In response to Re Wumaos are plenty - NYT article "Trending: Attractive People Sharing Upbeat News About Tibet" (Frederick Dibnah)

ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!!

We know the accents and the subtle nuances which Sasha from Serbia or Samuel from Ghana cannot possibly ever know. Part of language is exposure, and non native speakers have just not been exposed to it in the same way. Just like as foreigners, we can never know every dialect or nuance in China. A native speaker without a degree, should be allowed and welcomed to teach if he/she wants to in China, even if just at kindergarten level, end of story, full stop, period as the yanks call it!!!!!

Very well put indeed, Fred. Tell you what though, all this talk of foreigners teaching English has started to give me nightmares. Last night I awoke in a cold sweat, and in a fair state of agitation. I had to arise and take coffee. I dreamed I was working in a school where the head teacher was a foreigner, who insisted on writing all our lesson plans; he maintained we were not qualified enough to do them ourselves. He was rigid that we teach English expression; but they were changed as we know them. So we had to teach -'a fool and his honey are soon parted'. ' don't take coals to Wooton-Under-Edge'. 'We are ignoring him and have sent him to Basingstoke'. 'a cut in time saves nine'. It all seemed so real and I had to slosh some whisky in my coffee. Do you get nightmares- bread burnt and so forth?