problem is the system, mediocrity is encouraged, reform is overtly discouraged.

I sgree wih you, but I don't envisage those traits changing for the better in the medium term, let alone in the short term!

Utter rot. Then why don't they pay professional actors or speakers to record the tapes.

Posting that my post is 'utter rot' without supporting your assertion is merely your opinion without foundation.

I can't answer your question as I don't know whomever they hired. That said, they might well have been professional speakers or actors. How do YOU know they weren't?

Were I a carpenter by trade, and you asked me to make something out of wood using a BLUNT chisel, I wouldn't be able to do it well. Why the hell can't an English textbook for Chinese middle school pupils be written with few, if any, errors in it? Especially when it was co-authored by laowai. I'm sure there are more than the few mistakes in it that I happened to discover. You see, I didn't read every page, and what I did read was not read with the purpose of spotting errors. Publishing such a flawed textbook for mandatory use in countless senior middle schools located across the length and breadth of China was an utterly disgraceful deed! That's my conclusion, and I'm sticking to it.

The examples above illustrate the very average English levels of the native speakers of English who were hired to participate in the authorship of that senior middle school textbook.

Utter rot. Then why don't they pay professional actors or speakers to record the tapes.

[deleted]

Batchelor's degree, bad English spelling, you're right.
Batchelors Hall, great folk song, give it a listen. One can infer from the song title and its lyrics that the old spelling of bachelor, denoting a single bloke, was batchelor.

http://mp3.baidu.com/m?tn=baidump3&ct=134217728&lm=-1&word=batchelors%20hall%2C%20steeleye%20span

Kudos are in order. Oldtimer. Well done, and I hope you can sell many, many copies of your textbooks.

About myself, I'm teaching at a public senior middle school of northern China. Regarding the prescribed English textbook for grade 1 senior middle school students of English that I taught last semester, I've some things to say that will likely interest you. I taught parts of book 2 last semester. It was written by Chinese and Westerners, and was accompanied by audio cassette tapes for listening practice.
On one of the tapes, a native speaker with the accent of an Englishman enunciated 'module three' stressing the second syllable of the word 'module', incorrect pronunciation indeed!
In the book, one of the modules is headed 'Unexplained Mysteries of the Natural World'. But aren't all mysteries 'unexplained'? Else they wouldn't be mysteries, would they? That renders 'unexplained' redundant.
And in a passage of another module, something was mentioned about 'historical relics'. But all relics are historical, aren't they? By contrast, 'relics of historical interest' would have been correct.
Another thing I came across that is bad writing is as follows - usually the module heading did not reflect accurately the content that ensued. Right now, I can't remember an actual example of this, but I do remember a few years ago teaching an earlier edition of the same textbook. in which there was a module headed 'The Silver Screen', which is generally accepted to mean the Hollywood movie industry. But the module went on to talk about the Chinese movie industry, and then about plays, operas and popular music concerts!
No wonder most of the Chinese are so good at Chinglish, they aren't even studying correct English in the first place! The examples above illustrate the very average English levels of the native speakers of English who were hired to participate in the authorship of that senior middle school textbook. But they'll have made a lot of money because the use of the textbook is mandatory in state senior middle schools throughout the country. Mandatory crap, eh! Moreover, I'd be willing to bet that the 'Western experts in English', sic, involved in the writing of the textbook all have CELTA qualifications, and batchelor's degrees in concocting tasty tomato soup....LOL!

When China does that, and they will,

You are being overly optimistic....they simply have no reason to, mei banfa, more unemployable laowai from the west coming in, why would they bother...it's far from Japan or South korea, a long mark off....

Yep, can't do much with that level of local Chinese salary outside the PRC. But I could use my offshore savings to bolster my lifestyle. However, I choose not to. Even got a letter from the fund manager asking me to withdraw monies with very minimal financial penalties at this time coz the MVA = MARKET VALUE ADJUSTMENT is much lower these days than it used to be. I'm told the fund has grown by more than 30% since its lowest value during the financial crisis. Even so, I'll continue living off my teaching salary for a year or two. No problem - I dislike touring in any case, always have! When I withdraw monies after that, the MVA won't apply at all, due to the longevity of my investment.

"And I cannot believe that someone who has a doctorate in languages would be wasting their time working in such a position..."

100% correct which is why I don't work in education in China and when I did I was at a university.

There is no money in education in China, at least not as a teacher/instructor/professor.

I work in biotech right now. Money is great, and life is good.

If more teachers went into business in China things would be better in China for teachers because they would be forced to raise wages and standards in order to attract teachers and keep them.

When thousands of their low wage C.R.A.P. jobs were repeatedly left unfilled things would change.

Look at what education reform did in South Korea. First it became a pain in the azz to work there as far as getting all of your information processed and then, when a huge hole was left from that, the wages went up and they are still going up. People are also getting smart on that front too and they demand an E1 visa position and not any E2 position visa.

The difference between many E1 visa jobs at 3.8 to 4.7 million won
and an E2 visa job at 2.0 to 2.5 million won is like day and night.

The way that South Korea has cleaned up their teaching game requirements is excellent and with that teachers can now demand and get higher wages too.

When China does that, and they will, you'll see things change in China because people can afford to be picky and get what they want in a contract within reason.

I know a couple now, both from Canada, married, working for 4.0 million won each at a college on an E1 visa. Both have doctorates.

Anytime I am confronted when I am in China with someone wanting to practice their English, I simply speak Mandarin Chinese to them. I let them know that I want to practice my Chinese. If they want ESL lessons, we need to talk about pricing.

ESL teachers in China are treated like whores and whores get paid before they get laid.

Its not my goal here to tell people where to work. It is my goal to make sure they don't get screwed.

If you work in an ESL mill lined with glass walls in a high rise somewhere, you made a wrong turn.

I worked in the state school system. It was exactly the same scenario as working in the private ones be it directly or through a recruiter. Cancelled classes because of exams or trips out without telling me, lengthy holidays which were unpaid, no sick pay and ludicrously low salaries which barely covered my living expenses.

'exactly the same scenario as working in the private ones?' Not at all. Cancelled classes without telling me? No big deal! Lengthy holidays which were unpaid? That depends on the contract you signed! Just finished 5 days' teaching on the trot after 10 days' holiday in a row. Lovely biscuits, my salary for June = 18/30 x 5000 RMB for 8 days' work. That is equivalent to (0.6 x 5000)/8. It works out at 375 RMB/day of teaching. And I taught 20 lessons in the 8 days, 2 lessons were cancelled due to a staff meeting! As per lessons, it works out at 150 RMB/ 45-minute lesson. Can't beat that for easy money anywhere, and certainly not possible in the private sector. Wasn't sick, but there was a clause in my contact pertaining to that. Full pay, yes, but only for a limited period, obviously. 'Ludicrously low salaries which barely covered my living expenses?' Your living too well. Cut down your living costs, if you don't mind me saying so. Lesser mortals like me don't go here and there making the rich richer. By the way, though I got no summer holiday pay, I got 1100 RMB for travel and 3000 RMB for my international air ticket for one semester's teaching. Too hot, goin nowhere. Will spend the 4000 RMB on myself locally during the summer break. Doin nothing to help the global economy, ha ha, why should I?
Finally, not every poster in this thread is anti-training centre per se. But there are those like me who prefer working like a real teacher back home in terms of teaching times, viz, no evening/weekend work! You wanna work for a TC, go ahead. But you should understand that one man's meat is another man's poison. TCs are my poison. I'm just stating a fact, not abusing anyone!
I'm very happy with my lot here jobwise, though nothing is perfect, and money ain't everything. I reckon I'm paid well. I'm not after big bucks for more stress and less free time, not worth it in my opinion. Life's too short as it is. Good luck to you, anyway. But in future please don't tar everyone with the same brush. We are not all trolls and bickerers. I reckon I'm neither. You've had your say, now I've had mine. Fair's fair. End of story, I think!