Hang on... your employers agree to your demands??? So you say; "this year, I demand 10,000 quai per month raise and a cut in my face-time hours." Win! Full Comment>>

A good reply Sailor, it's nice to have an intelligent reminder that 'foreigner' does not equal 'English speaker". Full Comment>>

Yes, and the Chen incident.... what good timing that they suddenly have evidence of how awful us foreigners are! Full Comment>>

If Andrea is indeed a gentleman, then props to a guy who has, in the past, chosen to write about pregnancy and childbirth, and nanny-hunting! Full Comment>>

In the interests of fairness, I'd say that both perspectives can be found in the article. Full Comment>>

I had the most wonderful series of questions from a Chinese friend who wants to study for her masters overseas, just a few weeks ago. It went something like this: "If I study in Europe, will I have to write essays?" "Yes, I think you will." "Will they be long essays?" "Yes, I ... Full Comment>>

"we knew that this fake things exsited in other countries for example Austrilian"..... I went to university in Australia, my country. Everybody I studied with put a significant amount of effort into getting their degree. For anybody caught submitting other people's work as their own, this was an instant ... Full Comment>>

How much you can live on depends on how willing you are to eat drink like a local, or how much you need to have western goods and services. If you live like a local, you can live on next to nothing; if you need to (I also earn just a little over the ten thousand mark). For example, I went to lunch today and got a ... Full Comment>>

I can think of some pretty awful male rulers through the ages, too! To apply your logic, that means no men should be in charge either... Full Comment>>

Although this article contains lots of good tips, I had to laugh at the title. I enjoy teaching but for me, teaching here in China is a case of 'right job, wrong country'. Here, the students are all too often little one-child-pains-in-the-butt. Despite the best efforts of the administration at my school, a lot of ... Full Comment>>

What age do you teach? Most of my young students don't have much interest in English. However they do have a VERY strong interest in is themselves, and I can use this fact in my classes. They love the attention that comes with answering a question correctly, they love the constant positive reinforcement that myself ... Full Comment>>

Thank you! Full Comment>>

It is not easy to distinguish between the words in Vietnamese, they have six tones and a bazillion vowels. Full Comment>>

Supporter: If you're going to pretend that a multi-national organisation has engaged in corporate espionage against you, it's sensible to at least learm how to spell that corporation's name correctly! Full Comment>>

Pete: Unfortunately, the two-week CELTYL extension is offered relatively rarely anywhere, and as far as I can tell, there are no centres in China accredited to offer it. Full Comment>>

A decent list, and yes, the idea stealing one is definitely correct. I'm a teacher. We were told, at a meeting a few weeks ago, that the western staff were not utilising the ideas and creativity of the Chinese staff enough, so we should consult with them more, and they should give us all their ideas for lessons. The ... Full Comment>>

Sensible, considered words, Kyle. Consent is they key word, here. Full Comment>>

The article was not an analysis of teaching standards in China, nor did the author say that she worked in a university! Full Comment>>

I don't know about the iron, but both myself and me Chinese colleagues hit the littler kids frequently and repeatedly, and as hard as we possibly can.... with balloons of course! They love being hit over the head so much that one of the the punishments I have for Ss when they misbehave is that that the other kids ... Full Comment>>

er.... that should have been "Gareth's comment". Oops. Full Comment>>

Hi Bman, This is a little late in commenting, but here goes anyway. I applied for my Z visa a few months ago, not long after you wrote this comment. I didn't have to return to my home country (we applied in Thailand). The school's HR manager told me that she had to specify the place we would be applying so it could ... Full Comment>>

Another slight anomaly in the article: yes, FB, youtube and almost all sites where members of the public can freely express their opinion are blocked, but google and gmail can be accessed here. I had heard they were blocked before arriving and was pleasantly surprised to find otherwise. Full Comment>>

I've spent lots of time in SE Asia, and there is something to what you say. No country is perfect and any person in a new coutry will have issues to confront. BUT...the region generally is quite different from China. Malaysia and Singapore, particularly, are full of well educated, sophisticated people who command ... Full Comment>>

I don't think its western pedagogical practices that result in the stewardesses being unintelligible. I really don't. Full Comment>>

I'm not sure what's up Mark's ass, but thanks Erin, this describes me almost perfectly (it's actually my humanoid boyfriend with the falling-apart-shoes, and I know a good place to get tacos). Hellelujah for cheap DVDs, how would we ever survive without them? Full Comment>>