07 July 2016 / by Marjan Van Rij

Can a non-native teach English? No way!

“Where are you from?” is usually one of the first questions I get when I meet students for the first time. I am from the Netherlands (which isn't Holland by the way but that’s a different story). “But English is not the official language of the Netherlands, right?” Yes, that's right. Our official language is Dutch but I speak English as well. Ok...

Is it really that strange that a non-native is teaching English? In public schools it's more or less accepted but outside of it, it's sort of not done. I mean, there are millions of Brits living in Spain so there’s even no need to take classes from a non-native, right? So here I am, Dutch but teaching English. I think opinions differ on this topic but it seems to be coming down to this:

Non-natives don’t speak the way natives do.

In my case, it’s true that I don’t use all the expressions that a native Brit might use, I don’t curse like an American and I don’t have a beautiful accent. However I probably know my own language worse than English because I’ve never studied the rules of Dutch in depth. So I know the rules, I can explain them and I know quite a lot of expressions. Still, I don't sound like a native.

What is this way that natives speak? For me, an American sounds completely different than someone from Wales, which goes as well for a Scottish, a South African or an Indian. This difference is noticeable in many aspects of the language, just listen to this song or look up the word “non-native” on Google. Some will say that it’s “nonnative”, others will say that it’s “non native” and others write it hyphenated like I do, “non-native”. So is there one way to be native? Moreover, does being native make you a good teacher? I’m not sure.

I guess it isn’t that hard to spot a mistake when you listen to an ESL learner speaking. However explaining something completely new for them and learning them how to use it comfortably might be a different story. When I hear my brother correcting his Canadian girlfriend but failing to explain why it’s like that, I feel like it could be exactly that. Teaching is something different than speaking. So can a non-native teach English? I think as long as he or she can teach, yes. And if our students might not know all the hundreds of idioms out there, I still think they’ll manage pretty well abroad.

22

November 2011

Spain election victor Rajoy warns ‘no miracles’

by Radmila Gurkova

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WsUQvKS6x74 Conservatives in Spain are celebrating a landslide victory. Spain's Popular Party leader Mariano Rajoy has told supporters their country's voice must be respected again, after a resounding election win. At the end of a campaign dominated by the debt crisis, the centre right PP secured 186 seats i...

21

November 2011

English tips #9 The tip of the iceberg

by Radmila Gurkova

What does the iceberg expression mean? THE TIP OF THE ICEBERG Example: 'He acknowledges the Occupy Wall Street movement for exposing the inequalities in society, wa...

21

November 2011

Countdown! The famous contest in your topics

by Radmila Gurkova

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTm4riLuEZk Countdown This famous show has been on TV for many years. In 1991, a Spanish version of the show was released, called Cifras y Letras (numbers and letters). The aim of the game is to come up with the longest word possible, using the 9 available l...

21

November 2011

This week in your classes - Raj Rajaratnam jailed for 11 years for insider trading. The famous money scandal turns into a topic in your classes

by Radmila Gurkova

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nAYAnwWsfQ Raj Rajaratnam, a former billionaire described by the government as "the modern face of illegal insider trading" was sentenced Thursday to 11 years in prison, the longest insider trading sentence ever. A former hedge-fund manager has been sentenced to 11 years in jail for one of t...

18

November 2011

English tips #8 - Confusing words ?????

by Radmila Gurkova

LIBRARY/BOOKCASE/BOOKSHOP Library - I went to the library to study. ...

17

November 2011

English tips #7 - What is the difference between i.e. and e.g.?

by Radmila Gurkova

i.e. – that is e.g. – for example examples: i.e. - We will have caramel corn, roasted pumpkin seeds, witches' brew and ghost cookies on this spooky night, i.e., Halloween. e.g...

16

November 2011

English tips #6 - For and to

by Radmila Gurkova

For + Noun To + verb To talk about purpose of an action FOR example: I am going to London for an interview TO example: I have come to Barcelona to see friends ...

16

November 2011

Lesbian actress thrown off plane after kiss

by Radmila Gurkova

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDV9x_B8mmE An actress who starred in "The L Word" has ignited a firestorm after claiming she was marched off a Southwest Airline flight for a lesbian kiss. Leisha Hailey called for a boycott of the carrier after a flight attendant told them that a passen...

15

November 2011

TED Talk-Justin Hall-Tipping: Freeing energy from the grid

by Radmila Gurkova

httpv://youtu.be/rsuB-6-n-MM Why can't we solve these problems? We know what they are. Something always seems to stop us. Why? I remember March the 15th, 2000. The B15 iceberg broke off the Ross Ice Shelf. In the newspaper it said "it was all part of a normal process." A little bit further on in the article it said "a loss that would normall...

15

November 2011

English Tips #5 - Lending / Borrowing

by Radmila Gurkova

Do you know the difference between lend and borrow? Borrow – to take something that belongs to somebody else. Example: Can I borrow your umbrella? ...

Inicio

Contact us

07 July 2016 / by Marjan Van Rij

Can a non-native teach English? No way!

22

21

21

21

18

17

16

16

15

15