Photo credit: Pip R. Lagenta
I went to a British school back in Peru where I was taught the majority of my courses in English. The school has been around for a very long time (1938) and even my mother and her sisters went there when they were little. It has a great reputation and it’s undoubtedly responsible for my being bilingual since it was there where I learned English in a formal setting.
When I attended the school in the 1980s, there used to be an unwritten rule that they would only hire teachers from Great Britain to teach us English as in Language Arts, as they call it here. Although, if memory serves me right, all the other courses I took in English were also taught by British teachers. My mom says it was the same during her time there.
I never ever had an American teacher — they worked at the American schools — and now that I think about it in a more critical way, I imagine the whole point was that we’d learn to speak English as its spoken in Great Britain. The school’s goal, as stated on its website, is “to provide an integral education based on the best aspects of the British and Peruvian educational systems.”
I understand things have changed at my old school and while they still hire the majority of their English teachers from Great Britain, they do hire English-speaking Peruvian teachers, including their own alumni. I guess they’ve taught them well.
So when I first heard about a similar practice at a bilingual private school here in this country, I didn’t give it much thought. I thought it was the same thing reversed. But the more details I learned about this school’s particular situation, the more disturbed I was by the whole thing.
Apparently the school tries to hire only Spaniards to teach in their Spanish program. Although they won’t say this out loud, this school seems to think the Spanish spoken in Spain has a higher status than the Spanish spoken in the rest of the Spanish-speaking world. In fact, the person from whom I learned this information told me that her child’s teacher makes sure to correct his students if they don’t use the correct Spaniard version of a particular word. This person also told me that in terms of teaching students about the Spanish-speaking culture, anything coming from Spain is predominant.
Now, I’ve nothing against la Madre Patria. In fact, it’s one of my favorite countries in Europe and their food is out of this world. But I do have something against the notion that the Spanish spoken there is somehow “better” than the Spanish spoken in Latin America.
While the concept that there’s one Spanish that’s better than the others is nothing new*, it truly doesn’t belong in a bilingual school. Any school that’s teaching its students Spanish should be concerned with their teachers’ capabilities, experience, quatlifications and education, not their nationality. Just because a person was born in Spain doesn’t automatically make him the best Spanish teacher.
(*If you speak Spanish, particularly if Spanish is your first language and you grew up in Latin America, you’re probably familiar with the competition that exists regarding who speaks the best Spanish in the world. While some people immediately assume it would have to be the Spaniards, time and time again Colombians come out on top. I’ve no opinion one way or the other, but I do have to admit that I’ve yet to meet a Colombian who didn’t speak proper Spanish.)
I’m really bothered by this notion at all levels, but mainly because it once again undermines the status of Latinos in the United States.
What do you think? Should bilingual schools hire only Spaniards to teach in their Spanish programs?
Thank you for writing about this! This is really a huge problem and there is a lot of prejudice against Latin American speakers. When I was in college (just a few years ago) nearly all my teachers were Spaniards and it was well known amongst Latin American Spanish professors that they were a small minority and that there was great bias against them. In class with our Spaniard professors, they would often make fun of words from Latin America that couldn’t be found in Spain and would mark students down for using them. A lot of this has to do with racial prejudice as well. It’s just something that really needs to change. I’ve had bad Spanish professor and actually my worst ever was a young cocky chauvinist from Spain…the most critical of Latin Americans…and he was a horrible teacher. I felt I went backward in skill after taking his class. On the other hand, I did have two teachers who were absolutely amazing! One was from Spain and the other Puerto Rico…I respect them so much for their skill as teachers, which has nothing to do with race or nationality.
Wow! That’s unbelievable, Chantilly. Thanks for sharing. Now I’m even more interested in finding out about this ridiculous trend and unfounded belief that Spanish from Spain has a higher status than all the other Spanish.
You’re right to point out that a lot of it has to do with racial prejudice. I think that in a lot of cases, non-Spanish speaking people who want their children to learn Spanish associate the Spanish spoken in Latin America with the Spanish of immigrants which, for some reason, seems to be not good enough. Go figure!
In the end, nationality has nothing to do with it at all!
I meant five hundred years ago.
Dear Chantilly,
Thanks for your comment. It may be a bit late to reply, but I am going to try anyway. I am from Spain and I taught Spanish at a University in the United States. You say you had a lot of professors that would often make fun of words from Latin America. We have to accept that this is something normal and it happens in all cultures. While I was in your country, I met a lot of Americans that would actually make fun of British English. They would make fun of my accent because I learnt British English at school. I would never say this had something to do with racial prejudice. I would be very grateful if you avoided using those strong words, which are based on opinions and not facts.
Also, I have to say that the Department where I used to work had more Latin American professors than Spaniards, and students did prefer Latin American Spanish to European Spanish. The Spanish I used to teach was therefore from Latin America.
Finally, I want to make something very clear: I am very aware of the prejudice against Latin Americans, just as the prejudice against Spaniards. Before coming to America, I did not know that Spaniards had such bad reputation since the colonisation. We are not proud of our past, but what happened five years ago is not our fault.
Luckily for us, the economic and social power belongs to Latin American Spanish speakers in the US. Yes, it’s sad that a private school decides to implement those hiring practices, it is up to us as parents not to send our kids into such environments. But some parents do like to raise their kids as elitists and are willing to pay for it.
Like Chantilly said, there is the racial prejudice aspect involve in that too.
Yes, I know what you mean, Edna. But I think that rather than not sending our kids into such environments, parents who can afford to send their children to a private bilingual school should be aware of this trend and make it a point to change it from within. They need to demand that the schools do away with this ridiculous hiring practice and educate the administrators if necessary as to why nationality has nothing to do with the quality of a teacher.
I agree that the administrators should be educated on how bad their hiring practices are, but I’m not convinced that this is the problem. It sounds more like is a practice put in placed on purpose and with full knowledge of the outcome.
But yes, if parents can change the practice, Great.
A lot of language schools will do the same here in Korea. They only want Spanish teachers from Spain. I remember meeting a teacher at a language school from Spain whose primary language was Catalan. Spanish wasn’t his first language. I can’t imagine he’s more qualified than a Latin American teacher. His degree also had NOTHING to do with teaching, but since he had a degree and was from Spain, they hired him to be a teacher.
Hmmm… Interesting, MissT. I had no idea, but I’m definitely more inclined to do some research regarding this topic.
While I didn’t mention that some of these teachers don’t even have a teaching degree, it does seem to be common practice here too. I know for a fact this was definitely the case in my old British school because the “teachers” would tell us themselves!
MIss T brings up a very interesting point regarding this Spaniard teacher whose first language was Catalan.
Spanish is the official language in Spain, but there are also four Co-official languages. And as anyone from Spain will tell you (or you can realize after one visit to Catalunya or the Basque country), the country is very divided by culture, language and heritage.
So, these schools that want to hire Spaniards because of their Castellano are limiting themselves also to certain areas of Spain or to hire locals who were taught Castellano as a first language.
Demasiado complicado. Teachers should be hired based on their merits and abilities, not their accents or nationalities!
Excellent topic, my friend!
Interesting debate. I’m from Spain and I hope this post doesn’t get missunderstood. First of all, there are different parts of Spain where their ‘other’ language is not Castellano, this does not mean that Castellano isn’t the first language. There are many people living in Catalunya whose families are not from there, therefore they learn Castellano at home, with friends and family and at school.They also learn Catalan from friends and at schools. There’re actually some parts of Catalunya that don’t speak Catalan. What I mean is that just because a person is from there, it does not mean Castellano isn’t their first language as well. Basque is hardly being spoken in North Spain. I actually know one person that speaks it and it’s just because he studied it in his teaching degree.
I have many Latino American friends and family, more than I can count! and I never thought my Spanish was ‘better’ than their Spanish, it’s just different. Most of my Spaniard friends (including myself) find some words and expressions very different to those in Spain, so different that they sound wrong to our ears and we wouldn’t want some things (for example calling v the letter ‘be’) being learnt by our children. This has actually been rectified in the new Ortografia de la Langua Española (Panamericano)
I am currently enrolled in a interpretation and translation course and I was told by one of the instructors that it is extremely hard to find Latino Americans with good levels of both English and Spanish since they have either left their studies unfinished in their home country or they arrive to the US when they were very young. I wouldn’t want one of these (either Spanish or Latino)to teach my kids! At the end of the day, we all want well educated teachers, with a love for teaching and our children.
“I am currently enrolled in a interpretation and translation course and I was told by one of the instructors that it is extremely hard to find Latino Americans with good levels of both English and Spanish since they have either left their studies unfinished in their home country or they arrive to the US when they were very young. I wouldn’t want one of these (either Spanish or Latino)to teach my kids! At the end of the day, we all want well educated teachers, with a love for teaching and our children”.
umm, that sounds just like the excuse many American employers use NOT to hire Latinos or African American.
We’re sterotyping a lot here. The person that told me is NOT American. He was just talking from a liguistic point of view. He sees hundreds of cases (not just Spanish) to enter this course so I don’t think he is biased in any way.
There are MANY Spanish expressions that sound wrong to my very Mexican ears; every time someone says “vamos a por…” my ears bleed, so while I get your point ( I wouldn’t want my kids to use that expression EVER) I still don’t think there’s any excuse to believe Spaniards speak a “better” Spanish, that’s plain prejudice.
Exactly Galle, you get my point
“I wouldn’t want my kids to use that expression EVER”
Wow, Galle, that is harsh! I have good friends from Colombia and Mexico and I actually like it better when they use their own (different) words and expressions: some sound funny, others sound beautiful… but none cause ear bleeding
Saludos
Raul
Thanks for your detailed comment, Rosa. It is not my intention at all to create misunderstanding with this post. I just wanted to bring this topic up because, as you can see from the rest of the comments, the belief that one Spanish is “better” than the other is not isolated to this particular school.
Thanks also for the clarification on the languages spoken in Spain. I think this came up because of a couple of comments regarding a teacher who’s first language was Catalan.
I can tell you, from personal experience, that I have had the debate of who speaks “better” Spanish with friends from all over Spanish-speaking countries. All in good fun, though. In fact, my husband and I are always joking about this. (He is from Puerto Rico). In the end, probably no one is right, but we can’t deny that the debate exists.
I find the comment by one of your instructors interesting, but I imagine that’s the case for lots of immigrants to this country regardless of their country of origin.
In the end, you’re totally right about wanting well educated teachers to teach our children and that is the whole point of the entire post. Nationality shouldn’t come into play!
I have been living in Spain for almost a year as an English teacher. In the States, I come from a town with a lot of people of Puerto Rican and Dominican ethnicity, and as a result my Spanish has been highly influenced by Caribbean Spanish, and I have traveled to several Latin American countries. I have encountered many criticisms for this, as many (but not all) Spaniards are quick to correct me for pronouncing my z’s and c’s like an [s] instead of [θ], using non-Spanish vocabulary, ustedes instead of vosotros, etc. Unfortunately, I feel many people automatically associate a certain dialect with things such as education level, socioeconomic status, etc. and harbor prejudices against it.
Additionally, in my school, as I speak “American” English, I have been questioned by several of the Spanish English teachers, who at times have asked me to teach only the British word, even if I may be innocently enough unaware of what they say in England! It really bothers me. I really feel the best approach to language instruction in terms of “accents” is to teach the most amount of variants possible, so that your students will be prepared for any context, and to teach that none is “better” than another.
“I really feel the best approach to language instruction in terms of “accents” is to teach the most amount of variants possible…”
I agree completely, Ashlee! I think this is particularly important in the U.S. as the Spanish spoken here is not a universal one since we all come from different Spanish-speaking countries. For this reason, I have issue with a Spanish teacher who tells my children that there’s only one correct way of saying things. In my house, for example, my children are learning that an avocado is an aguacate, but it’s also a palta — like we call it in Peru. I wouldn’t be a happy camper if a teacher told my children otherwise!
In terms of what you’re experiencing as a teacher in Spain, I thank you for being candid and letting all see a bit of what you’re experiencing. I think you hit the nail on the head when you say that some associate the kind of Spanish you speak with level of education and socioeconomic status. You are totally right and while I believe it’s totally wrong, it is a reality!
Maybe I missed it, but I think there is one interesting piece of information missing in your post. Is this bilingual private school in any way affiliated with Spain or a Spanish instution? For instance, you may have heard of the Cervantes Institute, which is run by the government of Spain to promote learning of the Spanish language, but also Spanish culture. So naturally, it is biased towards teachers who are from Spain.
I think that is also probably true for the British/American schools abroad. I realize that ideally children would be able to understand a variety of accents, but when it comes to speaking, a foreign learner might get confused (I am no expert, but I think I would definitely get frustrated and confused).
If this school, however, has no affiliation whatsoever with Spain, then I cannot find any justification for this. The US has much stronger ties with Latin America and the Latino community than it does with Spain, so the natural, practical flavor would be a Latin American one.
In any case, I find conversations about “the proper” Spanish to be silly. There is no “unproper” Spanish, to my knowledge. You may prefer a flavor better than others. Most native speakers would probably want their kids to learn their own flavor. However, being a Spaniard myself, I realize I am probably in a minority when compared to other Latinos, and I certainly cannot force my personal emotional preferences on somebody else.
I agree with your post 100%
Raul, as someone said below, the school has an exchange program with Spain which, to me, is not the same as having an affiliation with the Cervantes Institute (which, as you state, has the goal of promoting Spanish and Spain per the Spanish government). Either way, I could see why this would make them biased toward teachers from Spain.
However, what I’m questioning and what I’m having issue with is the concept that one Spanish is better than the other. Again, I know this concept exists and that it works both ways, but that still doesn’t make it right.
In the end, private schools have the right to do what they want and parents have the right to choose not to send their children there. I just find it disheartening that those parents who don’t speak Spanish don’t really understand that it’s a disservice to their children – growing up in the U.S. — to only be taught that there’s only one correct way to say things in Spanish!
Well you guys made me so curious, that I am planning to go for a tour at this school and ask about that
. In my opinion, and maybe it sounds a little cheesy, I would love for my son to go to a school where they talk about culture. That they can have conversations about how to say a word in different “Spanish words” to share everybody’s experiences and be ok with everybody’s backgrounds. And the most important part, to RESPECT, because somehow respect gets lost sometimes, and it doesn’t matter if parents pay a lot for the school, the school does not make sure that students respect all cultures.
I’m with you, Mary! Teaching our children about culture is not cheesy at all. It’s exactly what a well-rounded education is all about. I love it when my daughter learns a different way of saying something in Spanish from her Mexican nanny, for example. She finds it incredibly interesting and I think she’s lucky to be having such an exposure. It’ll only make her vocabulary that much larger!
When I took Spanish in junior high and high school (public school) both teachers were Españolas… this is really interesting!
That’s exactly what I was trying to point out. It seems to be a common practice in schools and even in colleges, as Chantilly stated in the first comment.
I just mentioned on your FB page how incredibly funny I find this because, as mentioned, within Spain there are many dialects, also. My father, who is from the Extremadura region in southwestern Spain, has a very heavy accent that is not the crisp, almost melodic, one found in the Madrid area. In fact, I used to have a hard time understanding him, and others in the area when I went to visit as a child.
I would say, though, that some of this nonsense about “proper” Spanish is most probably instigated by the Spanish themselves. They are fiercely proud of their culture and their language, going so far as to create Spanish words for new concepts or products (i.e., ordenador, NOT computadora) because they want to maintain the “purity” of their language and not “dirty” it with English (Spanglish!!) words.
Now I can’t blame them for this patriotic attitude, since isn’t that exactly what we have all been here trying to instill in our own children? Pride in our culture, heritage, language? (I do however, think it can be taken a bit far. Ahem.)
But to answer your question: YES, it is wrong to hire someone for any other reason than their ability to teach a particular subject – and teach it WELL. Just because I can speak Spanish doesn’t mean I can teach it if I butcher the grammar or vocabulary. But as a parent, I would expect any private school language program to hire teachers that can a) speak Spanish correctly, b) teach the language correctly, c) have a working knowledge of the cultural and linguistic differences from ALL Spanish-speaking countries so that they can accurately convey the diversity of our world. IN MY OPINION, you cannot teach language without also teaching culture and customs. Because your beliefs and surrounding influence your language.
Getting off my soapbox now… MWUAH!
You couldn’t have said it better, Monica! I would want exactly the same thing from any teacher teaching my students Spanish.
In terms of the nonsense of who speaks better Spanish, I’m not sure who got it started, but I can tell you that it’s a well known competition among Spanish speakers. I, as I said in a comment above, take it lightly, but I know it exists. I’ve even made fun of how my husband says certain words (pantalla for earring, zafacón for trashcan, guía for steering wheel and the list goes on), but he does the same with my weird words (palta for avocado, poto for butt, chancho for pork, etc). Again, all in good fun. I actually love that my children are learning so many different ways of saying the same thing in Spanish!
I am actually very surprised to read many of these comments. The majority of Anglo Americans I have met who speak Spanish have Latin American accents, so I have always assumed they had Latin American teachers.
Also, when you go to a bookstore in the US and get a book in Spanish for you kid, the characters always “manejan el carro”, they don’t “conducen el coche” (unless you get a book from a Spanish publisher, which are rarities).
Like other commenters said, this is interesting and I think a full-blown investigation is called for, Roxana
I don’t know if I’m surprised by the comments, but I agree with you, as I said in a prior comment, that this is a topic that I will be looking into further.
Thanks for your comments and for your insight. My experience with Anglo Americans who speak Spanish has been the opposite of yours. But I do have to say I’m going to be paying more attention to the vocabulary in my children’s Spanish books.
I was actually at this school today, and brought this subject up. The school and the Spanish Ministry of Education have an exchange program. The teachers are screened very carefully, by the Ministry and the school. I said I would like it specified that there are many ways to say certain words in Spanish, and was met with absolutely no resistance. If anything, I was agreed with. Kids will learn both ways– Castilian and LatinAmerican–of saying a word. Especially if they have a LatinAmerican parent at home.
I was part of an exchange program between the Ministries of Education of France and Costa Rica. I wonder if the French felt the same way about a bunch of Costaricans teaching their kids Spanish?
I guess what I’m trying to say is, we need to give things a chance. If there is absolutely no way you want a Spaniard teaching your child Spanish, then that is your judgement and your choice, and this school is not for you. I would just like to suggest that we leave defensiveness aside, take a closer look for ourselves, and make up our own minds with the information we’ve acquired first-hand.
Sisley – I’m glad you spoke to them; since it seemed that you were a bit reluctant at first and the fact that you did not want your kid to have the “Spanish” accent.
Here is what I have to say about that. Some of the teachers hired at this particular school have not been in the US very long and some usually come teach and go back to Spain during the summer. So how would they know how to say certain words in the many different ways? As a parent you would need to be there 24/7 to find out what your kids are being taught. With that said, it is not their fault, they came here to teach their Spanish and culture. It is up to us parents to get involved with the school and teachers and let them know how we feel.
The teachers at this particular school usually do not get push back from parents because the majority does not speak another language at home and of course they have nothing to challenge as far as language is concerned.
My child’s teacher was open to change when I spoke to him and let him know that in this country it is important to teach about the many ways of saying things and the different cultures that make this country so incredible. With that said I’m only able to bring him up to speed on a few things here an there since I work full time and do not have the luxury of spending a lot of time in the classroom.
In addition to what they told you about carefully screening teachers; can’t speak for every teacher in this school, but I recently found out, the person teaching my Son, did not have a degree. He came to the school as an assistant, and due to some issues that occurred during the school year, the teacher had to leave and he became the head teacher with only a ECE certificate from the classes he took here. In addition during the time the exchange of teachers occurred, parents were told that he had just finished his Associate’s degree. So I’m not really sure what to think about this school, when I feel they have not been 100% honest with me.
Regardless of the degree, he has been a great teacher to my son, with a lot of energy, enthusiasm, and very caring. His Spanish knowledge has expanded so much and when he comes home with a word I never heard, we take the time to teach him the different ways you can say them.
As far as cultural, they have a lot to work on. ……
I do say ” with that said” a lot. LOL
In addition; I did enroll my child in this school knowing that most teachers are from Spain. For my Husband and I this was never an issue. What we expected from this school was more cultural diversity and more open to the the fact that there are more Spanish speaking countries represented in the US than just Spain. Anything coming from Spain is predominant, which makes sense due to the exchange program, but everything else should not be dismissed.
Sisley, thank you so much for your comment. I’d love to hear what you have to say after your child spends some time in the school. I agree with you that if you don’t want your child to be taught Spanish by a Spaniard, then maybe this is not the school for you. However, the point of my post was not to say that there’s anything wrong with a child being taught by a Spaniard.
As I clearly stated, I have nothing against Spain or Spaniards. I take issue with the concept that one Spanish is better than the other. And, I find it a complete disservice to children growing up bilingual to be exposed to only the Spanish culture. For those children who, like ours, are growing up exposed to our own Latin culture, it won’t really make a difference. But to those whose parents are monolingual, Anglo Americans, then I think they’re missing out on so much.
I haven’t spoken to the school’s administrators, and therefore I made it a point not to identify the school. I just wanted to use it as an example of this ridiculous concept that Spanish from Spain is somehow better than others. As you can see from some of the comments, this is something that happens at other levels of education too.
I have yet to read all of the posts, but dont you think that a level of discrimination in regard to which Spanish variety is used exists in Latina America, too. I think I can argue that it is also class based and whether you are of European descent or indigenous. Also, what is “proper” Spanish? I like to think we use the different variteies of any language to match the context.
I also suspect that many middle to upper class Latina Americans come to the states and get a taste of what its like to be regarded as a minority and maybe forget that in their country there are people experiencing something very similar except they are Indian. I may be totally off here as I have never lived anywhere but the US that is just the perception I have developed via my association with other Latinos from Latin America and by traveling….Im just trying to make sense of all this…as we all are.
I have yet to read all of the comments is what I mean to say.
I think you’re totally right, Suzanne. As I’ve mentioned several times now in the comments, the idea that one Spanish is better than the other is alive and kicking in all Spanish-speaking countries.
However, the point of my post was that even though it exists, it really doesn’t belong in the classroom. At least not in the classroom where I’d like my children to be educated. In the end, I think there’s a lot of educating to be done and it’s really up to us, the parents, to do this.
Interestingly, in my opinion and something I am trying to research, what happens in the classroom is a reflection of what is happening in the larger society. This is why I think it’s important to not do what you have seen at theses private schools in any country.
This issue is replicated all over the world. For example, if you look at the French that is taught to English speaking kids in Québec and Louisiana, it’s Parisian French and not the local French that is taught. So English Canadians can be fluent in French but may struggle to have a conversation with someone from Québec, and a kid in Louisiana may not be able to have a decent conversation with their grandparents.
I had a New Zealand friend who went to an American school in Japan and had constant fights with the teachers marking her NZ (British) spelling and English as incorrect.
One thing I do note, working for a foreign company, is that non-native speakers who learnt colloquial American English can sound very ‘sloppy’ as their non-native speech patterns exacerbate some US habits of dropping the ‘g’ in the present participle and saying things like ‘wanna’ and ‘gonna’ in formal speech. Having a senior executive speak like this raises eyebrows. It’s fine for native speakers who can switch registers, but for non-native speakers who may often be comfortable in the one register, it’s better to be overly correct than too colloquial. As much as we try to deny it, speech is a lead indicator for people. Australia has a Prime Minister with such a broad Australian accent that many Australians cringe when she opens her mouth, triphthongs galore.
I agree with you, James. As a American child, I was taught saying certain things was incorrect, not because we felt any shame at all about our hillbilly selves –we don’t!– but because it would not be understood by someone from another region or another country. In other words you talk like your family with your family, and school is there to teach us how to communicate with the rest of the world.
I was told growing up that the point of education in language is to be able to speak and write in a way that will be understood by anyone from different walks of life or different countries.
I’m not negating that there is perhaps an element of feeling that perhaps Spaniards or Europeans are superior in some way, and these assumptions DO need to be questioned by parents. However, I do think that it’s worthwhile to remember the former colonizers in England, Spain, France etc. speak forms of their language that still to this day most easily go across boundaries among all the former colonies. There are many regional words but still, in most cases the European word is common to all countries, usually as a secondary word but the point is, that word is the one that is going to be understood almost everywhere any form of the language is spoken. If I was told growing up in the 1970′s that a “standard” form of English would be important for us to be able to use fluently as we work in an increasingly global economy, I’m sure it’s even more important now.
Now, today, American English is beginning to displace British English as this “standard” form, for mostly economic reasons. I have a degree in international economics and I believe within 50 years we will see the economies of Latin America surpassing Spain. Nothing against Spain but it is simply a question of resources and population, and Lord willing, we will soon be seeing many Latin American countries coming into their full flower economically. It’s entirely possible that a couple of generations from now, Spanish teachers from Chile or Mexico will be in higher demand than those from Spain, just as right now an American who wants to teach English in Japan or Thailand has an edge for the job over a Brit.
Flowers make me happy. When you see the flowers.
I have a different spin on this! I am a British teacher (!) teaching Spanish at an international school and although the parents seem fine with it, not all of the Spanish native teachers are. This sometimes takes a toll on my self-esteem and some of the other non native teachers who speak Spanish to a very high level. Thankfully, the HOD is a non native, and I feel that this provides a good role model for learning a language- i.e ‘anyone’ can do it
Re. accents, I have the opposite ‘problem’ because my accent is from Spain and a lot of the kids are from the US. However, from the get go, I explain the differences in accents which exist in all Spanish speaking countries and always try to say words in LA and mainland Spanish accents, eg. zapato/ ‘sapato’. Natives V Non-natives is certainly the main challenge I have encountered, as the kids just want to learn!! Interesting thread!
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