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Proving that I speak a language | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : General discussion |  | |
| Oasis88 Senior Member Australia Joined 5705 days ago 160 posts - 187 votes  Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, Italian | Message 1 of 13 27 February 2010 at 11:00am | IP Logged | ||
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Hi everyone.
At the moment I'm currently finishing my final year of my education degree and have started to think about what it would be like to become a Spanish teacher. Now, apart from a few weeks of formal classes, I've never received any "formal" Spanish education myself and therefore have next to nothing that I can use to prove that I actually speak the language. This has become a bit of a problem as I start to put together my CV and begin thinking about employment opportunities. My question is to all of you, how would you deal with this? Have any of you had this kind of problem which stems from being a self-learner? We all know that recruitment agencies and CV's naturally require evidence of your skills, therefore, is there a nationally recognised test I can take that will help me with this? If it helps, I'm looking to achieve employment throughout the UK or Australia. Cheers Edited by Oasis88 on 27 February 2010 at 11:00am 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Paskwc Pentaglot Senior Member Canada Joined 5677 days ago 450 posts - 624 votes Speaks: Hindi, Urdu*, Arabic (Levantine), French, English Studies: Persian, Spanish | Message 2 of 13 27 February 2010 at 11:33am | IP Logged | ||
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Where I live (Canada) teachers require a certain amount of credits in a discipline before
they can teach it. This is established by providing transcripts and so on. I'm not sure how it works in Australia, but your post suggests that proficiency trumps formalities. In that case, the major international body for Spanish education is the Cervantes Institute. They administer a test with which you can establish your proficiency. Their website also mentions some sort of teacher training program which might interest you. Website 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6011 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 3 of 13 27 February 2010 at 3:45pm | IP Logged | ||
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I don't think their language courses are available outside of Europe (due to the requirement for a native speaking examiner to be present for oral exams), but the UK's Open University is popular for people looking to get a formally recognised language qualification. So if you're thinking of coming over to the UK anyone, you could consider doing it when you get here.
I'm doing so exactly because I want to be a language teacher, and in Scotland to get into teacher training college for languages, you have to have 80 undergraduate points in the language you want to teach. Of these, at least 40 must be at SQCF level 8 or above. (I know the credit points don't mean anything to you yet, but they're listed against each course on the OU website.) A DELE (diplomado del español como lengua extranjera) from the Instituto Cervantes is not considered a suitable substitute as there is no taught component -- Scottish universities want to see proof of study with a reputable chartered university. Edited by Cainntear on 27 February 2010 at 3:53pm 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6272 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French | Message 5 of 13 27 February 2010 at 5:37pm | IP Logged | ||
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Not a role model, perhaps, but you could do what Lee Harvey Oswald did. He came back from
the USSR fluent in Russian, but with no formal qualifications in the language. So he got a Russia-born acquaintance, Paul Gregory was his name I think, to write a letter certifying Oswald's competence in the Russian language. If you know someone who could certify your command of a language, why not ask them to write a letter for you doing that? 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| translator2 Senior Member United States Joined 6919 days ago 848 posts - 1862 votes Speaks: English* | Message 6 of 13 28 February 2010 at 3:05am | IP Logged | ||
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If memory serves, they will give you a certificate in the form of an webpage that you can put on your resume:
Spanish Listening and Reading Test 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LatinoBoy84 Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5575 days ago 443 posts - 603 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Latvian | Message 7 of 13 28 February 2010 at 5:30am | IP Logged | ||
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Instituto_Cervantes
What the Cervantes Institute does Cervantes Institute headquarters, in Madrid. It designs courses of Spanish language, offering two kinds of courses, general and special. It offers the examinations of the Diplomas of Spanish as Foreign Language (DELE) on behalf of the Spanish Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. It has official qualifications certifying levels of competence in the Spanish language, and is the only certificate for non-native Spanish speakers that is officially recognized.[4] The exam is subdivided into three different levels, beginner, intermediate, and proficiency. Beginner Level: This level certifies the linguistic sufficient proficiency to cope with a range of situations requiring elementary use of the language.[2][4] Intermediate Level: This level certifies the linguistic sufficient proficiency to communicate in everyday situations, which do not require a specialized knowledge of the Spanish language, to be able to cope with the current situations of daily life, in normal circumstances of communication.[2][4] Proficiency Level: This level certifies the linguistic sufficient competition to communicate in situations requiring advanced use of Spanish and an understanding of Spanish culture.[2][4] You would want to take the Diplomas de Español como Lengua Extranjera the Spanish Equiv of the TOEFL 1 person has voted this message useful | |||
| LatinoBoy84 Bilingual Triglot Senior Member United States Joined 5575 days ago 443 posts - 603 votes Speaks: English*, Spanish*, French Studies: Russian, Portuguese, Latvian | Message 8 of 13 28 February 2010 at 5:32am | IP Logged | ||
I plan to take the TORFL in a couple of years. As well as the Certification exam offered by the Alliance Francais 1 person has voted this message useful |
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