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A Joke of an FT
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Shan-Shan



Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 1074
Location: electric pastures

PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 2:40 pm    Post subject: A Joke of an FT Reply with quote

One of the instructors at my workplace, a self-professed "native speaker" with a Masters in Education, and a Canadian passport, left a short student evaluation on the manager's desk. Of the six sentences, not one was without at least two grammatical and/or vocabulary errors.

IELTS or perhaps some other international English testing body ought to be invited to all provinces to examine all FTs prior to commencing employment. This would ensure that no one is writing sentences like "...The student speak, but only did it if I lead her", or is only doing so to provide an opportunity for students to repair statements riddled with problems.

The market would be much less saturated, and maybe, just maybe, salaries could become attractive in the absence of FTs forced to return from abroad to brush up on their English skills (much less teaching ability)


However, such a move would require a lot of time, money and organization. Much more likely is for this monkey circus to continue as is.

(But if all us FTs were 孙悟空s, it would be a worthwhile monkey show to attend!)
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Tezcatlipoca



Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 1214

PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Whew...


I thought this thread was about me.
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Calories



Joined: 17 Jun 2005
Posts: 361
Location: Chinese Food Hell

PostPosted: Fri Aug 25, 2006 3:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Was he from rural Quebec, a newfie, retarded, drunk, high or all of the above?
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Steppenwolf



Joined: 30 Jul 2006
Posts: 1769

PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 9:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Fascinating! The president of the U.S. of A. has been noted for a long time for his command of English...
Apparently his Spanish is better ...
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cj750



Joined: 27 Apr 2004
Posts: 3081
Location: Beijing

PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

He is currently studying Iraqi...but I heard he is bombing out of class..
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Tezcatlipoca



Joined: 17 Jul 2006
Posts: 1214

PostPosted: Sun Aug 27, 2006 3:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Steppenwolf wrote:
Fascinating! The president of the U.S. of A. has been noted for a long time for his command of English...
Apparently his Spanish is better ...




I call him "The New Roger", cause he's sportin' a fine new screen name...


But obviously, it's going to be the same old same old.
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A Token of My Extreme



Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 76

PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 1:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Spoon boy: Do not try and judge grammar. That's impossible. Instead only try to realize the truth.
Neo: What truth?
Spoon boy: There is no grammar.
Neo: There is no grammar?
Spoon boy: Then you'll see that it is not the grammar that you judge, it is only Your Extreme.
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tofuman



Joined: 02 Jul 2004
Posts: 937

PostPosted: Mon Aug 28, 2006 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

A CELTA teacher at a school where I took training could not spell either. She did fine at teaching CELTA methodology, which obviously does not require spelling skills.

There are lots of dimensions to language learning and teaching.
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myesl



Joined: 04 Jun 2004
Posts: 307
Location: Luckily not in China.

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it possible the FT was writing pidgin English for the sake of the Chinese person he knew was his audience? Most of the FTs I've known in China do this to one extent or another. They tend to laugh at me for writing things correctly Rolling Eyes
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Shan-Shan



Joined: 28 Aug 2003
Posts: 1074
Location: electric pastures

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Why someone would want to write grammatically incorrect, convoluted English to ease reader comprehension seems counterintuitive to me. The FT in question is just incapable of writing error-free sentences.

The disturbing thing is that he refuses to admit this fact. Could be because of the ego-enhancement he received from a publishing house in China which invited him to edit and co-write an English language textbook. I reviewed his contributions to this "textbook" after it was brought to the office. Like the initial prose I perused, the English textbook he contributed to is likewise riddled with this FT's "creative" interpretation of the English sentence.

Some evidence for us all that here in China, "saying that you speak English very good is enough to land me teaching positions and can write stories for books students studying English!"

TESL is a joke in China. A real profession elsewhere perhaps, but a fraud in China.
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Outsida



Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Posts: 368
Location: Down here on the farm

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 4:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with the above. You don't need to write pidgin English to a Chinese person. You can write CORRECTLY but SIMPLY. It's not difficult. Avoid millions of modals, modifiers, convoluted structures and you'll be fine. There's no need to mess up their English.

Obviously, this FT is just illiterate.
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Kurochan



Joined: 01 Mar 2003
Posts: 944
Location: China

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 5:26 am    Post subject: From Quebec? Reply with quote

I also wonder if the person was from Quebec. Back when I was working in Shenzhen, my school hired two to teach English because they thought of Canada as a wholly English-speaking country. The teachers (one of whom was a nice guy, and the other of whom seemed to be schizophrenic, but that's another matter) talked like, "I am teach zee English at zee Chinese universitee!"
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dragon777



Joined: 05 Oct 2005
Posts: 163
Location: Christmas Island

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All of us grammatical mistakes when speaking or writing. As long as we are aware of it. Wooooowwwww especially with those notes on the desk.
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crashartist1



Joined: 06 Jun 2004
Posts: 164

PostPosted: Tue Aug 29, 2006 1:25 pm    Post subject: teachers Reply with quote

If you want to see the real deal in terms of bad english speakers, just come to saudi arabia. The teachers in the private language school sector are a nightmare and a joke. You will return to China and realize the 'bad teachers' aren't so bad at all.

crash
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A Token of My Extreme



Joined: 14 May 2004
Posts: 76

PostPosted: Wed Aug 30, 2006 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shan-Shan wrote:

TESL is a joke in China. A real profession elsewhere perhaps, but a fraud in China.




"I triple guarantee you, there are no ESL professionals in China.

They are a convoluted fraud and a joke!"
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