How can I get a Spanish teacher job in China?
If you can read Chinese, you can search the job on the job searching websites like www.51job.com and www.zhaopin.com.If you want to teach Spanish in a public university in China, you may browse the website of those universities. Those universities specializing in foreign languages will most likely have the demand of recruiting a Spanish teacher.
As a Spanish and French major, should I get my single teaching credential or a master's in Spanish?
It depends on your career goals and where you live. I live in Oregon and I just finished a dual-language Master of Arts in both French and Spanish. The program included lots of literature, critical theory and linguistics courses as well as pedagogy classes to learn how to teach the languages. The issue, though, is that a Master of Arts does not qualify me to teach in the public school system. I can teach as an adjunct at a college or university, but I cannot teach at a public high school. In order to do that, I would need to return to school to get a teaching certificate for my state. So, I am an adjunct instructor at a public university.Check the laws for your region. It may be that a Master's will not allow you to teach in a high school in your area. However, if you are not interested in teaching high school, go ahead with the Master's and perhaps you can find something else to do with it. I can speak from experience that a Master of Arts will probably not get you a stable teaching job at a college or university (you might get an adjunct position, but then you're just a disposable worker). If you want tenure at a university, you will need to pursue a Doctorate degree after you finish your Master's.Professors will always encourage you to go for more education, because they're passionate about their students and about academia. I do not regret getting my Master's but I do wish that someone had told me that it would not help me find a stable teaching job. No matter what you do, having a Master's will look great on a résumé. It shows perseverance and intellect. I will say, though, that if I had known then what I know now, I would have gone for a Master's in something more marketable. Almost no employer is looking for a foreign language Master. If you have a Master's in programming, marketing, instructional design, accounting, etc., and also speak another language, that is marketable education experience.
Can I do any degree to become a primary teacher?
I suppose, but not really.In order to teach in the US, you’ll need a teaching certificate. To get that, you’re going to need a certain number of courses in your subject area, or suite of subject areas, along with a bunch of education courses.So, you could take all of those courses and get a degree that isn’t in your subject area or education…but why? If you’re taking a bunch education and Spanish classes in order to be a Spanish teacher, why would you get a degree in Zoology?People do get graduate degrees in other areas. Lots of teachers get masters degrees in counseling, administration, law, special education, or in their subject area (as I did - my masters is in chemistry).But for your bachelors degree, most teachers have either a degree in their subject area or in education (or both).
Can i major in anything to become an elementary school teacher?
CBEST? Never heard of it. We need to pass PRAXIS in Ohio. It really depends on what sort of teacher you want to be. All schools SHOULD have certified, licensed teachers. However, that's not the case for a lot of schools. Some are happy to take people who like children and have a desire to teach. That said, if you want a better chance of getting a good job you should major in early childhood education. However, with the majors you have you can teach older kids in specific spanish or sociology classes, which is nice too. Good luck!
Is it difficult to find a job as a Spanish teacher?
I am not a spanish teacher - I teach math and science but I do know a bit about hiring and needs. You have it correct - the difficulty in finding a job as a Spanish teacher is simple mathematics. At my middle school we have 20 or so math teachers and Foreign language is not offered as an elective. At the local high school, there are 40 math teachers (its one of the largest in the nation - Im in Los Angeles) and the foreign language department has 8 faculty - 4 of which teach Spanish. You will be waiting a long time for someone to retire. Here is a better way: Once you earn your BA and enter the teacher credentialing program - you are allowed to sit for as many subject matter verification tests as you feel qualified for. Get your Math and science certification - that way you can find a job immediately - but minor in foreign languages and sit for the certification tests. I did something similar - I have a microbiology undergrad degree - but when I sat for my tests - I sat for Bio, Health, Geoscience and math. I am certified to teach all of them - leaving me in control. See your education advisor and check your states website to see how many units in each subject you'd need to be considered highly qualified when its all finished.
What can I do with a Spanish major (besides teaching or translating)?
Unless you are totally focused on money, money, money….. Read Spanish novels in the original. Enjoy Spanish poetry. Read online stories in local (Spanish-language) newspapers. Chat with laborers you run into; yardmen, mechanics, maids, etc. Make stupid bilingual puns that only folks who speak both Spanish and English will ‘get’. Send your kids off to places where you’ve lived or visited where Spanish is the ‘native language’. IM folks in Spanish-speaking countries whose English sucks and get to know them. Ask naive questions about the politics or foods online in Spanish of folks from Spain or Mexico or Argentina.In short, just think of Spanish this way: What can I do with an English major besides teaching? If you’re focused on making big bucks you’ll decide one way; if you are just in love with learning and exploring your world, you’ll come up with another.(I should mention that I met my wife, then Spanish, while I was a college student in Spain. She has made a very good living interpreting. She hates translating. She has become totally bilingual in Spanish and English over the decades. My son, born in England, grew up speaking Spanish for the first three years of his life. Since we know so many people from so many nations due to my wife’s jobs involving interpretation — and because he liked comic books — he developed an interest in Japanese. He majored in Asian studies, minored in Japanese, and has lived in Japan now for almost 20 years, first as an assistant English teacher, then as a go-between interpreter and techie at a large Japanese corporation, and for almost 10 years now as a freelance translator. My son speaks ‘adequate’ Spanish; my grandsons are bilingual in Japanese and English — though their English could use some improvement. And all of this started the day that I decided to do a junior year abroad back in college…. think about that. I do!)
What I can do with a double major in French and Spanish?
If you want to teach, in USA (if that's where you're from), you'll also need to get a teaching license which would take at least an extra year of school plus student teaching. Some other ideas- teach ESL in another country. It's very easy to get hired with a college degree, especially in countries like Japan, China and Korea. English language assistant in France http://www.ciep.fr/en/assistantetr/ Language/culture assistant in Spain http://www.mec.es/sgci/usa/en/programs/us_assistants/default.shtml Yes you could work for the government, if you qualify for the work. Generally government jobs will require other skills besides speaking other languages. Translate/interpretation- yes you could do this, but your language skills need to be extremely proficient, like a native speaker. Translation is easier because it is written work, but interpretation is more difficult as you are interpreting language in one language and simultaneously converting it to the next language. Also, some companies would requrie you to have a translation graduate certificate or graduate degree. Some other jobs- Work in hotel/hospitality/tourism industry Work in sales/customer service for a company that does international business- could even start with a job, say in a call center (just as a start to gain experience) Tutor Missionary work Peace Corps Americorps Foreign student adviser ESL teacher in USA (you'd need a master's degree/certificate, depending on where you'd be teaching) There are a lot of jobs out there- but you may need more training to get some of them. You can also check out Indeed.com, where you can type in key words for your job search (i.e. French or Spanish), and get job alerts sent to your email inbox. Good luck!
How valuable is a double major in Spanish?
There are so many different areas you can work in the government as they hire for the same reasons a corporation does. If you are interested in being a CIA agent you need something more than Spanish as a skill to differentiate yourself because honestly there are so many Americans who are fluent in English and Spanish. I would recommend learning a Middle Eastern language because there is a gap in that skillset. I would suggest taking classes and using Rosetta Stone or whatever else you need to do to become fluent but it is not necessary for a second degree. I would rather know someone is fluent in the language than simply has a degree in it. A degree does not mean you are fluent. And even then your chances of getting a job as a CIA analyst are much higher than an actual agent. Even to be an analyst 9 times out of 10 unless you are a stellar candidate they almost always require a Masters or PhD in your area of focus. If you want to be an FBI agent it is likely that you may need to spend a couple of years working as a police officer in order to prove your abilities. Think about if this is something you are also interested in. I actually have a double major in Engineering and International Relations. The only benefit of this degree that I have seen is that it balances nicely against a hard science degree so that it shows potential employers you not only have technical skills but that you also have soft skills. You can honestly not do much of anything with a BS in International Relations. You need a PhD. So if you go for that major, keep that in mind that by getting that degree you either really love the subject matter, or you have a hard science degree and want to differentiate yourself, or you intend to get a Masters or PhD in International Studies; otherwise, I agree with another answer you received that it is not that valuable as a bachelors degree.
Is it better to have a native Spanish speaker as a teacher in the USA?
Yes and No.Yes if the Spanish speaker is a professional.Just because someone is a native speaker (of any language) does not mean that the person knows how their own language works and the reasons why something sounds right or not. For them, it just sounds better, but if you ask them why, most will have no clue. In that case, a non-native Spanish teacher, say someone from the US who studied Spanish at college could definitely be way better. True, they may still have problems with some phrases and all, but for the most part they will be able to give you specific answers to each of your questions and, let’s not forget that they had to learn Spanish themselves, so they will have a much deeper understanding of what you are going through, especially when compared to someone who just speaks Spanish because they were born into it.Now, given the choice between two professionals, one being a native Spanish speaker and the other being a non-native Spanish speaker, hands down the native Spanish speaker is always the better choice.I am a native Spanish teacher (with college training) as well as a teacher of English as a second language (ESL, EFL) I’ve been teaching for over 24 years. If you asked me the same about teaching English as a second language, I would tell you exactly the same, the other way about. If you need to learn English and the choices you have are two professionals, one being a native English speaker and the other one a foreign teacher, I would definitely go with the native speaker.But between a native English speaker with no teaching training and a qualified English teacher, I would choose the non-native speaker all the way.I hope this has been helpful to you! Best of luck in your quest for learning the beautiful Spanish language. :)