Where do you work?

In what way are these credentials inferior?

"Not right at all because the African will have inferior teaching credentials"

Chinese students will never need to pronounce the word gerund correctly. In fact they will never need to pronounce any word 'correctly'. The will, like the inhabitants of New York City and London, variably sound out vocabulary that will variably be understood by listeners. This is how all language, including Chinglish in China, works.

The African foreign teacher with certification will be able to explain how several modal verbs utilize gerunds and infinites to form various emotive expressions. The Chinese teachers of English will be able to explain this using Chinese grammatical vocabulary.

The NES FT can most importantly put a white face in the fish bowl in the mall offices of the language mills.

All is well in my life, Taffy. I don't celebrate Christmas. I hope all is well for the holidays in your homeland with your wife and child.

Well done for not celebrating Christmas. I have chosen the 24th and 25th to have some wine because I have not had any since 13th May. Brutally cold here and just returned from jogging- the three of us go. Happy New Year, anyway.

The American economics graduate will be able to pronounce the word gerund and impart that
pronunciation to his Chinese students satisfactorily,

Chinese students will never need to pronounce the word gerund correctly. In fact they will never need to pronounce any word 'correctly'. The will, like the inhabitants of New York City and London, variably sound out vocabulary that will variably be understood by listeners. This is how all language, including Chinglish in China, works.

The African foreign teacher with certification will be able to explain how several modal verbs utilize gerunds and infinites to form various emotive expressions. The Chinese teachers of English will be able to explain this using Chinese grammatical vocabulary.

The NES FT can most importantly put a white face in the fish bowl in the mall offices of the language mills.

All is well in my life, Taffy. I don't celebrate Christmas. I hope all is well for the holidays in your homeland with your wife and child.

Sure. Exactly the point I would make.

"An African with teaching credentials will likely do a better job teaching English to Chinese students than a U.S. citizen FT who graduated with a degree in economics, worked for two years at Starbucks who knows the meaning of twirking and barista but is unable to identify a gerund".

there's countless thousands of Eastern Europeans teaching English in universities in
China and then moonlighting in training centres on the backs of their legal residence
permits which enable them to have contracts with universities

There are many FTs from non-NES countries teaching in universities in China. Many are teaching Russian or other languages and many are illegally teaching English for the University and private schools. I know of two universities that have 'mislabeled' their English teachers in this manner. In the university, these teachers are at little risk but all teachers of English in 'training centers' that do not hold a residence permit and FES (now combined) 'tied' to that training center are subject to deportation. If detected, their university employers will be notified and their on-line government data notated. They are at risk of having their next residence permit application denied due to this notation in the Spring when they attempt to renew for the 2017-18 academic year.

The NES regulation has diminished the number of candidates available to teach in China, even for University positions. NES candidates applying directly to universities will have MANY offers; there is no need to use recruiters.

As to the oral English teaching capability of NES FTs versus FTs from non-NES, I do not see native oral language ability to be a substantial addition to a FTs skills in China. Chinglish is and will continue to be the international business language of China. Students that graduate university and acquire jobs at businesses where they speak English to Korean, Japanese and Philippine businessmen in China are well served by Chinglish. Their familiarity with British or American jargon is of no value.

An African with teaching credentials will likely do a better job teaching English to Chinese students than a U.S. citizen FT who graduated with a degree in economics, worked for two years at Starbucks who knows the meaning of twirking and barista but is unable to identify a gerund.

One reason for this may be that they are cheaper for their employers although they falsely sell themselves as native speakers from the US! All of them involved in this show are crooks! To be fair, it is also often true that these Eastern Europeans are often better trained with much better qualifications than real Americans - a lot of them who can't even count till ten and show poorly written English for a native speaker.

Even the most ill-educated American is born with the best qualification of all which he commenced learning while still in his mother's womb- certainly still in his cot.....for teaching conversational English. One school I worked in staffed by Europeans, they had all changed the text books- instead of 'Southend-on-Sea' for example, they reasoned that you can't find a town built on the sea, and promptly changed it to 'Southend near the sea' hahaha! Yes the foreigners, including Africans always have degrees- they are not worth toffee!

To teach English in China the law requires that you are a citizen of China or a citizen of one of 6 'native English speaking countries.'

Yes but there's countless thousands of Eastern Europeans teaching English in universities in China and then moonlighting in training centres on the backs of their legal residence permits which enable them to have contracts with universities. I'm not just saying this, I lived with these pretenders (they claim to be American) and met them on a day to day basis ending last May.

I'm not doubting what you say, just saying that there's another reality living alongside. What is a bit scary is the Chinese employers seem to prefer the Made-in-Ukraine-never-been-to USA-yanks to the real thing and also to the English and Aussies, etceteras.

It seems there is a cull in operation and Shanxi seems to be top of the list.

http://answers.echinacities.com/question/non-natives-renewing-current-work-permit?type=alatest#answer000

Yes, this is the norm. Not only for certain local EFs but for ALL other training centers in China as well, whether EF or not. They are absolute garbage, don't work for them!

I just want to follow up and say that you are definitely correct. At our first univ, the FAO told me that all local FAO's know many FTs (working at the Univ. with a Z visa) work under the table and they simply follow a don't ask and don't tell. At my second Univ, I made it clear that I would be working on the side and he simply said to not inform his department.

For what it's worth, the person to whom I'm referring had a close friend in the same city who advised him not to do this. So yes, this person certainly was without excuse. Hopefully, more people will carefully consider which offer they choose to accept before coming to China. My advice, in general, is for all foreigners to come with a legal visa and first work at a University before they branch out. They are some good opportunities, but it takes time to find them.

This message is concerning an EF branch in Taiyuan. I write this to inform potential teachers who may be considering a position with this school. While I do not want to say much about myself, suffice it to say that I know and live in the area.

Basically, this school had a good foreign head teacher who stood up for the foreign teachers and maintained a balance that was necessary. Well, if you know anything about traditional Chinese leadership, then you know that bosses are suppose say Hao Xiang Fa, Tong Yi, Hao De (basically kiss this boss's rear). This great head teacher was fired and replaced by Chinese person who was born and raised in Jamaica. In his weakness, this person merely told the bosses want they wanted to hear and never stood up for the foreign teachers.

Here is the situation as I heard it. Please understand that I have not worked for this school, and my only interest is seeing positive changes that benefit the teachers and the students. New teachers were brought in under the incorrect visas and began teaching (This is illegal and those teachers should have known better). The teachers were told to fly to Hong Kong to get new visas. They were told everything had been prepaid (both the visa costs and the hotel) and it would take only a day. Well, they arrived, and the office had not been paid (indeed, they said it was not possible to prepay) and it would take three days. In addition, the hotel had not been paid. These 3 foreign teachers notified EF, and the management accused them of lying and trying to take an extended vacation on the company's dime. (NOTE: For those unfamiliar with Chinese workplace politics, this is too often the norm. No one uses their brain, and everyone simply tries to keep their job by keeping the boss happy. Stepping on underlings and foreign teachers is just par for the course.) After a lot of back and forth, the teachers got the company to pay the bill (one teacher was forced to return to South Africa by the visa office), but they found out on payday that they would foot the bill. When this happened, one teacher quit immediately and refused to return despite the pleading of the Chinese staff who now knew they would be facing many angry parents who were promised classes with a FT. Remember this last point if a similar situation happens to you, a Chinese school's Achilles heel is the parents.

Hope this helps,
Mark