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Lost in Place
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I am Norwegian by birth and upbringing; however my English has always been good. The last couple of years, I´ve almost conducted my entire life in English. I also have a very high score on the TOEFL test (note, NO qualification, just the standard test that is used for admission to universities). So, I was wondering about possibilities for teaching English abroad (for money) given that I was not born nor raised in an English speaking country? Is this a long way off? Would my chances increase with an English teaching certificate (by the way, can I easily get such a certificate as a non-native speaker?), or should I realize that employers will prefer native speakers?
 
Posts: 85 | Location: No way | Registered: 23 April 2006Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Armchair Traveler
Picture of Guy Courchesne
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It will depend a lot on where you want to teach, but I'd broadly say you'll have no trouble getting a teaching job (with qualifications such as a TEFL course). The reality is that there are far, far, far more non-native teachers than native speaking ones.

If your English language fluency is good, then you should do fine in a TEFL course. You may even find you have an advantage over some native-speakers in such a course, if your awareness of grammar is high (based on your mention of the TOEFL score).


Life is a verb, not a noun - Now Bloggin' and Working Hard
 
Posts: 35 | Location: Mexico | Registered: 20 December 2004Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
Travel Deity
Picture of KateL57
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I've worked with a lot of non-native speaker teachers, including some who were also foreign teachers (ie a Russian and Romanian working in Bosnia) and the people I worked with were excellent teachers. I think some people train as English teachers in their country (have degrees in it) and then work abroad, and they may have an easier time than those who have a degree in something else and get a TEFL certificate.

Of course, most native speaker teachers do this - have a degree in something else and just get a tefl certificate, and I agree with Guy that as someone who has learned English the way your potential students are learning you wil have an advantage. So it does seem a little unfair that you may have a bit more difficulty finding work.

But - I definitely think it's possible, and if your experience of learning English does contribute to teaching in a better way for your students, I think they will pick up on this quickly.

This is actually a Swedish or Norwegian EFL teacher in Costa Rica - Ole - and he blogs sometimes at Costa Rica Classroom blog (sorry, no link handy right now). It might be cool to read about his experience and maybe he can even give you specific tips if you get in touch via the blog.


Make cay, not war - Kesmen
 
Posts: 1950 | Location: Washington, DC | Registered: 03 August 2005Reply With QuoteEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post
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