October 6th, 2009
I’m a native Spanish speaker with a graduate degree from the U.S. (in Public Administration) living in Texas. I think that since there is a shortage of bilingual and ESL teachers, being a teacher in any of these two areas would be a good way to make a living. Do you think ESL or/and bilingual teaching can be a good match for me? What are the differences between these two areas?
Thanks for your help! I appreciate your sharing :)
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I am a teacher in Thailand, and so the difference between ESL and bilingual education is pretty clear. Bilingual education is where students take core subject classes in two different languages – here Thai and English. At the school I used to work at, they would take all of their core classes, math, science, social studies, even PE, in English. Then they would take all of these again in Thai. Plus they have their language classes, like grammar and writing, both Thai and English. This way students recieve the specialized acedemic vocabularies in each language.
The expectation is that they are learning in English, but not neglecting their native language as opposed to the international schools where instruction is only in English and graduates tend to be weak in their native language (as compared to someone in a Thai or bilingual school). An ESL program is typically geared toward getting someone to be able to survive in an entirely english environment. So we had ESL at the bilingual school to help kids in their English classes and we also have ESL at the international school.
I can only assume that your grasp of the English language is as good as your grammar. (And, believe me, that is a compliment). I would have to say that teaching ESL classes would be a wonderful idea. You are correct in saying that there is a need for ESL teachers in this country. I read recently (parade magazine.com) that by the year 2025, the Spanish-American population will be at 25% of the population total in this country. I teach ESL in the workplace. It grieves me to realize that so many people from South America have had to take low-paying jobs, and jobs that require little skill, in order to make a living. And, the reason in most cases is simply that their language skills are so poor. Join me, please in helping to rectify this problem.
When you teach ESL, you’re teaching English in an English speaking environment.
When you are a bilingual teacher, you’re teaching academic subjects in two different languages: in Texas, that’d be English and Spanish.
You’re right bilingual teachers are in great demand.
It might be the right path for you.
As for ESL, you might start by tutoring.
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