My husband and I are both English teachers in Brazil. He is a native speaker and is constantly asking me how I teach or would teach a particular piece of language. He is also often after my ideas 😂😂, not to mention he sometimes doesn’t know some more complicated structures of his own language. He’s a great teacher though and so am I, we just have different skills...
Great comment! I'm married to a native speaker and he asks me for the meaning of many english words. I suppose we Brazilians can help a lot considering there's so much from Latin in English.
Gabriela, can you please give me some advice on finding a job abroad? I've been thinking about Celta, but after some research I got discouraged on trying. I sti want to try it, but as you now Celta os very expensive for us Brazilians and I wonder if it's worth it.
I've been teaching English to the Japanese for the past four years, and I can tell you that I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Kiczkowiak. The problem lies in the education system that produces poorly qualified teachers and puts too much emphasis on the assessment tests (such as Eiken). Students are not trying to learn English, they are only studying to pass an exam which will help them enter a good university later on. Even if a student actually wants to learn the language, they can't get much value from their English teachers (who often teach them incorrect English). That's the tragedy of the Japanese education system, and no number of native speakers will help them solve that problem.
What is considered "correct language" is a matter usage over time. An example would be that "builded" was the correct form of build in the 1800s. The much maligned form "ain't" like "shan't" is actually correct. But it is not used.
Interesting and true 100%. As a native English teacher I undoubtedly have an advantage. Interestingly, I often think about my own experience learning Italian and often use it as a reference for certain issues my Italian students have with their English learning.
I’m an English teacher based in Italy, I’m Italian, and I can confirm from first-hand experience that this prejudice still very much exists. Thank you so much for trying to spread the word with this video! I do agree that apart from general ignorance and preconceptions the school system is the problem too, at least in Italy, where English classes in primary schools are still taught in Italian by public school teachers who are asked to teach a language they don’t know well. Plus, as you said, native speakers are all believed to be C2! Most of my native-speaker colleagues say it would impossible for them to pass Proficiency well with no preparation. We do feel inferior though, because of this pressure, at least some of us do, thanks for trying to cheer us up :)
Just right! A native speaker, if not trained with the proper linguistic education, can simply help you with an additional development of fluency,but only providing that you are already well up on the language.
This is exactly my experience teaching English in Spain. I've devoted most of my English teaching career trying to increase my students' chances of passing many of the official English tests (Cambridge, IELTS, TOEFL....). I always make them aware of the difference between "learning" how to pass a test and really getting fluent and confident in the use of a language. Since I'm a native Spanish speaker myself, for me it's much easier to predict exactly where their problems will be, in comparison to an English native speaker, with impeccable pronunciation, but less than desirable knowledge of Spanish and its quirks. Yes, my pronunciation will never be as native-like as people who grew up speaking English, but it's nearly damn close, and because for many years, I've had to put in the work to master it and recognize phonemes and sounds that are never used in Spanish, I'm in a much better position to help my students make that leap into "enlightenment" since I truly know in my gut what they're going through. So fellow non-native English teachers around the world, stay proud and claim the status you deserve. There are awesome teachers, and terrible teachers. Being native or non-native has pretty much nothing to do with it.
One can learn a language from any qualified teacher native or not. However, at an advanced level, a qualified non-native speaker cannot compare to a non-native speaker. At an advanced level, it becomes more than just the language but it becomes about the culture.
@@ericlind6581it depends on the kind of English one is willing to learn. If you want to become proficient in International English, then there is no need to learn a variety that is culturally bound to a place or a specific group of native speakers.
Kiczkowiak is full of good arguments. This debate is just amazing and I was delighted to watch it. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a student who thought native English teachers were better until I saw this video. I take my hat off to him.
I have taught beginner French to Elementary & Middle School students for many years. The students love the fact that I've had struggles & also that I understand where their potential areas of difficulty may be. I can understand & explain certain things that a francophone would never understand...ask any native-speaker of any language that has gender/neuter how to figure out the masculine or feminine and you get blank looks and they "just know" - they have absolutely no idea how to help someone learn this concept...I can offer insight that a native-speaker doesn't necessarily have. (***I am just speaking from my experience & I specialize in teaching beginners as well...I would not be the right teacher for more advanced students...)
@@antonellahuron496 That's the position of a honest, responsible and truly educated person! Only a non-educated, seeking for cheap and quick prestige and profits, can boo the principles of professional work.
I agree with you. Starting from the student's output is more relevant. How English native speaker would understand why French learners cope with accent issues and vocabulary proficiency specific to French people. French try to get words with sound but many native have bad pronouncing. So how to get it? Guessing. How to guess? More words. Vocabulary limitation with French? They rely too much on French words that pop up in English. For every French word they use in English they should try to look for the very same word that was there before William the Normand introduced in the British Kingdom. Example: perks and downside for advantage. Middle for center. And so on.
Marek Kiczkowiak was great. Very Knowledegable. it's no wonder to me; he's dedicated his life to languages. Thank you for the Interview Canguro Jack your are doing amazing having all of these all-star guests.
I have always looked for a native teacher of my target language, but this may change after watching this youtube blog. My English is good enough for what I need to do. I follow “Canguro English”, and even though I am not interested in studying English. I follow his youtube blogs, just because I enjoy what he says and his post have interesting content about learning languages in general: he cites journal articles about language learning and he interviews people on the topic. His approach to learning languages makes a lot of sense after I listen to him. I just watched his video published on September 4th, and he touches on a very interesting topic: non-native English teachers.
This guy is absolutely right about everything that we not native speakers teachers face when we try to get a job abroad, South Spain in particular is exactly like that, the natives here are very strict that they want a native English teacher, even if they don't know the basic English knowledge to judge a teacher if they hear one. Very frustrating, 👍👍👍great video 👏👏👏👏
Greetings from Vietnam. I've always felt so insecure teaching a language that is not my own, and this video blew my mind. Thank you for shedding the light on the matter.
How did I miss this? :) By the way, the Czech teacher Marek talks about in the interview is probably me. I took one of Marek's courses and it helped me land an English teaching job in a language school in London, which was a massive moment in my careeer. But yeah, he is absolutely right. I still have my insecurities, but at least now I know it's possible and people like Marek have really helped me realize my strengths as a non-native English teacher and boosted my confidence big time.
Great interview - as a native teacher I want to be hired on the basis of my teaching qualifications and exp and not just because i'm a native. I worked hard to finish my degree, complete the CELTA course and build up my work exp
Very nice explanation. Not only does it bring a lot of important facts on teaching English, but also inspires non-native teachers to keep on going. Thanks for that!!
10:42 ...this is a very important question for self *WHO DO YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH ?* Family ? Friend ? Business? School ? work ? community ? or some of the above or all of them???
I agree with the speaker. I Very few native speakers are fluent in a foreign language. We, are good examples for our students!! We have gone through difficult exams and we can inspire our students!!I had students who came to me after native speakers! They could compare us and saw everything very well!
What a lovely talk, very good. I am a colombian teacher living in Ireland, I had to stop teaching here, since I am not native (my accent is quite good, since I was raised in Illinois), I have a BA in TEFL, an MA in Higher Education, an MA in Applied Linguistics to TEFL, Im doing a Phd in complex thinking, I also have C1 certificates, the TEFL Diploma, the TKT certificates, other stuff and about 11 years of experience. Although, it seems like all you need to teach is a 6 months TEFL diploma and an English Speaking passport. At the moment, I can only teach through my social media (tiktok, instagram, facebook and youtube), or online in colombian academies, while putting up with racist comments because I shouldn't be teaching for not being a native speaker. I had to get used to my new social care worker role! All the best.
Thanks Christian for opening up a new "world" to me. I'm from Italy and I'm a teacher of English in intermediate courses. I'm certainly going to use some of the interesting tips this site suggests. Your advices for teachers are great! Best channel
This is exactly what I explained to my new learners yesterday as they were quite confused about me being French and teaching English :) I really love your channel and your ideas Christian, thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us, it helps a lot to gain some more self-confidence as a non native speaker and teacher :)
I totally agree 100% with everything Marek said ! As a NN English teacher and employer I ‘ been in constant seek of recognition and approval on my language and teaching skills ! That ‘s why most of 50% of my teachers at school are NN and those who are , have been perfectly qualified before working with me . Hopefully teachers equity is a reality in the future . Thanks for this talk! Really necessary !!
As a teacher, I have a diverse experience in learning English, French, Chinese, German. It is not only about exercise in learning, but it is the broad scale of grammar and logic of the language: analytical, synthetic and isolated type of grammar, an idea of 1 morpheme for several concepts or multiple word forms for 1 concept. I have a bunch of experience in comparing and explaining logic and grammar of different language. I believe that my pros are perfect for people who are interested in languages, as I can always provide examples and explanations that will fit student's background knowledge. So, learning with a native is a good fit if it is in the form of speaking club, yet I would probably choose a non-native for a language I am not yet proficient in.
Christian your work is always amazing. Thanks for all the effort you do for helping us learning English. I completely agree with that you don't need to be a native English speaker to teach English but if a native English speaker learns the rules, learns grammar and learns how to teach he will always teach English better than a non-native English teacher. That's my view, I might be wrong, but I've been taught by both and that's my conclusion. By the way, this September I will start a new English course B2.1. Kind regards from Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Emilio Martín ..but there is huge “IF” native speaker learns the rules and grammar...of course there’s advantage in it but again, non- native speaker with extraordinary desire to learn and expend vocabulary can be at the same level if not higher..from my perspective, I’ve been living in USA for awhile and native speakers are not really keen to immerse and work on enhancing their vocabulary..they know what they know and they stick to it..
It's a very interesting interview. For me, everything that was said is 100% true. IMO the most important is a fact that a proffessional non native English teacher had to come through all those processes of learning which their students have to come through and they know how to help them to make it. And if someone feels concerned about all those nuances the native English speakers know I bet that a native speaker from Texas doesn't undrestand what Cockney from London says. :)
Hi. I'm really glad that I found this video. It is a very inspirational video for me. I can't remind myself when I watched something insightful. I started job as an English teacher and I really want to develop myself for me and my students. Thanks for sharing Canguro English, your interviews are great!!!
Thanks for bringing these stuff to the table as always you shock us with incredible amazing ideas, you and some teachers will make a difference in languages teaching thanks
I completely agree. Non English native teachers have other advantages , for example, we know what it is like to learn English being Spanish so we are a huge help to Spanish students of English as we can understand our sts' problems as we have been through the same process. Moreover chances are that when our sts have to use English most of the people might be non native speakers because English is a GLOBAL language therefore it is better to be used to all kinds of accents. Excellent video
Being a native speaker would be a good starting point when looking for a teacher. I think we could agree that for every non-native speaking teacher there is an equally skilled native speaking teacher. Therefore, if I had the option, I would choose the latter to also benefit from their better understanding of the language and it's details.
@@ellen_draven wait a minute that's a good point actually. I think they mentioned something similar that I missed. That you also want a teacher that besides knowning a language to assist you in your very first steps, you want them to have the experience of learning another language. That could make them a better teacher than a skilled native speaker. It's complicated and at the end of the day most of the process is about the student, not the teacher, but very good point.
Dear Christin, you do such a good job creating your videos. I really appreciate them. They help me to set my mind set :o) I believe in a good way. Thank you very much. Please continue.
Fascinating concepts. This reminds me of two former professors I had. One taught German as a bilingual approach and the other taught Spanish as a bilingual approach. Both did agree one several points about language learning. If you want to improve your native language skills in English, than learn another language. While living in Germany some years ago and attending a Goethe Institute certified German Language Teaching School, all of the students were from other countries and were there to learn the German Language. So to learn the German Language you more often than not needed a bi-lingual dictionary. Also available to some students, were the English Language classes, being also bi-lingually taught, from German to English. Now the English Language being used was the "Queen's English. The books being used were the Langensheid Series, throughout the school. So If you were learning German as a second language, one used this publisher. If you were a German Language student learning English, you would also use this publisher. I was curious how the books and instructional materials were put together. The teachers at the school for teaching English were all non native speakers. Rather they were German Teachers who had a highly skilled ability to be a teacher and who had learned the English Language very well. Of course many of the idiomatic expressions and the way many words were spelled were the UK's version rather than the North American versions of Canada or the USA. So a few times I did have the opportunity to sit through these classes of students learning English. I was fascinated by the process. This was about 20 years ago. I am in agreement with all of your premisses on teaching language skills of a foreign language to a student. Why did I want to improve my German Language skills? It was for the usages of reading the texts and journal articles of the Natural Sciences to earn my advanced degrees. Then also to be able to use those language skills to learn more about all other kinds of activities and knowledge bases one can only learn, by knowing another language. For instance, knowing German makes learning Danish much easier. Being able to travel throughout 4 other European countries with ease is a huge bonus.
My simple answer is that if you are native you make it better because of that is your product and something special for you and for your culture. Like French wine and Dutch cheese ) but l tasted excellent wines in Georgia) l think you got my point! Regards
Hello Have you ever eaten any French cheese ? Because, I think that France is not only famous for its wines, but also for its cheeses..and the list isn't exhaustive. 🙂
Brigitte saint-pé oh Yeah you are right l once tasted French cheese ! What l was trying to say here somewhere else they can make same cheese ofcourse the taste can’t be ideal.
@@asimustun7332 🙂 Yes. Currently, Japanese are making " Camembert" and US champagne. I haven't tasted either of them. But, from what I read on many forums, they have nothing to do with autentic French products. But, it does not sit very well to compare a teacher to a camembert. 🙂
Great interview! full of real information. Being an English teacher is not based on your citizenship or as a native speaker, but on your ability to understand your students as a non-native english speakers also. Therefore, as a non nnative english teacher, u know how to adjust your level of teachings and what understand your students' needs. I couldn' t count how many locals i met here in US, who have bad english grammars and compositions.
Thanks for sharing these ideas! I'm an English teacher from Argentina and I've felt a bit downgraded in front of native teachers, but this interview changed my viewpoint. Thanks a lot! And for sure La Casa de Papel is not easy to follow. I had to get used to its way of speaking too and then I enjoyed the Spanish modisms I learned!!
Now at our days we have a lot of tools to learn english. Sometimes find someone that explains something in your language, and in the sense and differences between the language that you speak and the language that you want to learn. But hearing an native english speaker daily, have an subconscious influence. I realize that suddenly I'm talking like an educated Australian. Ha ha ha.
This is great and it needs to be exposed to all the English learners. I have met pretty good non native English teachers who have been able to get their objective across in a classroom way better than a native speaker. Why is this? As you have mentioned, just because you are native, it does not make you an English teacher. I'm an English teacher myself and many of my students have had many native teachers and they end up leaving their class because the native speaker was not able to teach. Great discussion!! definitely need to break through this obsession.
Native speakers are generally more effective teachers at an advanced level, whilst non-native English-speaking teachers are more effective at a preliminary level. Non-native teachers will better understand the challenges that come with learning English, be it grammatical or structural differences, whereas native speakers will have a much more comprehensive understanding of the subtleties in pronunciation as well as idioms and cultural references in conversations.
Not true. The local native teachers are better (even at local expressions) only if there are no other better local teachers. If I wanted to understand advanced grammar points, or even Limerick jargon, I would rather ask a whatever L1 polyglot who would enter my brain better and sprinkle it with retention hooks (crossreferencing meta infos such as calks, context and congnates).
@@liborsupcik7195 I guess that's your personal choice. To be honest, receiving a mixed education from both native and non-native teachers would be the best way to go as they both offer unique and equally valuable perspectives. Regardless of what you say, native speakers can offer information that non-natives cannot (accent/pronunciation, unique regional slang, cultural subtleties), just as non-native speakers can offer information that native speakers cannot (better ability to explain L2 in relation to learner's L1, better knowledge of learner's L1). Receiving teaching from only one side is certainly disadvantageous to the learner as they will miss out on a lot of useful points.
I had classes with a native speaker teachers 20 years ago at school, still I got pretty good pronunciation. Which I am very happy to use in a daily business.
Countries such as Japan Indonesia south Korea China are to blame for that. They are only ask for English or Americans not even Irish or Scottish. That's racist. Plus you need to find out the difference between accent with pronunciation. You will always have an accent 😉 lol
it is true, I learned the majority of vocabulary from non native English speakers and I think they are good speaker because they look up the new words, word form ...etc
What about pronunciation? Maybe that's one of the strongest argument for students to choose a native language professor. By the way, thank you for the very interesting interview You provided.
First grammer and understanding, later u can take a native language teacher for a pronunciation. Or watching films in English and try to talk the same way. 30 years ago it was hard to find smth to watch and hear in english. Now only a very lazy person will not find a way to learn english well.
@@gibigibi01 Yes now they weren't specific about whether the hypothetical student is basic level or advanced, but I don't think that basing only on movies or videos the pronounciation can improve much. Of course You can repeat, but it's not the same thing as having someone there correcting you and making you understand what's wrong. Maybe not with advanced students, but for basic and middle level ones that can be really helpful. Passive and active learning is different. Undoubtedly also non-native teachers can have great pronunciation, but that's the first thing that maybe students could be worried about.
@@gibigibi01 Anyway, I was only playing the Devil's advocate, because I agreed with this interview and I wouldn't "discriminate" a non-native teacher, especially because as Marek said, they went through the exams themselves, so they know what we can struggle about.
Interesting subject, and I agree with most of what was said. I do however have a problem with the point made about "crap teachers" in public schools. I am a native English speaking teacher in University in France and I have a lot of students who have quite good grammatical skills, but are "crap" at speaking. And I don't think this is because of bad teachers, I believe it's a problem of class sizes in public schools. Even the most brilliant teacher would find it almost impossible to help 30+ students in a class to practice their speaking. How in the world can you expect any teacher to communicate and pass on information especially in a language class with over 30 students? I think this is the real reason some adults say they wished they had a native speaker. But native speaker or not, a group of 30+ students is not an easy thing to manage.
I think that's a really great point. We should also be talking about 'crap working environments' that a lot of teachers have to tolerate. That's something we definitely need to fix!
I´m an Argetinian English teacher, giving the first steps in teaching online. I admit I really felt so discouraged when I saw the huge demand of native teachers .... No doubt, they´re overvalued. I totally agree with Christian´s and Marek point of view.. I just didnt know was feeling inferior for no real reason! Thanks so much, Christian, for bringing up this topic.! Now I´m empowered and proud of being a passionate non-native speaker teacher again. Thank you. :-)
As an English speaker learning Spanish in Spain, I notice through intercambio that Argentinian English teachers tend to speak English rather well on average :) Personally I am getting asked to teach English online many times a day online, but the first thing I say is I am NOT a teacher. Talking to my Spanish teachers who also teach English, there are students who actually prefer a non-native teacher who can communicate very well in the maternal language.
@@RobBCactive Thank you for your encouragement. I also think that not being a native speaker of English has some advantages for students but I´m finding it hard to find a site willing to hire a Spanish-speaking teacher. I´ve started considering teaching Spanish (even though I´m an English teacher, in fact) to be able to get a job on the web.
@@sandravillecco3268 Italki allows non-native speakers, I don't know about Camberly, so you can I believe join as a professional English teacher based on your qualifications, but also offer Spanish and Argentine-Spanish. They can set different rates, but if you are offering to teach a language, you must speak it in your introduction video. But lets be realistic, many people take lessons locally with non-native teachers in schools and they're willing to pay online to add the experience of talking with native speakers. This happens in the Palma Intercambio group too, an Australian woman who speaks English almost exactly like I do tends to be ignored through fear and uncertainty; I have learnt what they want to hear when asking where I am from, which is not the simple question most people imagine anymore. The lesson cost, especially when starting on a site matters too! Astute teachers ensure clear sound and net quality, where Skype has issues Zoom Meeting often helps; then once they have built a reputation and wish to reduce demand, they can increase prices. Quite often I take conversation hours at a low rate with a teacher, but who has no lesson preparation and simply chats. That's probably not the strength of a non-native teacher, but this video suggests marketing strategy for English; whereas with Spanish you might start by just offering Spanish Conversation as a tutor. I have done intercambio with teachers who teach Spanish to Spanish children, but the problems are different as their skills are teaching writing really.
@@RobBCactive Lo mismo me comentaron justo el otro día..debe ser uno de los pocos sitios que valoran profesores no-nativos. Gracias por pasarme el dato. Así y todo si se compara la cantidad de alumnos que toman clase con ellos, vemos que es inferior a la de los profes nativos... Habrá que hacer el camino...se siente medio extraño esto de estar nuevamente en el primer peldaño de la escalera, después de tantos años dando clase..pero bueno, hay que animarse y tomar el desafío. I´ve answered in Spanish as you ´ve mentioned you´re learning it. I dont know your level but I guess that if you´re part of an Exchange group you must have an intermediate level or a higher one. If not, sorry. :-) ¿Cómo te resulta la experiencia de aprender español?
As for schools (if we talk about post-soviet countries), they don't speak English after 10 years at school because there is a large group of kids that are not separated into smaller groups, so that they don't have enough time for speaking practice. Chinese education is also based on a large group of kids about 60 people, so naturally in such large groups kids continue communicating in their local language. So, governmental schools are not in the equation)
Sometimes teachers are good, but many students of public schools don’t have interest in learning languages. They see languages as just a school subject. Although you try to motivate them, not always you achieve a good result. Private schools are different and students who dedicate themselves as well. We try practical and inovative methods but depends on the students interests. Many of them come from disfunctional backgrounds or lack references, they feel forced to study, don’t do this for pleasure or to prepare themselves for a better future. It’s so sad, but It’s the reality of many young students. It’s not easy to teach a class with 30 or 40 students in public schools.
Hi There This guy has many really persuasive thinking. First at all, It's totally true that, as an former English learner, he perfectly knows all the difficulties students are able to meet , cope and overcome . Secondly, it's also true that people who learned English with non-native English speakers in 1970' French school like me, prefer native speakers to teach us English. However ,I wonder why English training was so bad in 1970' 1980 1990 in France. I am not sure that the bad teaching comes from the inability of teachers but from the severe rules they had to obey. Thirdly, I think he is right when he says that knowing the little particularities that just an English native speaker can pass on ,doesn't bring us any advantage when we talk to non- native speakers. Finally, this guy convinced me. Hats off.
@@Canguroenglish He brings up ideas that I have never thought before. And he has such evident solutions. He probably had to face so many difficulties to prove he was as good as native speakers in order to be hired . One day, through his own experience, glaring facts jumped out to him .
I went to the site .. there is a 30 euro Teflequity course offer = a new niche, like the Neurolanguage coaching. Anyhow AI is imho ready to put these innovations to sleep. Like a voiceover app that would amplify your speak and dub it in your preferred (lady from Belfast) voice. I would teach so despite the fact that the pupils will never meet her accent peer.
I'm a student of English at a Polish university and one student in our group was from England. Apart from being very fluent, he knew almost nothing about grammar and other technical issues of the language and didn't have good marks. Mr. Kiczkowiak is right, but nevertheless I think every professional language school/department needs a native speaker or two :)
While native speakers do have certain advantages, particularly in pronunciation and accent, it's important to note that being a proficient language teacher isn't limited to them. Instead of focusing on a competition between non-native and native speakers, we should acknowledge that it's unfair to discriminate against non-native language teachers
Great video. I think they have advantages Andrés disadvantages. Pronunciation And accent is very important yo me. But the nonnativd knows the way yo lean the language, which is important too
There are two more problems: the teaching system in Spain (covering certain contents but not really because students just promote to the following level anyway) and the lack of teaching training. I've never been taught how to teach my students. I know how they learn, but I have copied the way I was taught... Very scientific!
I am from a Chinese background. I believe that it might be easier for non-native teachers to guide students in the early stages for crossing the river. Once at advanced or intermediate levels, students trust native teachers more. At least native teachers pronunciation sounds more genuine.
… and the Spanish expressions depends on where you live, South America's expressions are kind of different from Spain and also from their own countries.
I'm a little confused (perhaps I misunderstood), for a long time I had learned from Christian that we didn't need a teacher to learn a language, but now apparently we need a good teacher to learn a language, even if they are not native English speakers ... until now, I believed that languages can´t be taught, they can only be learned.. but from tomorrow I'll look for a non- native English teacher. 🤔
Well, I believe that what he means is that the teacher is there to guide and mentor a student. However, it's the student's responsibility to make the effort to learn. As an example I can spend hours explaining what you need to do to drive a car, but unless you actually start driving it yourself, you will never learn.
I agree with the sentiment that a good teacher can absolutely be an English as a second language speaker. But I disagree with a lot of things this guy says (like if you want to move to Sydney you will need someone familiar with our 'dialect') standard Australian English is doesn't really deviate so much from standard British or American, the accent of some users may be a little difficult at first but not everybody). A good teacher doesn't need to have 'qualifications' because most teacher training programs teach people to use traditional grammar based approaches rather than actual effective things like TPRS or the Natural Approach. I agree that a good teacher should have had a crack at learning a foreign language themselves. He seems like he has a lot of experience preparing people for exams. But yes, in my opinion a good language teacher is more like a good coach who will guide you through the language, but if you can find the right technique (lots of comprehensible input) and motivate yourself, then you're set, no, you do not need a teacher.
A friend of mine who grew up in the Usa, has worked as a teacher in an English Course School. After a TOIEC exam, I have gotten a grade higher than him. And most of the students claims he doesn't know how to explain grammar. It doesn't matter if u are native at all, but how able you are in teaching. I think so.
CORRECTION: A friend of mine who grew up in the US, worked at a school teaching English. After taking the TOIEC exam, I recieved a grade higher than him. Many of the students claim that he is unable to explain the grammar. It doesn't matter if you're a native speaker or not, but how proficient and skilled you are at teaching English. FYI: I'm an American, native speaker! Teaching English should be reserved for native speakers only, especially online.
@@lisagrl89m.67 He is still working there. Not an ended action. I don't agree with u. There are many awesome teachers who are not natives. It is the same of speaking that every native speakers has proficience in teaching.
@@denisewizard5572 Listening to North American articulation is much clearer, especially those of us who have a crisp pronunciation of words. Foreign accents speaking English is a bit muddled, but as teacher assistants I think they'd be fine. On another note: Alot of Americans speak awful English, even those with bachelor's degrees.
@@lisagrl89m.67 One day at college, a professor told me that accent should not be the main concern when we speak in English. On the other hand, the way the words are pronounced is, indeed what counts. Although my husband has accent from his hometown (he is from another nationality), he also pronounces my language very well. But it is not his! It is a long topic for debate. I really aprecciated our interection.
@@denisewizard5572 Yes I understand when speaking a language the accent is of no concern, but the dialect and pronunciation when teaching is of importance! North American, native English dialect, is the best worldwide when teaching English. There's no comparison.
As foreign language learners, most of us will be thrilled more to imitate the original tongue. We are ready to go up to any extent to catch it up that attractive state. Then we will keep a false pride up on it too as the standard users of it and looking peevishly at its other users as the low-standard users. This mindset invites the big business into teaching a foreign language. Here, the native teachers are treated as a special avatar in this lucrative business. Non-native teachers are considered inferior in this business spectrum, how they are sound in the systems of that foreign tongue. To me, they are better teachers than the natives. Because these non-native teachers have acquired this new tongue with lots of effort. By which, they know the struggles and pitfalls of that second language acquisition that their learners will be going through during learning. They can suggest the right solutions to their struggles in this assimilation at ease. They can easily connect to their learners too. If the native user is a teacher, I can recommend, only when he or she should have already acquired at least the working knowledge of his or her learners' language. It is a give-and-take process.
Here, in Spain the government doesn't need to import native speakers to teach English, because they come by themselves. Here, specially in "Levante", the mediterranean seaside, a lot of of english people is settled. They come here following the sun, the warm sea, the low prices, the good food. I can say that I like them very much, they are so funny and friendly. And of course a good number of them are teaching English! Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree about what you are telling us, this is only a comment that I want to share. ;) Thumbs up!
Hoy en español: he tenido esta misma conversación un montón de veces con los dueños de las escuelas de ingles donde he estudiado. Y estoy tan de acuerdo con vosotros...
I think a lot of people are missing the point. Yes, when choosing between a non-qualified native teacher and a highly qualified non-native, of course I'm going to choose the latter (be it English or any other language they're teaching). But when comparing two qualified teachers, then I wouldn't hesitate to go for the native one, especially at an earlier stage. Lots of non-native teachers just try too freaking hard to speak correctly or to use as many sayings and expressions as they possibly can, and sometimes they actually think it sounds natural, but the truth is many of them don't actually know what natural feels like, which is what natives can bring to the table, other than just linguistic skills, there's a certain instinct to speaking a language from a very early stage in your life. Just take a look at all the internet teachers (even those with claimed qualifications) they get corrected on a regular basis and although they might have very good teaching methods, they're still making a lot of mistakes that are probably going to hurt the students more than it's going to help them. Same with the accent, it's inevitably going to fluctuate in non-natives much more so than in natives.
I honestly feel like a horrible person.. when I LEARN a language I will only learn from natives.. But at the same time I am a tutor for English and Korean - though I'm German and only learned these other two languages as a Teenager. So contradictive haha
This is present not only in English teaching, but ANY language teaching, from Spanish to German. I understand the TEFL Equity perspective to an extent, but as someone who works in areas where there’s demand for native speakers (communications and TEFL) I see a big difference in the outputs of native and non-native speakers-that attention to detail and understanding of English at a native level is absolutely crucial, and absolutely not exclusive to “highly educated” English speakers (that’s a weird take, and I’ve never met ANY native Spanish speakers who need subtitles for Casa de Papel). I am also in Spain and many of my students come to me because they are extremely unsatisfied with their school-based instruction. The commonality is that ALL of these teachers are non-native, unfortunately.
Apart from being proficient in his own language a native teacher has to be fluent in another language to understand not only how to teach a language, but also how to learn another language to be able to relate to a student.
Teaching English online should be for native speakers. Non natives are trying to do it solely for the purpose that they don't have much opportunity for work in their own country.
My husband and I are both English teachers in Brazil. He is a native speaker and is constantly asking me how I teach or would teach a particular piece of language. He is also often after my ideas 😂😂, not to mention he sometimes doesn’t know some more complicated structures of his own language. He’s a great teacher though and so am I, we just have different skills...
I really wonder,l am a non-native english spraker and l want to be an english teacher in abroad.can you tell me which path should l follow?
Great comment! I'm married to a native speaker and he asks me for the meaning of many english words. I suppose we Brazilians can help a lot considering there's so much from Latin in English.
Gabriela, can you please give me some advice on finding a job abroad? I've been thinking about Celta, but after some research I got discouraged on trying. I sti want to try it, but as you now Celta os very expensive for us Brazilians and I wonder if it's worth it.
Have your husband graduated English philology and methodology of teaching it? Do I properly understand that he is an English?
Sorry: HAS your husband graduated... - a misprint :-))
I absolutely loved this video! As a non-native teacher of EFL I admit that I often feel insecure.
I would say....forget the native speaker....as I have seen many teachers, in Mexico that were not native, and they did fine...
I've been teaching English to the Japanese for the past four years, and I can tell you that I wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Kiczkowiak.
The problem lies in the education system that produces poorly qualified teachers and puts too much emphasis on the assessment tests (such as Eiken). Students are not trying to learn English, they are only studying to pass an exam which will help them enter a good university later on. Even if a student actually wants to learn the language, they can't get much value from their English teachers (who often teach them incorrect English).
That's the tragedy of the Japanese education system, and no number of native speakers will help them solve that problem.
What is considered "correct language" is a matter usage over time. An example would be that "builded" was the correct form of build in the 1800s. The much maligned form "ain't" like "shan't" is actually correct. But it is not used.
Interesting and true 100%. As a native English teacher I undoubtedly have an advantage. Interestingly, I often think about my own experience learning Italian and often use it as a reference for certain issues my Italian students have with their English learning.
I believe you both are excellent English teachers
I’m an English teacher based in Italy, I’m Italian, and I can confirm from first-hand experience that this prejudice still very much exists. Thank you so much for trying to spread the word with this video! I do agree that apart from general ignorance and preconceptions the school system is the problem too, at least in Italy, where English classes in primary schools are still taught in Italian by public school teachers who are asked to teach a language they don’t know well. Plus, as you said, native speakers are all believed to be C2! Most of my native-speaker colleagues say it would impossible for them to pass Proficiency well with no preparation. We do feel inferior though, because of this pressure, at least some of us do, thanks for trying to cheer us up :)
I couldn't agree more.
Just right! A native speaker, if not trained with the proper linguistic education, can simply help you with an additional development of fluency,but only providing that you are already well up on the language.
This is exactly my experience teaching English in Spain. I've devoted most of my English teaching career trying to increase my students' chances of passing many of the official English tests (Cambridge, IELTS, TOEFL....). I always make them aware of the difference between "learning" how to pass a test and really getting fluent and confident in the use of a language. Since I'm a native Spanish speaker myself, for me it's much easier to predict exactly where their problems will be, in comparison to an English native speaker, with impeccable pronunciation, but less than desirable knowledge of Spanish and its quirks. Yes, my pronunciation will never be as native-like as people who grew up speaking English, but it's nearly damn close, and because for many years, I've had to put in the work to master it and recognize phonemes and sounds that are never used in Spanish, I'm in a much better position to help my students make that leap into "enlightenment" since I truly know in my gut what they're going through. So fellow non-native English teachers around the world, stay proud and claim the status you deserve. There are awesome teachers, and terrible teachers. Being native or non-native has pretty much nothing to do with it.
One can learn a language from any qualified teacher native or not. However, at an advanced level, a qualified non-native speaker cannot compare to a non-native speaker. At an advanced level, it becomes more than just the language but it becomes about the culture.
@@ericlind6581it depends on the kind of English one is willing to learn. If you want to become proficient in International English, then there is no need to learn a variety that is culturally bound to a place or a specific group of native speakers.
Kiczkowiak is full of good arguments. This debate is just amazing and I was delighted to watch it. I'm not a teacher, I'm just a student who thought native English teachers were better until I saw this video. I take my hat off to him.
I have taught beginner French to Elementary & Middle School students for many years. The students love the fact that I've had struggles & also that I understand where their potential areas of difficulty may be. I can understand & explain certain things that a francophone would never understand...ask any native-speaker of any language that has gender/neuter how to figure out the masculine or feminine and you get blank looks and they "just know" - they have absolutely no idea how to help someone learn this concept...I can offer insight that a native-speaker doesn't necessarily have. (***I am just speaking from my experience & I specialize in teaching beginners as well...I would not be the right teacher for more advanced students...)
@@antonellahuron496 That's the position of a honest, responsible and truly educated person! Only a non-educated, seeking for cheap and quick prestige and profits, can boo the principles of professional work.
👌👌👌👍👍👍
@Sarah-Beth Hogg 👌👌👌👍👍👍
I agree with you. Starting from the student's output is more relevant.
How English native speaker would understand why French learners cope with accent issues and vocabulary proficiency specific to French people.
French try to get words with sound but many native have bad pronouncing. So how to get it? Guessing. How to guess? More words.
Vocabulary limitation with French? They rely too much on French words that pop up in English. For every French word they use in English they should try to look for the very same word that was there before William the Normand introduced in the British Kingdom.
Example: perks and downside for advantage.
Middle for center. And so on.
Marek Kiczkowiak was great. Very Knowledegable. it's no wonder to me; he's dedicated his life to languages.
Thank you for the Interview Canguro Jack your are doing amazing having all of these all-star guests.
I am grateful towards both of you for being honest and measuring the aptitute of the teachers in the right way. I wish every employer was like you
Me too!
I have always looked for a native teacher of my target language, but this may change after watching this youtube blog.
My English is good enough for what I need to do. I follow “Canguro English”, and even though I am not interested in studying English. I follow his youtube blogs, just because I enjoy what he says and his post have interesting content about learning languages in general: he cites journal articles about language learning and he interviews people on the topic. His approach to learning languages makes a lot of sense after I listen to him.
I just watched his video published on September 4th, and he touches on a very interesting topic: non-native English teachers.
As an English teacher, I'm delighted listening to you guys debating it so natural and solid, thanks a lot!
Marek is definitely an inspiration to many teachers
Thank you! I am dealing with lack of confidence as well as a non-native English teacher
This guy is absolutely right about everything that we not native speakers teachers face when we try to get a job abroad, South Spain in particular is exactly like that, the natives here are very strict that they want a native English teacher, even if they don't know the basic English knowledge to judge a teacher if they hear one. Very frustrating, 👍👍👍great video 👏👏👏👏
Greetings from Vietnam. I've always felt so insecure teaching a language that is not my own, and this video blew my mind. Thank you for shedding the light on the matter.
How did I miss this? :) By the way, the Czech teacher Marek talks about in the interview is probably me. I took one of Marek's courses and it helped me land an English teaching job in a language school in London, which was a massive moment in my careeer. But yeah, he is absolutely right. I still have my insecurities, but at least now I know it's possible and people like Marek have really helped me realize my strengths as a non-native English teacher and boosted my confidence big time.
Great interview - as a native teacher I want to be hired on the basis of my teaching qualifications and exp and not just because i'm a native. I worked hard to finish my degree, complete the CELTA course and build up my work exp
He’s awesome! He helps us a lot as NNSET here in Brazil. 👍🏻
Very nice explanation. Not only does it bring a lot of important facts on teaching English, but also inspires non-native teachers to keep on going. Thanks for that!!
100% I agree!!!!! Thank you so much 👍
Canguro English is the best, thanks😊👍🙌
Thank you, Christian. This is very motivational for us, non-natives, who struggle to find a way into the market.
i have been teaching english for 30 years and I am not a native speaker . I love what I do and I try to improve every day. Thanks for the video.
10:42 ...this is a very important question for self
*WHO DO YOU WANT TO COMMUNICATE WITH ?*
Family ? Friend ? Business? School ? work ? community ? or some of the above or all of them???
I agree with the speaker. I Very few native speakers are fluent in a foreign language. We, are good examples for our students!! We have gone through difficult exams and we can inspire our students!!I had students who came to me after native speakers! They could compare us and saw everything very well!
What a lovely talk, very good. I am a colombian teacher living in Ireland, I had to stop teaching here, since I am not native (my accent is quite good, since I was raised in Illinois), I have a BA in TEFL, an MA in Higher Education, an MA in Applied Linguistics to TEFL, Im doing a Phd in complex thinking, I also have C1 certificates, the TEFL Diploma, the TKT certificates, other stuff and about 11 years of experience. Although, it seems like all you need to teach is a 6 months TEFL diploma and an English Speaking passport.
At the moment, I can only teach through my social media (tiktok, instagram, facebook and youtube), or online in colombian academies, while putting up with racist comments because I shouldn't be teaching for not being a native speaker.
I had to get used to my new social care worker role!
All the best.
Thanks Christian for opening up a new "world" to me. I'm from Italy and I'm a teacher of English in intermediate courses. I'm certainly going to use some of the interesting tips this site suggests. Your advices for teachers are great! Best channel
This is exactly what I explained to my new learners yesterday as they were quite confused about me being French and teaching English :)
I really love your channel and your ideas Christian, thanks a lot for sharing your experience with us, it helps a lot to gain some more self-confidence as a non native speaker and teacher :)
Yep, it's a great labor
Terrific! I am brazilian and my Germany Teacher is Serbian. Doubts I can ask her in English - Amazing...she has a perfect english and germany😎
Germany is the country, German is the nationality. " My German teacher is Serbian. " She speaks perfect English and German."
I totally agree 100% with everything Marek said ! As a NN English teacher and employer I ‘ been in constant seek of recognition and approval on my language and teaching skills ! That ‘s why most of 50% of my teachers at school are NN and those who are , have been perfectly qualified before working with me . Hopefully teachers equity is a reality in the future . Thanks for this talk! Really necessary !!
As a teacher, I have a diverse experience in learning English, French, Chinese, German. It is not only about exercise in learning, but it is the broad scale of grammar and logic of the language: analytical, synthetic and isolated type of grammar, an idea of 1 morpheme for several concepts or multiple word forms for 1 concept.
I have a bunch of experience in comparing and explaining logic and grammar of different language. I believe that my pros are perfect for people who are interested in languages, as I can always provide examples and explanations that will fit student's background knowledge.
So, learning with a native is a good fit if it is in the form of speaking club, yet I would probably choose a non-native for a language I am not yet proficient in.
Valid point - Non-native English speakers can and should teach native English speakers a lot about English!
Christian your work is always amazing. Thanks for all the effort you do for helping us learning English. I completely agree with that you don't need to be a native English speaker to teach English but if a native English speaker learns the rules, learns grammar and learns how to teach he will always teach English better than a non-native English teacher. That's my view, I might be wrong, but I've been taught by both and that's my conclusion. By the way, this September I will start a new English course B2.1. Kind regards from Tenerife, Canary Islands.
Best of luck with your course!
@@Coaching-is3pz Thanks. If I'd live in Galicia, I'll attend your classes but I'm in Tenerife.
Emilio Martín ..but there is huge “IF” native speaker learns the rules and grammar...of course there’s advantage in it but again, non- native speaker with extraordinary desire to learn and expend vocabulary can be at the same level if not higher..from my perspective, I’ve been living in USA for awhile and native speakers are not really keen to immerse and work on enhancing their vocabulary..they know what they know and they stick to it..
I love this interview 😍. . Thanks for bringing us to light.. Very well said.
My respects for you two!
It's a very interesting interview. For me, everything that was said is 100% true. IMO the most important is a fact that a proffessional non native English teacher had to come through all those processes of learning which their students have to come through and they know how to help them to make it. And if someone feels concerned about all those nuances the native English speakers know I bet that a native speaker from Texas doesn't undrestand what Cockney from London says. :)
Exactly!
Hi. I'm really glad that I found this video. It is a very inspirational video for me. I can't remind myself when I watched something insightful. I started job as an English teacher and I really want to develop myself for me and my students. Thanks for sharing Canguro English, your interviews are great!!!
Thanks for bringing these stuff to the table as always you shock us with incredible amazing ideas, you and some teachers will make a difference in languages teaching thanks
I completely agree. Non English native teachers have other advantages , for example, we know what it is like to learn English being Spanish so we are a huge help to Spanish students of English as we can understand our sts' problems as we have been through the same process. Moreover chances are that when our sts have to use English most of the people might be non native speakers because English is a GLOBAL language therefore it is better to be used to all kinds of accents. Excellent video
So how do you do the pronunciation exercises with your students, if you can't model the words properly?
Amen!
Thank you.... Thank you.... Thank you!
1000% in agreement. Love your channel! Kudos sir!
Being a native speaker would be a good starting point when looking for a teacher. I think we could agree that for every non-native speaking teacher there is an equally skilled native speaking teacher. Therefore, if I had the option, I would choose the latter to also benefit from their better understanding of the language and it's details.
@@ellen_draven wait a minute that's a good point actually. I think they mentioned something similar that I missed. That you also want a teacher that besides knowning a language to assist you in your very first steps, you want them to have the experience of learning another language. That could make them a better teacher than a skilled native speaker. It's complicated and at the end of the day most of the process is about the student, not the teacher, but very good point.
Dear Christin, you do such a good job creating your videos. I really appreciate them. They help me to set my mind
set :o) I believe in a good way. Thank you very much. Please continue.
I really love your videos. Thank you
Fascinating concepts. This reminds me of two former professors I had. One taught German as a bilingual approach and the other taught Spanish as a bilingual approach. Both did agree one several points about language learning. If you want to improve your native language skills in English, than learn another language.
While living in Germany some years ago and attending a Goethe Institute certified German Language Teaching School, all of the students were from other countries and were there to learn the German Language. So to learn the German Language you more often than not needed a bi-lingual dictionary. Also available to some students, were the English Language classes, being also bi-lingually taught, from German to English. Now the English Language being used was the "Queen's English. The books being used were the Langensheid Series, throughout the school. So If you were learning German as a second language, one used this publisher. If you were a German Language student learning English, you would also use this publisher. I was curious how the books and instructional materials were put together. The teachers at the school for teaching English were all non native speakers. Rather they were German Teachers who had a highly skilled ability to be a teacher and who had learned the English Language very well.
Of course many of the idiomatic expressions and the way many words were spelled were the UK's version rather than the North American versions of Canada or the USA. So a few times I did have the opportunity to sit through these classes of students learning English. I was fascinated by the process. This was about 20 years ago. I am in agreement with all of your premisses on teaching language skills of a foreign language to a student.
Why did I want to improve my German Language skills? It was for the usages of reading the texts and journal articles of the Natural Sciences to earn my advanced degrees. Then also to be able to use those language skills to learn more about all other kinds of activities and knowledge bases one can only learn, by knowing another language. For instance, knowing German makes learning Danish much easier. Being able to travel throughout 4 other European countries with ease is a huge bonus.
You may find this number theory gem interesting :)
heliwave.com/506.pdf
My simple answer is that if you are native you make it better because of that is your product and something special for you and for your culture. Like French wine and Dutch cheese ) but l tasted excellent wines in Georgia) l think you got my point! Regards
Hello
Have you ever eaten any French cheese ? Because, I think that France is not only famous for its wines, but also for its cheeses..and the list isn't exhaustive. 🙂
Brigitte saint-pé oh Yeah you are right l once tasted French cheese ! What l was trying to say here somewhere else they can make same cheese ofcourse the taste can’t be ideal.
@@asimustun7332 🙂 Yes. Currently, Japanese are making " Camembert" and US champagne. I haven't tasted either of them. But, from what I read on many forums, they have nothing to do with autentic French products. But, it does not sit very well to compare a teacher to a camembert. 🙂
Brigitte saint-pé Teachers are also aging :)) why not ))
@@asimustun7332 because the older the camembert is, the worse it smells...🙂
I really like the idea. Thank you for this interview!
Great interview! full of real information. Being an English teacher is not based on your citizenship or as a native speaker, but on your ability to understand your students as a non-native english speakers also. Therefore, as a non nnative english teacher, u know how to adjust your level of teachings and what understand your students' needs. I couldn' t count how many locals i met here in US, who have bad english grammars and compositions.
I love how this video itself is in English.
I learned a lot, of Spanish, from an American, that could not speak Spanish....yet had a grasp on the structure, of that language....and patience....
Thanks for sharing these ideas! I'm an English teacher from Argentina and I've felt a bit downgraded in front of native teachers, but this interview changed my viewpoint. Thanks a lot! And for sure La Casa de Papel is not easy to follow. I had to get used to its way of speaking too and then I enjoyed the Spanish modisms I learned!!
Now at our days we have a lot of tools to learn english. Sometimes find someone that explains something in your language, and in the sense and differences between the language that you speak and the language that you want to learn. But hearing an native english speaker daily, have an subconscious influence. I realize that suddenly I'm talking like an educated Australian. Ha ha ha.
This is great and it needs to be exposed to all the English learners. I have met pretty good non native English teachers who have been able to get their objective across in a classroom way better than a native speaker. Why is this? As you have mentioned, just because you are native, it does not make you an English teacher. I'm an English teacher myself and many of my students have had many native teachers and they end up leaving their class because the native speaker was not able to teach. Great discussion!! definitely need to break through this obsession.
Your English is excellent
Native speakers are generally more effective teachers at an advanced level, whilst non-native English-speaking teachers are more effective at a preliminary level. Non-native teachers will better understand the challenges that come with learning English, be it grammatical or structural differences, whereas native speakers will have a much more comprehensive understanding of the subtleties in pronunciation as well as idioms and cultural references in conversations.
Not true. The local native teachers are better (even at local expressions) only if there are no other better local teachers. If I wanted to understand advanced grammar points, or even Limerick jargon, I would rather ask a whatever L1 polyglot who would enter my brain better and sprinkle it with retention hooks (crossreferencing meta infos such as calks, context and congnates).
@@liborsupcik7195 I guess that's your personal choice. To be honest, receiving a mixed education from both native and non-native teachers would be the best way to go as they both offer unique and equally valuable perspectives. Regardless of what you say, native speakers can offer information that non-natives cannot (accent/pronunciation, unique regional slang, cultural subtleties), just as non-native speakers can offer information that native speakers cannot (better ability to explain L2 in relation to learner's L1, better knowledge of learner's L1).
Receiving teaching from only one side is certainly disadvantageous to the learner as they will miss out on a lot of useful points.
A million thanks to you 🌞
Please, translate & subtitle this video in Spanish, Korean, Chinese etc and distribute it to every ESL teacher, school, and student in the world.
I had classes with a native speaker teachers 20 years ago at school, still I got pretty good pronunciation. Which I am very happy to use in a daily business.
Countries such as Japan Indonesia south Korea China are to blame for that. They are only ask for English or Americans not even Irish or Scottish. That's racist.
Plus you need to find out the difference between accent with pronunciation. You will always have an accent 😉 lol
it is true, I learned the majority of vocabulary from non native English speakers and I think they are good speaker because they look up the new words, word form ...etc
the most important thing about having a native teacher is the pronunciation and the accent.
yes the point is what you said, the rest about is about having education skill issue
Not only like that. A native has a comprehensive understanding of subtle nuances in word meanings that a non native lacks
Good job, young men. I enjoyed the interview a lot.
Thank you very much for sharing your insights! Btw, hats off to Marek for his pronunciation nailed to a tee!
I don't know why I hit the like button before I watch the video. much love from Egypt
Straight to the point
I had a German tutor before and he came from Poland. I really couldn't tell the difference between him and a native speaker when he spoke.
What about pronunciation? Maybe that's one of the strongest argument for students to choose a native language professor. By the way, thank you for the very interesting interview You provided.
First grammer and understanding, later u can take a native language teacher for a pronunciation. Or watching films in English and try to talk the same way. 30 years ago it was hard to find smth to watch and hear in english. Now only a very lazy person will not find a way to learn english well.
@@gibigibi01 Yes now they weren't specific about whether the hypothetical student is basic level or advanced, but I don't think that basing only on movies or videos the pronounciation can improve much. Of course You can repeat, but it's not the same thing as having someone there correcting you and making you understand what's wrong. Maybe not with advanced students, but for basic and middle level ones that can be really helpful. Passive and active learning is different. Undoubtedly also non-native teachers can have great pronunciation, but that's the first thing that maybe students could be worried about.
@@gibigibi01 Anyway, I was only playing the Devil's advocate, because I agreed with this interview and I wouldn't "discriminate" a non-native teacher, especially because as Marek said, they went through the exams themselves, so they know what we can struggle about.
Thanks a lot!
Dziękuję bardzo!
Interesting subject, and I agree with most of what was said. I do however have a problem with the point made about "crap teachers" in public schools. I am a native English speaking teacher in University in France and I have a lot of students who have quite good grammatical skills, but are "crap" at speaking. And I don't think this is because of bad teachers, I believe it's a problem of class sizes in public schools. Even the most brilliant teacher would find it almost impossible to help 30+ students in a class to practice their speaking. How in the world can you expect any teacher to communicate and pass on information especially in a language class with over 30 students? I think this is the real reason some adults say they wished they had a native speaker. But native speaker or not, a group of 30+ students is not an easy thing to manage.
I think that's a really great point. We should also be talking about 'crap working environments' that a lot of teachers have to tolerate. That's something we definitely need to fix!
This is precisely what I was thinking about while watching the video, native or non native, teaching is also about context.
Marek Kiczkowiak, I liked when you put it that way😍
a great video I've watched to the end thank you Marek and Canguro English
I´m an Argetinian English teacher, giving the first steps in teaching online. I admit I really felt so discouraged when I saw the huge demand of native teachers .... No doubt, they´re overvalued. I totally agree with Christian´s and Marek point of view.. I just didnt know was feeling inferior for no real reason! Thanks so much, Christian, for bringing up this topic.! Now I´m empowered and proud of being a passionate non-native speaker teacher again. Thank you. :-)
Go!!!
As an English speaker learning Spanish in Spain, I notice through intercambio that Argentinian English teachers tend to speak English rather well on average :)
Personally I am getting asked to teach English online many times a day online, but the first thing I say is I am NOT a teacher.
Talking to my Spanish teachers who also teach English, there are students who actually prefer a non-native teacher who can communicate very well in the maternal language.
@@RobBCactive Thank you for your encouragement. I also think that not being a native speaker of English has some advantages for students but I´m finding it hard to find a site willing to hire a Spanish-speaking teacher.
I´ve started considering teaching Spanish (even though I´m an English teacher, in fact) to be able to get a job on the web.
@@sandravillecco3268 Italki allows non-native speakers, I don't know about Camberly, so you can I believe join as a professional English teacher based on your qualifications, but also offer Spanish and Argentine-Spanish. They can set different rates, but if you are offering to teach a language, you must speak it in your introduction video.
But lets be realistic, many people take lessons locally with non-native teachers in schools and they're willing to pay online to add the experience of talking with native speakers. This happens in the Palma Intercambio group too, an Australian woman who speaks English almost exactly like I do tends to be ignored through fear and uncertainty; I have learnt what they want to hear when asking where I am from, which is not the simple question most people imagine anymore.
The lesson cost, especially when starting on a site matters too! Astute teachers ensure clear sound and net quality, where Skype has issues Zoom Meeting often helps; then once they have built a reputation and wish to reduce demand, they can increase prices. Quite often I take conversation hours at a low rate with a teacher, but who has no lesson preparation and simply chats. That's probably not the strength of a non-native teacher, but this video suggests marketing strategy for English; whereas with Spanish you might start by just offering Spanish Conversation as a tutor. I have done intercambio with teachers who teach Spanish to Spanish children, but the problems are different as their skills are teaching writing really.
@@RobBCactive Lo mismo me comentaron justo el otro día..debe ser uno de los pocos sitios que valoran profesores no-nativos. Gracias por pasarme el dato. Así y todo si se compara la cantidad de alumnos que toman clase con ellos, vemos que es inferior a la de los profes nativos... Habrá que hacer el camino...se siente medio extraño esto de estar nuevamente en el primer peldaño de la escalera, después de tantos años dando clase..pero bueno, hay que animarse y tomar el desafío.
I´ve answered in Spanish as you ´ve mentioned you´re learning it. I dont know your level but I guess that if you´re part of an Exchange group you must have an intermediate level or a higher one. If not, sorry. :-)
¿Cómo te resulta la experiencia de aprender español?
I found in CZcams English Galaxy, teacher isn't a native English speaker but hi has a good system and it helps mi to learn English :)
As for schools (if we talk about post-soviet countries), they don't speak English after 10 years at school because there is a large group of kids that are not separated into smaller groups, so that they don't have enough time for speaking practice. Chinese education is also based on a large group of kids about 60 people, so naturally in such large groups kids continue communicating in their local language. So, governmental schools are not in the equation)
completely agree!! super interesting and rich conversation
Sometimes teachers are good, but many students of public schools don’t have interest in learning languages. They see languages as just a school subject. Although you try to motivate them, not always you achieve a good result. Private schools are different and students who dedicate themselves as well. We try practical and inovative methods but depends on the students interests. Many of them come from disfunctional backgrounds or lack references, they feel forced to study, don’t do this for pleasure or to prepare themselves for a better future. It’s so sad, but It’s the reality of many young students. It’s not easy to teach a class with 30 or 40 students in public schools.
Hi There
This guy has many really persuasive thinking. First at all, It's totally true that, as an former English learner, he perfectly knows all the difficulties students are able to meet , cope and overcome . Secondly, it's also true that people who learned English with non-native English speakers in 1970' French school like me, prefer native speakers to teach us English. However ,I wonder why English training was so bad in 1970' 1980 1990 in France. I am not sure that the bad teaching comes from the inability of teachers but from the severe rules they had to obey. Thirdly, I think he is right when he says that knowing the little particularities that just an English native speaker can pass on ,doesn't bring us any advantage when we talk to non- native speakers. Finally, this guy convinced me. Hats off.
He did the same thing for me!!!
@@Canguroenglish He brings up ideas that I have never thought before. And he has such evident solutions. He probably had to face so many difficulties to prove he was as good as native speakers in order to be hired . One day, through his own experience, glaring facts jumped out to him .
I went to the site .. there is a 30 euro Teflequity course offer = a new niche, like the Neurolanguage coaching. Anyhow AI is imho ready to put these innovations to sleep. Like a voiceover app that would amplify your speak and dub it in your preferred (lady from Belfast) voice. I would teach so despite the fact that the pupils will never meet her accent peer.
Great content, thanks a million!
Excelent interview. Thank you!
Resumindly, English is ours. It's our so important language, isn't? Universal communication is so important as our Amazônia!
I'm a student of English at a Polish university and one student in our group was from England. Apart from being very fluent, he knew almost nothing about grammar and other technical issues of the language and didn't have good marks. Mr. Kiczkowiak is right, but nevertheless I think every professional language school/department needs a native speaker or two :)
While native speakers do have certain advantages, particularly in pronunciation and accent, it's important to note that being a proficient language teacher isn't limited to them. Instead of focusing on a competition between non-native and native speakers, we should acknowledge that it's unfair to discriminate against non-native language teachers
Great video. I think they have advantages Andrés disadvantages. Pronunciation And accent is very important yo me. But the nonnativd knows the way yo lean the language, which is important too
There are two more problems: the teaching system in Spain (covering certain contents but not really because students just promote to the following level anyway) and the lack of teaching training. I've never been taught how to teach my students. I know how they learn, but I have copied the way I was taught... Very scientific!
I am from a Chinese background. I believe that it might be easier for non-native teachers to guide students in the early stages for crossing the river. Once at advanced or intermediate levels, students trust native teachers more. At least native teachers pronunciation sounds more genuine.
… and the Spanish expressions depends on where you live, South America's expressions are kind of different from Spain and also from their own countries.
I'm a little confused (perhaps I misunderstood), for a long time I had learned from Christian that we didn't need a teacher to learn a language, but now apparently we need a good teacher to learn a language, even if they are not native English speakers ... until now, I believed that languages can´t be taught, they can only be learned.. but from tomorrow I'll look for a non- native English teacher. 🤔
Language can't be taught? What?
@@AngelDiazSEO-1 That happens when your teacher is not a native English speaker... 🤭
Well, I believe that what he means is that the teacher is there to guide and mentor a student. However, it's the student's responsibility to make the effort to learn. As an example I can spend hours explaining what you need to do to drive a car, but unless you actually start driving it yourself, you will never learn.
I agree with the sentiment that a good teacher can absolutely be an English as a second language speaker. But I disagree with a lot of things this guy says (like if you want to move to Sydney you will need someone familiar with our 'dialect') standard Australian English is doesn't really deviate so much from standard British or American, the accent of some users may be a little difficult at first but not everybody). A good teacher doesn't need to have 'qualifications' because most teacher training programs teach people to use traditional grammar based approaches rather than actual effective things like TPRS or the Natural Approach. I agree that a good teacher should have had a crack at learning a foreign language themselves. He seems like he has a lot of experience preparing people for exams. But yes, in my opinion a good language teacher is more like a good coach who will guide you through the language, but if you can find the right technique (lots of comprehensible input) and motivate yourself, then you're set, no, you do not need a teacher.
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Marcelo ???
Great as always 👏👏👏👏👏👏
Fantastic guy!
A friend of mine who grew up in the Usa, has worked as a teacher in an English Course School. After a TOIEC exam, I have gotten a grade higher than him. And most of the students claims he doesn't know how to explain grammar.
It doesn't matter if u are native at all, but how able you are in teaching. I think so.
CORRECTION:
A friend of mine who grew up in the US, worked at a school teaching English. After taking the TOIEC exam, I recieved a grade higher than him. Many of the students claim that he is unable to explain the grammar. It doesn't matter if you're a native speaker or not, but how proficient and skilled you are at teaching English.
FYI: I'm an American, native speaker! Teaching English should be reserved for native speakers only, especially online.
@@lisagrl89m.67 He is still working there. Not an ended action. I don't agree with u. There are many awesome teachers who are not natives. It is the same of speaking that every native speakers has proficience in teaching.
@@denisewizard5572 Listening to North American articulation is much clearer, especially those of us who have a crisp pronunciation of words. Foreign accents speaking English is a bit muddled, but as teacher assistants I think they'd be fine.
On another note: Alot of Americans speak awful English, even those with bachelor's degrees.
@@lisagrl89m.67 One day at college, a professor told me that accent should not be the main concern when we speak in English. On the other hand, the way the words are pronounced is, indeed what counts. Although my husband has accent from his hometown (he is from another nationality), he also pronounces my language very well. But it is not his!
It is a long topic for debate. I really aprecciated our interection.
@@denisewizard5572 Yes I understand when speaking a language the accent is of no concern, but the dialect and pronunciation when teaching is of importance! North American, native English dialect, is the best worldwide when teaching English. There's no comparison.
As foreign language learners, most of us will be thrilled more to imitate the original tongue. We are ready to go up to any extent to catch it up that attractive state. Then we will keep a false pride up on it too as the standard users of it and looking peevishly at its other users as the low-standard users. This mindset invites the big business into teaching a foreign language. Here, the native teachers are treated as a special avatar in this lucrative business. Non-native teachers are considered inferior in this business spectrum, how they are sound in the systems of that foreign tongue. To me, they are better teachers than the natives. Because these non-native teachers have acquired this new tongue with lots of effort. By which, they know the struggles and pitfalls of that second language acquisition that their learners will be going through during learning. They can suggest the right solutions to their struggles in this assimilation at ease. They can easily connect to their learners too. If the native user is a teacher, I can recommend, only when he or she should have already acquired at least the working knowledge of his or her learners' language. It is a give-and-take process.
What about people whose first language is indeed English but because they're from the Caribbean aren't considered a native speaker.😩😩
Here, in Spain the government doesn't need to import native speakers to teach English, because they come by themselves. Here, specially in "Levante", the mediterranean seaside, a lot of of english people is settled. They come here following the sun, the warm sea, the low prices, the good food. I can say that I like them very much, they are so funny and friendly. And of course a good number of them are teaching English! Don't get me wrong, I don't disagree about what you are telling us, this is only a comment that I want to share. ;) Thumbs up!
Great video! Thanks. Now I have 100s of ideas of what I can do as a nnes to get better paid jobs.
its so interesting, he makes sense!
Hoy en español: he tenido esta misma conversación un montón de veces con los dueños de las escuelas de ingles donde he estudiado. Y estoy tan de acuerdo con vosotros...
I think a lot of people are missing the point. Yes, when choosing between a non-qualified native teacher and a highly qualified non-native, of course I'm going to choose the latter (be it English or any other language they're teaching). But when comparing two qualified teachers, then I wouldn't hesitate to go for the native one, especially at an earlier stage. Lots of non-native teachers just try too freaking hard to speak correctly or to use as many sayings and expressions as they possibly can, and sometimes they actually think it sounds natural, but the truth is many of them don't actually know what natural feels like, which is what natives can bring to the table, other than just linguistic skills, there's a certain instinct to speaking a language from a very early stage in your life. Just take a look at all the internet teachers (even those with claimed qualifications) they get corrected on a regular basis and although they might have very good teaching methods, they're still making a lot of mistakes that are probably going to hurt the students more than it's going to help them. Same with the accent, it's inevitably going to fluctuate in non-natives much more so than in natives.
Thank you for these videos, they help me a lot to practicing my english! I would love to have the real transcript, it would be great : )
Brian
I honestly feel like a horrible person.. when I LEARN a language I will only learn from natives..
But at the same time I am a tutor for English and Korean - though I'm German and only learned these other two languages as a Teenager.
So contradictive haha
Haha well at least this fool can admit it
This is present not only in English teaching, but ANY language teaching, from Spanish to German. I understand the TEFL Equity perspective to an extent, but as someone who works in areas where there’s demand for native speakers (communications and TEFL) I see a big difference in the outputs of native and non-native speakers-that attention to detail and understanding of English at a native level is absolutely crucial, and absolutely not exclusive to “highly educated” English speakers (that’s a weird take, and I’ve never met ANY native Spanish speakers who need subtitles for Casa de Papel). I am also in Spain and many of my students come to me because they are extremely unsatisfied with their school-based instruction. The commonality is that ALL of these teachers are non-native, unfortunately.
Apart from being proficient in his own language a native teacher has to be fluent in another language to understand not only how to teach a language, but also how to learn another language to be able to relate to a student.
Teaching English online should be for native speakers. Non natives are trying to do it solely for the purpose that they don't have much opportunity for work in their own country.