20 Part I: Getting Started in TEFL
Do I have to translate?.........................................................................
Even though your students inevitably speak to you in their mother tongue
from time to time, you can respond in simple English, with gestures or pic-
tures. Of course, you may not understand what they’re saying anyway and
this just gives them real motivation for learning your language. In a way, it
makes the whole situation more authentic.
If you do translate in the classroom, you have to be absolutely certain that
what you’re saying corresponds exactly to the students’ language. Students
sometimes expect one language to translate word for word into another, but it
just doesn’t work like that. For example, you can’t translate ‘bon voyage’ into
‘good journey’ if you want to get the sense of the expression.
Will the students be children?
Youngsters in many countries need English lessons, but the state takes care
of this by using primary and secondary school teachers. TEFL teachers some-
times give support to the state education system but do most of their work
in the private sector. Parents often pay for extra English lessons, especially
during the summer months.
However, many adults and teenagers preparing for work abroad or in an inter-
national environment have a great desire to learn English. These students are
highly motivated and usually well behaved.
Do I have to know all the grammar in the English language?
You don’t need to know every last bit of English grammar, but you should
aim to have a good working knowledge of all the tenses and be able to iden-
tify and explain all the parts of speech (nouns, verbs, adjectives and so on).
Check the chapters in Part 4 for some help with grammar issues.
The aim of TEFL is to produce students who can speak the language almost
as well as you can, at the most. In reality, very few students have the time
and resources to stay in the classroom setting beyond upper-intermediate
or advanced level (proficiency is the highest level). As soon as students feel
confident that they can use English for whatever purposes they need, they
often get on with their lives. This is why you don’t need to know every last
predicate and gerund.
