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Teaching English in Greece
By Emmanuel Mendonca
The employment situation can be quite uncertain for newcomers to
Greece and therefore many people choose to try teaching English
as a foreign language, on a full or part-time basis. It can
bring in a good income whether it is your preferred career
choice, or you wish to do it short-term until another career
choice pans out.
Qualifications and Experience There are many language schools or frontistiria in Athens
and all over Greece, to which you could apply for work. In order
to get a job in one of these schools, it is still not strictly
necessary to have a formal teaching qualification such as TEFL
(Teaching English as a Foreign Language). Often all that is
required is a university degree (in any subject) from a UK or US
university. That said, if you are uncertain about your ability
to teach English and want to ensure that you start off in this
line of work with the necessary skills, a course would be
useful. It would provide you with some teaching theory,
knowledge of English grammar (let's face it, many of us have
never formally studied English grammar in any great depth, even
though we speak and write English everyday) and give you some
valuable experience of teaching in a classroom, since this is
included in most courses. When applying for jobs, you will find
vacancies that specify that previous teaching experience is
required and others for which no experience is necessary.
It does not matter if you do not speak a lot of Greek. Native
English speakers are often valued for other reasons such as
having what is seen as a "proper" accent. Many people also swear
by the approach of not speaking your students' language, so that
they hear only English being spoken for the duration of the
lesson. You will find ways to make yourself understood. In my
experience of language teaching, it can even be
counter-productive if your students know that you speak their
language well, because they may be too easily tempted to speak
to you in Greek when they find it hard going.
Finding
work Teaching English as a foreign language jobs are
widely advertised in newspapers and on the Internet all year
round and most often from August to October. As well as applying
before in Greece, you can also go to door-to-door around the
frontistiria with your CV, again in the August to October
period. If you are visiting them in person, it is not
recommended that you spend time doing this any earlier than
August because the schools often do not consider their
recruitment needs much before the beginning of the academic
year.
Pay and working conditions Pay and
conditions offered by language schools will vary enormously, so
it is important to check these out in detail first before
accepting a contract. If time is on your side, it may be worth
speaking to several schools rather than taking the first job you
are offered. Also, if you work in a frontistirio it is quite
likely that you will be working mainly in the afternoons and
evenings, since this is when children and adults are free to
take their lessons.
Making some extra money Many people who teach English as a foreign language in a school,
also do private English on the side and this can become a
lucrative activity in itself. Working in a language school for a
few months is a good way to meet students and advertise the fact
that you do private English lessons, on a one-to-one basis. It
can be difficult to get the first few, but then through word of
mouth, you'll get more if you do a good job - that great social
network of mums and dads on the school run can work wonders! The
University of Cambridge ESOL (English for Speakers of Other
Languages) exam system seems to be the most widely known and
respected in Greece, many people who want to be taught privately
are preparing to sit a Cambridge exam or some other type of
test. It is therefore worth familiarising yourself with the
system - there is an enormous amount of free information on the
Internet, including lesson plans, tips, exam practice etc. The
exams which are most commonly sat by students are the "First
Certificate in English" (which many people still refer to by its
old name: "Lower"), "Certificate of Proficiency in English"
(known as "Proficiency"), and "Certificate in Advanced English"
(commonly referred to as "Advanced"). More information is
available from the Cambridge ESOL web site
(www.cambridgeesol.org).
What private students will want
from you varies a great deal. Some may just want a conversation
class, others may just be starting on the Cambridge examinations
path and there will be some who are already at a very high level
and may need detailed coaching on specific grammar points or on
vocabulary for a particular purpose e.g. business English. And
given these differences, the amount of preparation required on
your part and the fee per hour you are able to charge will
probably vary too. I will finish with a word on advertising. My
experience has been that I have paid out money for two newspaper
ads, which got back zero replies! What has worked well for me is
local advertising - you need to use your imagination. I put a
card in local shops and a small notice in the back window of my
car and you can see people reading it at every traffic light!
Just beware of getting calls on your mobile phone while you're
driving - not good! As I said before, word of mouth should kick
in too once you have your first couple of lessons.
About the author:
Emmanuel Mendonca is the webmaster and publisher of Athens
Room at www.athensroom.com - a free
service for finding and advertising property for rent in Athens,
with a wealth of information about visiting, living and working
in Greece.
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