Thank you for your support Art. You bring up an interesting point regarding making a fool of ourselves in front of recruiters and employers. Many of them must have a pretty dim view of us anyway, given the way they so often renig on promises as if we are not worthy of their honesty. I recently took a job where I agreed to a one month trial period because I've already learned to be wary. My wariness didn't help me much though. After the one month I called it quits due to their insincerity and they docked me 4000RMB for visa costs. I'll name them later. What I think is important now though is that we carefully scrutinize the job boards so that we can warn others when something suspicious appears. What gives the recruiters their power right now is that they think there is a large pool of unaware teachers to draw from. Unfortunately they're right. But maybe we can change that. I intend to try.

Yes, it's true. There are a lot of us ESL teachers floating around right now. But ask yourself a pertinent question. How many of those teachers are getting quality jobs with quality pay? Very few actually. It takes awhile to learn the ins and outs of teaching in China, but ultimately if you have the proper credentials, qualifications and experience, you will find some decent paying and meaningful jobs. My personal fantasy is that EFL teachers in China will discover the meaning of solidarity. Eventually, we must all reach the point of realizing that all the bickering and in-fighting about mundane issues will get us nowhere. The real enemies are not found in our midst among us teachers, but are all around us disguised as genuine recruiters and employers. They are the ones who should receive the brunt of our attacks. If they fail, even in the slightest way, to honor their commitments, they should be chastized and brought down a notch or two by the power of the above mentioned solidarity and the power of the pen.

Five years teaching the Chinese Students of English to always say:
1) I am watching "TWE"instead of I am watching TV,
2) "SANG YOU!" instead OF Thank you!,
3) She is "faceful" instead of She is faithful,etc.
Bravo! Keep teaching them "good" native English after all it's business.RMB vs NATIVE ENGLISH, who is cheating who?The truth will sooner than later surface itself.

What do you expect? I've been here five years too...often the Chinese student's English is better than the non-native speakers trying to teach them. There are millions of Chinese whose English is excellent...why pay to bring someone from the other side of the world unless they're a native speaker? DUH.........