Advice from a Pinoy teaching English in China

I have written the following additional paragraph to the short story I sent you about my life as an English teacher here in China. I thought it would be a very useful piece of information for other Filipinos who are aspiring to teach English in Chinese universities. We Filipinos face the challenge of proving to Chinese and other foreign colleges or universities that we can be as good as, if not better than, the native speakers of English. We don't look "foreign," and that's already a disadvantage. In contrast, Americans, Canadians, Australians, and other "white-skinned" nationalities already have a big edge. The sad truth is that these nationalities will always have a greater chance of being offered a teaching job here in China (and even in Japan), regardless of their field of specialization. I know a number of them whose field of specialization is not English (Psychology, Computer Science, Business Management, etc.), but are teaching English here in China, just because they are "native" speakers of the language. In contrast, Filipinos are screened rigidly. Of course, there are small, private English teaching centers that will readily consider us, but the terms and conditions of employment in universities are much better. My advice then to my fellow Filipinos who desire to be hired as "foreign experts" in English in the higher institutions of learning in China or in other Asian country, is to improve their English oral proficiency, particularly pronunciation and accent, which other people (including the Chinese) find "different." One way of improving our pronunciation and accent is to listen to good models--we have a lot of excellent speakers of English in the more-serious English talk shows on our nation's biggest TV channels. Thanks so much, and may God bless you and GMA Network. Sincerely, Ma'am Emy ***Ms. Emerita Cervantes earlier sent this contribution for Kwentong Kapuso: Impromptu English lessons on the train I'm here in China, working as a foreign English teacher in a small university. I went on a one-year leave from the University of the Philippines- Los Baños to accept this teaching assignment in China. I'm proud of what I'm doing in China. I can still recall that on my first day at the university, my students asked me where I come from. When I answered, "Philippines," they asked, "Where is the Philippines?" Not one in my six classes (total of 270 students) knew anything about the Philippines. Now, it's a different story. Little by little the Filipino English teacher is gaining respect. Even on the train, I often get requests (through some Chinese passengers who speak a little English) to teach English, on the spot. The train often becomes an "English Corner." One time, a train conductor asked me to teach him some useful expressions he could use as a train porter. Throughout the 6-hour trip, the conductor would come to me and have lessons in English. A young Chinese man who had been listening to our English lessons expressed his admiration for what I was doing, by giving me some oranges. A local Spoken English Training Center hired a Western English teacher last summer (in China, I'm sad to note, native English speakers are still preferred, never mind if their academic preparation is not ESL or EFL), but after a month, "fired" the Western teacher because of inefficiency. Now that training center has two Filipino teachers, and the owners are all praises for them. I am proud to be a Filipino and to do my share in improving other countries' perception of the Philippines. I hope, though, that the Philippine government, through the Department of Labor and Employment, will be a little stricter in screening overseas job applicants, especially professionals, to make sure that only the qualified ones are sent for overseas work. Let us not give western TV networks, such as the ABC network, a reason to justify their mockery of our professionals working abroad. Emerita Cervantes