Why do we have such inexperienced english teachers!?

[uss]

Just so you`d know, im currently in the 7th grade.
Ever since the 2nd grade, we´ve had english lessons. The class was divided to 2 groups - The other group has had a professional english teacher for all 6 years, while we`ve had 4, all of whom are idiots. Especially my current teacher.. At almost every lesson, we(the students) discover yet another of her spelling/grammar errors. "Are you agree", "Peoples(non-plural)" and "Helth" are but a few of the errors she makes. She once wrote "Makeing" on the blackboard. I raised my hand and said that its "Making" but she(and the rest of the class) disagreed. Since i was very confident that its "Making", i said that again. She opened a big book, read a bit of it and then said "Hmm, you are absolutely correct." and corrected it.
Another problem is pronounciation.. the way the teachers pronounce is really fudged up.

Yeah, I know i shouldn`t be too hard on them since they know more than the average estonian but they`re english teachers, for forks sake! They are supposed to be better in english than others!

[Sio]

I had exactly the same thing in my school but when I got into my last two years I was given an amazing teacher called Mr Oliver who loved sci-fi, fantasy, star trek and D&D! I still bump into him at my local 'Forbidden Planet' shop what a cool teacher I had ey! [img]smile.gif[/img]

In the case of yours id say, complain to the headteacher, if the teacher you have lacks teaching talent (which it sounds as if he most definatly does!) then your grades could be at stake which isnt acceptable

[Melusine]

Ouch - that sounds almost too amazing to believe.
Those are mistakes that only the students should make, and to be honest, not even them.
Bless dear old Mrs Grosheide, my English teacher in the last two years of secondary school. She rocked!
But Uss, really that's an amazingly low standard you've got there if teachers like that are actually licensed. I'm sorry to hear it.

[uss]

Originally posted by Sio: I had exactly the same thing in my school but when I got into my last two years I was given an amazing teacher called Mr Oliver who loved sci-fi, fantasy, star trek and D&D! I still bump into him at my local 'Forbidden Planet' shop what a cool teacher I had ey! [img]smile.gif[/img] In the case of yours id say, complain to the headteacher, if the teacher you have lacks teaching talent (which it sounds as if he most definatly does!) then your grades could be at stake which isnt acceptable

You have a teacher who likes sci-fi, fantasy and D&D!? Lucky for you [img]smile.gif[/img] . That would be a miracle in our school..

Hmm, my sisters suggested that i`d ask from my headteacher if i could be switched to the other group. The other groups teacher is ok - Though she`s an old woman, her son is a famous film critic in Estonia and she has a great movie taste(She likes Fight club and her favourite movie is, get this, Lord of The Rings [img]smile.gif[/img] ).

[uss]

Originally posted by Melusine: Ouch - that sounds almost too amazing to believe. Those are mistakes that only the students should make, and to be honest, not even them. Bless dear old Mrs Grosheide, my English teacher in the last two years of secondary school. She rocked! But Uss, really that's an amazingly low standard you've got there if teachers like that are actually licensed. I'm sorry to hear it.

Hmm, so we`re the only ones who are teached by idiots ?
I just cant get it. Why do we have such teachers? when we get to a new chapter(unit?) in the book with many new words, the teacher has heard only some of them(she pronouces "hair" like "here" and "medicine" like "medsine"). When a student asked what does "raw"(as in "raw meat") mean, my teacher didn`t know so i had to tell her.

[Melusine]

Originally posted by uss: Hmm, so we`re the only ones who are teached by idiots ? I just cant get it. Why do we have such teachers? when we get to a new chapter(unit?) in the book with many new words, the teacher has heard only some of them(she pronouces "hair" like "here" and "medicine" like "medsine"). When a student asked what does "raw"(as in "raw meat") mean, my teacher didn`t know so i had to tell her.

Psst... past tense of teach is taught, not teached
And no, I don't think you're the only ones taught by idiots, in fact I don't think your teacher isn't an idiot at all, just not fit to teach English.
A good accent isn't the prime requisite either... most non-native speakers always retain a bit of an accent, which is only logical. You can learn the proper accent by watching lots of TV anyway. I would say that judging by that, you would have a very American accent while most people in Europe are supposed to learn an English one. So I suppose you can argue a lot about accent without getting anywhere.
The main problem would be the fact that your teacher knows little about grammar and has such a limited vocabulary. Asking to be switched to the other class would be a good idea.

[Horatio]

I had something simelar when I was 14. we had an African teacher in training for mathswhom the school just decided to test on us for a year. She spoke barely ANY english, and pretty much screwed up our maths til we were 15. Idiot...

[Timber Loftis]

Remember, those who can't *do* choose to teach instead. And those who can't teach - teach gym. *ducks*

Well, here's my teaching anecdote. The fella was not a *bad* teacher. English class, 11th Grade, Tennyson poem, he reads the phrase "throw a faggot on the fire" aloud. Trying to connect with the younger generation, he makes a remark about how edgy and modern Tennyson is being with this statement. I sheepishly raise my hand and ask if maybe perhaps "faggot" during Tennyson's time meant a small bundle of kindling used for starting a fire. God bless him, he stopped, pulled out a dictionary, and proceeded to correct himself. I felt horrible for him - and felt like the nerdiest of nerds.

Just keep in mind that not everyone who chooses to teach does it because they're good at it. And, pay being what it is, standards for teachers are sometimes a bit low. Let's face it, a lot of our would-be good teacher pool choose other higher paying professions or complete more school and teach college.

[ 10-16-2002, 12:15 PM: Message edited by: Timber Loftis ]

[uss]

Originally posted by Melusine: quote: Originally posted by uss: Hmm, so we`re the only ones who are teached by idiots ? I just cant get it. Why do we have such teachers? when we get to a new chapter(unit?) in the book with many new words, the teacher has heard only some of them(she pronouces "hair" like "here" and "medicine" like "medsine"). When a student asked what does "raw"(as in "raw meat") mean, my teacher didn`t know so i had to tell her.

And no, I don't think you're the only ones taught by idiots, in fact I don't think your teacher isn't an idiot at all, just not fit to teach English.
A good accent isn't the prime requisite either... most non-native speakers always retain a bit of an accent, which is only logical. You can learn the proper accent by watching lots of TV anyway. I would say that judging by that, you would have a very American accent while most people in Europe are supposed to learn an English one. So I suppose you can argue a lot about accent without getting anywhere.
The main problem would be the fact that your teacher knows little about grammar and has such a limited vocabulary. Asking to be switched to the other class would be a good idea.[/QUOTE]oh, sorry, i know shes not really an idiot.
And yes, i´ve learned most english words from watching lots of TV . But i`m not talking about their accent. their pronounciation is just.. wrong

[Spelca]

I once brought three different dictionaries to school to prove to my English teacher that I spellt something correctly on the exam. I was between grades so that point counted. But even though I had proof, she didn't believe me. [img]smile.gif[/img]