Do you have to speak another language to teach EFL?

      One of the first questions people ask me when I tell them I used to teach EFL is, "So like, do you have to speak any other languages to teach that?" To be honest, I asked myself  the same question when I left for Shanghai, China on New Year's Day back in 2009.  It's a valid question. The awnser is no. I don't speak any other language than English.  To be totally honest, if you do decide to teach abroad, your employers prefer you not to speak the native language in the classroom. Not only that, but the entire interview is in English. Often times youwill  speak better English than your employer.   Along with that, most of your fellow Americans,  international peers and  native coworkers will have a GREAT handle on speaking English.To be blunt, the fact that you American will put you in a higher pay and social bracket of the natives you will teach.  But rest assure that being able to speak another langauge is a BIG plus for you in explaing things to your students to make certain they understand what is being spoken to them. The only handi cap is that the teacher may sometimes rely almost completely on her second language to teach their class because they feel that now they are better connected to the students.   Speaking the right foreign language will also help you navigate through shops, bars, taxis, and police stations (been there a couple of times).

     So how can you get away with teaching students and adults al foreign language when you can't communicate in any other than your own? The truth is that English is the largest language in the world. 90% of all computer programs in in English before translated into a foreign language. English is the 2nd most spoken language on earth, only behind China because it has 3 billion people.  In a large number of countries and continents, EFL is a means out of poverty and into a business market.  In China, students learn Englsih for an hour in school and spend three to four hours after school at a private English Learning Center you may be teaching at.  Since Communism in China recognizes no religion, the people have not a reason to take a day off of work and send thier children to up to nine hours a weekend at the learning center you may be employed at.  All that is to say that a lot of foreign countries are investing in English as a Foreign Language. So to work in EFL or ESL, you need not speak another language. I hope this helps out.


Best,
#mr.ford