Well, the main problem when you go to school is that here in Mexico there aren't native English speakers working as teachers, and that's the reason whe have problems when we hear some native English speaker. I think that teachers should be native speakers of the language they teach, shouldn't they?

Subject created by fabiansanche on Apr 08, 2004 @ 23:23

I can relate to your problem although I must say that a graduated teacher is much further in the language than his/her students. I am an french teacher in Holland and although I teach at highschools I cannot say that I speak french as fluently as I should like to.

Comment written by neerlandais on Jul 23, 2004 @ 23:25

At my school there's almost a policy that the teachers are native speakers. It's good in English because everyone in my class almost speak it fluently. But in French... It's sooo hard! The teacher barely speaks Swedish (my native lanuage), so it doesn't work at all!

Comment written by Vinyafod on Jul 19, 2004 @ 14:30

I think that both native and non-native speakers have their own advantages. A native speaker could help you perfect your accent, if that is what you want. However, to take the example of English, it is spoken around the world with many different accents, and it would therefore be good for you to get used to listening to many different accents rather than be familiarised with one particular accent. Then, native speakers many not necessarily be good teachers. Some of them know just the one language they speak, and have learnt it without any idea of what goes into learning a language. Language teachers need to have experienced the difficulties associated with learning a new language before they can understand the difficulties that their students face. A native speaker of English who knows only English may not be the best teacher for you. He may not be able to understand or appreciate the difficulties that you face in learning English. Next, because the Western system of education focusses more on speaking than on writing, and covers very little grammar, native English speakers from Western countries often find it difficult to help you with your grammar or your writing (no offence intended here; that is just the way I understand it:-) If you seek all-round language development, you may be better off with someone with a different kind of educational background, with near-native spoken English.

Comment written by Braveheart on Jul 19, 2004 @ 09:03

I don't think that teachers necessarily have to be native speakers, but they should have studied the langue they're teaching, and used it in reality with native speakers. i had a great french teacher for 3 years, she wasn't native at all.. But her french is great and she knows lots of slang words and verlan and bad words and all those things you really want to learn.. hehe. Because you do want to learn a language as it's spoken, not as it's written in grammar books, don't you?

Comment written by NefertiteVan on Jun 24, 2004 @ 01:25

teachers should have had to learn the same language they are teaching. I have been studying Italian for about a year, and perhaps the biggest hurdle I have had to overcome is the different point of view in some Italian tenses. The native English speaker teaching Italian will remember having to learn these and will explain the differences starting from the English viewpoint. The native Italian speaker teaching Italian knows of the same differences but tries to explain them starting from the Italian viewpoint. That's not enough. For advanced students there is nuance, for me there is tense selection when there is no direct conversion. Does this ring any bells?

Comment written by RexFury on Jun 17, 2004 @ 11:22

I have an excellent english teacher and she isn`t native speaker.She has studied for few years in England and she travells a lot-she speaks perfectly.And for example-my italian techer is native.She can learn us what is right and what not but she doesn`t know what we find difficult in learning language,how to explain it to us in a way that we-not natives can understand it and bear it in mind. Native speakers are great to learn language-in use and to learn a right pronunication

Comment written by Matryk on Jun 11, 2004 @ 08:45

I disagree. Native speakers suck at teaching their native language. They don't understand what it's like to learn their language as an adult and therefore can't explain things too well. I would learn from a non-native for the first year and then switch to a native speaker after that.

Comment written by disavowedsme on Jun 09, 2004 @ 12:03

I knew a russian chap, that had precisely the same problem. I dont know what it was that he spoke, it sure as h**l wasnt English, i was able to understand it in a round about way, just like when you hear turists speaking English. I must say that the global kommunity is making it a bit easier to learn a language properly, through interaction with people that speak the languages fluently.

Comment written by Eriktheblue on May 11, 2004 @ 14:18

I think studying English with a native speaker is better, too, expecially if you study on a high level.

Comment written by venturiano on Apr 20, 2004 @ 18:22

Well, my personal experience during 26 months learning English was that I only had 1 teacher from Canada and it was very different, cause I could improve a lot in my pronunciation and listening also the teacher was very good at grammar. Then I guess that if teachers at schools were native speakers and were formed as teachers, then we the pupils could learn much better!

Comment written by fabiansanche on Apr 09, 2004 @ 21:37

I for one think that to have enough _practice_ with native speakers is very important. On the other hand, a teacher should know how to explain you grammar and things, while a native speaker doesn't necessarily know how to teach.

Comment written by Sha_Lilla on Apr 09, 2004 @ 13:39

Well, the main problem when you go to school is that here in Mexico there aren't native English speakers working as teachers, and that's the reason whe have problems when we hear some native English speaker. I think that teachers should be native speakers of the language they teach, shouldn't they?

Comment written by fabiansanche on Apr 08, 2004 @ 23:23