Job Discussion Forums

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Ok. The winner is ... (drum roll please) JAPAN

Based on the first couple months of the new forum, here are the "TOP 10" countries on Dave's, according to the "total number of posts per country", as of 6pm Samara-standard-time, 26 February, 2003:

1. Japan with 570

2. China with 535

3. Taiwan with 291

4. Saudi Arabia with 129

5. Poland with 88

6. Mexico with 73

7. Turkey with 56

8. Russia with 49

9. Thailand with 34

10. Czech Republic with 29

And ...the 'Honourable Mention' award goes to Korea with 11,954 posts. (Thanks Matko!) This is me for forgetting about Korea, where I spent a lovely year in Chonju eating Kimbap and fish head salads.

DISCLAIMER: The above results are statistically irrelevant and are not intended to reflect negatively on the countries that didn't muster enough posts to make it onto the list.

[matko]

And then there's Korea with 11,954

[Stephen]

What would be interesting is if we knew how many were positive, how many negative and how many completely irrelevant to the country in question.

Still maybe when artificial intelligence research finally creates a computer that can do what the ones in films can, it could be put to this kind of productive use.

Regards
Stephen

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Dear Stephen,

An interesting thought. Scary too.

For me, the most interesting aspect of this "top 10" list was the HUGE percentage of posts on the Asian forums (77%), relative to all other countries in the top 10. I guess it came as no big surprise to anyone.

Also noteworthy, in my mind, was the fact that not a single country from the EU made the grade. Again, not terribly surprising, considering the headaches involved in getting a valid EU working visa these days.

So, the net result of this frivolous undertaking? Asia kicks butt, followed by a 'smattering' of posts for Eastern Europe, a respectable result for The Kingdom ... and more than a few tacos for Mexico.

Stay tuned for next month's results; looks like the China forum is slowly creeping up on Japan for first place.

Regards,
Kent

[Buck Turgidson]

These rankings roughly correspond with the demand for teachers. Look at the job offerings. Most come from Japan, China, and the Middle East. Meanwhile there are almost none from Russia and thus few posts on the Russia forum.

Buck

[gerard]

Would be interesting to see the number of esl teachers in each country. Japan-at least I think- has more teachers than Korea but 1/25 the number of posts. What does that say about Korea? And yes I would like to see how many are negative or pointless. Guess those who arent out getting drunk playing pool (not that theres anything wrong with that) spend all of their time posting.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

Move over global conflict; now the REALLY big news. China has 'bumped' Japan for the number one slot here on Dave's, based on total posts per country, as of 23 March 2003.

And the other big news: Hong Kong steals 10th place from Czech Republic, providing further evidence that ASIA is the one and only dominant superpower in the world of EFL today.

Here is the new TOP 10, available exclusively on Dave's:

1. China with 1153
2. Japan with 1039
3. Taiwan with 435
4. Saudi Arabia with 174
5. Poland with 127
6. Mexico with 108
7. Russia with 98
8. Turkey with 76
9. Thailand with 62
10. Hong Kong with 44

DISCLAIMER: Since the Korean Board is now separate, and we all know they won with 18,485,394 posts anyway, their results have been omitted from this contest.

[Stephen]

It is interesting to note some of the countries with the worst reputations (academically at least) for EFL achieve the highest number of postings. Afterall China, Japan and Taiwan (and also Korea) are right at the top, ie. the poor academics side of things, and then we have Saudi which I believe has some lifestyle problems attatched to it. (Any corrections on the Saudi lifestyle remark with apropriate explainations are welcome.) Perhaps then it is not surprising, that these should have finished top.

Stephen

[Roger]

What's surprising? These countries with high rankings here are the countries where the teaching of English is in the biggest mess.
There is no such mess in European or African countries - incidentally where the fewest NETs are employed!
Coincidence?
Methinks not!

[johnslat]

Dear Stephen,
" Any corrections on the Saudi lifestyle remark with apropriate explainations are welcome. "

Lifestyle problms?? What lifestyle problems?? To have a lifestyle, and its attendant problems, you first need to have a life. Little danger of that here.
Regards,
John

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

NEWS FLASH

Good Day Forum Mates:

Since Stephen (and friends!) have decided to resurrect this old post with new and insightful commentary, I have decided to update it ... to reflect the current race to the TOP of the TOP 10 here at Dave's.

Here now, without further ado, (or adon't) the much-awaited TOP-10 Country Forum results for JUNE !!! [as of 26 June 2003, 10am local Samara time]

CHINA - 5961
Japan - 2969
Taiwan - 1145
Saudi Arabia - 727
Mexico - 512
Russia - 454
Turkey - 353
Hong Kong - 338
Thailand - 254
Poland - 233

And battling it out neck and neck with Poland for tenth place ... the honourable mention award for the month of June goes to: United Arab Emirates with 230 posts.

At the end of the day, who's to say whether it will be veiled women, Inshallah & fun with *Sharia and Jafari ... or Polish vodka, mini-skirts and a date with Lech Valesa at the trendy Coal Miners' Bar in Gdansk???
_______________________________

*Sharia or [Shariah] is the body of religious law governing the Sunni branch of Islam (the smaller Shi'a branch of Islam uses a system of jurisprudence called Jafari). As the Sunni branch is by far the dominant branch of Islam, Sharia is often simply called "Islamic Law".

That exciting definition was brought to you by: http://www.onelook.com/

PS: Personally speaking, I'd much rather play with Sharon on Safari ... than with Sharia and Jafari.

Ok, Ok. Let's get back to bashing newbies and stop all of this silly TOP-10 nonsense once and for all.