CALLER 01289XXX

Not racist as such, as the school is looking for teachers with given skills that would be extremely rare amongst non native speakers of English but, if your reporting is correct, it was extremely poor as far as professionalism goes.

maybe not racist if that's your understanding...but i should deserved a little words that being from the Philippines is not amongst his preference... or saying thank you... not just to end the call without saying a word....

Hello Mio Amore,

As someone who has been a teacher (ESL) for over 27 years (14 at the high school level in Canada and 13 teaching private students in Brazil) I can see absolutely nothing racist about it. Certainly the caller was completely tactless and should have at least engaged in a bit of a conversation and explained the reason for the call and perhaps at least pointed out that they were looking for a native speaking teacher. Very unprofessional, but not the least racist.

Private schools are not always bound by many of the same rules that publicly funded institutions are, as a result they can be much more selective in who they hire and the requirements that they place on prospective new hires.

English is my mother tongue, I hold a Bachelor of Arts (English) and a Bachelor of Education (English) as well. This qualifies my to teach the language anywhere in the world. I am also completely fluent in Portuguese (to an near native level), and I do complex translations of texts, documents and contracts. I also teach other English speakers the Portuguese language as well.

Despite the fact that I am so fluent, and that I have lived in Brazil for 13 years, I will never speak Portuguese as well as a native speaker. It is just not possible for anyone to do so. I would hardly expect to have the owner of a private language school to consider hiring me, over a qualified Brazilian who has spoken the language since birth.

I'm not saying that non-native teachers are in any way inferior. What I am saying is that despite all their education, even if they have lived in English speaking countries, they will always have some problems in grammar, spelling, context, cohesiveness, pronunciation, whatever. Those are inevitable and they are problems that they will simply pass along to their students. Without prolonged periods of living in an English speaking country one does not get a true concept of that country's culture, and I'm sure that you're well aware that the culture of any society has an enormous influence on their language and how it is spoken the way it is.

The reality we live in these days has changed completely. Once there was a time when the demand for qualified employees outstripped the supply in the workforce and workers had the advantage. Nowadays it is completely opposite, there are far more workers than there are jobs to go around and now the employer is the one who has the advantage. Why shouldn't they then use that to require new employees have the highest qualifications that they can find?

I'm sorry, in my opinion TOEFL, IELTS, CELTA and Cambridge certifications are handed out like candy on Halloween, everybody and his dog has one. They are no guarantee anymore of quality teachers. They cannot and never will substitute university degrees in teaching the language and years of experience in doing so.

So yes, your caller was a complete JERK, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting qualified native speaking teachers.

Let's look at it from another perspective... You're from the Philippines and therefore I presume you grew up speaking Tagalog. If I learned Tagalog and even though I were quite fluent, who would YOU want to hire to teach Tagalog in a school YOU owned.... a native Filipino or me??? Can't have it both ways.

Cheers,
James        Expat-blog Experts Team

James is correct.
Unless you grow up with a language, there will always be bits missing from your understanding.
Slang generally remains a mystery, as do idioms and subtle intonations that change meanings, whilst using the same words.

Just a funny way to show how complex the English language is and how culture can change completely how it is used or perceived, one need only look at phrasal verbs (also known as multi-word verbs / prepositional verbs). Both Longman and Cambridge have excellent Phrasal Verb dictionaries, but they are outdated before they are even printed, because their meanings change so quickly. They both have websites to keep them constantly updated.

Just look at the following sentence and ask a British person what it means, and then ask a Canadian or American what it means. You'll see just how great a cultural difference there is in their use.

I'm sorry that I knocked you up late last night.     

Another misquote. You only get 'knocked up' on a morning. Never at night.

'Knockers up' really existed. They walked the streets of 19th Century England, mainly on the industrial towns and cities. They carried a long stick with which they banged on the bedroom windows of their 'customers' in order to wake them so that they could get to work on time.

Then came the alarm clock.

From the Urban Dictionary:

knock you up (British)
To wake you up tomorrow. It goes back to the days in before alarms where they used to come around and knock on your door to wake you up. Modern UK or British hotel clerks will still use the saying.

I'll knock you up in morning, we'll suck a quick fag and be off.   In this expression "suck a quick fag" refers to a cigarette.

Also visit Phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions

Of course, unlike Canada, etc., people who live in the Far East are used to being asked for pictures, nationality, etc.

Asking for nationality is legal even in Canada. Ask most any Canadian. But they have a nice way around it - by asking for a Social Insurance Card number - of the first digit is a '9' then they are ineligibly for employment.

Employing someone here, not from, say, VietNam, involves additional paperwork and checking Visas and Work Permits. You live in a country, you play by their rules.

Well according to the dictionary that I was reading it is used when you wake someone anytime after they've gone to bed and can be used to waking someone unexpectedly at night or as a wake up call in the morning, and this was the exact example that was used.

But as always Jaitch thanks for your impressive wealth of knowledge and expertise on absolutely everything as previously mentioned in another posting by Teacher Mark.   

In English slang, there is another meaning.

"I'm sorry I knocked you up last night", said the man.
"No problem, but you've have to marry me", she replied.

Knockers are for feeding babies.....and fun.

A knocking shop is where you buy STDs

Men put a fag in their mouth in the street in England, and no one gives them a second look.
The same in New York would probably get them arrested.

Freezing the balls of a brass monkey sounds rude, but not if you know your idioms.

Ladies like to make themselves look pretty before going out, but is this a step too far?

Agree with pps.
You are not the first who got impolite 'knock', especially in Vietnam.
Seems he / she didn't verify your CV well before make the call 
Just ignore and wait for a better opportunity!

Jaitch wrote:

Asking for nationality is legal even in Canada. Ask most any Canadian. But they have a nice way around it - by asking for a Social Insurance Card number - of the first digit is a '9' then they are ineligibly for employment.

Don't know where you're getting your information from but it is WRONG, it is NOT permitted for a prospective employer to ask for your Social Insurance Number before you have been hired. It is prohibited by law.

See #2 on the list of "When I don't have to provide my SIN?" from the Service Canada website:

The ONLY people who have the LEGAL right to have access to your SIN are you yourself, your employer (only post-hire), financial institutions, and only certain other Government of Canada departments.

http://www.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/sin/ … vide.shtml

The Human Rights Act of every Canadian province also prohibits prospective employers from asking one's nationality, refugee status, citizenship or residency status during the application or interview process. They essentially only have the right to ask if you may legally work in Canada.

http://www.hireimmigrants.ca/2012/05/17 … interview/

So while unscrupulous employers may try, the law is clear and you are under no obligation to respond to any questions relating to nationality, marital status, chidren or future plans to have children, age, religion, etc.

Cheers,
James      Expat-blog Experts Team

To all the other members of the VN Forum....... I apologize profusely for the use of bold text in the previous posting.  I'm sure that you're all very tired of seeing bold text on this forum. What can I say other than...."The Devil made me do it."?

Mio Amore wrote:

maybe not racist if that's your understanding...but i should deserved a little words that being from the Philippines is not amongst his preference... or saying thank you... not just to end the call without saying a word....

I can't argue with that - It did sound very rude.

James wrote:

To all the other members of the VN Forum....... I apologize profusely for the use of bold text in the previous posting.  I'm sure that you're all very tired of seeing bold text on this forum. What can I say other than...."The Devil made me do it."?

The devil?
I think we can forgive a little shouting, especially when a poster is rude and/or adds a touch of racism or bigotry into a thread,
I've noticed a few comments in the Vietnam forum that are nasty, rude, plain lies and/or pushing the edge of bigotry - it's unacceptable.

Internet man   (I really liked that post, it tickled me, even if it was a little naughty.)

James wrote:

I'm sure that you're all very tired of seeing bold text on this forum. What can I say other than...."The Devil made me do it."?

No, I don't think so. I think Jaitch is a careful and responsible person. Still I don't care about information, because I am not good at everything to know it's right or wrong. But with me, when a person tries to make diffirences in the paragraph, to make others easy to read, I respect him/her. In Vietnam, we have "Văn là người", it means what you wrote, it express yourself.

BTW, when I teach my students, it's not relevant to IT, but I always force them write everything is clearly, scientific, and it's very important to me, I always force them make everything more beautiful, even with a small thing. If they are negligent (not careful) in doing something, I will force them do it many times, until I feel OK. I always said "you want to become a developer only, or want to become a leader? A developer writes a program, but leader writes a document!".
You know, I am not good at English, but I wrote many posts here, that's because I am quite good at Vietnamese .


.

Look guys, I am not questioning my caller "WHY" he asked my nationality but I am just trying wake him up that "his behavior was not acceptable".

Anyway, thank you all for your opinions...whatever it is "thank you".  Beside, we all know what is really good and proper.  GOD BLESS US ALL...

While it may not be acceptable to me (and it is not), or to you one must remember that our opinions are based, for the most part, on legal concepts of the country of our origin where it may even be illegal. That said, it probably is legal and quite acceptable in Vietnam, which makes all the difference in the world. Different ballpark, different rules.

Legal matter may well vary - rude is also judged by local standards.
I recall a series of rather good HSBC adverts that highlighted cultural differences.
Even a handshake can mean different things.
Greet an Indonesian with an Australian style handshake and he'll think you're out to kill him - greet and Australian with an Indonesian style handshake, and he'll assume you're gay.

However, putting the phone down mid sentence is probably rude everywhere.

The fact is you are not Native English Speakers. So why do you make such a deal of the phone call. Just say... sorry you have the wrong number.

I have lived in many countries. I had many neighbors who were Filipino, and the one thing everyone I know in the United States say's is that the Filipino accent is hard to understand. 

I only state a fact. I don't care who anyone is from only the fact if an employer wants a Native English Speaker that is his prerogative.

Good luck to you and don't let little things upset you.

Fred wrote:

Freezing the balls of a brass monkey sounds rude, but not if you know your idioms.

Since we're pointing out things non-native speakers may miss, it's freezing the balls off a brass monkey...