Subject: Re: Celta and other requirements
Author: expert
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Most schools that require native speakers also require a reputable TEFL certificate or equivalent. So the discussion was really about why a school might prefer a native-speaking qualified teacher over a non-native speaking qualified teacher.
However, it should be noted that you don't have to be born in an English-speaking country to be a native speaker; it just has to be your primary language, the one you grew up speaking. And it's perfectly fine to call yourself a native speaker if that language was an integral part of your childhood or even teen years.
I once had a girlfriend who was born in Slovakia and spoke English for the first time when her family moved to South Africa when she was about 9 years old. Later, when she was 16, they moved to the U.S. I met her when she was about 25 and by then she was most definitely a native speaker with a beautiful command of the language and a standard American accent.
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