Actually my handle is "American Fat" (or possibly "beautiful fat") but what the heck?

I knew there would be folks who'd rail against what I said but I stand by it all, sorry. And as for Eastern Europeans and others with thick accents, yes, I wouldn't hire them either, as lily-white as their skin might be. I'm sorry for being honest but I simply can't understand a lot of Africans when they speak English and, in my opinion, they have no business teaching Oral English here. It's tough enough trying to teach Chinese the difference between "British" and "American" pronunciation. Looking at things from a historical perspective it was the bastardization of Latin that led to so many different "Romance" languages. Today they are all sort of the same but different enough so that knowing one doesn't mean you can speak them all. That's where I fear English is going. Imagine an Indian, an African, a Brit and a Yank getting together for a talk. Theoretically they all might speak the same language but imagine someone who has learned English as a foreign language trying to understand all of them. Will we EFL teachers reach a point where we have to say, "OK, in England this is pronounced____, in America it's _____, in India it's _______, etc? Can't we at least agree to just TWO different pronunciations? I don't think that is so unreasonable.

I'm sorry for speaking the truth out loud but it's an inescapable fact that a lot of African men here are shady. I did not say ALL and I don't mean all. I can honestly say I've only personally met one decent African guy here. (The women have all been great.) One guy I met borrowed money from the school and promptly took off without paying it back or letting anyone know where he was going. Another guy was Egyptian but wore NY Yankees attire and told everyone he was from New York. Another simply couldn't keep his pants on and treated women like merchandise. When I was in Guangzhou it seemed every African guy I met was up to something not quite legal. When I was in a position to hire people I made a decision to avoid African men. I had my reasons and they were not based on irrational perceptions of skin color but based on my own experience. (I also avoided middle-aged single white men, too, to be honest. And I'm one of them.)

I've corresponded with quite a few Africans whose written English is quite good, though often stilted and oddly formal. If I had a position for a writing teacher I'd definitely consider an African candidate, though I'd strongly prefer a woman. Sorry.

As for "black" and "African" not being the same, you're right, of course. Perhaps I was incorrect in assuming the original poster is African. I just assumed he (she) is African. It is indeed possible he/she is black but not African. My bad.

Right now, truthfully, I'm just sick of China. If the present unemployment rate at home weren't close to 10% I'd probably just go home. I'm plotting now how my cat and I can get out of here. I don't dare leave him behind. I'd have lifelong nightmares of him being someone's lunch. I'm in Guangdong, after all.