Job Discussion Forums

[william wallace]

nil

[Keith_Alan_W]

In my opinion, state school systems are more interested in English grammar, reading, and writing than they are in speaking. The fact that almost none of the students in a non-English state school system never have a chance to speak English outside of the classroom no doubt adds to these schools' preference for non-native speakers. Plus locals also get paid a lot less than foreigners. I spent a couple months working for $500 a month at the Song Jiang #2 middle school. The other English teachers there, who were all chinese, thought that I was quite rich as they were only making about $175 a month!

Another cause of a decrease in wages might be the fact that the public"s want/need for useless conversation school courses is waning. People do things for faddish reasons. I remember most of my students at EF in Shanghai saying that they took English lessons just so they could tell their friends the knew a foreigner!

The only part of the English market that is expanding, in my opinion, is the Business English market. It has been rather slow starting here in Japan, but I found a couple Juku/conversation schools that in the past year have begun training hotel, and factory staffs. The workforce in Japan is beginning a profound change, old employees are retiring and new employees are coming from other countries, so a common language is needed... hopefully it will be English.

There are key differences between the business market and the public market. Potential customers in the public are often not motivated by anything other than curiosity, personal development, learning a language for travel, meeting foreigners and so on. The potential customer in the business market is looking for a way to increase efficiency, profit, and new market expansion. Any teacher of Business English has to understand this. They also have to understand that they need to know the world of business and all that it entails. A teacher of business English is treated like a professional business person, while a teacher in a conversation school is treated like a person who entertains housewives and baby-sits children! Obviously, radically different situations.

Now for the point of this posting. Sure salaries for public school systems and private conversation schools are decreasing, but the demand and pay for English for Business is increasing, for those who know what they are doing. Don't expect Honda, for example, to arrange housing and provide training. They want someone who can help them immediately increase their profits!

So all you teachers out there who want to keep teaching English while increasing earnings, learn how to teach English for Negotiations, Meetings, Sales, etc. etc. Go to Amazon and buy business books on these topics and use the vocab and info from these books to design your programs.

An interesting point. In the USA, companies spend about 75% of all the money spent on education.

[GambateBingBangBOOM]

[Keith_Alan_W]

GambateBingBangBOOM

Most of what you said is certainly "sad but true." I remember a prof saying that Canada is the most educated country in the world, so in Canada, education doesn"t make you any money.

Contrast this with other countries, like China (where my ex is an executive without a degree) or Germany (where experience is worth more than education) and one has to wonder if educated Canadians are realy all that smart....... Maybe the degree glut is why Paul Martin started the Canada Corps

How do we start to change the situation?

Have 10 - 200 million uneducated immagrents show up over the next 10 - 50 years, then degree holders won't be in the majority and all the Social Science degrees will be suddenly useful.

[JZer]

[Boy Wonder]

TEFL salaries have got lower..there is no doubt about it.....stagnant salaries combined with rising world inflation and in some countries the introduction of the euro has meant rock bottom wages!!

The trouble is ..the places where the salaries are high enough to save some dosh..well..aren't exactly the places you'd want to devote x number of years living in.

I personally have had more than enough of the Middle East so I suppose it has to be Asia in the long run......either that or I will start washing cars on my days off!!

[mlomker]

[nomadder]

Canada eh?

A 3 dressed up as a 9.

Third World with the trappings of First World somehow though walk around Toronto too long and you could swear you were in Asia.

2nd largest country in the world yet most could only come up with about 2-3 liveable dots on the map if that.

Strange paradox.

Oh well soon I'll be a slightly well paid immigrant again on the other side of the warmer world.