Mexican EFL Students
While I’ve very little experience teaching anyone but, Mexicans have been a joy to work with in English classes. I don’t know if that’s so much for being Mexican or for being Spanish-speakers, but either way, everything from class sizes, to crossing cultural divides, to getting students to talk has been relatively easy and painless.
Except the kids.
I’ve more often worked with adults or university-aged students. A lot of business themes, general English, TOEFL and GMAT preparation course, and even an electronics class in English with a bunch of electricians.
The hardest part of teaching English here is getting past the language barrier, at beginner level classes. Everyone says you don’t need to be fluent in the student’s language, and while I’ve given that same advice myself, there’s no denying that it is a huge benefit to know how the students think. Some purists think that means you are translating in class, but I’ve experienced it more as providing the teacher with a more efficient method for presenting new language models.
The Mexican students I’ve taught are always fairly energetic and engaged in the class. People like to talk so they aren’t difficult to prompt. Some structures or grammar functions are more difficult or the concepts uncommon to Spanish speech and prove a little harder to elicit, but otherwise, everything up to a high-intermediate level is not a major challenge.
I’ve not had the same success with kids under 12 years. I could use additional training in this area, but I could just as easily avoid teaching kids altogther. I know that in Korea, Japan, and China, it’s much more commonplace to teach children, but in Mexico, adults make up the biggest group.
Tags: EFL, ESL, General Mexico Info, students, tefl, TEFL in Mexico
guy
Great…Now I have to read your other posts. That means my afternoon productivity is shot…Thanks a lot. Nice post.