A Post About My Work In Mexico

You can show this to friends and family members who suspect that I am a CIA agent or an assassin for hire. Otherwise, this may not be of great interest.

According to a recent study of 44 countries, Scandinavia and Northern Europe score highest on ability to speak English, while Latin America scores the lowest. Ability correlates with income level, which could be both a cause and effect. Also important is the fact that Latin America shares a common language--Spanish--whereas Northern Europe and Scandinavia are linguistically fragmented. English is much less necessary in Latin American for daily communication and business than it is in Northern Europe.

Mexico has a national goal of being bilingual in English and Spanish by the year 2020. The federal government is making resources available to the states for the purpose of increasing the capacity of public primary and secondary schools and universities to teach English effectively. The ability of English teachers themselves to speak English needs to be upgraded, and their teaching methods need to be updated.

A few Mexican states are working with the Alamo Colleges (a consortium of community colleges in San Antonio, Texas) to address the problem. And I'm one of the trainers that Alamo Colleges has hired to provide three-week workshops in the states of Hidalgo and Puebla (so far). The work so far is not predictable. It fills some gaps in my schedule. I could do more if I weren't also contracted elsewhere.

There's not a lot of competence among the people I work for, in both Mexico and the U.S. They aren't ESL professionals. They don't seem to have done much if any needs analysis. If they have some larger strategic plan, they haven't shared it with me. A workshop here, a workshop there, just do what you did before. And they aren't too picky about whom they'll hire as trainers.

This is frustrating for me. I'm a trainer, but I'm also an administrator. I like programs that are well-thought-out, high-impact, and cost-effective. If they are creative--even visionary--so much the better. I'd like to meet one person in the system who really genuinely wants to make things better, not just appear busy by spending money, or by taking it.

In the meantime, I'm happy to continue training as I have time. My participants benefit from it, and so do I. But if Mexico is really bilingual by 2020, I don't think I'll be able to take much credit for it.