teaching a foreign language to city workers FRENCHGIRL

[eastendgirl]

I think there was another thread by frenchgirl about teaching French to city workers during lunch breaks....cannot locate this thread though. My mothertongue is Italian, don't have teaching qualification or experience, but I feel it is something I could do, have a degree. I wondered if Frenchgirl or anybody else had any thoughts about it....

Ciao eastendgirl. I occasionally employ part-time Italian teachers and I think your lack of experience might be a problem. Trouble is, I know it's a vicious circle... how do you get experience if you can't get a job without any!? Might be worth starting with your local FE college and seeing if they have any evening classes. These colleges may also provide some on-the-job training for their teachers, so then you'll be able to say that you not only have experience but are also trained. Also try private language schools. There are bound to be some in London, and they may also have links with businesses, etc. Is your degree an Italian one or a British one? Is it a languages degree? You might also contact the Institute of Linguists to see if you can take one of their exams so that you have some sort of official language qualification.

Don't know if this helps... I know it's not exactly what you were after, but others may have more useful info than I do.

In bocca al lupo...

Very useful thanks. My degree is a British one in Romance Languages. Do you live in Italy Ellbell?

Magari! No, sadly I'm in boring old Yorkshire (though it is delightful here today...)! I'd definitely investigate the Institute of Linguists exams and try to get some teaching experience. You could try contacting any universities that are local to you that teaching Italian. I'm guessing that you're in ... um... East London????? Not sure where your nearest places would be, but Italian is taught at UCL, Royal Holloway, Queen Mary (I think), Essex, in the Language Centre at Kings... lots of places. A friend of mine (retired colleague) has done various language courses at the City Lit. It would be worth writing to anywhere that teaches Italian to see if they can offer you anything - even if it's only an hour or two of conversation a week, it's a start towards gaining experience. The fact that your degree is a British one is probably better, insofar as more people will understand what it 'means'. Those marks out of 110 always confuse people...

Molto interessante. Thanks a lot.