I am a NS in an English speaking country.  Our adult students want native speakers but my institution chooses teachers based on qualifications.  When they get a NNS our director informs them that our country is multicultural and as such they will need to be able to communicate in English with people from many countries not just Aussies.  Our staff are 50%NS and 50%NNS.  I find that the NS are weaker in grammar and NNS are weaker in colloquialisms and idioms even for those who lived here for decades.

 

Cheers

 

Jayho

We must understand that it �s only fair that schools such as British Council and alike would rather have native speakers as teachers. It �s only fair to the type of education/training they are providing.

 

I, myself, attended the BC when I was very young (started when I was 13) and I remember choosing only British teachers, I actually refused to have lessons with teachers of other nationalities, because it was a big deal to learn British English.

 

I �ve been to Cambrige and Oxford for my training and I wouldn � find it fair to have a non-speaking teacher as a trainer. Would you?

 

My children have always studied English with Portuguese teachers in public schools, but when they wanted to improve their skills,  I chose (no one but) the British Council.

 

Keep on improving your skills, learning more, as much as you can and focus on what really matters.

 

My best regards.

Idalina Jorge