In response to Re: GAC-ACT (Jim Smith)

Jim Smith, as his posts suggest, is a rotten potato sales person catering to rice eaters that are unfamiliar with the potato product. What he does not realize is that we eat potatoes too and we know when they are rotten. Jim can sell his product to the unfamiliar but he won't be able to serve it for long to one who's been raised on a potato land. :)

It is a bummer that many hard warking people get caught up with bad contracts here, It would be nice if that could change somewhow. I'm not sure the answer to that one. I think in many ways its up to us to help put integrity back into the classrooms/schools by holding fast to or western values and not capitulating. As sad as it is, the average Chinese person doesn't even know that plagerism is wrong! The moral code here is skewed and runs much deeper than the concept of "corruption" can possibly encapsulate - its cultural make no mistake about that.

In fact, it's a bummer that a hard working foreign facilitator has to get caught up with such a dishonest company that subscribes even more dishonest school owners and that promotes western while practices local values. As sad as it is that a foreigner like you facilitates this filthy process and then advertises it on line.

Two things do bother me. 1) Its one thing to BS your way into a position. But please, for you own good, don't become deluded! Keep your feet on the ground folks. Get the degrees and the expeience first, then you can walk with the big boys. 2) Don't generalize because you've had a bad experience! Please don't insult my intelligence by saying, "All GAC schools are terrible". How can an educated person, a "teacher"no less, make a statement like that? Now, if you disagree with the GAC's Ed. philosophy, curriculum or assessment procedures that's another matter. I say lets discuss it. The GAC is a great program, I dearsay the best and most accountable EFL foundation program available in the entire world. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

It's not only about "all the GAC schools", is it? The core of this filth lies somewhere there in the states and with the, to you, the best college entry exam in the world. How can we say that? Well, I guess we have experienced it and not only with "one school" or for "one year" as you might have thought. The GAC is set up for the Universities in any English speaking country or any country that teaches in English, however, the ACT is ONLY for the USA. Therefore the ACT Education Solution academic material that teaches the GAC is different from the ACT. Sadly enough the academic material is poorly written and its three modules of the subjects in Science, Social Science, Maths, Business and Academic English are not cohesive at all. For example, in Acadmic English there are Listening and Speaking and Reading and Writing subjects in module 2 that both are completely off. Teaching towards these assessments you might find the topics for Reading and Writing much more difficult than the ones for Listening and Speaking where they only talk about describing the process. In that level 2 there's virtually nothing about on controversial topics which are in REading and Writing assessment of module 2. I hope you get what I am talking about here are this is a really serious and difficult for the head office to solve problem. You'\ve got to be well educated to see that and these books have been written on mainland, althoug they've got the Australian cover. Further more, on the assessments, the directions for many assessments is written poorly and unclear, at times in Chinese English too. The Business books are ridiculous too as they focus on Australia and how they do the business there. Also, they are written so carefully in order not to contradict the local values. Some schools teach Social Science called now "Communication Skills" as the intro to Business which is so inappropriate. Well, Social Sciences aren't exactly allowed on mainland, are they?

Anyway, I hope you are ready to discuss your potato business further.

Cheers and beers to our next few posts on :)