Mexico City Going Green

Continuing a long process under Mayor Ebrard, the latest large project is to close the city's largest dump, which has been receiving less and less refuse as recycling programs started several years ago begin to have an effect. I've seen this dump - huge does not describe it. I remember reading a stat some time back saying that Mexico City produces enough garbage to fill Estadia Azteca each day. That's a lot of garbage. BBC has the story.

Mexico City has closed its main rubbish dump, Bordo Poniente, which is one of the world's biggest open-air landfills. At its peak, hundreds of lorries were dumping more than 12,000 tons of waste each day. That figure had already been cut in half this year by new recycling and composting plants, officials said. Mexico City Mayor Marcelo Ebrard said the closure would significantly help reduce the capital's greenhouse gas emissions. Mr Ebrard said his government would seek bids to establish a plant to turn the methane gas given off by the accumulated waste into energy. A cement company has agreed to buy 3,000 tons of dry waste daily to burn as fuel.

more stroy at the link above. Note: I've been away from posting for awhile, I apologize. My son was born two months ago and with family visits, work, a new baby, and holiday dinners and gatherings, it's been hectic. A new post to introduce Felix Joshua is coming soon.

Alebrije Parade Mexico City

Went to the 5th annual Alebrije Parade from the Zocalo to the Angel of Independence today, put on by the Museo de Arte Popular. This is one of my favorite events in the city and my daughter now 2 years 4 months old is starting to appreciate it too. She was a little too young for the previous two parades.

There were some 250 floats this time around, getting larger each year. The parade begins in the Zocalo and marches up to the Angel of Independence monument on Reforma Ave where each float is parked for a week while viewers vote for the best alebrijes. If you missed the parade today, take a stroll down Reforma any time this week to see them for yourself.

Some of my favorites...

A Bigger Family

Finally! Our son Felix Joshua Courchesne Dixie was born at 9 AM October 17th, 2011, coming in at 8 pounds (3.75 kg), just two days before his due date. Another Mexican Canadian as I work on my hockey team.



His timing couldn't be better. My in-laws flew into town to give us a hand with the dogs and our 2 year old daughter during the hospital stay, arriving a mere 4 hours before the contractions started. They've been a big help.

We had our first night home from the hospital last night and as can be expected with a newborn, no one got any sleep. I'd forgotten about the sleepless first night with a newborn.

More pictures and posts to come!

Work Visa For Mexico - The New Process

All kinds of changes have been happening at the Mexican immigration department on policy and in technology for applying for and obtaining a work visa which was formally known as the FM3 - it is now simply called No Immigrante, and with fewer categories to apply under. Those which affect most foreign TEFLers in Mexico are Independent status, employer-sponsored status, and rentista which is what most retired snowbirds have.

All in all there have been few changes. Instead of a passport sized booklet, the visa in now a photo ID card. Some of the application process has been moved online and it generally takes a little less time now to process the visa.

There's a discussion about the new process over at Dave's ESL Cafe.

djpresidente begins:

I'm newly-arrived in the DF and in the process of applying cold turkey at a number of schools. In an interview yesterday, I was told that the process has changed so that you don't need a sponsor and there is one visa/permit for everyone not applying for permanent residence. I haven't found anything on the forum or the internet about this, so I thought I'd ask here, as it looks like a lot of people are going through the application process right now.

As I understand it, the old book has been replaced with a card, but that is the only change I've found so far.

Thanks!

PS If you know of any good job openings in the DF, be sure to let me know!

I reply:

I'm going into migra on Tuesday to renew my visa and to help someone get their first independent visa (no sponsor as you note). I'll post the most recent checklist here for new visas. At last check, the paperwork for the card is not much different from that for the old booklet.

There are apparently going to be more changes coming later this year though.

and I continue with:

For the moment, nothing has changed regarding the independent visa. You still need to pay for the visa at the bank using a form they give, and bring in the receipt, original and copies of your passport, original and copy of the application printed from the migra website, copy and original of your degree and/or teaching qualifications, and a letter in Spanish outlining what you intend to do independently and how you are qualified to do it. File that and they summon you back to complete the process bringing in photos and another short application, proof of address, take your fingerprints and it's done.

I asked some staff at DF migra about the upcoming changes but they had very little concrete to say. They did confirm that the rumour of no longer being able to turn tourist or business visas into work visas from within Mexico is not true.

The discussion continues, adding detail on bank deposits, taxes, and apostilles for foreign documents. More at the link above.

Success in TEFL

"The person who gets the farthest is generally the one who is willing to do and dare. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore."
-Dale Carnegie

Success in teaching abroad - a not so easy goal to achieve it seems, after reading through some of the comments on popular TEFL web forums such as The ESL Cafe and ELT World. TEFL is not exotic beaches, easy money, and a 24 hour a day party. If you found my article thinking it was, then stop reading now. I'm going to talk about WORK.

Teaching abroad is a very select set of challenges to thrust yourself into. A new language, a different culture, strange food, and unknown risks are not what most people call fun. It takes a particular brand of daredevil or world-beater to see these hurdles as attractive. That particular brand of person is common among those that succeed in teaching abroad but the most important factor that each one knows is that it is imperative to have goals to succeed on, and the willingness to see them through.

I meet a lot of different people in my line of work in TEFL. Young recent college graduates, out for a year abroad to work on their Spanish. Retired folks from a variety of fields settling into a warmer climate. Career teachers looking for a different country. Thrill-seekers and people who just can't settle in one place. Many find their niche and do well in Latin America. Many others don't.

Defining success in teaching abroad has to start with defining your goals and finding the means to achieve them. The two most common goals I see - improving one's foreign language skills and turning EFL work into a meaningful career - are difficult and worth examining here.

"I want to improve my Spanish, so I think teaching in Mexico or Chile will help".

Teaching abroad is often seen as a means to earn your way through a year-long stint in a country while learning the language. While this is true, it's very easy to lose focus on improving your language skills by getting lost in teaching English. Leaving aside that much of your day is spent working in English, your social circle can sometimes remain in a rut - an English-speaking rut - of co-workers and students. It takes effort to find opportunities outside the class (and sometimes inside the class) to work on your Spanish.

The first thing you can do before setting out for travel and work is to restrict your job searches to schools that offer free or subsidized local language classes as part of a job offer or as an option. Many language institutes offer this to teachers if you ask. If such classes aren't available, your next bet is to look for local language course providers in your chosen country that offer classes at a price and schedule that fits with your EFL class teaching.

Think about expanding your social circle and trying out new activities. Learning the local language doesn't always need to come from sitting in a classroom. Look for local groups around other interests you have, such as sports, art, or museums. Think about things going on around you and have a willingness to dive in.

"I'm thinking of getting into teaching back home but I'm not sure it's the right thing for me. I don't want to invest years of study and a lot of money in this field and find out I don't like it. I think a year abroad teaching English will help me decide."

A common jump off point for teaching abroad is a TEFL or CELTA course - a four week intensive set of classes and teaching practice designed to cram a large amount of information into your head and get you out working at language institutes and schools as soon as you pass the course.

From here, it is again easy to lose sight of the goal. A lot of people see their initial course as the end of training. Spending a year in the classroom will give you a good idea as to what it is to teach, but building towards a career in this field means constant study, more courses, and finding the right ladder to better jobs be they at home or abroad.

When looking at your first job, it's good to ask about professional development. Some schools can connect you to further training such as TEFL for young learners or diploma courses such as the DELTA. Beyond EFL, the international school circuit is a great place to seek opportunities. IB training (International Baccalaureate) and workshops can be found everywhere and some schools will help pay for higher degrees through their international networks.

Teacher organizations and associations are great places to network and locate further training or leads to better jobs. MEXTESOL is an example for Mexico though there are dozens of others to choose from, not only locally but online as well.

These are the practical tips to success in teaching abroad but the real effort is in staying focused and working hard. The opportunities are there if you take them.

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will." Vincent T. Lombardi

This entry contributes to the ESL/EFL Roadshow, a blog ring of ESL/EFL teachers and TEFL teacher trainers around the world. October's project is hosted by Ted at TEFLTips. Here is the Roadshow Roundup that shows TEFL Success as other teaching bloggers see them.

What's with the price of avocado?

Ridiculous. 80 pesos a kilo...80 PESOS! I think it's cheaper to get avocado now in Canada where it of course does not grow in the 11 month long permafrost.

Mexicans scream CONSPIRACY! According to the BBC anyway...

Recently, it's felt as if the whole country has been talking about the same thing - and for once it's not football or the latest hit telenovela. Around dinner tables, in street markets and at work, it's the price of avocados that has been on everyone's mind.

From costing a couple of dollars per kilo earlier this year, avocados went on a constant price climb which appeared to know no end - rising all the way up to $5-6 per kilo. I heard of sightings of a kilo of avocados for more than $8.

In a country that takes its food seriously, this was a recipe for disaster.

Soft as butter and slightly sweet, avocado was first grown around 12,000 years ago in the south of Mexico. It's now a delicacy prized the world over.

But the origins of its name are not so elegant. The word avocado comes from "aguacate" in Spanish, which in turn comes from the Nahuatl Mexican native language "ahuacatl", referring to a certain intimate part of the male anatomy. **

In Mexico - where 40% of the world's avocado crop is grown - this fruit is sacrosanct. In fact, Mexicans are estimated to eat up to 8kg of avocado each, every year.

Avocados go with everything: they are a key additive to the delicious tortilla soup, a layer in the Mexican multi-level sandwiches known as tortas and - last but not least - they are the basis of that most famous of Mexican dips - guacamole.

And you don't want to mess with Mexicans and their food. Back in 2007, the rising price of tortillas - the flat-corn bread that is a key source of calories for the poor - sparked a series of protests around the country known as the "tortilla wars". So, with prices through the roof, was I about to witness an "avocado war"?

If I was, I had to find out the reasons for the price hikes. And here I discovered that there is something else aside from food that Mexicans seem to enjoy - urban legends.

Anger brewing

I talked to a security expert who claimed he knew the reason for the spiralling price. The great majority of Mexican avocados come from the state of Michoacan, in the west, a region badly affected by the presence of drug cartels.

The cartels, the expert told me, are expanding into the business of extortion, and are targeting avocado growers. The criminals demand a fee for every kilo that is transported through the dangerous roads of Michoacan, and that fee forced up the final consumer price.

Nonsense, the head of the local avocado producers' association told me. The cause of the price increase is simply a bad harvest.

Carmen, our cleaning lady, had her own conspiracy theory. "I blame the gringos," she told me. "Americans have taken a liking to guacamole, so all our avocados are heading north." Social networks were brimming with comments about how "aguacates" were quickly vanishing from Mexican dinner tables - and the anger seemed to be brewing.

But then, an epiphany. I was sitting in the back of a cab, silently hating Mexico City traffic, when an ad burst on to the radio - from a local supermarket, promoting a kilo of avocados for just over $2. Was it over?

At my local food market, I confirmed it. At most stands, avocados now are around $3 per kilo, and the prices still seem to be falling. But if there's something I learned over the last few months, it's that I can't always be sure that I'll be able to have my avocado - and eat it.

Thankfully, yes, the price has come down. I saw some at the local market for 30 pesos a kilo...still a bit high, but a much more reasonable price.

The TEFL Job Interview - Latin America

Here is an article I had published some years back, about the typical job interview you can expect when coming out of a CELTA or TEFL course and looking for that first job in Latin America.

Congratulations! You just finished your EFL teacher training, those grueling four weeks of sweating over coming up with interesting ideas for classes, of pouring over page after page of theory, of juggling type three conditionals.

Well you're all done. So what’s next? All this time, you've been dreaming about what wonderful new things you'll see and do in Santiago de Chile, in Buenos Aires, in San Miguel de Allende. You've also been worrying about apartments, about plane tickets, about work permits, but the most important event has yet to come: the job interview.

There's still a job interview? Yes, and all that hard work you did is about to pay off. But what will it be like? What will they ask me? Do I have to talk in Spanish?

Don't sweat it. It's probably nothing like what you are expecting. Knowing a little about what a DOS (Director of Studies) looks for in a teacher will help you do well in an interview. First, did you know that most Directors of Studies are from the UK, or the US? Your average DOS started out just like you are – teaching abroad after an initial intensive training course. Even if he or she isn't a native-speaker, it's a job requirement for them to be very good speakers of English, so either way, your interview will be in your own tongue.

You might now think that the next question has something to do with modals, or with communicative approaches, or inductive reasoning. You would be wrong in this case. Invariably, every DOS has the same worry – how long is this person going to commit to my students? This is easily the most difficult part about managing human capital. Too often, the pile of resumes on a director's desk is littered with the same acronyms and objectives. John Doe, CELTA, looking for a summer position, Jane Teacher, TEFL, can stay 8 weeks, and so forth. Most school directors know that it takes time for a teacher to develop a good rapport with students. They also program classes by semester or by level, lasting anywhere from 3 months to a full year. What they don't want to see is a teacher who can't complete a semester or level, since it is quite difficult to rebuild rapport with a new teacher halfway through a student's studies.

Should you be serious and professional or casual and open in the interview? The best answer is simply to be you. The person on the other side of the desk wants to know what you'll be like in front of a group of people - so be that person. An overly serious person may give the impression of having difficulties getting students to open up and communicate in the classroom while someone who comes off as too casual or not serious enough gives the impression of disorganization and sloppiness. The ideal? Don't be afraid to ask questions and make comments on what you see. Be friendly and smile, but stay focused. This is the person the students will see and a DOS simply must be sure that you aren't on either extreme.

What about grammar? The fear that most EFLers have when completing a training course is remembering all those grammar terms and rules. Yes, you need to know them. You are going to teach them after all. Most likely, you'll be asked to write up a demonstration class, or perhaps even deliver one to a few students or other teachers. You may be given a grammar point and asked to develop a class plan around that – introducing the point in context, running a few practice drills using it, then finishing with an output exercise that demonstrates student comprehension.

Know your students. Having knowledge of who your students will be will go a long way. During the job interview, you can win over any DOS by showing great interest in the types of student the school attracts. Aside from the obvious questions as to age groups and proficiency level, ask from where the school draws its students. Are they professionals, university students, exchange students, etc? Getting to know your student shows an interest in people and tells a DOS that you can connect on a personal level with your students, and most importantly, that you are flexible – ready to teach from a variety of platforms.

Sound simple enough? Of course, don't ignore the obvious stuff. Dress smart, be confident, and let this DOS know that you are the right person for the job.

Now, with that out of the way, you can focus on the important stuff. Getting your plane tickets, arranging accommodations, and discovering a new corner of the world. Good luck!

This entry marks my first article contributing to the ESL/EFL Roadshow, a blog ring of ESL/EFL teachers and TEFL teacher trainers around the world. September's project is hosting by Sharon of TEFL Tips fame. Here is the Roadshow roundup that shows Interview Tips as other teaching bloggers see them.

Teacher Get Together Sept. 24th

Several of us are meeting up al centro Mexico City on Saturday, Sept 24th and you're welcome to join us, same place as the last meet up since it was easy for everyone to find.

We'll add the book swap to it this time. If you have some books you're willing to part with, bring them. We frequently end up with piles of books to exchange, everything from paperbacks to EFL texts.

Saturday, September 24th, 4 PM

Restaurante Gante Cafe, corner of Madero and Gante streets al centro. Bellas Artes is the closest metro stop. We'll be on the patio. Feel free to contact me by email if you need better directions.

Google map link

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=203754431106371122432.0004a8fe7453d7f800460&msa=0

-ed Endings for Spanish Speakers - Pronunciation

A discussion developing over at ELT World on how to get spanish speakers to properly pronounce the varieties of words in English that end in -ed. The three sounds - Ed, /d, and /t are all usually rendered as -Ed, as found in the words ratED, sportED,and dreadED.

The ELT World discussion.

Teresa Lopez begins:

I am preparing some lessons on the different sounds that the -ed ending can produce, but I was wondering if any one knows if there are any rules about when it sounds like ¨t¨, when it sounds like ¨d¨ and when it sounds like ¨ed¨. I have a class of Upper Intermediate students that stuggle with that and aside from going over lots of words and how they are pronounced I can´t come up with anything else. Well, I kind of figured out on my own that the -ed is more pronounced when the word ends in ¨t¨ or ¨d¨ because of the difficulty of the same, or a very similar sound, right together.

NCTBA offers links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-EC_kk0Lso

http://www.azargrammar.com/assets/intermediate/FEGTeacher-CreatedWorksheets/Worksheets2/FEGCh2PronunciationRegularPastTenseVerbs.pdf

Enjoy, Teresa! And always remember, Google is your friend!

Melee offers:

I'm not sure if its in the links already posted, but I have my students put their hand infront of their mouths and say a verb in it's base form
If they feel a burst of air at the end, they will put a /t/ at the end to make it the past. If they do not feel air on their hand they will put /d/ at the end of the verb. If the verb already end in a t or a d then they will put /Id/ at the end of it. You can use the words voiced and unvoiced if you want, or you can not use them if you think your students aren't interested in the metalanguage. I usually do use them when teaching at the university because I say something like "those of us who study language call this voiced" because my engineering students never seem to realize linguistics is a science, and I think they should.
Either way I always ham it up a bit. Tell them they shouldn't be feeling any spit on their hands just air, getting them to try to put the opposite sound on (its not easy to change from voiced to unvoiced at the end of the word--the whole reason for this in the first place.)

Old English File one has a lesson on this that I really like, about a woman leaving her husband. it uses all regular verbs and is arranged in three collums so the students can notice the sounds. And as an extention it uses the song Yesterday on the premise the husband is singing about his wife who has left him (Now you gone and it looks as if their here to stay...)

See the full discussion at the link above.

Too Many Pigeons? Get an Eagle

Mexico City has started using Golden eagles tasked with overflying some of the city's subway installations in order to scare away pigeons, whose poop can cause damage to electrical systems and infrastructure.

El Universal has the story in Spanish.

Para evitar que el excremento de las palomas causen daño a los techos e instalaciones eléctricas de estaciones del Sistema de Transporte Colectivo (STC) Metro, un grupo de águilas sobrevuelan los inmuebles para “espantar” a las aves y así evitar que formen sus nidos.

Francisco Bojórquez, titular del organismo de transporte capitalino, confirmó que se utiliza la presencia de estos depredadores con la intención de “asustar a las palomas para que no aniden y prevenir el desgaste prematuro de las instalaciones”.

Detalló que las águilas sobrevuelan estaciones como Ciudad Azteca, en la Línea B, o La Paz, que es la terminal de la Línea A Férrea que recorre la calzada Ignacio Zaragoza.

I've seen one of the fantastic birds up close when a handler brought one to my girlfriend's school to show off to the kids. Pigeons have a reason to be scared.

Mexico City - Drivers vs Bicycles

Things are heating up in Mexico City between bicyclists and drivers. As the city pushes its Green Plan, including encouraging more bicycles and installing more Ecobici systems, driver frustration was given a voice through Radio 13 Noticias' announcer Ángel Verdugo when he suggested that bicyclists that fail to follow the rules of the road should be 'run over'. El Universal online has the story, in Spanish.

Ernesto Corona, vocero de Bicitekas, dijo que la asociación de ciclistas urbanos levantó una denuncia ante la Comisión de Derechos Humanos del Distrito Federal (CDHDF) en torno a declaración del comentarista Ángel Verdugo, quien criticó a los ciclistas que no respetan el Reglamento de Tránsito Metropolitano.

Ángel Verdugo, comentarista radiofónico, aseguró que los ciclistas "son la nueva plaga que está a punto de causar daños severos en el Distrito Federal", debido a que muchos de ellos no respetan los códigos de Tránsito.

Corona dijo que revisan otras acciones en torno a lo que consideró "incitación a la violencia" y añadió que la declaración contra los ciclistas es algo muy grave, sobre todo en la situación de violencia que enfrenta el país. "Empezar a generar más violencia en realidad no es nada bueno para la situación que estamos viviendo y sobre todo para la gran cantidad de gente que esta empezando a utilizar las bicicletas en la Ciudad de México y en el resto del país".

The Language of Rioting

The BBC has an interesting piece covering the language of riots...language driven by social media, social underclasses, and mayhem.

BBC article online

From shot 29-year-old Mark Duggan referring to the police as "feds" to the nuanced use of the word "community", the language of the riots and the response can tell us something.

It may have been England that was shaken by violence, looting and disorder.

But many of the terms used by its perpetrators came from a very different place altogether - and, due to coverage of the rioting, they have found a wider audience than ever before.

"If you see a fed... SHOOT!" read one message circulated on BlackBerry Messenger, imploring readers to riot.

Another, widely reported in the aftermath of the chaos, urged everyone to "up and roll to Tottenham [expletive] the 5-0". There were myriad references as well to the "po po".

"When kids talk about the feds, it's obvious that they're not talking about the FBI," she says. "They know that's not how things work over here. It's like a code - politicians and the media don't understand."

She highlights home-grown phrases like "bully van", meaning police van, and "shank", meaning knife, as evidence that UK street culture is not just passively replicating the language of the US inner cities.

Indeed, Jonathon Green, author of the Chambers Slang Dictionary, points out that many of the messages which circulated during the riots included non-US phrases.

These included exhortations to defend one's "yard" - used in its Jamaican-derived sense, meaning home - or one's "end", a home-grown term referring to an area of a city.

more at the article link above

Metrobus Line 4 - Mexico City

Mexico City began work this past month on the next metrobus line - number 4 - to run cross town east/west between Buenavista (the train station) and the airport, crossing the heart of the city in the Centro Historico. I assume they are grabbing 2 or 3 lanes of Eje 1 Norte to do it.

Bravo! Another good project by the city that seems dedicated to favouring public transport over private. Drivers will moan about it for a couple of years then get used to the faster flow of people and cars through the area.

Looking forward to lines 5, 6, 7...

Mexico City Expat/Teacher Get Together July 30th

We'll be having a teacher and expat get together in Mexico City this Saturday, July 30th at 1 PM. Meet up is at the patio of Restaurante Gante Cafe, at the corner of Gante and Madero streets.

Most of us are EFL teachers but the meet up is open to all. No need to RSVP, just show up!

Here is the google map link.


View Restaurante Gante Cafe in a larger map

Closest metro is Bellas Artes. See you there!

Mexico City Foodie

I found a new resource!

The Mija Chronichles, by Leslie Tellez a Texas expat living in Mexico City. She is ALL about the food (as I am) and has a blog covering a wide range of food topics for the grand capital of Mexico.

I'll be a regular reader...

ESL vs EFL in North America

An interesting discussion developing at the ESL Cafe, which started out talking about a preference in Canada for non-native ESL instructors but distilled out to a talk on some of the differences EFL and ESL teachers find in their craft. One to watch.

The full discussion is here.

dmocha begins:

When I came back to Canada after teaching for several decades overseas I knew it might be tough to break into the ESL market. One university English language programme told me flat out that overseas EFL experience was of limited benefit in getting an ESL teaching job in Canada. Another decade later and I know that they were right.

While on the hunt for ESL jobs I began to encounter another barrier to employment. I’d never even considered: anti-native-speaker-ism in the immigrant English language teaching sector. The premise is that having native-English speakers as instructors in immigrant oriented ESL programmes sends the message that ‘native is best’ or conversely ‘non-native is second rate’. As a result I’ve seem programmes (federal government funded programmes no less) which have zero native English-speaking teaching staff. (Male staff? Since most of the immigrant learners are women, having men in superior roles would send the wrong message too.)

For those of us who rely on our native speaker status to open doors overseas, who see how non-Caucasian native English speakers are often less employable and are paid less when they are just as good, this can come as quite a shock!

Speaking for myself, I doubt very much I’d enrol in a Chinese language programme in Beijing if I knew the instructors were not native speakers of 北京话.

My purpose in writing this is not to complain but to provoke a discussion on the issue of ‘anti-native-speakeristic’ approaches to language teaching, in terms of language learning, acculturation and teacher (un)employment.

PS If you think your many years of successful teaching overseas, your published papers and higher education count for much in Canada (at least) think again. Plan on retraining for a new career right from the get-go. Don't waste time; time is money.

nomad soul responds:

dmocha, I wonder how much of this comes from the belief that you're supposedly out of touch with the culture because you were overseas for a lengthy time. Even though you’re a native speaker, employers may perceive you to be similar to an immigrant in that you now have to acclimate back into the culture---that is, you’re estranged from the culture, which is essential for teaching ESL. Additionally, I think TEFL is misunderstood by TESL folks because of the “foreign” component. For example, I know several ESL teachers who have said they can’t fathom going overseas to teach because they’d be teaching on foreign soil and in a foreign context. Geez, and having "suspect-sounding" countries (e.g., Yemen, Sudan, Uzbekistan, Togo, New Guinea...) on your resume/CV could be an issue. Your TEFL experience would probably be more appealing if you'd taught in Mexico, China, Japan, Poland, etc.

johnslat adds:

"Additionally, I think TEFL is misunderstood by TESL folks because of the “foreign” component."

From my experience, I'd say that there is a fairly widespread prejudice among ESL employers in the States against EFLers.

I'd also say that, like all other prejudices, it's wrong-headed. Would we all agree that EFL students usually have it harder in learning English than ESL students? After all, the ESL students are generally surrounded by English whereas for many EFL students, the classroom is the only time they may get to speak English (the enterprising ones can read, write and/or listen to it outside the class, though I'd say, many don't.)
And when the students have it harder, doesn't it logically follow that the teachers have it harder, too?

Again, I can speak only from my background - 22 years as a EFL teacher and eight years as an ESL teacher. And I would have to say that in my estimation, the EFL colleagues that I had were/are (generally speaking) more competent than most of my ESL colleagues (the main exceptions being ESL non-native speaker teachers.)

But again - that's just my experience.

Regards,
John

spiral78 chimes in with:

I've worked in a couple of places in North America providing classes for immigrants: the teachers were 90% native speakers.

Non-native speakers were employed primarily teaching lower levels, not due to any lack of proficiency (they were all very high level English speakers) but because their teaching methods tended to the more traditional. This is what many newcomers seemed to expect and to respond best to - they were then 'weaned' up through higher levels to more participatory/learner centred classroom styles.

nomad soul agrees:

The ESL teaching situations I've observed in the US mirror spiral's description but with native and non-native speakers teaching all levels. It's probably relevant to the demographics of the area. But employers will hire whomever they want for whatever the reason.

The job market for ESL teachers is competitive and one way to make sure you're not forgotten or ignored is by networking. Teachers who head overseas for a time and then return to their native shores especially need to keep a connection with their home teaching community. TESOL events are a good venue for meeting and networking with one's peers. Linkedin is another way to network and it's free.

follow the rest of the conversation at the link above...

Internet Changing the Way We Remember

BBC has a story...

Computers and the internet are changing the nature of our memory, research in the journal Science suggests.

Psychology experiments showed that people presented with difficult questions began to think of computers.

When participants knew that facts would be available on a computer later, they had poor recall of answers but enhanced recall of where they were stored.

The researchers say the internet acts as a "transactive memory" that we depend upon to remember for us.

Lead author Betsy Sparrow of Columbia University said that transactive memory "is an idea that there are external memory sources - really storage places that exist in other people".

"There are people who are experts in certain things and we allow them to be, [to] make them responsible for certain kinds of information," she explained to BBC News.

Co-author of the paper Daniel Wegner, now at Harvard University, first proposed the transactive memory concept in a book chapter titled Cognitive Interdependence in Close Relationships, finding that long-term couples relied on each other to act as one another's memory banks.

"I really think the internet has become a form of this transactive memory, and I wanted to test it," said Dr Sparrow.

Now, where did I leave my car keys?

Mexico Wins Sub 17 Tourney!

I don't often get excited about football - soccer, but Mexico is having a banner year. A couple of weeks after defeating the US for a win in the Copa de Oro, Mexico's under 17 squad tonight came away with the championship after defeating Uruguay 2-0. The tourney was hosted in Mexico.

These are difficult times for many people in Mexico, fighting both negative world opinion and a cartel war at home. The sub-17 win is exactly the kind of thing Mexicans need to lift the spirits and keep the pride shining.

Guadalajara hosts the Pan American games in October giving the Mexico side another chance to shine in sport in 2011.

Mexican Trucks Across the Border

Mexican truckers will finally be allowed across the US border past the 40 km limit they previously had. This ends a 17 year NAFTA dispute and ends Mexican tariffs against a range of US products coming into Mexico.

BBC has the story.

US and Mexico have signed a deal to allow their trucks to use each other's roads, after a 17-year dispute.

The 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement called for Mexican trucks to have full access to US highways, but they were kept to a border buffer zone.

In 2009, Mexico imposed higher tariffs on dozens of US products in response.

Officials said the deal would address safety concerns over Mexican vehicles. Business groups welcomed the accord but US trucking unions have condemned it.

Under Nafta, US and Mexican carriers were authorised to cross the border.

But the the US refused to allow Mexican trucks full access, citing concerns of their ability to meet US safety and environmental standards.

Mexican vehicles have generally been allowed no further than 40km (25 miles) into the US.

The Mexican side has pushed hard for Mexican trucking to have full access to the US as agreed upon in the NAFTA agreement in 1994. The US has put up legitimate concerns but slow to propose solutions in areas such as cross-border checks and safety regulation compliance. Trucker unions in the US have put up the biggest objections fearing loss of jobs and income for US based truckers.

Home Alone Dad Day 8

One day to go...mommy arrives tomorrow.

We spent the morning at Parque Mexico with my cousins who pitched in to entertain the hellion.

Mommy had better be bringing me some duty free Crown Royal...I have earned it.

Untitled from Guy Courchesne on Vimeo.