Teacher Discussion Forums

There has been a lot of bad news coming out of the media regarding enrollment numbers and the health of schools. However there are some postive notes such as increased strength from the asia market and the supposedly short-term effects of SARS wearing off.

I am interested in discussing the health of the industry with other top-level managers. All comments welcome.

At least in China (I can't speak for the rest of the world here), some still believe that English is the miracle key to their future (thus the short-term stability in the market), while the word is getting out among others that with the rapid rise in Enlgish speakers in China, English is quickly becomming cheap, with some fluent Enlgish-speakers unable to find a good job without a strong additional credential behind them.

On the other hand, some have also started noticing a serious shortage of Spanish speakers, so severe that in the last few years private companies have outbidded universities for the Spanish-speakers that are left, and some companies even abndoning the South-American market. Arabic and Swahili are becoming hot ones as well, with some Chinese becomming aware that, compared to misguided and stereotypical notions about Africa and the Middle East, these regions are in fact untapped markets for China, overlooked by most Chinese focussing too much on the English-speaking world and, therefore, leaving massive markets open to little competition from their compatriots.
At the moment, the some universities are alse screeming for a wider range of teaching resourses for these languages.

So while the Enlgish market will stay strong in China in the short term, it could potentiall crash, quickly and unexpectedly without much forwarning in the long-term, like a solid looking house with a weak foundation suddenly crashing down within seconds, only to have been forseen by those who had the smarts to take a closer look at the foundation.

An interesting assessment. If I understand right this means there is a shortage of Spanish-language teachers and too many English teachers.

Corey

In Nanjing the going rate for translation into LOTEs is 2.5 times the rate for English. More that double! Strange thing is, everyone still wants to learn English. So the gap will simply increase util people can't ignore the gap anymore. Then they're there'll be a scramble for the money. Just my prediction of course.