Interview with Orlando Delgado Mata: Teaching and Training at IH Mexico, and Being a Non-Native Speaker in the ELT Industry
Show Notes
Welcome to Episode 21 of Expand Your Horizons! This week, our guest is Orlando Delgado. Orlando has been working as the Director of Teacher Training & Development Operations for IH Mexico for 7 years now, leading the 15 IH TT Department branches in the country, and he is also a member of the executive board of directors. He has worked as a teacher trainer for over 10 years, in Mexico, the US, the UK, Ukraine, Italy, Canada, Tunisia and Argentina, and as a freelance course book writer for the University of Dayton. Additionally, he is a very active CELTA, ICELT and Delta Assessor, traveling in Europe, and North, Central and South America assessing other CELTA centers. He remains actively involved in professional development and reflective practice and holds an MA in Teacher Education from The University of Manchester. He is currently working on his MBA through Warwick University Business School. As Director of Operations, Orlando leads and implements projects to make teacher training at IH Mexico as effective as it can be, and he also gets to work with the sales and marketing team to develop innovative new products and courses.
In our interview today, we’ll be talking about his career path and how he got to where he is now, as well as what it’s like to be a non-native English speaker in the ELT (English language teaching) field, and what it’s like to teach or get certified to teach in Mexico.
“If you think about it, as a non-native speaker, you are the students’ role model. You are the non-native speaking teacher, and if the learners in your classroom are aspiring to be like anybody, it should be you. ”
In this Episode
What Orlando does in his work at IH Mexico
The role of an “assessor” on a CELTA course
How CELTA courses are held to the same standards around the world and how trainers exchange ideas and stay motivated
How Orlando got started teaching English
What it was about teaching that held his interest
A brief description the DELTA course
Why someone would pursue a DELTA certification
What makes a good CELTA candidate and English teacher, in Orlando’s opinion
Why it’s important for teachers to take on constructive feedback
The system of giving and receiving peer feedback on the CELTA course
Why Orlando feels a candidate’s attitude coming in to the CELTA course is more important than their knowledge of planning and methodology
How being a non-native English speaker affects CELTA candidates
The advantages of being a non-native speaker on a CELTA course
Why native speakers don’t know their own grammar
How being a non-native English speaking teacher affects someone’s experience in the English language teaching industry
Advice on finding a job abroad as a non-native speaker
Factors that affect the job search for both native and non-native English speakers
Why reputable employers don’t have prejudice against non-native teachers
What International House is like as an organization
What it’s like to get a CELTA certification at IH Mexico
Why candidates often find CELTA stressful and what IH Mexico does to try to mitigate candidates’ stress
Teaching opportunities at IH Mexico
What Orlando wishes he’d known before he started teaching
Being intentional about your career path in teaching English
Orlando’s favorite things about working in the ELT industry
Why professional development means to much to him
What makes us so lucky as English teachers and ELT professionals
What we need to keep in mind as English teachers and trainers: why we have to keep up to date with new trends and methods
His two favorite travel destinations and why he loves them
Interested in IH Mexico?
You can apply for a CELTA at IH Mexico or find out more information here.
Or email: orlando@ihmexico.com or visit https://www.ihmexico.com/
