The English Language Industry in Helsinki

[EnglishTeacher]

Hello,

I am a British EFL teacher trying to plan a new life in Helsinki. I have taught English as a Foreign Language for 5 years now and am currently completing the DELTA course, which is an advanced industry-recognised certificate in teaching.

I was wondering what the EFL industry is like in Finland, given that state education seems to take care of all of their English-speaking needs. Are there many language schools? Or is it more of a freelance culture?

Also, does anyone know about any summer camps in Finland for young learners? I am arriving in the summer and that seemed a good place to start.

Any advice you have would greatly help,

Thanks!

[Rosamunda]

There is an English Language Industry in Finland.

If you want to teach in the state schooling system, a DELTA isn't enough. You need a Masters degree in English plus a formal teaching qualification. The Adult Education system is largely financed by the local authorities and it is possible to get teaching hours (evening classes) but again the pay is not great unless you have a Masters Degree and a teaching qualification.

Otherwise you can teach freelance and get hours from private language schools. Pay is around 30-35e/contact hour (usually 45 mins) assuming you are invoicing as a freelancer (it will be less if the school is paying you as they will deduct KELA contributions). It takes a while to accumulate hours and you would probably have to work for more than one school to achieve that. Having a DELTA makes little if any difference to the pay.

Here are a few I know of: AAC, TekMil, Richard Lewis, Berlitz, Studia Training
Google and apply direct to the school.

If you have qualifications and/or work experience in something other than teaching, you might consider getting a diploma in Vocational Teacher Education and looking for work subject teaching in a UAS University of Applied Science). Eg: I teach accounting/business in a UAS in English as well as TEFL in the private sector.

[EnglishTeacher]

Thank you! It sounds challenging but not impossible. That's really useful.

Do you know what the examination culture is? I'm in Barcelona now and we do a lot of Cambridge exams, with many students aiming for FCE level. I've not done TOEFL preparation though, and I'm wondering if I should start looking into that.

[Rosamunda]

IELTS is much bigger in Finland than TOEFL. There is one IELTS test centre in Helsinki for the whole of Finland (and part of Russia!). IELTS prep courses are organised by the (local govt subsidized) Adult Education Centres so it is almost impossible for private language schools to compete with their rates.

As for Cambridge Suite exams, FINNBRIT is the only approved examination centre for Finland and they also run preparation courses for CPE, CAE and BEC Higher. There is not much demand for lower level courses because the general level of English is pretty high. The Adult Education Centres also run Cambridge Suite prep courses, and again they have subsidized prices so are difficult to compete with.

My advice would be, stay in Barcelona

[Humbler]

If you really want to come to Finland, I recommend you to be freelancer and study masters at the same time. Finland is degree-hell and you really need one if you are planning to stay long-term. Be ready to study Finnish language as well, even if you are going to use only English at your work place, you still need to know some Finnish. Here is Scandinavia people speak many languages and knowing only English is not enough in many cases, especially if you are planning to work in metropolitan area.

[Rosamunda]

Also, does anyone know about any summer camps in Finland for young learners? I am arriving in the summer and that seemed a good place to start.

Summer camps are not big here. Finnish kids would probably go abroad for summer camps: UK, USA etc with organisations like EF
Again there are some municipality/state sponsored camps but they usually offer one week courses at the beginning and/or end of summer.

Having said that, I think there is probably a market for English-language summer camps for children - the "private tutoring" market is slowly taking off, at least in the south (not sure about other regions). But, to be honest, there is no shortage of English teachers in Finland and the DELTA is unknown up here, it would never be accepted as equivalent to a Masters degree in English, even if you went to all the bother of getting your papers recognised and stamped by the National Board of Education.

http://www.oph.fi/download/124837_Recog ... inland.pdf
http://www.helsinki.fi/teachereducation ... ation/faq/

I considered doing the DELTA but in the end I decided there was no point, so I enrolled on a Vocational Teaching and Education post-grad diploma up here. That way I have a "Finnish" qualification and no more hassle with proving what my foreign qualifications are worth. I almost enrolled on Univ of Exeter's MA in TEFL (summer programme) but it was so expensive and, again, I had no guarantee it would be accepted at face value up here.