Foreign Experts Certificate Eligibility?

[j.slemmer]

Hi there people,

I am looking for an English teacher position in Chengdu and I received some disturbing news.

It seems there is a rule in Sichuan that only native English speaking foreigners can receive the Foreign Experts Certificate. Which is needed to work legally.
So only native USA, UK, South Africa, New-Zealand persons.

Does anyone have more information on this and can confirm this?

I was also warned that other schools/agents falsify documents to go around this rule. So you would still be working illegally.

This change apparently was introduced last year September.

Hoping on your experiences and some better news…

[DubMe]

Hi,

No, you don’t need to be a native English speaker to receive a Foreign Experts Certificate. You can be a native Japanese speaker – and receive a Foreign Experts Certificate. But if a school employs you as an English teacher – you need to be a native English speaker to receive the Foreign Experts Certificate. So, in case you aren’t a native English speaker (because you are from France) – some schools will work around this rule – by employing you as a French teacher – in which case you would be receiving the Foreign Experts Certificate for being a French teacher. I have a friend who is from Spain – the school applied for his Foreign Experts Certificate stating that he will be teaching Spanish and English. It worked out fine. He is mainly teaching English – and having a few private Spanish students at that school…

If you are from a smaller country like Denmark for example, it might be a little more difficult to get the Foreign Experts Certificate, because the person from the Education Department (!?) might question if there are any students for Danish language in Chengdu.

“I was also warned that other schools/agents falsify documents to go around this rule. So you would still be working illegally.”

Yes, some schools do that. Or most schools do that in some way. But if you got all your papers in order, got two years of work experience, a bachelor’s degree etc… then they mostly won’t have a reason to falsify any documents…

Hope this is of any help. Cheers!

[j.slemmer]

Yeah, I’m from The Netherlands.
Don’t think there are many students lining up to teach Dutch.

But thanks for your insight. Good for me to know that trick.
All the other requirements are not a real problem. Just that rule of being a native of an English speaking country for an English teaching position.

How about your born in an English speaking country but then got a passport of a non native English speaking country :/

But the rules are never perfect. But thanks again for your insights.

[baoluo]

If you have credentials and experience in teaching English as a foreign/second language you can also get a Foreign Expert Certificate regardless of where your passport is from.

[Charlie]

DubMe wrote:

Hi, No, you don’t need to be a native English speaker to receive a Foreign Experts Certificate. You can be a native Japanese speaker – and receive a Foreign Experts Certificate. But if a school employs you as an English teacher – you need to be a native English speaker to receive the Foreign Experts Certificate.

This makes a lot of sense and is actually logical. I figure in the case of English teachers from non-English speaking countries they would just neglect to complete all the necessary paperwork to get the right kind of visa. Although I imagine the number of Bulgarian and Romanian English teachers in Chengdu has to be going down with more and more scrutiny being put on the legality of things like this.

[j.slemmer]

Charlie,

Has that been a problem in Chengdu. To many teachers from those countries with possibly a “low” level of English skill teaching in Chengdu?

Or why you specifically mention those 2 countries?

[Charlie]

j.slemmer wrote:

Charlie, Has that been a problem in Chengdu. To many teachers from those countries with possibly a “low” level of English skill teaching in Chengdu? Or why you specifically mention those 2 countries?

Yes, I mention them just as examples. Non-native English speakers will make less than ideal English teachers but schools in China have had no problem hiring them because for them it’s more about the idea of selling white-skinned foreigners than actually improving language proficiency (managers of most English schools that I’ve seen aren’t proficient English speakers themselves – it’s a business).

Years ago things like English teachers from Russia and Ukraine were common in China. Most Chinese students and parents can’t tell the difference.

[Al the Dead]

According to my speculation it even started to backfire. Schools hire teachers that sell well, with no regard to actual qualification, but as a result, some student tend to leave and look for a private teacher which suits them instead 🙂

Its kinda funny that the older a student is, the more likely he/she is to look for a private teacher cause “Those schools just suck” (c) Several of my students.

P.S. And some of us Russians actually speak good English, though i admit Mutko did a pretty damn good job ruining our image 🙂 http://rutube.ru/video/4cb7cea1d87dab1a8a8efd71fab0a262/?ref=search

 

[WoodWERD]

Semi off-topic but just to chime in…I’m currently in Longquanyi district and was planning to teach for a uni in the city this fall. I’ve got 10+ years corporate experience but this was my first year teaching, and the uni just emailed me asking if I had any more experience because of this ‘2 year’ rule. Fortunately I did have some experience teaching in college, but I’m waiting to hear back as to whether it gets me over the hump. Argh.

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