[General] I'm going to teach Cantonese this September in your school.

[Silverobama]

My friend Alex is a teacher of a local university. The other day, he posted a job-wanted ad in our chat group (There are 500 people in the chat group) and he also added "Welcome those who want to be a teacher to join us". Then I said jokingly: "I'm going to teach Cantonese this September in your school".

It was a joke because there isn't a subject called Cantonese in university courses. Besides, his school is about technology and art. But Alex understands the joke and reply a smile face.

Is my italic sentence natural?

 

[emsr2d2]

My friend Alex is a teacher [STRIKE]of[/STRIKE] at a local university. The other day, he posted a [STRIKE]job-[/STRIKE] "Wanted" ad in our chat group (there are 500 people in the chat group).

[STRIKE]and[/STRIKE] He [STRIKE]also[/STRIKE] added "Welcome those who want to be a teacher to join us". That's not grammatical and I don't know what he meant.

Then I said jokingly: "I'm going to teach Cantonese at your school this September." [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] [STRIKE]at your school".[/STRIKE]

It was a joke because there isn't a [STRIKE]subject[/STRIKE] university course called Cantonese. [STRIKE]in university courses.[/STRIKE] Besides, [STRIKE]his school is about[/STRIKE] he works at a university specialising in technology and art.

[STRIKE]But[/STRIKE] However, Alex understands the joke and replies with a smiley face.

Is my italic sentence natural?

Note my corrections above. I have lost track of the number of times I've corrected "a teacher of a school/university" to "... at a school/university", but it's certainly too many times!

You need to learn the difference between a school and a university. You started off by saying that Alex works at a university, then you said that "his school is about technology and art".

I know different countries have different terminology, but I'm fairly sure that "school" and "university" are different institutions in most places. In the UK, for example, kids go to school until the age of 16, sixth-form college/technical college/college of higher education from 16 to 18, and university at 18.

As you can see above, I have no idea what Alex's post meant. Was he saying (in the chat group) that there are teaching vacancies available at the university he works at, or was he offering teacher-training courses?

 

[Silverobama]

I have lost track of the number of times I've corrected "a teacher of a school/university" to "... at a school/university", but it's certainly too many times!

I am deeply sorry. I think I'll definitely remember it's "at a school" this time.

Was he saying (in the chat group) that there are teaching vacancies available at the university he works at, or was he offering teacher-training courses?

The former.

 

[GoesStation]

American universities often contain schools of medicine, law, architecture, or other specialties.

 

[probus]

Canadian universities too. But the engineering department at the University of Toronto is not called the School of Engineering. Its students prefer the term Skule. That is, when they're not busy guzzling beer or marching in their Lady Godiva Memorial Band.

 

[emsr2d2]

As you can see above, I have no idea what Alex's post meant. Was he saying (in the chat group) that there are teaching vacancies available at the university he works at, or was he offering teacher-training courses?

The former.

In that case, as well as being ungrammatical, "Welcome those who want to be a teacher to join us" doesn't mean what he wants it to mean. It is welcoming "those who want to be a teacher" - that means they are not yet teachers, so they wouldn't be able to apply for a teaching post.

 

[canadalynx]

I am not a teacher.

If you are talking to someone that you know well (i.e. a friend) in Chinese, some people might use ‘school’ instead of ‘university’ once they have established the notion of university in the conversation. In some places, people might use ‘department’ in lieu of ‘school’ depending on the context.

In some parts of the world, a person can be offered a teaching job even though he or she is not a teacher. Some don’t even have a teaching certificate.
A lot of native speakers of English become teachers overseas this way.
Silverobama might have used this example because of the analogy to “Language”.

 

[probus]

In some parts of the world, a person can be offered a teaching job even though he or she is not a teacher. Some don’t even have a teaching certificate.
A lot of native speakers of English become teachers overseas this way.

Sad, but true. I once worked with a fellow whose great ambition in life was to join the police. He was not eligible even to apply because he had never finished high school, and indeed his literacy was pretty basic. But eventually he landed a job teaching English in Korea, and off he went. :-(