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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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 Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 2:20 am Post subject: Letter: Good luck, Taiwan |
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The following letter from Scott Austin was recently published in the Taipei Times.
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Advertising Having read commentary over the past several weeks concerning Taiwanese students and their English proficiency ratings, I find myself compelled to write from the perspective of a trained, experience and licensed educator teaching in Taiwan....
...Why should they take Taiwan seriously? It neither deserves to be taken seriously nor should it be taken seriously, and I for one will not take this country seriously. In the simplest English expression I know: Good luck to you. You're going to need it.
Scott Austin
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Letter from Scott Austin |
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Taylor
Joined: 24 Oct 2003
Posts: 384
Location: Texas/Taiwan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 4:47 am Post subject: |
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Sounds like a burned-out teacher.....who will find out that the "Grass is (not) always greener on the other side."
Taylor
Kaohsiung |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 5:15 am Post subject: |
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| The letter writer alludes to problematic issues he's supposedly experienced-- such as non-enforcement of contracts-- without providing any specifics. I have to ask "why should they take [Scott Austin] seriously" if he cannot take the time to properly identify the reasons why Taiwan is so bad and support his points with concrete evidence? As it is, this letter amounts to whining without cause. |
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Sheep-Goats
Joined: 16 Apr 2004
Posts: 527
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| Posted: Mon Jun 27, 2005 3:37 pm Post subject: |
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I read the rest of that letter and it's the same burnout I-hate-the-place-I-live-in crap that is prevalent with people who should just go home anyway. There were two replies to the letter in today Taipei Times, one from another foreigner and one from a Taiwanese. The foreigner was much ruder, the Taiwanese guy actually gave a pretty nice bon voyage message.
Austin's major claim was that contracts are a joke here. But contracts are a joke in every country in the world, especially for foreign workers. |
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Girl Scout
Joined: 13 Jan 2005
Posts: 525
Location: Inbetween worlds
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 11:23 am Post subject: |
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I think "burnt-out teacher" is giving him too much credit. He has only been here a llittle over a year. He was fired from his first job at the end of June after getting here in April of '04. The circumstances he was fired under were spelled out within the contract. The way he was fired was not pretty.
He took a job in I-lan that made a lot of promises they didn't keep. This is Taiwan. We've all been through that before.
He has a masters degree in education. IMO, if a person can't handle this job with a degree in ed. I don't see how one is going to find greener pasture in the states or most schools in Asia. Unfortunatly the guys mannerisms rub people the wrong way. A lot of the problems he had at his first job were his own direct result of not knowing what was going on around him.
I'm sorry. I can't have sympathy or believe someone who writes about something he has very little experience living through. He really need to go home and chalk this up as a mistake he made. |
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Incredible Ape
Joined: 10 Jun 2004
Posts: 118
Location: Witness Protection Programme
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 11:40 am Post subject: |
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I don't think he'll be missed. Quite a bit of venom there methinks.
Cheers for the background Girl Scout. |
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wood
Joined: 13 Apr 2004
Posts: 202
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 1:38 pm Post subject: |
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| Girl Scout wrote: |
I think "burnt-out teacher" is giving him too much credit. He has only been here a llittle over a year. He was fired from his first job at the end of June after getting here in April of '04. The circumstances he was fired under were spelled out within the contract. The way he was fired was not pretty.
He took a job in I-lan that made a lot of promises they didn't keep. This is Taiwan. We've all been through that before.
He has a masters degree in education. IMO, if a person can't handle this job with a degree in ed. I don't see how one is going to find greener pasture in the states or most schools in Asia. Unfortunatly the guys mannerisms rub people the wrong way. A lot of the problems he had at his first job were his own direct result of not knowing what was going on around him.
I'm sorry. I can't have sympathy or believe someone who writes about something he has very little experience living through. He really need to go home and chalk this up as a mistake he made. |
I agree with this.
Especially the part about the guy not being
able to handle his job. No sympathy from me. |
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Ilanian
Joined: 08 Mar 2005
Posts: 21
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| Posted: Tue Jun 28, 2005 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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Rub people the wrong way?! It was impossible to stay in the same room as him! He comes, you go! As for his problems with his schools, I don't know. After hearing about his superior intellect and tertiary education levels, I stopped listening.
Didn't his parents come to Taiwan to take him home? |
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Aristotle
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Posts: 1388
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 4:50 am Post subject: |
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If I am not mistaken there are quite a few former residents of Taiwan who have a similar opinions.
Disregard them all you want but they may one day be making decisions involving the well being of Taiwan in the future. Educated Westerners who are easily outraged by injustice and corruption often find careers in the civil service or public office.
Great cultural exchange program Taiwan has going.
China is not the greatest threat to Taiwan, Taiwanese/Chinese are the greatest threat to Taiwan!
Welcome to Taiwan!
A. |
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clark.w.griswald
Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 2056
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| Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2005 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
| If I am not mistaken there are quite a few former residents of Taiwan who have a similar opinions. |
Who are you referring to?
Even if what you suggest were to be true, it doesn't mean much.
Considering the number of foreigners that have lived in Taiwan over the years there is likely to be a certain percentage that didn't enjoy the experience, just as there would be a certain percentage that loved it.
Of those that didn't enjoy the experience, some of the problems are no doubt legitimate, but some are also likely due to the individual. At the end of the day it doesn't mean much. If you don't like Taiwan then why not just move on to greener pastures elsewhere? Why should a whole country and its people change to suit you? |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 3:35 am Post subject: |
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| Aristotle wrote: |
If I am not mistaken there are quite a few former residents of Taiwan who have a similar opinions.
Disregard them all you want but they may one day be making decisions involving the well being of Taiwan in the future. Educated Westerners who are easily outraged by injustice and corruption often find careers in the civil service or public office.
Great cultural exchange program Taiwan has going.
China is not the greatest threat to Taiwan, Taiwanese/Chinese are the greatest threat to Taiwan!
Welcome to Taiwan!
A. |
I think it is important to remember that Taiwan is not for everyone. Taiwan has it's downsides; it is no Shangri-La. I cannot fault someone for leaving Taiwan with a less than favourable impression. That is their opinion and they are entitled to it. However, more often than not, people leave here for their own reasons-- usually an inability to adapt to living in a different cultural environment is a chief reason-- and not because Taiwan is bad place, per se. I am biased, but I do not think Taiwan is such a bad place. When a relative noob rants about the place, I am inclined to think the problem resides more with the person making the complaint than with Taiwan itself. More often than not, I am correct in that assessment. Certainly, the letter by the teacher in this case-- short on specifics and long on unsupported negative opinion-- gives me no reason to believe this is anything more than an individual burned out and experiencing culture shock. Aristotle, who holds some rather extreme viewpoints concerning Taiwan, latched on to this letter as a way of forwarding his agenda: to show that Taiwan is a dangerous, corrupt place almost unsuitable for habitation. Sorry, but the letter by this supposed professional teacher (I always laugh at English teachers with superiority complexes) is simply not credible. It is at best a vague complaint about some contract issues and a long-winded rant (none of it supported by evidence) about all things Taiwan. The letter writer only succeeds in lampooning himself and drawing much deserved criticism from fellow expats and locals alike. He comes across as a pompous individual with too high of an opinion of himself and his value as an instructor. He needs to leave Taiwan. Never fear; plenty of high quality applicants will be ready to replace him. |
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donfan
Joined: 31 Aug 2003
Posts: 217
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2005 7:22 am Post subject: |
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| I loved teaching in Taiwan and having also taught in Korea I can say that the students in Taiwan were far better to teach. I made the decision to leave after almost two years, not because I didn't love it there but because I just felt it was time to move on. I miss Taiwan but I know you can never go back. To me Scott Austin seems like a bitter old fart. |
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matchstick_man
Joined: 21 May 2003
Posts: 244
Location: Taiwan
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| Posted: Sun Jul 03, 2005 4:51 am Post subject: |
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| donfan wrote: |
| I loved teaching in Taiwan and having also taught in Korea I can say that the students in Taiwan were far better to teach. I made the decision to leave after almost two years, not because I didn't love it there but because I just felt it was time to move on. I miss Taiwan but I know you can never go back. To me Scott Austin seems like a bitter old fart. |
He's still in his 20s though acts much younger socially. I just discovered that I too know this guy personally and concur with the above posters who have met him. I've managed to stay in the same room as him more than once but the times I've left outnumber them.
However that's irrelevant, the letter and behaviour are still typical of someone in their first year of Taiwan. I know he was going through culture-shock and didn't know how to deal with it. Admittedly his social skills are near non-existent and I suspect he knows that. And that may have made the culture-shock worse. I do know other foreigners in their first year who have been able to deal with it much better. They tend to last longer living in Taiwan than just over a year. |
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