things I cannot do, but either need or want to do?
- What are the things I need to do to bring my level up?
- How much time per week -- in AND out of class - am I willing to dedicate to working on my English? (Remember that, for every hour you spend in class, you need to spend an hour practising and working on your skills.)
- Do I really need English for my job, or do I say that because I think everyone else expects me to have English skills?
- What are the fun things that I can do that will keep me interested in English?

If you cannot answer those questions, please think twice before you contact a private teacher. Classes in a group situation in an academy may be a better option, because it's sometimes more fun to learn with other people than to learn alone.

Don't be cheap. If you want to have classes with a teacher but you think the teacher is too expensive, it's acceptable to negotiate. It is NOT acceptable to send the teacher insulting e-mails or to ask for the price of classes to be cut by half. You wouldn't ask your lawyer to lower his fees. You wouldn't ask your accountant to lower her fees. You wouldn't ask your dentist to lower his fees. It's not acceptable to do that with a teacher. I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but if you cannot afford a teacher's fees...look somewhere else for a different teacher.

One side note to that: If you're employed full-time want to take private English classes, and you're worried about the cost, ask your Human Resources department if the company has a student payment program. A surprising number of companies in Spain DO reimburse employees (=pay them back) for part of the cost of classes; they usually do this if the teacher is an autónomo and can issue invoices. It doesn't hurt to ask your company if they do this; and, if it's not company policy, ask your boss(es) to consider doing it. (Remind them that reimbursing is a LOT less expensive than hiring a company to give in-house classes.)

Remember that the teacher is trying to create lessons and tasks to help you improve. (What I basically mean is: Learn to follow instructions.) If I give you a writing task, I don't want you to spend half an hour telling me the answer. If I give you a grammar exercise that asks you to write the answer in complete sentences, don't give me two or three words. You may think that it's boring to do all that work, but that work is what makes you get better. Please do the work as it's presented to you, not as you think that you want to do it. I can't tell the difference between a student who doesn't understand a task and a student who simply doesn't feel like doing the work.

If you want to terminate your relationship with your teacher, be honest about it. Don't disappear. Attend your classes and let us know at the earliest moment if you can't attend. If you have a personal issue, like illness or family or money problems, be honest about it. Don't cancel eight classes in a row and then expect your teacher to help you four months later. Don't "forget" to pay your teacher for a month and expect the teacher not to notice.

THOUGHTS FOR TEACHERS:

Learning a language is scary. If you've never done it before, you should try it; it can be enriching and humbling at the same time. We have more credibility as teachers if we've been there before ourselves.

Don't sell yourself short. Don't work for less money than you think you rightly deserve. If the student doesn't want to pay what you're asking, let him or her find someone else. If you have a specialized skill that you think would be useful for students, for God's sake, make sure they know it. Market yourself well -- that includes presenting a professional images, preparing classes well, and knowing how to say you're sorry if something doesn't go right.

Each one teaches one. This is just a personal opinion, but I think the best classes I have are the ones where I learn just as much as the student does.

There is no finite pot of riches. And what I mean by that is that, professionally, you have little to lose and a lot more to gain if you help other teachers and work with them. Business guru Suze Orman likes to say that generosity pays off in ways you could never imagine; be kind and generous and you'll get back more than what you gave. If you have teacher friends who are on Twitter, follow them and retweet their posts. If you need that couple of days off, offer your classes to a buddy (trust me, I have never seen a case of one teacher stealing another's student - students are not credit cards or Bic pens.) Like the song says, you get what you give.

These are just my thoughts. Please feel free to share yours.

Q&A: Candy Lee Laballe on TOEFL and MBAs

No doubt about it: if you want to study in the US, the TOEFL exam is THE exam that schools ask for. As more students think about applying for graduate business school programs, demand for TOEFL exam prep has shot up... something Candy Lee Laballe, head of MBASpain, knows very well. We spoke with Candy today about what kind of language skills business schools are looking for.

==================================================

Most of your work is with students who want to study MBAs in the States. What level of English do MBA students need?

An MBA student needs to be nearly fluent, both to follow the fast pace of discussion in the classroom and to participate actively in study groups which are a required aspect of most programs.

If students can't communicate at that level, what are the things they do that prevent them from getting better?

It all comes down to fluency: the ability to integrate the four parts of communication (reading, listening, writing and speaking), which are the four parts of the TOEFL exam). Practice. At this level (MBA,TOEFL) it really is no longer about grammar, but about usage.

How closely do MBA programs look at TOEFL scores? If a school has two ideal candidates but only one place, does the candidate with the higher TOEFL score get in?

The TOEFL score in terms of MBA admissions is a benchmark, nothing more. If a school asks for 100, then you need 100 - 105 will not give you an edge. But don't think scoring close to the benchmark is enough. Dee Leopold, director of admissions and financial aid at Harvard Business School, which requires a 109 TOEFL, has said don't bother applying with a 108. With TOEFL, you need to meet the minimum required by the school--that is all.

If you could offer one piece of advice to students who want to improve their English to study in the States, what would it be?

Get daily immersion in the language. If you don't work in an environment where English is used regularly, then fill your MP3 player with American English podcasts such as This American Life or Harvard Business IdeaCast. Try to read for an hour a day on a wide variety of topics in websites such as http://www.nationalgeographic.com/, http://www.sciencedaily.com/, http://www.historynet.com/, http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/. You also need to build up your communication skills in writing and speaking. Consider hiring a private English teacher for in-person or phone classes to work on these areas.

For more information, be sure to visit MBASpain's website, at http://www.mbaspain.com.

Juan Francisco's guide to learning English

Hello everybody. I’m Juan, a Spanish speaker of English, in fact, the perfect model of a Spanish learner of English.

Patri has given me the opportunity to write in her fantastic blog about what the habits are that, in my opinion, successful English students have or should have to learn a foreign language like English. A foreign language that, of course, is really difficult to internalize because, among other circumstances, has a Germanic base so different of Spanish’s Latin origins...

You can read Juan Francisco's entire article here:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/35766798

A request from the teacher...

I have a pair of students (a couple, really) who I have been teaching since the beginning of June. Truth is, I don't know whether I should use the present perfect continuous (have been teaching) or past simple (taught) to describe my relationship with them. We were supposed to start class again last Tuesday, but they wrote me an SMS to say that they were out of town and wouldn't be able to start again until today.

So, at 7:30 AM today, I sent them another SMS, asking them again if we were starting class today. I didn't get any response. I called them just after 12 noon, to find out what the story was. "Oh, sorry!" he said. "We're out of town for a couple of days, but we'd like to start again next Tuesday, at 3PM, like normal. Would that be possible?"

Folks, if I can only share one piece of advice with you, let it be this: Be HONEST. If you don't want to continue with your teacher, tell your teacher that you don't want to continue. All you have to do is tell the truth. You won't hurt our feelings, believe me; most of us have been teaching long enough that we will not take it personally if you a) don't have enough money for classes or b) think that we are awful teachers and you want to go somewhere else.

Remember that most teachers do not get paid for classes they do not have. This is how we earn our living and pay our rent. It makes it very difficult for us when students cancel classes randomly! This is why we start insisting on being paid for ten or twenty classes in advance - I know those are policies that students don't like, but your teacher is making a commitment to you when he or she agrees to teach you, and part of that commitment involves knowing that your student will be reliable, too.

If there's something you don't like about the way your teacher teaches, or you think that you should be learning something different or doing things in a different way, be sure your teachers knows. A good teacher should not get angry if you ask for what you want. Any teacher will get very angry if a student disappears or starts acting weird.

I welcome your thoughts and your ideas....

If you're looking for a private teacher....

Now that summer is here, there are a lot of students who are looking for private teachers. Some students just want someone to talk to; others need to find a teacher who has a firm understanding of grammar and linguistics. While you're certainly welcome to contact me about classes (e-mail me at stop.spanglish (at) yahoo (dot) es!), I know that the Stop Spanglish way of teaching isn't for everyone, and that you may be looking for different things in a teacher.

I've often thought about how the relationships between students and teachers work, so here are some thoughts that I had. I hope these help you find a teacher you really like.

You have the right to have a teacher who answers your questions and who helps you. You do not have to tolerate a teacher who talks endlessly and who doesn't listen to you.

You have the right to ask for help with specific skills. If you're the student, you're the boss. You are the person who understands your needs the best, and while the teacher is there to help you, he or she can't possibly understand everything you need. You have to be assertive and clear about what you want to do.

You have the right to a teacher who acts in a professional manner: someone who is on time, someone who understands the material they are going to teach you.

You have the right to ask for homework. But if you do, you also have the obligation to actually DO that homework.

Remember that teachers don't do this work for fun. Many of us have rent and bills to pay and it's very insulting when students cancel at the last minute (and we don't get paid), or when students try to get us down to a lower hourly rate. Do you ask your lawyer to reduce how much he charges? Do you ask your gestor not to be expensive? True English teachers are trained professionals who are worth the money you pay. Remember: a lot of people pay their cleaning ladies a measly €12 per hour, and a lot of cleaning ladies can't even read and write properly. You can pay €12 an hour for English classes, but beware: you get what you pay for.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some things, so if you want to make a comment or a suggestion, I'd love to hear from you.