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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Why do non-native English teachers in China complain?
I have had this said to me, "Why do we get paid less, We majored in English" etc.
Firstly ; If I majored in your language would I deserve the same money, and respect as you?
Secondly; Is your English better than a native speaker?
Thirdly; Why can't you understand things I say? am I incompetent?
13 years 5 weeks ago in Teaching & Learning - China
They complain because they constantly get shit on, by the Chinese for paying them less, and by the native speakers for bringing down their wages. Although granted some are more qualified than some of the native speakers I've come across.
I guess they feel they are more special than the dime-a-dozen Chinese people who majored in English and make 1500-2000 yuan a month teaching English.
Alex66:
I was suggesting they feel more special than a native English speaker
Because they have to kiss ass a lot where as native speakers dont really need to
Grammar isn't really needed in China. There are thousands (literally) probably more very competent Chinese teachers in China that probably know English grammar better than most native speakers. The only thing they really need help with is pronunciation. You don't need a degree to pronounce the English language, only to be a native speaker. Now a non Native speaker in China with a degree of English is wasting his time believing he is a teacher. We are foreign experts because we dominate English pronunciation and if a non native speaker is working in China in this kind of job he is wasting his time and talent and I dare say that if his listening and pronunciation are not up to par, he deserves to be paid less.
A lot of non native speakers become jealous and even resent native speakers (I speak from experience). They are basically in the wrong job but don't realise it. If they thought about it calmly and logically they would understand but they just think inside a box (mostly), and who wouldn't. This does not change the fact that they are not as skilled, in general or as apt for the job as a native speaker.
I suggest you find a nice way to explain these things to those who resent you and make your life difficult for being native. If they are really studied as they say they will understand that it is not your fault but rather China and it's system.
Everything I've written is generally true but bound to be completely wrong if applied to all cases. Some English jobs expect grammar and such and these are obviously an exception. I am not posting this to upset anyone nor to suggest that all non native speakers are the same, quite the contrary. I've had bad experiences with non native speakers being jealous but also good experiences with, to name one, my girlfriend, who I met working in China. She is a non native speaker but up to the date still the best teacher I have met in China.
It's a simpleIn fact is, if they don't pay the expats differentially, we would be somewhere else doing money....
den1027:
looking at your English,I believe you are not native English speaker yourself also,right?
I have found that many Chinese English speaking teachers who majored in English actually speak very poor English. As goes with many student who studied abroad, they seem to be very proud of how well they can speak, however I often find many difficult to understand. No reflection to all.
Because they know the rules of English grammar better than MOST native English speakers and feel that qualifies them as teachers of an equal standing, but the truth is people don't learn a language by learning its grammar; I didn't know the difference from a noun and a verb when I came here, but I speak fluently and without fault. I know teachers, and students with knowledge of the rules of English grammar which outreaches my own, but when they open their mouths it's a different story. Foreign teachers are here to bring a natural understanding of the language to English students, and for that, plus the distance they make between themselves and their home countries, they deserve a higher wage. Whether the wages they have as things stand are excessively high is a different question, but they do deserve a higher wage.
because in my opinion they are treated so much unfair......salary and benefits are much more low sometimes compared to some chinese teachers......if someone got a good accent and good english knowledge that's enough..........but some don't think so and to say the truth...That's bad...and i wish those teachers all the best....God Bless
Haven't 'kissed anyone's ass', 'being jealous' or had 'salary and benefits that are much more low' (now this one coming from an UK citizen). I am not ashamed of where I am from, actually the opposite
I work in a public Uni (my second year now) and make the same as everyone else. But maybe I'm just lucky!? Yes I am English major and I have lived in the US for several years and I do know that a LOT of people there cannot speak and spell their 'own' language properly...which is not the case where I come from. So if a native speaker that was, say, a nurse in the US, comes here to teach English, I don't know how 'native' exactly this is, she can't even do transcription...if that matters or explain anything grammar related (which again doesn't matter?)...We all have accents yes...So I don't think that any slight Euro (any country) accent is much worse than a kiwi accent...where 'six' becomes 'sex' and 'bed' become 'biid'. So all this native/non-native BS is a bit relative.
Like many things in China this is a market driven cause and effect.
The market wants native English speaking teachers, there aren't enough native English speaking teachers because a. this is China and b. the salary compared to our home nations is very low, therefore you have to pay us more if a. you want to attract us and b. you want to retain us. There is an over supply of non-native English speaking teachers so that drives the cost of them down.
Result jealousy. Sometimes justified, sometimes not.
Why do non-native English teachers in China complain?
Because they are human beings. There are only two certainties in life: death and taxes. And during life, complaining.
chances are they complain for the same reasons Native-English speakers did 5 years ago.
I was in ShiJiaZhuang back then
They complain because they constantly get shit on, by the Chinese for paying them less, and by the native speakers for bringing down their wages. Although granted some are more qualified than some of the native speakers I've come across.