Two decades ago,foreign teachers were only permitted to work in universities and a handful of foreign language schools.They came to China as visiting scholars or in exchanges arranged by education authorities.Today,they can be found working at almost every university across China,and in some big cities,such as Beijing and Shanghai,foreign teachers work in high schools,elementary schools and even kindergartens.In many of the privately-owned foreign language schools,small classes and individual tutorials with foreign teachers are highly sort after.
Not all foreign teachers are native speakers of English.Our reporter once met an English teacher from Russia in the Training Department of a well-known five-star hotel.Many Europeans speak excellent English and have a very good understanding of grammar.On TESOL recruitment websites,people frequently ask if they can teach in China,despite not being a native speaker.Generally,native speakers of English are preferred.However,if an applicant's English is good and not too heavily accented,he or she is usually welcomed.In China many foreign teachers are not born in English-speaking countries; however,they are educated in English-speaking countries and have no strong accent.
The situation has aroused complaints from some people.A Chinese Canadian teacher called Pan said that many Chinese schools only care for foreign faces,not what they are qualified to teach.Another foreign teacher said,"Young foreigners are more popular.Students like them and rate them highly." Why do so many foreigners teach in China?Most foreigners are more interested in getting life experience than money.The average income of a foreign teacher in Beijing is only 6000 yuan,far less than what they can earn in their home countries.