Moving to Merida

Ladydi3328 wrote:

As part of my "retirement plan", I have been teaching English overseas for the past 3 years.  I spent 2 wonderful years teaching and traveling in Turkey.  It is a beautiful country with warm and welcoming people.  I spent a few months in Matera, Italy before taking a "test the water" teaching job in Tehuacan, Mexico.  My contract here ends June 30.

I have already made my flight and temporary lodging arrangements to come to Merida on June 30.  I am looking forward to the change and am hopeful Merida will be the place I can settle in and make my new home.  I love teaching and look forward to securing a rewarding position in the Merida area.

I have a long way to go in acquiring Spanish as my second language, however.  Teaching English and therefore spending most of my time in English speaking environments has not proven very helpful in language acquisition.  But, I continue to work on it.  I hope to find a good Spanish teacher in Merida to help me along. 

I have spent a good deal of time reading various expat forums and look forward to not feeling alone once I make the move.  I have gained much insight and assistance from these forums!

I will be looking for permanent housing once I secure a teaching position and welcome any leads/assistance in that regard.  Of course, all plans center around finding a good teaching position but I am extremely optimistic in that regard as I am toward all aspects of this move.

I look forward to meeting and developing relationships with the expat community in Merida as well as social relationships outside the expat community.

Look forward to meeting soon!

Diana

Well Diana, I wish you luck. I'm told that there are jobs in Merida, what kind of jobs I do not know. You might want to check the forum classified area to get a start.

Not speaking Spanish at all will be a significant handicap, so you will need to have a lot of flexibility in your job expectations.

Well, since the job will need to be teaching English, shouldn't have too much trouble finding one.  I already have an interview for July 3 so I am hopeful!

Thanks for your reply.

Ladydi3328 wrote:

Well, since the job will need to be teaching English, shouldn't have too much trouble finding one.  I already have an interview for July 3 so I am hopeful!

Thanks for your reply.

I'm sorry if I offended you. I just don't see how being fluent in English will make it easy to teach people who do not speak English as a primary language.   

Is the intent to improve English for some people who speak some English? Although English shares some basics with Spanish, the rules are much different.
What would be the basis for the communication. ? 

With Spanish, I have had someone who is bilingual to help me, , and I help with his English. Spanish is actually a complex language. So if your students don't speak English, and you do not understand Spanish how would that work ?

Good luck with the interview, let us know how it goes.

I've been teaching English in other countries for the past 3 years in Turkey, Italy and Mexico.  It is more common than you might think that the English teacher does not speak the language of the country within which English is being taught.

P. S. My Spanish teacher doesn't speak English.

That explains a few things. I have encountered several people who pronounce English words quite well, but really do not speak the language,or understand it.

Most recently it was a boy who spoke Spanish more comfortably, but said he learned English in school. No, he actually didn't.

The previous recent conversation where I encountered the problem was in a conversation started by a Spanish speaker I know.

He thought I would be more comfortable, and understand better if his sister talked to me in English. Once again , her word pronunciation was very good. One would think she spoke English, but in fact she did not understand English at all. Now he speaks in Spanish even if he is talking about repairs I am not familiar with. 

Sounding like you speak the language  and actually speaking the language are often not the same thing.