Random Quote
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
---- Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
---- Franklin D. Roosevelt
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them.
---- Isaac Asimov
Arguments over grammar and style are often as fierce as those over IBM versus Mac, and as fruitless as Coke versus Pepsi and boxers versus briefs.
---- Jack Lynch
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
I have never met a man so ignorant that I couldn't learn something from him.
---- Galileo Galilei
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.
---- Thomas A. Edison
If the English language made any sense, a catastrophe would be an apostrophe with fur.
---- Doug Larson
A magician pulls rabbits out of hats. An experimental psychologist pulls habits out of rats.
---- anonymous
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one.
---- Malcom Forbes
it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.
---- Tenser said the Tensor
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy.
---- Isaac Newton
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Hanging is too good for a man who makes puns; he should be drawn and quoted.
---- Fred Allen
The important thing is not to stop questioning.
---- Albert Einstein
I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
---- Albert Einstein
I'm sick of following my dreams. I'm just going to ask them where they're going and hook up with them later.
---- Mitch Hedberg
No one can understand the truth until he drinks of coffee's frothy goodness.
---- Sheik Abd-al-Kadir
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
---- H. G. Wells
Language teachers as a commodity
Language teachers as a commodity is an interesting post by Dana over at Linguistic life. I haven’t visited nor read her blog in ages, but it looks like I’ve been missing out on good stuff.
Clearly from the examples listed there the general mistreatment of ESL professionals spans the globe. Comments or stories to share?





Katie wrote 159 words on Saturday Feb 24, 2007 at 06:47 PM
This is a tough subject - I don’t have any experience with JET but I’ve heard only good things about it, so it’s sad to see it is dying out. I’m a bit torn on the topic in general; lying to people before they move abroad to take a job is certainly despicable. At the same time it seems like the nature of tefl - as it exists now - kind of pre-empts a solution. Many people want to teach for just a year or two and arent’ inclined to or in a position to demand better treatment/conditions - they just put up with it for a year and leave - not everyone, but a lot of people. I think if teachers as a group demanded better conditions, lots of jobs would go unfulfilled and lots of teachers would accordingly be without work. I don’t think it’s a great situation, but I think this is why it is perpetuated.
Katie wrote 18 words on Saturday Feb 24, 2007 at 06:50 PM
Whoa-the Slovak flag has changed! I’m close to Austria but…it was a while ago that that was German…
Sean. wrote 51 words on Saturday Feb 24, 2007 at 07:07 PM
Katie,
The problem is that long-term EFL professionals are not the target for JET or other similar programs. They want FOB, will take any job in order to travel abroad kind of people. Until ESL/EFL schools are willing to pay for the professionals I can’t see this changing any time soon.