Indeed, as an employer myself i find it hard to believe that some of those people (let's not call them teachers) pretend to have teaching experience. When interviewing prospective teachers, i asked simple questions such as "what can you tell me about present tenses in enlgish?" and usually confronted with uncomfortable stuttering i then dums it down by giving simple examples of present simple and continuous sentences and asking how they'd explain the difference between the two concepts to 7 and 8 year olds... 5 years, in excess of a 150 interviews and i have only met two full natives who could answer.

The previous post in this thread advises me and others i am sure to pay more. Well, we have tried and it hasn't worked. Also, i'd like to point out that this is a very competitve market and at CNY20-25K/month per teacher, we would not survive. Where others might manage such salaries, we work with a maximum of 4 students per group at CNY122.00 per T.H. per student. with an average of 3.5 or 3.6 students per group and other costs i am sure one can appreciate the difficulty. You may claim that with better teachers we could put prices up; well, there is a nich market for such service but we would then have to spend a lot on promotion and marketing to reach out to those and i for one refuse to waste my clients' money on marketing and promotion.

Now, i have nothing against the fact that some individuals might want a change of horizons and seek to work as E.S.L. teachers despite limited abilities but one should then strive to learn and reflect on the language in order to better understand it and be able to pass it on to their students in a digestible manner. We, employers have constraints too; when we first started five years ago we tried to impose a minimum of three weekly sessions, not a single client accepted. So, yes, it will take years for them to become fluent and as a result it may affect our reputation because providing "years" of stable teaching in an environment filled with backpackers isn't easy. And so on... Those of you who have business experience will understand the implications.

Prospective teachers, you owe to yourselves and to your students (for the sake of leading by example) to learn before you teach. Blaming it on the employer, the sutdent or the local education system is just too easy. I often tell my staff that there are more solutions than problems in the world and if you so desire you will find a solution to the currents "problems" you are facing as a teacher but that may well require some effort on your part. Please stop feeling so entitled, be more responsible, the world isn't a great place but with a little bit of goodwill and good communication on everyone's part, we can make it better. As teachers, we are educators and that does not limit itself to one's particular field, nor does it limit itself to one's classroom walls!!!