Language Award News

Over half of the European Award for Languages winners celebrated twice in 2005 following the announcement of the sponsored special prizes, in which prominent sponsors provided encouragement for excellence in language learning. Of the thirteen winning projects, seven were identified for their innovative work in particular areas of language learning.

Ashcombe School’s International business week received £1,000 from BMW, sponsors of the Business Language Prize, awarded to the best project developing language projects to match the requirements of business and employers. Newbury Park Primary School received the same amount from London Turkish Radio for its promotion of community languages through the 'Language of the Month' initiative.

The French Embassy prize was awarded to Filey School, North Yorkshire, for its inspired project around Molière. Trinity School in Carlisle received the German Embassy prize for its work bringing German to life through fairytales. The Spanish Embassy prize was awarded to the University of Bristol for the Hispanic Department’s Language through theatre project.

EuroTalk Interactive are sponsors of the Primary Education Prize, which goes to Liverpool Centres of Excellence for their work in bringing languages to young learners across the city. 2005’s Routledge Adult Education Prize was awarded to Nottingham Trent’s Allegro project which involves the wider community in language learning.

There were many other notable advancements in language learning during 2005. Thousands of students choose to study English in London because of the quality of language training on offer there. Learning English in Britain has improved since CELTA and TESOL courses were introduced. Intensive English courses offer a great chance for people to learn a new language with highly qualified teachers. TEFL jobs aren't hard to come by in London, as there are so many London language schools in which to teach ESL.

Encouragingly, TEFL volunteering is popular among university graduates who wish to combine a passion for language teaching with some time off after study to contemplate life after study. Suzanne Furstner, head of TEFL training at Cactus Tefl, an organisation that promotes the industry and offers information about courses, says: "With the right flexibility about where you work and what you do, you can find work with any qualification, or even none at all. What you choose to do is really a question of how well prepared you want to be and how many options you want to have."

However, blagging it with no preparation is not an approach Furstner would recommend. "I'd say that it is always better to be prepared to go into a classroom. Being a native speaker is not enough to be a teacher. It doesn't help you determine the standard and abilities of your students, or give you any idea of how to communicate with them." You wouldn't hire a wedding photographer who had never shot a wedding before, would you?

Some places, like south-east Asia and South America might offer TEFL teaching jobs without the internationally recognised Cambridge Celta or Trinity CertTesol (Certificate in teaching English to speakers of other languages). These are internationally recognised and considered to give the best preparation. Both offer at least 100 hours of teaching and six hours of observed teaching practice with real language students from around the world.

While the Cambridge and Trinity courses are the best known, and will enable you to teach anywhere in the world, they are also the courses that require the biggest investment of time and money. Many TEFL courses claim to be Cambridge and Trinity equivalent, but these two certificates will generally bring a higher income after qualification.

One possible option for the cash-strapped students who are intent on gaining an internationally recognised qualification is to take the Celta or CertTesol abroad.

English language courses at schools around around Great Britain provide plentiful work for EFL teachers, but most schools want at least two years experience before allowing you to teach and English language course. This is because EFL teaching is a craft that is really learnt once the TEFL course is finished and teaching begins. Nothing can prepare a newly qualified teacher for the fundamental difference between a class of Chinese students and a class of Italian students.

For those wishing to teach English for business London has numerous centres specialising in the course. This form of EFL teaching generally requires a good knowledge of specific business vocabulary and may not be suited to newly qualified teachers. Business English courses will usually involve smaller classes and can thus prove more difficult than standing up in front of a large class. This sensation is similar to rock stars who feel no fear playing to 100,000 people in a stadium but feel nervous when playing a small venue, as they can make out faces in the crowd.

English language teaching opens doors to many new cultures and traditions. For example, working in a language school, you may receive discounts on any Spanish courses, French courses or Italian courses as the expertise may well be within the school already. The same goes for German courses. Of course, even if the language courses aren't officially offered, there is always a possibility that you could strike a deal with a student who would be willing to help you to learn Spanish while you help them learn English. That is the beauty of language teaching - while a qualification helps, the only real qualification you need is a grasp of the language you wish to teach.