Please don't insult my intelligence by saying someone who speaks cheesy "Indian English" is as qualified to teach it as a true "native speaker." I can't even imagine the result of a Chinese person trying to imitate the way an Indian speaks English. It's the blind leading the blind. Here in my small city I've seen teachers from the Philippines, Greece and Eastern Europe. It's a travesty. Not only do they often agree to work for less money than true native speakers and, therefore, drive the salaries down, but their spoken English is often just a small notch above the locals they're trying to teach. I fear that in 50 years or so "World English" will be diluted to the point that native speakers will barely recognize their own language. It's bad enough that there is already "American" and "British" English. Dealing with only 2 variations is at least in the realm of the possible. Adding dozens of new ways of butchering English will only lead to more confusion. I'm sorry if this offends people but it's true. I'm delighted that much of the world is choosing to learn my language but in the absence of truly "standard" Spoken English we need to at least attempt to keep the number of possible pronunciations of words to two, not 10 or more. As an American I find myself quite often saying things like "I say car but British people say kah." THAT I can handle. If I need to add, "And Indians say this, and Africans that, blah blah blah" why even bother to teach the language at all?
- Natives or non-Natives - Teachers Discussion -- ashim chakrabarty -- 2007-07-30
- Puh-lease - Teachers Discussion -- dakelei -- 2007-08-08
- hmm ... - Teachers Discussion -- wukong -- 2007-08-01
- Non-native english speakers as teachers - Teachers Discussion -- rose -- 2007-08-02
- Native Speakers are in Demand - Teachers Discussion -- Louis -- 2007-08-02
- MAKE MY DAY! - Teachers Discussion -- JNET -- 2007-08-08
- Non-Native speakers - Teachers Discussion -- Liu Gang -- 2007-08-04
- Non-native teachers - Teachers Discussion -- Diana -- 2007-08-05
- Native teachers or Native non-teachers - Teachers Discussion -- Jason -- 2007-08-05
- Native speakers - Teachers Discussion -- Roy -- 2007-08-09
- Native teachers or Native non-teachers - Teachers Discussion -- Jason -- 2007-08-05
- Natives are in demand - Teachers Discussion -- Gaby -- 2007-08-02
- Natives are in demand - Teachers Discussion -- Gaby -- 2007-08-03
- Non-Native speakers - Teachers Discussion -- Liu Gang -- 2007-08-04
- MAKE MY DAY! - Teachers Discussion -- JNET -- 2007-08-08
- Native Speakers are in Demand - Teachers Discussion -- Louis -- 2007-08-02
- Native Speaking Certainly Matters - Teachers Discussion -- Leonardo -- 2007-07-31
- re: I want my mandarin teacher from Manila - Teachers Discussion -- WEI -- 2007-08-07
- Culture and English History - Teachers Discussion -- Yingwen Laoshi -- 2007-08-01
- Natives and non-natives - Teachers Discussion -- Diana -- 2007-07-31
- Native Speakers Are Preferred - Teachers Discussion -- Simon -- 2007-08-01
- Natives and non-natives - Teachers Discussion -- Diana -- 2007-08-01
- re: Native speaker - Teachers Discussion -- Taliban -- 2007-08-06
- Natives and non-natives - Teachers Discussion -- Diana -- 2007-08-01
- Culture and English History - Teachers Discussion -- Yingwen Laoshi -- 2007-08-01
- People like and pay$$ for the American accent - Teachers Discussion -- Kelley -- 2007-07-31
- hmm ... - Teachers Discussion -- wukong -- 2007-08-01
- Puh-lease - Teachers Discussion -- dakelei -- 2007-08-08