Should I become a teacher?

[marinyork]

Not sure German is that widespread either. I was at a school that it was compulsory to do French and German. In the other schools this was considered completely nuts and nearly every other school did french and spanish with the option to choose. The stats exaggerate German I think in the sense that many schools "go all the way" thinking well if we offer german we might as well promote it heavily at A-level. It might have changed, you'd need to enquire but I doubt that many schools offer german unless they are "locked in".

 

[Cathryn]

So it's all french & spanish?

 

[Carwash]

I think German must vary then - all the schools where I grew up did German (as an option) as well as French (compulsory). Some Spanish too.

 

[marinyork]

If you can speak german and italian well that's not a bad thing. At my school we had a teacher who came along who could teach 5 foreign languages. They only held onto him for a year . It's not all french and spanish I believe there's more foreign languages now since the not so long time since I left school, I'm just saying if you go along with this you need to think about how you're marketing yourself in the early years in terms of which subjects. In later years...

 

[Young Un]

our school does french and german at gcse and i believe rusian at a-level as well as german and french

 

[simoncc]

language teachers are in short supply, so you may get to be more picky about where you end up teaching.

No they aren't. The government now only allows non-EU people to enter the country to teach maths and science. Apart from some parts London and the larger provincial cities, where teachers generally are always in short supply because the schools are so horrible, there isn't really a shortage of language teachers, and in most areas of the country there isn't a shortage of any type of teacher. Primary teachers especially are not in short supply. If anything there is a glut, with many unable to find jobs.

 

[marinyork]

I think German must vary then - all the schools where I grew up did German (as an option) as well as French (compulsory). Some Spanish too.

It clearly does vary if you look overall at the stats, some schools must be putting a lot of pupils forward for German (I just don't know where they are and it's not as widespread as say french). The other thing to bear in mind in this is working out what make up schools without sixth forms teach, as sixth forms are so rare.

 

[Willow]

If your going to be a teacher at a normal school, go for the younger ages. Do not go for secondary at all. It is the worst.
Dont be a supply teacher.
If your going to be a teacher, be a nice teacher, a cool teacher, that doesnt give out homework except for to cycle. If you will be that, then come to my school and teach me

Unlikely to be a need for italian in the younger ages in the uk. You could do some freelance interpreting, if you want to keep those holidays.

 

[Dayvo]

Cathryn!

Taken from this website

http://www.tefl.com/

are dozens of jobs to browse and apply for!

http://www.tefl.com/jobs/results.ht...[jo_category]=0&searchOpts[ec_id]=0&x=31&y=11

The world's your lobster!

 

[Cathryn]

You star! Thanks so much.

 

[Fnaar]

If you want any tefl advice, give us a shout too, I was in the biz for quite a long time ... trained teachers for 13 yrs or so....

 

[Radius]

C'etais mon plaisir!

Sorry, have to point out that it's 3rd person imperfect "C'était" (because the 'était' is referring to the "c'" ('it') not you

- He never taught for the whole hour which was a big plus, because teenagers can only concentrate for like 30 mins without getting bored. So he'd break it up.

There you go.

Yikes, interesting ideas you have. I'm 17 and manage to concentrate for more than 30 mins...?

OP, we need language teachers. I'm studying German and French (and English lit) at A2, and (sent me application today) for German + linguistics at Uni, but only 600 people applied for German at Uni in the UK last year. That's terrible (but possibly good for me at the moment!)
Having the class's respect is the most important thing, because then they will do whatever you want even if it's work.
It seems to be the teachers who have a 'human' side that the students like best. For example, if the teacher is clearly a very different person around their students than at another time, it tends not to work, as neither the teacher nor the students is / are comfortable and everything is a bit on edge...
Not sure about giving time to 'relax' though. Sure, time to discuss things, maybe about the subject, maybe not, but WITH THE TEACHER, NOT just time for doing whatever you want. Having an involvement with the students is crucial; they have to have a relationship with you that extends beyond just being taught and being set homework. If you can be in a situation where there's a mutual respect, you win, and so do they

 

[marinyork]

Sorry, have to point out that it's 3rd person imperfect "C'était" (because the 'était' is referring to the "c'" ('it') not you



Yikes, interesting ideas you have. I'm 17 and manage to concentrate for more than 30 mins...?

OP, we need language teachers. I'm studying German and French (and English lit) at A2, and (sent me application today) for German + linguistics at Uni, but only 600 people applied for German at Uni in the UK last year. That's terrible (but possibly good for me at the moment!)
Having the class's respect is the most important thing, because then they will do whatever you want even if it's work.
It seems to be the teachers who have a 'human' side that the students like best. For example, if the teacher is clearly a very different person around their students than at another time, it tends not to work, as neither the teacher nor the students is / are comfortable and everything is a bit on edge...
Not sure about giving time to 'relax' though. Sure, time to discuss things, maybe about the subject, maybe not, but WITH THE TEACHER, NOT just time for doing whatever you want. Having an involvement with the students is crucial; they have to have a relationship with you that extends beyond just being taught and being set homework. If you can be in a situation where there's a mutual respect, you win, and so do they

Don't complain. At the university I finished at a year ago their German department was what I call a cottage industry department. One of those very, very small and friendly departments, high satisfaction ratings, good student to staff ratio . From a teaching point of view you're likely to get a very good deal compared to some other subjects I could name.

It's rare for many people to be able to concentrate for over 30 minutes. It isn't that noticed at GCSE and A-level as it is "lower" level.

 

[Radius]

That's why I said the bit in brackets...but I still think more people should be forced to do interested in languages though.

 

[marinyork]

I agree. You wouldn't believe one of the lectures one of my housemates who did Education Studies had about foreign languages . Sadly languages suffers from the timetabling problems competing for many other subjects. Once set up I'm sure Cathryn would be very valuable for being able to speak so many languages.