LANGUAGE (Defined):

English Five

English Five, means nationals from British Isles, Australia, Canada, New Zealand or United States who speak clear and clean English, whether British or American, with good enunciation and diction that is not unduly influenced by the vernacular, colloquial and other parochial nuances.

Mother Tongue

Mother tongue, by definition, means that the person was raised in a family whose only first language is English.

Native Speakers

Nationals from former British possessions in Africa and Asia, and other countries that have adopted English as their official language do not necessarily qualify as English Teachers.  Although the official language of a country may be English, most often at family level local languages and dialect are spoken as Mother Tongue and this impacts heavily on the spoken English.

Nationals from European countries, other than the British Isles, may be suitable if they can clearly demonstrate spoken English with very minimum of accent, this normally applies to persons who were born or raised from an early age in an "English Five" country.

Other Comments:

Over 90% of all English teachers in China are required to teach "Oral, Spoken or Conversational English", which requires the teacher have a strong conviction to teach, excellent communication skills, sound understanding of English grammar and idioms, rich personality, and very good sense of humor. Being somewhat philosophical also helps.

Please understand that China has one of the highest per capita literacy rates in the world and that English is a compulsory subject in nearly all schools. Teachers coming to China will find their students at secondary and university levels well versed in English grammar and possessing excellent writing skills, often superior, age for age, with western societies.

Foreign Teachers do not need to know or understand Chinese, but they certainly should have a thorough knowledge of their mother tongue.