EnglishClub TEFL Forums (archived)

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could help me. I am interested in teaching Legal English, I have been teaching English for 2 years and would like to develop more as a teacher. Before I became a teacher I worked in the legal sector for 7 years. If anyone knows of a course for teachers, please let me know.

Many thanks,
Claire

Hi Claire,

For what its worth, here is my two cents worth.

Teaching legal terms / concepts in English is a very specific topic and my guess is that you will have clients/students who already have a grasp of the language but want to learn more about specific legal terms / concepts. Because of that, your course can probably be tailored to the specific group you are working with & once you identify their needs, the course content will follow. Therefore, if you want to take any courses that can help, you can try taking some training courses specifically geared towards training adults or working with internationally trained professionals.

Mount Royal University has some interesting courses in their coned calendar, plus you can check out Advance Consulting for Education for some ideas as well.

Good luck.
Zoe Harrison

Here's a great blog post on the topic by a well respected blogger:

http://cd-2006.blogspot.com/2009/08/tea ... glish.html

I would add that if you take a certificate, MA or MA module in teaching Business English/ ESP, the techniques that you learn will be very suitable for more specialised classes like Legal English. The two most well known certificates for Business/ ESP are the Trinity IBET and LCCI FTEB, and some International House schools also offer their own certs.

You can go on youtube and look for some ideas on how to teach students in various age groups. It's actually hard to tell someone how to teach without actual hands-on training. Everyone has their own teaching style so you just need to find the right "style" for your friend.

Perhaps this cambridge link might help. http://www.cambridgeenglish.org/exams/legal/
If you have already worked in the legal sector, perhaps all you need is the teachers' and the students course books to look through. You should find some useful handbooks and paractice tests on this link.

Hey probably a bit late for a reply but I found some good sites: there's a great youtube channel on legal writing: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoLukb ... 8syJU-AzdQ and a good podcast site called Study Legal English: https://studylegalenglish.com/ there's also an organisation for legal English teachers EULETA you could contact them and see if they have some resources. I'm not qualified in law just have a CELTA and the youtube and podcast are helping me learn with my students!

Hi everyone, I have found a Legal English Teacher Training Course.