Thanks, O Arrogant One.

Meself, I'm all for accuracy in reporting. Tell it as it is, good or bad...or both.

Just coming out to bitch about things in general is unconstructive...paints an unfairly black picture of things and denying people what could be a great experience for them. On the other hand, spreading only sunshine for the purpose of selling this industry up to prospective teachers strikes me as rather deceptive, even traitorous. It smacks of helping out the only ones who are really profiting from this industry in the first place.

So, please just call it the way you see it.

Unfortunately, IMHO there isn't so much positive to write about in TEFL these days, at least not in East Asia. Yeah, the people are great (when they aren't being total turds, anyway), the kids are cute, the settings are exotic, the ladies are hot, and so forth. All that is still here.

Balancing that are incredibly corrupt societies...corrupt schools watched by corrupt regulators for a corrupt government, all for students/parents who like it that way as long as they get their cut. You've got school owners and managers who spend years devising ways to screw you over. At least in China, you've got a culture where a business owner is a godlike being whose word and whim are to be accepted as law regardless of an existing contract. You've got police who'd rather deport or imprison you than look at you. The last things on anyone's minds are quality education for anyone, or a fair shake for all the dancers in this minuet.

EFL has become a poohole business...at least for those who try to look beyond the short-term superficialities and make a real stand in it. It's become a lot like The Shawshank Redemption...there may be joy and sweetness to be found, but one may also have to endure a lot of forcible sodomy and raw human waste in the process of finding it.

ASSIGNMENT: Imagine yourself as an English Teacher in a small city in Hunan, China. You have 8 days left on your contract when the school manager calls you into the office. You are notified that you are a bad teacher and are fired, effective immediately. Because you didn't complete your contract, you will not receive any of the bonuses, airfare reimbursement, etc. you would have been entitled to, and your final pay is being penalized. Furthermore, your passport and residence permit have been sold to a Hong Kong chop shop, and your girlfriend has moved in with the school owner. You are then given 35% of your pay, from which your utility bills are deducted, and told you have 24 hours to vacate the apartment.

Write an imaginary account of your dealings with this school, for posting on an imaginary internet web forum. Be sure you present your case logically and factually- Don't get emotional!