[Idiom] English teacher / Teacher of English

[Walt Whitman]

English teacher

If I said, “I’m an English teacher” what would you understand?

(a) I’m from England and teach English.
(b) I’m from Italy / France etc and teach English.

I would choose (a).

I’m asking because I’ve always thought of that sentence as a bit ambiguous.

“I’m a History teacher” does not carry any ambiguity. I surely teach History (the country where I’m from does not matter much).

So, in order to avoid ambiguity would “I’m a teacher of English” be a better option? Is it idiomatic?

Thanks a lot.
WW

 

[SoothingDave]

My daughter has an English teacher in her school. She also has a Spanish teacher.

In neither case would one normally think I was speaking of the nationality of the person.

There is potential ambiguity, but not enough real world chance of it being ambiguous to turn to longer phrases to avoid this slight possibility.

 

[MikeNewYork]

English teacher

If I said, “I’m an English teacher” what would you understand?

(a) I’m from England and teach English.
(b) I’m from Italy / France etc and teach English.

I would choose (a).

I’m asking because I’ve always thought of that sentence as a bit ambiguous.

“I’m a History teacher” does not carry any ambiguity. I surely teach History (the country where I’m from does not matter much).

So, in order to avoid ambiguity would “I’m a teacher of English” be a better option? Is it idiomatic?

Thanks a lot.
WW

If you were speaking, you would likely stress different words for different meanings.

I'm an ENGLISH teacher. (subject)
I'm an English TEACHER. (nationality)

Also, context will usually resolve any ambiguity.

 

[engee30]

I am of the same opinion that stress plays an important role in conveying the right meaning. :up:

 

[5jj]

context will usually resolve any ambiguity.

Quite. Context might suggest that your two examples imply:

I'm an ENGLISH teacher. (not one from France)
I'm an English TEACHER. (not a preacher)

 

[Barb_D]

I'm an ENGLISH teacher -- not a physics or math teacher.