Is it important for ESL teachers to have experience learning another language?

China
February 1, 2008 4:29am CST
When I was applying for ESL jobs a few months ago, I made it a point to include on my cover letter that I have been learning French for over 11 years. Granted I was applying for jobs in China where my French would be useless but I wanted to show the schools that I knew exactly what their students felt like. I know many ESL teachers who don't have knowledge of any other languages besides English and I wonder if that's to their disadvantage? I remember struggling with parts of French and often tell that to my students to show them that it's not about intelligence but rather about practice. I think it's helped me become an even better teacher.
1 response
chiyochan
@chiyosan (30183)
• Philippines
1 Apr 08
I have been checking out about ESL... i was a bit interested in teaching english in other countries too.. i guess it could be a nice experience. i speak english well, and speak chinese too. i was checking out their site and will push through with this soon after i get to decide if i really wanted this kind of job... Is it a good job at all? will you share with us anything you have experienced in being a teacher? * i am not an education graduate, i have no experience in teaching, except when i was a part time trainer here in the company i worked for but that was 2 - 3 years ago...