I am considering possibly heading off to Poland in September to go in as a Native English speaking teacher. Now I have been told that for this I do not need to be fluent in Polish as the native speakers are more there to help correct grammar and teach the actual speaking as opposed to learning it all in books. However does anyone know off hand what sort of English qualifications I would need for this? Would speaking English for near enough my whole life and doing English in school be enough or would I need a degree of some sort?
A buddy of mine went on a scholarship from the Piłsudski Foundation to go teach English in Poznań some years back. Problem was, at least in the mid-90's, he learned only the bare mimimum of the language when he arrived there!! He confessed to having an awful time trying to make himself understood to younger beginners, even the better pupils. Furthermore, as Wrocław Boy implored, he was specifically asked to teach British Standard. He's Canadian, so therefore had no problem adapting, yet found the sheer prejudice against American English, even authors, staggering.
Students learn British spelling and pronunciation. But of course they are made aware of American usage. The examination boards accept either British or American usage, but not both together. All text books, that I'm aware of, are based on British English.
I supposed then the sun has really never set on the British Empire -:) LOL The Brits lost the colonial battles to retain control over their old dominion, yet won the war by scoring imperial victory over American English.
A fine kettle of fish 'n chips if I ever saw one!!!
The American / English language situation is a matter of English pride Marek and I thank you for your observations. The sun does now set on an empire and a legacy that once was. I only hope we helped to make the World a better place. Poland will have their time too.
It's quite simple really Marek, it's all to do with location. I proofread English scientific publications for several Universities and Institutes, and they ask me to proofread in GB English, as we are part of the EU. Occasional I am asked to proofread the publication into US English, but that is more to do with the target reader e.g. an American scientific publisher.
I also work part-time as an English teacher and I never criticize US English as that would be utterly pompous of me to do so.
The important factor to bring to their attention is the differences between the two and in writing you should never mix them.
Please don't think me an ungrateful peasant from the former Colonies! The debt our mother tongue owes to the likes of nearly all of the great literati, from the Great Bard of the Avon onward, Gilbert of Gilbert & Sullivan, Hardy, Joseph Conrad (one of yours, sorry he-he LOL) staight through up to the Beatles and Andrew Lloyd Himself, demonstrate the gratitude English must bestow upon its 'betters'-:)
There is though, the matter of Dickenson, Dunbar, Walt Whitman, Wolfe, Dreiser, Williams, O'Neil, Faulkner and a 'few' others, no measely practictioners of the writer's craft. And NONE from the English Isles, I might add.
Actually, I should think that teaching both might not be an unreasonable compromise, how about you? Are you really going to sit there and tell us that British English is somehow genetically 'superior' to the American dialect?
Oh, really DNZ?? So you're from the camp which says English is better than American, French is head and shoulders above Canadian-French, Austrian is inferior to German from Germany, European Portuguese has it by far over Brazilian etc.. ad nauseum, eh?
Figure you're at least partly kidding, so I won't pursue it. -:) I mean, sure, the Oxford accent of the Gielguds, Evans, Oliviers and so forth is so much more pleasing to the ear than the squawking jumble and whining twang heard throughout much of the States. But for every Yankee Doodle dumbel, for every rube from Rhode Island, there are quite a few cultivated speakers/users of the spoken American language who would take considerable umbrage at being thought less than worthy of propagating their language abroad.
I was actually using English as in the class not the language. So I stand by the fact that I did English in school.
But that's good to know. Plus I will be teaching in UK English. Not because I think American English is inferior, rather that I have been brought up and educated in UK English and so that is the language I speak.
Is there lots of specialised language schools or is it best actually going to schools and asking there?
I am sorry to have to agree with the English members here. American "English" is hard to accept. My partner teaches English and sometimes I overhear her lessons and I cringe, because, I know that she is teaching from books that are Anglo/American, but, as much as we find the Polish language hard to learn, English is more difficult for the Polish to learn.
If an American teaches "English" in Poland, then, the students are going to find this useless when they apply for jobs in the UK. Oral will be understood, written will not be accepted.
"I have been brought up and educated in UK English...."
Cardno 85, if that is the case, then I trust/hope/pray that it was due to a mere slip of the keyboard that you write "Is there... rather than 'Are there.." lots of specialised language schools......? If one of our Polish forum members made such a mistake, I could understand, but a native speaker?
Or is this simply Glaswegian slang in which you've been 'brought up and educated"?? Inquiring minds want to know!!-:)-:) LOL
if somebody is going to the trouble of learning a language, as a teacher the least you can do is teach them language that will be of greatest use to them. in europe this is largely british english. in many other parts of the world it is american.
but when all is said and done, and the arguments of superioity have been exhausted, the english that is spoken most widely around the world is english as a foreign language, with all the nuances that come with it
If one of our Polish forum members made such a mistake, I could understand, but a native speaker?
I realise what I type on here will be more along the lines of slang as it is how I speak in everyday conversation and, as such, forms what I type on a forum. I know how to read, write and speak in proper English if I have to (legal letters, speaking competitions, debates, etc). However, in general everyday conversation I speak in my West End Glasgow twang.
I teach English. I'm an American so of course I don't sound like I'm British, and my students like that since they see so many American films. I know the difference between British and American English. My course books come from the UK so I point out the differences when I find them, though there really aren't that many.
English is spoken in a lot of countries around the world and it's all a little different, but in the end it's still English, and none of them is better than another. But recognizing that British English is more common in Europe, I teach that.
Thread attached on merging: i want to teach english in Poland
my Polish girlfriend and i plan to move to poland some day, i'd like to teach english there as i believe native english speakers are sought after, but does anyone know what qualifications i would need, either to teach in a school or teach privately?
