Sincere post

[the.israeli]

Tim, please read my private message... ;-)
(it's related to the subject)

[Simon]

We should have an Taipei EF meetup so Dave C. can show us all of this good food. And being the senior member, he is expected to pay. That's what my Rough Guide to Taiwan told me, anyhow...

Hey just in case Rough Guide does say that Ill be there from the 20th if ne one wants to hook up.

Simon

[bailewen]

That's the main problem (for them) - how to know if one is really a native speaker or not? For most people there, they just don't know.

Well for starters, and they still don't know, they can at least have a pretty good idea. For instance, prosepective teachers are supposed to at least come from an English speaking country. Just being white isn't good enough (for them) anymore. No more French, Russian, Polish, Lithuanian, German or Bolivian English teachers commanding "western" wages based on their obviously superior Engrish skills.

Obviously they can't really know. Anyone who has been abroad knows that most Fins, Netherlanders or Swiss speak better English than most Americans but the general principle tends to work. A visa from America, Canada, New Zealand, England, Australia, the UK or any other place where English is that primary language of that place, should count for more than a "western" look.

[edededed]

I think that they use both "whiteness" and an American/English passport, actually.

(My current employer had me take the TOEIC once, for example - I don't think I would have had to take it if I were white (I am Asian).)

As for Finnish/Dutch/Swiss folks, lots of them speak English, but they have usually noticeable accents, don't they?

[bailewen]

Yes, "whiteness" and a passport. They are just looking closer at the passports these days.

Accents? Well yeah buy often much less noticeable than any number of random regional American dialects and they will speak with far less slurring or slang. They speak better English, at times, for the same reason I often speak better Chinese than many of the natives. I speak it "college style". . . unless I am drunk or just hanging out with too many of my Shixiong and am slipping into a Shaanxi accent, but when hanging out with my girlfriend or out to eat etc., it's very common for me to speak better Chinese than the locals who are often speaking the Chinese version of Ebonics or at the very least, a thick Brooklyn accent. Ya' know whadam sayin homes?

[xingyiguy]

12,000.00 will go a long way in China.

However, without the family connections, it could be hard for you to gain introductions and instruction.
This is the same for any students, even those who are already training in China.

I'd suggest making some efforts in USA before you go to China, to contact various xingyi families.

If it is Che style you are interested in , Master Li Tai-Liang has students in New York, Washington DC, California and Washington State.

Master Li, regularily goes to China every year.

What area of the country are you in ?

If you really are are sincere student, you may be able to get a training referral.

[Formosa Neijia]

We should have an Taipei EF meetup so Dave C. can show us all of this good food. And being the senior member, he is expected to pay. That's what my Rough Guide to Taiwan told me, anyhow...

Haha. Just caught this. You're a slippery one, aren't you?

We'll see, grasshopper. We'll see.

Dave C.