Dear Nica Times:
Ninety-nine percent of the teachers of English classes in public and private schools throughout Nicaragua don’t speak English.
If you can speak English, you can get a much better paying job than teaching. This means that English is taught like Latin – all rules and no talking.
Of course it doesn’t work. Dr. Roberto Ferrey, who started the University of Santo Tomás, a university developed for working-class kids, knows the value of English-speaking English teachers and begs for assistance in this area.
I and another Gringo both teach English classes at Santo Tomás.
The pay is just enough so that you know you are donating your time, but the good news is that the university only has classes on Saturday, so a commitment would be for two hours (per class – more if you elect to teach more than one class) each Saturday. Dr. Ferrey is crying for more help.
Perhaps someone among our fellow Gringos would like to help these kids add English to their resume and give them better opportunities when they finish their studies.
Dr. Ferrey’s office number is 552-2545.
Mickey Dodson
Granada
