I don't know what to believe- had you been supping chilled chemicals yourself when you assessed your elders? Were those two whiskery old scoundrels really drunken muggers or older and more sensible FT's carrying you home at two in the morning????? Now come on, play the white man, have a rethink about those blurred events.

No, I don't think they would either but if they stopped using expensive agencies/recruiters/recruiter employers, they could easily do so.

All the world over older employees prove more stable and reliable; unfortunately, most schools like to employ cool young dudes for promotional reasons, it matters not if they arrive fresh from uni with a degree that has sod all to do with English Grammar, no need for them to teach it.

A fifty year old bloke without a degree of any sort is going to have a bigger vocabulary and a better understanding of grammar than somebody fresh from uni brandishing his 'ology' degree. i worked with a young American girl a couple of years ago fresh from uni. She said I have trouble understanding English English/ British English if you'll pardon the oxymoron. Now, a fifty year old American would have had little trouble understanding me because it wasn't my accent she was having difficulties with, rather that she had such a tiny vocabulary. You will get a Z Visa for teaching English in China if you can show a degree- that degree could be for art and design. Give me a well-read mature degree-less-person any day of the week.

If any older guy can find a "younger Miss" or even a lovely studentess in China then good luck to them!

Too true, blue. I 've met quite a few mature FT's who have found a younger mate on the internet. My old American friend doesn't want to find anything permanent because he already has a wife at home; however, although he has a bit of a beer gut, wears dentures and is follicle- challenged he has remarkable success with Little Lotus Blossoms from 20 years of age. This secret of his success seems to be the numbers game, a bit like telesales if you make enough calls you're going to get an interested punter. He likewise flits from one flower to the other with tasty pastry offers (you have to find a gimmick) Now, when eager to get her choppers around them tasty pastries arrives, she not only gets to sample his wares but he insists on giving her instuctions on how to prepare and bake the tasty rascals. It's when she has flour up to her elbows and busy kneading the dough that he makes other things on his mind clearer. He tells me that at that stage he usually gets his face slapped and she walks out; nevertheless, failure is only to root out success and one in 50 proves happy to have further instructions.

The older you get the more English you know. Older teachers should get paid twice as much.