EFL

[cimorene]

At some point over the course of this Finnish class I formed a long-term career goal without noticing it. I'd like to teach English as a foreign language to adults now. I can't actually remember when I decided that was what I wanted to do anymore, though... also I'm not sure precisely what the qualification for that is like in Finland, but regardless, it doesn't matter too much because I won't be able to do anything in that direction until my Finnish is better. I still don't want to badly enough to move to Vasa. Eugh.

Comments

[eyebrowofdoom]

Huh. Not that this probably helps much, but in Australia, as a native speaker, to get a Teaching English as a Foreign Language certificate is only a short (few months) course at night school.

[cimorene]

Yes, it's always easier in your own country, isn't it? I remember that's the case in the US too, perhaps because it's the dominant language. But of course English is a foreign tongue here and the assumption of the systems in place is that the teachers of foreign languages will not be native speakers of them. In Finland there are occasionally people hired as native speaker teachers of foreign languages without formal qualification in the language in question, but to work in an official kind of school you need a pedagogical degree and usually a master's (but occasionally a bachelor's) in the subject area.

[eyebrowofdoom]

I know a lot of people here who've done it in order to go teach English overseas - in Japan or Italy. Their training provider had an arrangement with the overseas schools to supply graduates for these positions (at cheap wages?). But yeah, pretty sure they were teaching in some sort of adult/young adult private vocational training system rather than the formal education system.