Hey,
i was reading the jobs offered, and within the last 5 teaching jobs, 3 posts say "only for americans" !!!
What the hell does it mean !??
Is english from UK, australia, canada, ... not good enough !!??
And SO many other countries where english is an officiel language !!
And all the rest, so many europeens speak a stunning english !!
Do chinese schools understand that the world is not America !
No offence for the States, but is it really such a great model to follow !
You know, i reckon these kind of ads for jobs "only for americans" show how china is quite close-minded sometimes, and not aware of what is the rest of the world !
Chinese employers, I think, are primarily interested in image, not actual competence (and it's often the same in Sweden, for that matter). For teaching jobs, it's all about making the teacher look good in the paying customer's (i.e; parents) eyes, not having real credentials. This, then, is all about America's enduring soft power influence on the world. Compare this: the vast majority of chinese people studying abroad go to the US, even though studying in the US is expensive beyond belief. They could instead apply for studies in european countries (most of which offer courses with english as medium of instruction), and pay much, much less, or even -nothing at all-, but even so, they choose to go to the US. That's how powerful and pervasive the image of USA is; people literally throw away hundreds of thousands if not millions of kuai to have their kids study for years in the US, when they could study in Norway or Finland, in english, in universities of comparable quality, -for free-.
That being said, have you tried applying for these jobs? I mean, I'm swedish, I have quite a heavy accent, I applied for a job where they demanded native speakers (preferrably australians), and I still got it.
Dear William15,
the reason is that Chinese parents want to send their kids to study abroad mostly into American structures ( you have to admit that at least few American Universities have a worldwide reputation in terms of quality of education and facilities)
And how can we blame them, how much America spend in research/education and how much does the rest of the world spend?
The idea that in a future their kid will be able to get an American degree (even the one got "free of nu li" in the Catholic Uni, the ones just filled with foreign students) will help him to get a better job once got back to China.
I agree to some of your points though, actually most of the schools in km don't really care of quality of teaching but more about teacher's look and "clown" skills able to entertain spoiled kids...but more interesting is that usually not even parents care about quality because they don't speak English themselves, so finally "America" is just a brand.
As a non American, my take.
From an employer's perspective, please the parents.
From a parent's perspective:
The kids have watched American TV and are familiar with certain accents. This lowers barriers to learning. They all love Lost, Friends, and other TV.
Many parents know that AmE is different to BrE. I do know non AmE teachers who are Nazis about English grammar and usage, some of whom cannot even use their own form of standard English correctly.
Most OS high school curricula in China are US based.
Sino-US academic collaborations are more common than Sino-others.
They dream of going to Harvard, Brown, etc. Why? Brand awareness, the US unis have done much more brand building in China.
If kids go to America, they already think that they know the cultural values of the US from TV. They believe the kids will find it easier to fit in over there.
From a practical standpoint. More schools are using AmE text books and course materials.
To follow on from @Natsmir's point.
If you are white, you are acceptable.
If that kind of job requirement frustrates you, try to imagine how Americans of Asian descent must be feeling like after applying for English teaching jobs in China.
Chinese don't know what they mean by "white". They assume anyone who's "white" is american - it's kind of a lump branding (like asian is anyone from asia). What they really mean is "white looking" when they say American.
As for language - American English is far easier than British or International English. In fact, most americans are incredibly crappy spellers with deplorable grammar - thanks to a generation of "dumbing down" of americans by their government. A stupid populace is easier to manipulate and control so government officials can legalize bribery (political action campaigns & funds), the 2008 financial meltdown (nobody is guilty of fraud), Weapons of Mass Destruction (fantastic lie of gullibility, which the French didn't buy into), etc ad infinitum. And I won't bother to mention taxes...giving away BILLIONS while complaining of the "cliff" and not enough money to SPEND. The manure espoused by our elected government officials is enough to fertilize the planet and recover the encroaching deserts...if it were possible to harvest.
@laotou
Why does the word "American" cause you to grab your Xinhua talking points and launch into an off topic anti-US rant? With respect to our hosts here in China I tend to refrain from rants on the political, economic and social conditions in China. Do you really believe Chinese are so ignorant as to think all persons of pallor are Americans?
On topic, it is my impression that Chinese tend to simplify dealing with 老外 by getting into the stereotype trap easily. Its economical and easy. You do it too, as it is handy especially for rants.
As an American, I find Chinese of all social strata overly impressed with America. In talks with students they seem to prefer American accents. Why? American English is "easier." When I try to explain native English speakers seem to understand each other, regardless of accent, without much trouble I get dismissed as not understanding the problem. Conversely, I notice Chinese understand other Chinese pretty well no matter what part of China they come from.
I guess, for reasons I don't understand, an American accent is perceived as more valuable, or easier, or is it just checking to the power? Wonder if Xinhua has an answer.
I co-manage two English-language high schools in Kunming that send students to foreign countries for university. The vast majority of our students go to US universities, but a few go to the UK, Australia, and Canada, among other countries.
Some thoughts on this topic:
Most of our students and their families prefer to apply to US universities probably because of branding and cultural hegemony, but also relevant are business partnerships and the sheer number of US universities compared to those of other countries.
We hire native or near-native speakers. A little over half of our teachers are Americans, but among our foreign teaching staff we also have people from England and Australia, as well as non-native speakers from several countries and a few Chinese-Americans. We hire dedicated (and qualified) teachers regardless of where they're from or the color of their skin. I suspect that our foreign teaching staff is dominated by Americans mostly because of the composition of Kunming's English-speaking teaching community.
We encourage (force) our students to become familiar with different English accents, and continually remind them and their parents that several of their university professors likely will have non-American accents, and that they might end up doing business with people from many different countries.
How about this job ad? It might be discriminatory, but at least there is emphasis on LOVE! Isn't that sweet? Ha ha ha.
———————————————————————————————
We're a kindergarten in Anyang city,Henan province, there're 4 classes in our kindergarten, we're looking for a English teacher now, it's a full time job.
Requirements:
1/ the white race, female or male both ok
2/ come from developed countries, not from US or UK
3/ have 1-3 years' English teaching experience
4/ can live and work in Anyang for a long time
5/ like Children very much, patient with love
If you're qualified and interested in this job, please send me your cv with picture (it's a must), and tell me your salary requirement
davidsui1@163.com
Best regards
HR
