Job Discussion Forums

[nidhi]

hey all,

i'm south asian indian decent. lived in california all my life, and am "a native english speaker" but i'm hearing about all the discrimination (in asia in particular?) that happens with having brown skin.. can people tell me more about this?

where are places that are known to do this?

where are places that don't discriminate?

thanks!
nidhi

[Guy Courchesne]

In most countries in Latin America, you'll not find that kind of job discrimination. Your ability as a teacher is valued more.

[Sheep-Goats]

Your problem is compounded by the fact that, second only to the Philipinies, there's no nation that spews out more "No! No! I really native speaker! Really is!" emails to employers posting jobs than India. An Indian-looking name will even put them off, sometimes, let alone an Indian face. There are a few professional schools here in Thailand that would hire you (we have a Southern-Californian guy of pure Lao descent working here with us -- but our farang coordinator had to fight with the all-Thai board for quite a long time to get him hired in the first place) but your skin color and the ring of your name will definetly put them off. Some schools have been scammed before, and others, thanks to all the crap emails sent by your countrymen, can't be bothered.

There's also the problem that you don't match with student expectations of an English teacher. (Tall. Hairy. Big Nose. White face. Etc.) Which isn't to say that their expectations are reasonable, but that's what's at the core of this, usually.

I've had the "His parents are Lao, but he was born in America and grew up there all his life, so he's American, not Lao" conversation with several Thais here, but many don't see my way of thinking. Because they're proud to be Thai, and wouldn't want to lose or dilute that status just because they moved somewhere. This logic applies against those with non-white faces coming to work here, unfortunatly.

[Roger]

[Deconstructor]

Racism, ageism, sexism are rampant in the world. All I can say is good luck to you.

There is a romantic love affair with the white face in many countries of the world some of which are Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan. This is not to say that they love white guys. In fact, they don't. These are extremely xenophobic societies that think that they are superior to any race. You know the story; it's as old as humanity. It�s just that these countries have been for some time now fascinated with the West and one of its languages: English. Even the idea of the West is very limited to these countries that think US/Canada/Australia/New Zealand to be the primary countries because they speak English. Did you know that despite the fact that many Swedes and Dutch speak perfect English, they are never hired because the idea floating out there is that they don't speak English? It is equally difficult for these countries to come to terms with the idea that English is ubiquitous in India. Even if they did, they would have a problem with the Indian accent, which is bizarre because none of these countries has ever been able to adopt the North American or any other English accent that they are so fond of. They still speak utterly incomprehensible English. On the other hand, I've known Japanese who came to Quebec because they were absolutely convinced that we spoke English. English can be found only in Montreal and in townships. 90% of Quebec is French. Once they arrived they were astonished. I haven�t met a single student from Japan and Korea who was aware of the fact that Canada was bilingual.

I guess my point is that people are prisoners to stereotypes. These countries are extremely desirous of looking at a white face as they kind of learn English. They are not interested in dedicated teachers. In the classroom they are satisfying a very different need: a fetish with the exotic and the new.

[Sekhmet]

I have heard some rumours about people of Indian descent not being too well looked on here in Egypt, but I think they're only rumours. I know people working here (at Amideast - a big, expensive American company) who seem to get on fine. And I'm pretty sure that those few people who might have a problem might only be reacting to accent, rather than race. There is a surprising range of skin colour here, ranging from Nubian to red-head!!!

[Stephen Jones]

[Deconstructor]

[kid eh]

Bumping this because I'm in the same position as Nidhi, except that I'm Canadian. Any advice on places to go/avoid? I'd been interested in Eastern Europe, and also China or Japan, though I've heard some bad things about racism in all of these places. Then again, I've also heard that I'd be fine. So will it just depend on situation, the school, the city, etc?

I assume I'd be better off in a bigger city, wherever I was? Any ideas on what types of schools are more tolerant?

I notice that a lot of applications want pictures, which I'm worried will get me tossed out of the applicant pile most of the time.

[grahamb]

How about a short trip south of the border?
Before anyone calls out the KKK, please note that I'm only kkkidding.
Have a nice day, y'all.

[slaqdog]

why are you shouting?

[distiller]

A very close long time friend of mine is Chinese and works in Hong Kong as an English teacher but it was not easy and a lot of the Indians and blacks she met along the way had an even harder time. I wouldn't say you can't get work in Asia but you've got to be prepared for some real set backs.

[herman]

I think it comes down very much to luck (well, almost anything and everything does, after or at least when you have prepared well).

The EFL insitute I interned at hire all kinds of people, as long as they are qualified. I was lucky for many reasons, other than the Director of Studies there being the best supervisor I could ever imagine. They actually hired an Indian woman for this school year, right out from India. I would not rule out the factor that they pay little in Western standards and it's hard to find prospective teachers due to their location -- they're in Mongolia.

I'm Chinese American so I wasn't sure what to expect (given that I know, at least in China, I would mostly likely have *not* been asked to come in the first place, because I'm not white -- although I have heard of exceptions). I ended up having quite a blast, literally speaking. I was even teaching people older than me and they respected me all the same. I guess added to the fact that I looked Mongolian enough to pass for one, but I tell my students all the same that I'm Chinese. There is little if any racial discrimination that I know of in Mongolia, not for Indians anyhow.

Anyways, I think finding the right employer (just, open-minded, not out to cheat you) is key. For us non-white teachers we might need more credentials than white teachers do, too. And then once you're hired and you're there, always keeping an open heart and mind and being a good teacher (whatever that may entail) will earn you good, respectful students whatever initial notions they might have of you because of your ethnicity/skin color.