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lagerlout2006
Joined: 17 Sep 2003
Posts: 985
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 Posted: Fri Feb 06, 2004 6:22 pm Post subject: Why Does Everyone Want To Teach English??? |
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Was just perusing the job board and I notice jobs and the number of hits. A job in Afghanistan (not making this up-check it) recieved over 4000 hits. What is going on? OK that one might attract the curious but ANY job in Japan will attract thousands of views.
Back when I was finishing Uni around 1990 I expressed an interest to my friends about teaching English in Japan. Big mistake. I became the laughing stock in my circle of friends. HAHAHA Lagerlout (not my real name) is going to work in JAPAN. HAHAHA!!! I never heard the end of it. I guess if I went overseas in 1990 instead of 2000 I might have had the last laugh. Japan at that time would have been booming. Now of course everybody wants to do it. Here are some of the "types" I have met overseas.:::
High school and Uni dropouts.
Graduates with no work exp---of course.
Retired couples.
Real teachers
People who gave up lucrative careers to go East.
People running from various problems at home--debt,divorce,criminal charges. etc
People on sabbaticals.
Idle rich.
Idle poor.
You get the point and it isn't just native speakers. Anyone from anywhere with a basic command of English want to teach it. I worked for a recruiter in S Korea and sifted through the applications.People from South America the Eastern bloc Africa Pakistan you name the country they all want to teach English in Korea. I had to explain a zillion times the visa regulations. (actually people from these countries and the Phillipines often have flawless English---better than many who hold passports from the "right" countries.) But thats life I just wonder why it seems everyone on the face of the earth wants to teach English. There wont be anyone to teach.
At one time it was "radical" to do this . Now I feel like a conformist and I think I should do something "radical" like go to my home and find a job. HMMM Now that would be an adventure wouldn't it??? But I will count my blessings--I am here in lovely China while the great unwashed are frantically sending e-mails around the world trying to do what I am doing..To them I say it is all wine women and song and the streets are paved with gold. Get here before 2008 at which point the whole world will speak Eng and I will head home to tutor Mandarin... |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:21 am Post subject: |
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Why? Because it is totally fascinating. Language itself and how you learn it is a wondrous thing. Mixing with people from other cultures or living in them while you teach is also totally fascinating.
That's what draws me. |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 12:48 am Post subject: Re: Why Does Everyone Want To Teach English??? |
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| Get here before 2008 at which point the whole world will speak Eng and I will head home to tutor Mandarin... |
I had to laugh at this, but it's a possible plan I'm considering. My Chinese level is nowhere near proficient, but the last few months have seen rapid progression. Over Spring Festival I acted as tour guide and did translation for my parents who were visiting.
If I work my butt off between now and 2008, I could achieve some decent Mandarin proficiency and take the HSK and other such tests. The idea being, I'm young now and can still rapidly learn languages. If I only master one other tongue besides English, Mandarin will be it.
If China's economic rise continues, no doubt the need for Chinese language will be more prevalent. If I tutor or teach Mandarin, it would have to be beginner and lower levels, but there's a notable rising demand in Western countries. English will likely remain dominant, but don't count on it being the top-dog language in the long-term future like it is now.
Steve |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 1:02 am Post subject: Re: Why Does Everyone Want To Teach English??? |
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| struelle wrote: |
If China's economic rise continues, no doubt the need for Chinese language will be more prevalent. If I tutor or teach Mandarin, it would have to be beginner and lower levels, but there's a notable rising demand in Western countries. English will likely remain dominant, but don't count on it being the top-dog language in the long-term future like it is now. |
How so "Chinese language"? How so English? Obviously we have no real idea of the future but I'd say that China's emerging economic dominance of Asia would in fact secure the place of English as the major language of Asia rather than spread Mandarin.
Firstly, Mandarin is not the only language in China and certainly wouldn't be the language of choice for some "Chinese" people groups. Secondly, English is already the language of choice for almost all multi national companies, the Internet, shipping, flight and a host of other key communicative situations. When China becomes the dominant economic power in Asia, as it will soon, Asian companies already using English as a foreign language of international trade with each other will expect to use that same language with Chinese concerns. THey are not going to learn an additional language - especially one with a unique and notoriously difficult script for literal communication.
When my Japanese students go to China to do business meetings, they do them in English. I find this a fascinating insight.
More and more so, English is becoming less and less attached to the political or economic fortunes of countries which use English as the native language. THis is the key I think to its survival and, if you like the term, dominance of all other languages.
What do you think? |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:29 am Post subject: |
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I have to disagree with shmooj.
Mandarin is already replacing English in some situations that develop between members of different Asian countries; the Boao meeting for instance uses Mandarin first, English second.
The enrolment of foreign students at Chinese universities is growing by leaps and bounds.
I don't know how many Chinese languages you think there are - but in my experience there only is one, and that's Peking-CHinese, aka Mandarin, imposed on all speakers of local vernaculars although these still coexist side by side with Mandarin Chinese. Here in Guangdong province, schools display signs prominently that say "Please, speak Mandarin"
Then there are the non-Chinese indigenous peoples such as the TIbetans, Uygurs etc. The Manchus have lost their own lingo long ago, now the Tibetans and Uygurs are the next to face this prospect because higher education is foisted on them, and of course, it is available only in Mandarin.
Lhasa is a sleepy town of 100'000; in ten years it's projected to harbour one million residents. Clearly, Tibetans will no longer be among themselves!
And, this is just my subjective impression: I seem to obeserve that ever fewer Chinese use English even when it would be necessary; in 5-star hotels you can sometimes have a hard time finding staff that can speak to you in English (note: I said "sometimes", and I can give you examples where this is a fact).
Some 7 or 8 years ago, staff at Shanghai hotels were told by the Party to stop using English to answer phones except when the caller was a foreign national; gone are since then the days when a business centre girl would answer a phone "Business Centre, good morning. Can I help you?"
This rule was followed several years later by the central government office that briefs the media on new decisions and developments: Press conferences since then are held in Mandarin; english releases can be obtained on request.
I am convinced the CHinese are labouring towards making Chinese a lingua franca at least in their backyard.
Besides, it's the opinion of most Chinese that the rest of the world must learn Chinese and become acquainted with Chinese culture. |
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Roger
Joined: 19 Jan 2003
Posts: 9138
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 5:34 am Post subject: |
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...and I think the main reason why so many folks are "teaching English" is their own civilisation fatigue.
Fascination with foreign cultures? Well, if you are fed up with conditions in your own home place then anything looks greener than your own pasture.
And sometimes, the pastures overseas are indeed greener than at home.
But in the long run, TEFL is not a careeroccupation. I hear it looks bad on your cv.
Your best alternative is to get involved in the economic construction of your host country.
A 60-year old TEFL colleague of mine invested in a farm in China years ago! |
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shmooj
Joined: 11 Sep 2003
Posts: 1758
Location: Seoul, ROK
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| Posted: Sat Feb 07, 2004 9:01 am Post subject: |
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| Roger wrote: |
But in the long run, TEFL is not a careeroccupation. I hear it looks bad on your cv. |
I "have to" disagree with Roger 
it doesn't if TEFL is your career. Of course it is a long term occupation if you want it to be it can work for you.
What the heck is a long-term career option outside the "professions" nowadays anyway? |
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struelle
Joined: 16 May 2003
Posts: 2372
Location: Shanghai
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Fascination with foreign cultures? Well, if you are fed up with conditions in your own home place then anything looks greener than your own pasture. And sometimes, the pastures overseas are indeed greener than at home. |
Civilization fatigue, eh? That's an interesting term, and a new angle on the EFL profession. If we assume that a number of teachers are critical of their native cultures and looking for greener pastures overseas, it presents quite an irony. That is, students in other countries with a strong interest in English and Western culture are taught by those who are fed up with it!
But like it or not, students still get a representation of the native cultures they come into contact with.
I consider myself to be a social critic of Canadian and Western culture in general. I don't agree with, nor do I buy into many of the mainstream ideas, political views, and social norms 'back home'. What's more, it's disturbing how Western ideas and capitalism are spreading around the globe at an alarming rate. I feel teaching English, to some degree, adds to this spread.
But despite criticizing my homeland, I'm still Canadian and Western in ways that can't be changed. To state the obvious, I'm white, speak native English, was raised in a Canadian environment, and attended a top university. There's a whole host of other less obvious cultural habits and traits that I carry around as well. For one, Canadian politeness, eh  So I'm still a representative of my country.
I recognize this when I criticize my culture and the criticism is a means to try and find solutions to the problems. But not all teachers are like this - some don't care about solutions and just want to get away from home.
If we look at Chinese students, as an example, most can't possibly be expected to know this stuff. They mainly assume that when they meet Westerners, such people love their countries and are proud of their language. Hearing a native speaker criticize their own culture can be a sensitive issue, because the reverse role is almost unheard of. Yet if I understand the TEFL scene in China, the students will come across no shortage of these native teachers.
To make the issue even more complicated, employers may expect a bit of cultural pride on the teacher's part, and/or have embraced Western values themselves.
In my case, I've been tasked to do a series of lessons on Western culture. My supervisor is obsessed with this topic, and he insisted that I teach it given my 'expertise' so I had no choice. I've been tempted to offer a disclaimer to the students saying I don't agree with everything I will teach. But I'll leave that until later in the term.
Steve |
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willy
Joined: 29 Mar 2003
Posts: 215
Location: Samarinda,Kalimantan,Indonesia(left TW)
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Well here in Indonesia my friend�s school has 23 Chinese classes and only 4 English classes; the school I work for is about 35% Chinese classes. But then most of my students are Chinese and study English. |
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Ulyanov
Joined: 18 Jan 2004
Posts: 25
Location: Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
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| Posted: Tue Feb 10, 2004 5:20 am Post subject: |
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I don't teach yet, still working on it. But why do I want to? I want to go to the places from my atlases; I've been reading them since I was seven (I know, that's really sad). I want to go live somewhere else, and meet people and learn new languages, and all that. I want to gain perspective in life, see how the everyone else lives. I want to help people too, and teaching seems like the way to do it.
Mostly though, I don't want to deliver pizzas to stoned people my whole life. |
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khmerhit
Joined: 31 May 2003
Posts: 1874
Location: Reverse Culture Shock Unit
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| Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2004 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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HAMLET: To be, or not to be--that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune
Or to take arms against a sea of troubles
And by opposing end them. To die, to sleep--
No more--and by a sleep to say we end
The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks
That flesh is heir to. 'Tis a consummation
Devoutly to be wished. To die, to sleep--
To sleep--perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub,
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come
When we have shuffled off this mortal coil,
Must give us pause. There's the respect
That makes calamity of so long life.
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? Who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovered country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all,
And thus the native hue of resolution
Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought,
And enterprise of great pitch and moment
With this regard their currents turn awry
And lose the name of action. -- Soft you now,
The fair Ophelia! -- Nymph, in thy orisons
Be all my sins remembered.
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Lanza-Armonia
Joined: 04 Jan 2004
Posts: 525
Location: London, UK. Soon to be in Hamburg, Germany
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| Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2004 5:24 am Post subject: |
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Why? I wanna get paid for travelling around the world. Let's face it, these 'Conversation English Classes' are a complete sham. End of...
LA |
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