China Dérive: Beware of the Pseudo English School |
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| Written by Adam J. Smith |
| Wednesday, 09 June 2010 00:00 |
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Get rich or die tryin'. This is the current philosophy of middle China. Every man, woman and child is grappling for the almighty yuan from the Wild West to the East Coast; the thirst for the Benjamins, or in China's case, ermm . . . the Mao Zedongs is unquenchable. People will gladly lie, steal, cheat, and destroy their health (or that of other people) to amass RMB -- nothing else is considered. What has really made this apparent is having the ungrateful pleasure of working for Meten International English Training, currently an institution (I refuse to use the word "school") benefitting greatly from If you are not familiar with the format of a chain English Training "school," here's basically how they work: The schools are composed of a few foreign teachers, study advisors (who also teach English but are Chinese), a group of supervisors and "managers," and an epic army of marketing staff who descend on the streets of China forcing flyers and PowerPoint presentations on the innocent public. Occasionally, a timid and naïve member of the Chinese public will read a flyer and decide to go to one of the glossy "school" locations to meet a course consultant. This consultant is basically an individual that works on commission for the number of students they manage to sign up for 20,000 RMB (about 3,000 Canadian Dollars) worth of classes, based on the lie that they will speak fluent English within a few months. After a student signs up, it is then the hapless foreign teacher's job to deliver the unrealistic promises of the course consultants. These promises are delivered in the form of lesson material provided for by the school, which, in the case of Meten International, suspiciously resembles passages copied and pasted from Wikipedia. The students soon realize they were conned into parting with their hard-earned money (and believe me, 20,000RMB is a huge amount in China) in exchange for a service that rarely meets their expectations.
The problem with the English training schools -- and in particular Meten International -- remains the bottom line: profit! While schools have traditionally been set up to educate people, enrich people's lives and benefit the wider community, Meten was not. Meten is one of several companies in China that sets up as a school, signs up as many students as possible, earns a huge profit, then closes down the school and moves elsewhere to do the same again. Whilst open, Meten makes every attempt to cut down on costs related to its current students and the people stuck working there, while spending money on promotional events designed to sign up new students. This on-going recruitment campaign is key to the success of such a training school, and the recruiters will do and say pretty much anything to improve their numbers. Upon getting accepted into Stanford, I was asked to meet a potential VIP student, whose parents (both government officials) wanted their daughter to go to either Stanford, Yale, or Harvard within a year. The student was told by one of Meten's course consultants that if she signed up for 20,000 RMB's worth of classes at the school, I could get her into Stanford. I met the parents, as well as the student, who could say little beyond "I like cookies," and "My favorite colour is pink." Her father explained what he had been promised; I explained to him what it takes to apply to Stanford, aside from being able to speak English (which was obviously a problem for his daughter). He looked angry, and asked if the university would take money (i.e. a bribe) to accept his daughter! I answered "no," and he left the room with his wife and daughter, looking flustered. The student didn't sign up for classes, and I doubt I'll be seeing her at Stanford in the coming years. The managers of Meten International in Foshan are corrupt, culturally insensitive and compulsive liars. They squirm their way out of any commitments stated in an employee's contract when it suits them, but then use Tax fraud is also a huge issue. Meten International is notorious for breaking the law and then dealing with the consequences later, usually at the expense of its employees. An official at the tax bureau in Foshan stated that without a work visa (something promised by Meten but undelivered), I was not registered to work in China and therefore should not be paying taxes. In other words, the "taxes" I had been paying for several months were not actually going to the government, but were ending up in somebody's back pocket. After questioning the company about this, they presented fake tax receipts. On the same day I questioned the company about the "taxes" I had been paying on my salary, I was called into the boss's office to be questioned on why I had been five minutes late for work. This is a tactic commonly used in China when you make someone aware of a problem; to apparently cancel the problem out, they will make you aware of a problem you have caused (despite it probably being miniscule). This article is essentially a warning to anyone considering taking up a job offer in China. It is tempting considering the state of the economy in almost all English-speaking nations at the moment, but the reality of working in China must be considered before a move to this nation is taken. A training school like Meten International tempts English teachers to China with a high salary (for Asia anyway) and reasonable work benefits, but you have to fight once you're there to get even close to what is promised in the contract. One of the largest problems for Meten International remains the fact that the management is entirely composed of Chinese people. Sure they know how to deal with fellow Chinese people, but they have no idea how to deal with foreigners, especially foreigners used to high standards and a privileged way of life. They don't understand that we are not used to been bribed, that we are not used to living in a horrible apartment, and that we are not used to choking air pollution. Unfortunately the story of Meten International is not unique in China. Search any ESL board or forum discussion amongst expats working here, and the story is the same everywhere. Remember, China is a nation void of human rights. People here are trodden upon, abused, demoralized, denied and degraded, and this is considered normal, a part of everyday existence. When the foreign teachers protested against decisions at my work place in China, the management seemed surprised! They were even surprised at teachers who did "midnight runaways" because of not being listened to. In other words, if you wish to be respected and work in a dignified and law-abiding company, do not work in China. Adam J. Smith is a British ex-pat, living, teaching and writing in China, while exploring the changes taking shape in this nation. For videos and more information visit: www.adamjsmith.net
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Comments (9)
What?
I couldn't get past the first two paragraphs of your ignorant and stupid ass comments.
@ kevin
Kevin,
11 years I never had problems in China or Meten
i just don`t know how these "foreign expert" teachers find so many problems in China.As my title above eludes to, i have rarely, if ever, in 11 years, had any major problems working as a teacher in China. In fact, it`s the schools that end up with the dud, pseudo teachers from the USA,Australia, Canada, NZ , UK, who in many cases bring their anglo culture drinking problems with them.Meten give me a good online teaching schedule, never had issues there either. Thank you China for the lovely experience you`ve given this humble English teacher.
METEN English Foreign Affairs
Hello everybody, |
being one of few chain training schools in China serving the Chinese population bent on learning English. The other notable McSchools operating in China are Wall Street (ironic name considering the recent goings on at the real Wall Street) and English First (Profit First is probably more accurate).
The desire to learn English in China is startling. The motivations to do so are usually based upon two pipe dreams; first, the desire to emigrate to a "Western" nation, usually Canada or Australia (as they are apparently easier to get into than the UK and USA) or the intention to study in one of these "Western" nations (with the inherent idea that this will lead to emigration). There are also the few Chinese who attend these expensive training schools who want to improve their job prospects in China, but wrapped within this is also a desire to escape China, or at least to escape the current city they live in to one of the first tier cities, such as Shanghai, Beijing, or Hong Kong.
the commitments of its employees as leverage also when it suits them. If you are sick, they refuse to give you a day off, stating you are breaching your contract and classes are organized a week in advance, so it is therefore impossible to cancel them. I remember a Canadian teacher was going into hospital for surgery. Even though his doctor recommended him to rest for a week, the school called him in to work the day after his surgery, suggesting that if he didn't turn up for classes he would lose his job.
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