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Guest14460006

Rawr. Bear hands. Rawr.

Dec 19, 2015 23:57 Report Abuse

Guest2104776

Lol, yes I must have been on a roll that night; quite funny I was. Sorry if I pushed it too far. But you did call me and my friends sex fiends and drunks. so that led me to segue into what a drunken sexual predator might say. You know, cuz you called me one, even though I've never hurt you nor met you. Do you get that reaction now? And I was being sarcastic in reply to your initial attack. Your violent outburst crosses a whole new line. FYI, I don't drink and I'm in a committed relationship. But the point is, you're a prick who puts down people you don't know to make yourself feel superior. Foreigners already have a horrible time with racism here, and you'll just make it worse, spreading the ignorance at our expense. I don't like bullies and I don't like bigots, and I will protect kids and anyone else from someone as vile as you. So bring on the bear hands little man, If you must. I'll try not to giggle at the neanderthal.

Jan 12, 2016 06:16 Report Abuse

umzung

Second language teachers understand the problems students face when learning that language. But can they teach pronunciation, accent and elision? Maybe, maybe not.

Nov 06, 2015 09:20 Report Abuse

Guest2503130

I generally disagree with the whole "non-natives can't teach a language", however, there could be huge discrepancies in accent and skill (e.g. between a near-native Dutch or Scandinavian and a Russian). Still, a TEFL does not say ANYTHING about this and cultural knowledge and accent ARE important for language learning after all.

Nov 06, 2015 03:55 Report Abuse

Shining_brow

The "editor" who wrote the 'note' at the top is clearly an IDIOT! And an ignorant one, at that! Firstly, you'll only find a VERY RARE qualified language teacher who thinks non-native language (ie, not L1) teachers shouldn't teach. The vast majority of os (and I'd put that at around 99%) don't think it's a problem - IF THE TEACHER IS ACTUALLY COMPETENT AT THE LANGUAGE! There is a line here that "there isn't a problem with Chinese teachers teaching English"... ummm - yes, there is! Most of them aren't competent at English! They've never been outside of China, they've never seriously had to communicate in English! "Editor's Note: Their childrens' education is still priority number one for many Chinese parents. They are spending large portions of their income on English classes, and expect an advanced vocabulary and proper grammar in return. Many believe non-native English speakers should not teach English. For us, someone who has had to learn English can probably teach it better than someone that speaks it naturally. The parents of these students disagree, and did not keep their opinions to themselves. This translated article reports on the legal battle between a Russian ESL teacher and his students' parents. " FFS!!! The issue with a non-native speaker teaching a language is NOT grammar or vocabulary!!! (and, since I've tried A NUMBER of languages, I KNOW that's not the issue!) What the issue is - ALWAYS - is pronunciation, and idiomatic language! I mentioned ignorance above, for the editor... "TEFL" is NOT a friggin certification... it's merely an acronym which has very little meaning! Same with TESOL... in and of itself, it has very little meaning! Now, if you said CELTA -oh, now we have some thing that has meaning in this context! So, editor and story writer ("story" being an appropriate word!) - get your facts straight! This Russian 'teacher'... teaching university level compared to teaching young kids... whole world of difference!!!! 6 months of "family education"... hahahahahaaasa....... No offense Russian teacher - you may be fantastic at teaching at uni, and you're English might be spotless... you may have all the best qualifications you can get, but if the parents were told by the school that they'd have a native speaker of English - then they lied! (and, I suspect, if the school didn't lie, and didn't charge an arm and a leg for this supposed native speaker - then there probably wouldn't have been any issue here at all! Or, if the school gave back some of the money for their deception, they still might be amenable to having a Russian teacher!

Nov 05, 2015 21:43 Report Abuse

Karajorma

If someone is a native English teacher but believes that non-native teachers shouldn't teach, they must have a really low opinion of themselves. Surely a goal of teaching a foreign language is to allow the person learning to reach fluency. So why teach if you believe you aren't ever going to get someone there?

Nov 07, 2015 10:53 Report Abuse

Shining_brow

Actually, no. Someone can teach, KNOWING they will never get someone to fluency (ie, virtually all Chinese teachers of a foreign language), but they can HELP get them there. Also, in China, kids aren't taught to get them to fluency - and the schools and the teachers know this. They teach languages cos someone told them to! Thus, NS teachers aren't here to actually 'teach' the language, they're here because of some government laws... and most are just getting paid for that. If it was about ACTUAL teaching, then most would never be able to work here, because the qualifications and experience would be a requirement - the same as in most other countries!

Nov 07, 2015 12:24 Report Abuse

Karajorma

I've got to disagree with that. It doesn't matter whether you are qualified or not. What matters is your motivation. Sure, there are a lot of students who will never become fluent. But if someone is the kind of teacher actually believes that no one you are involved with the teaching of can ever reach fluency, no matter what you do. If you believe you're just here to do a job, make some money and bang some Chinese girls, then you are no doubt one of the stains on the teaching profession in China. That should always be one of your goals, even if you know very few (if any) of your students will ever achieve it. Even if (like most Chinese teachers) you know that your teaching skills won't be the ones that actually finally get them to fluency, you should believe that they can get them some of the way there. What bugs me is the belief that a Chinese teacher couldn't possibly be as good, no matter how well educated they are. If someone believes that, they should go home.

Nov 10, 2015 07:38 Report Abuse

ScotsAlan

Another thing to take note of with the above story, is that this school is advertised as an international kindergarten. Check their website. They advertise for native speaker teachers only. This appeals to the target market. Chinese nationals married to foreigners, or foreign couples, who want to immerse their young kids in English to prepare them for the return to the home country. Foreign parents are often too busy working to prepare their kids for the move. The Chinese half of the partnership might consider their own English too accented. They might want to prepare the kids for the the move from kindergarten in China to a primary school in a native country.

Nov 05, 2015 19:46 Report Abuse

silverbutton1

Libel = writing false/ misleading info. slander = speaking false/ misleading info. if its wechat, its potentially slanderous, not libelous. Also, if the comments are true, its not slanderous. Lastly, the only other thing that comes to mind would be "defamation of character" suit, but again, it would have to be based on false/ misleading info.

Nov 05, 2015 18:53 Report Abuse

ScotsAlan

It was in a private wechat chat group as far as I am aware. Not posted on the wall. I need to check with the wife... she is a member of the mentioned group.

Nov 05, 2015 19:27 Report Abuse

ahopkins767

An epic own goal by MILO. Now everyone knows they hire Russians and they never got their 2000 Kwai either. They shot themselves in the foot with that. Clever clever head teacher.

Nov 05, 2015 16:41 Report Abuse

ScotsAlan

Yup. As hotwater says above, the actual issue the parents complained about is not mentioned in the above article at all. The complaint was that they had paid high fees because the school said they hired native English speakers, and that native English speakers were more expensive to employ. The native speaking teacher left the school and was replaced by a non native speaker. The mothers felt cheated and felt they should pay less school fees. The parents know schools pay non native speakers less. The school refused to reduce their fees so the parents moved their kids somewhere else. This story actually reinforces what many people say in the answers section of this site. Schools charge more for native speakers.

Nov 05, 2015 15:30 Report Abuse

Hotwater

The key issue here, not mentioned in the above article, is that a lot of the parents paid big fees to this kindergarten on the promise that they were going to hire a native English teacher. The kindergarten hasn't done that. I've no problem with anyone teaching English as long as they speak the language correctly and have some sort of qualifications/experience. The issue here is that the kindergarten lied to parents.

Nov 05, 2015 15:01 Report Abuse

silverbutton1

happening at my school right now, but with chinese teaching in chinese and not english...instead of native speakers from developed countries. $16,000 a year, and getting a royal screwing over. only matter of time before the shiite hits the fan here. i dont want to be around when it does...

Nov 05, 2015 18:47 Report Abuse

dkappy

Idiots meddling with idiots.

Nov 05, 2015 12:19 Report Abuse

ironman510

In small cities that can get them a work visa sometimes and if they already had a work visa than they can renew it even with the new laws, but if they leave they lose it forever.

Nov 09, 2015 12:49 Report Abuse