Exactly, Turnoi, it is, and will be, the Chinese students who are the most hurt by this. There are some exceptions, of course; such as those students who, despite the fact that they were unable to test into higher tiered universities or colleges, will, because of the financial status of their parents, simply enjoy the free ride that so called International Colleges will provide them until they get that little piece of paper that supposedly indicates that they have "earned" a degree, after which they will join their fathers as a leader in their companies while said fathers brag about their children's higher education.

Graduate teachers, especially those who are quite interested in second language teaching, should take advantage of the opportunities presented by immigrant education programs in their home countries. Of course many of them are told that gaining experiencing abroad will enhance their employability. Some of those who follow that path will be lucky enough to land a job in a higher tiered university where the experience they gain will actually be worth something. Others, I would guess the majority, will not. Therefore, my advice for would be EFL teachers would be to thoroughly examine the possibilities provided by ESL programs at home, despite the current economic situation. I say this only because the headaches involved with teaching in China and many other locales around the world simply don't make it a viable option in the long run.

Lurking behind all of this is the very real possibility that China will ultimately have to get its s*** together in terms of providing an educational environment that will attract experienced and/or qualified teachers. Otherwise they may very well end up with a host of "teachers" who simply add to the mess. Moreover, what I began to see after many years of teaching in China, is that we FTs were, generally, all lumped together as misfits or a necessary evil no matter what our qualifications were or how dedicated we were to providing quality English training.

It has become common knowledge that despite China's fast paced growth there is a serious lack of social advancement - a lack of sophistication in many aspects of what one would hope to find in an advanced or advancing society. "Harmonious society," indeed. This absence of socialization can be seen just about anywhere you look; however, for our purposes, suffice it to say that it is prevalent in education and more specifically in the way that so many entrepreneurs, bereft of a moral base, feel it's quite alright to cheat young people by promising them so much and providing so little. Seriously, they just don't seem to give much of a damn.

Think twice before beginning your teaching career in China. No, make that thrice. The Chinese are masters at the fine art of double speak. I've been to many countries in my lifetime, and, to be perfectly honest have never met anyone, anywhere more capable of looking you in the eye and lying than people are in China. If they can look you in the eye and lie so easily, imagine how good they are at it in emails and on the phone. Be very careful...........Of course, the amazing thing is that there are exceptions; however, you won't find many in this EFL game.