Best get your own facts straight Choatle. "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." This is the quote attributed to Shakespeare from Hamlet. Not to worry though, it's often misquoted and/or used in the context that you used it.

The following however, speaking of "methinks," would apply, not to Dave, who is, after all only trying to offer some balance to this recent imbalanced thread, but to foul mouthed blokes such as Turnoi:

"Methinks I see thee, now thou art so low, as one dead in a tomb" - Romeo and Juliet.

Okay Turnoi, call me an apologist, call me a recruiter, call me a defender, call me anything you want; just don't call me late to dinner. And by the way, what exactly are you a Doctor of and from where did you get the degrees you claim to have? One poster suggested you bought them. Are you prepared to dispute that?

And Choatle, could you please explain what intelligence or innocence have to do with one's ability or propensity to protest. Oh, sorry, let me quote you: "No wonder he protests so much, when if he were smart, or innocent, he'd just shut up." Huh? Let me get this straight: If I'm smart or innocent, I should shut up? Ok, I'll just wait until I wake up one day with a bad case of stupidity coupled with guilt before I lodge any complaints.

Well, there's no doubt in my mind that Frank Zhang, he of many aliases, has shafted more than his share of unsuspecting FT's; however, "caveat emptor," though not directly applicable in these situations, does suggest that one should at least do a modicum of research before committing to such an important undertaking as teaching in China. A little research into business culture in China would reveal that the Chinese are only now just emerging from the notion that a balanced deal is totally unacceptable. That is, one must come out on top or lose face. And oh yes, no one from the West would ever consider taking advantage of the Chinese - if you believe that, I've got some great swampland to sell you in Florida.

Finally, I'm convinced, without any absolute data to back up that conviction, that most teachers who fall victim to Frank and his ilk were trying to scam their way into Chinese classrooms anyway - just trying to add to the ranks of scammers who've successfully pulled the wool over the eyes of the innocent and hopeful. Whoops! It just didn't quite work out the way they were planning as they said goodbye to their unskilled labor jobs or unemployment lines in America or wherever and tried passing themselves off as qualified teachers of the English language. Gee sorry, Choatle, if that rings a bell, I can only ask that you not take it too personally. Actually, I really admire your English usage - it's quite quaint in some ways and definitely adds to the argument that "it takes all kinds." Moreover, it would really be fun to be in your classroomsand observe how you explain about all the Englishes that exist in the world after your students correct your mistakes for you. Yes sir, I'd love to be a fly on the wall in your classroom and probably half of the other classrooms of the "FT's" you are so quick to defend against the likes of me.