英語教育很火，外教市場很亂

At present， in order to not “lose on the starting line”， everybody， from children of 2 to 3 years’ old to young white-collars are all busy learning English. All kinds of English education institutions are like bamboo shoots after a spring rain. Some institutions play the card of “foreign teachers” to get more students.

Foreign teachers are welcomed by students and parents， and they’ve become increasingly expensive. The reporter visited several large-scale language training institutions recently and found that all of them have one on one course by foreign teacher， and the price is from 300yuan to 700yuan. The training for a year will cost 50，000 to 80，000yuan， almost three times of the price of native language teachers. Many people would like to pay so much money and the courses taught by foreign teachers are still extremely popular. However， behind the prosperous market， there are many deep troubles.

如今，為了不“輸在起跑線上”，孩童從兩、三歲起便開始學英語。二、三十歲的年輕白領們更是都在忙著學英語。各種外語培訓機構也如雨后春筍般出現，而為了招攬生源，一些外語培訓機構紛紛打出“外教”的旗號。

外教受到學生和家長的熱捧，學費自然也是水漲船高。近日，記者走訪了北京市幾家大型語言培訓機構，發現這些機構都設有一對一的外教教學課程，費用從每小時300元至700元不等，一年的培訓費用大概需要5萬元至8萬元，幾乎相當于國內外語培訓教師費用的3倍，絕對堪稱天價。然而面對如此高昂的收費，愿意把錢“砸”進去的人不在少數，這些培訓機構的外教課程報名情況依舊火爆。但市場繁榮的背后，亦有不少隱憂。

Do pricy courses necessarily mean better effect？ The reporter interviewed 10 students have taken the courses taught by foreign teachers. Five of the students believed foreign teachers are somewhat helpful in improving their language skills， and four of the students believed there is no very big differences between foreign teachers and native teachers.

高價錢的課程換來的效果一定好嗎？對于這個問題，記者采訪了曾經上過外教課的10名學生。其中有5名學生認為外教對自己外語水平的提高有一定的幫助，有4名學生認為外教和國內教師的差別不太大。

Blond hair and blue eyes without authentic qualifications

僅憑金發碧眼，沒有認可資質

According to the Bureau of Foreign Experts Affairs， foreign experts in the field of education must obtain a degree above Bachelor and have two years of relevant experience， and they can only apply for a work visa and the Foreign Expert Certificate after obtaining the “Work Permit for Foreign Experts”. In other words， if you as a foreigner want to become a teacher in China， you have to obtain at least two certificates： the first on is the Work Permit in China for Foreign Experts， and the second is a work visa. In addition， some specific educational fields require professional qualifications， like internationally recognized English Instructor Qualification Certificate including TEFL （Teaching English as a Foreign Language） and TESOL （Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages）.

However， the industry insiders said frankly that the demands for foreign teachers have exceeded the supply. This market has not been standardized yet， and it has been a mixture of good and bad teachers. In most cases， parents wouldn’t ask for the English Instructor Qualification Certificate， and kindergartens and other training institutions wouldn’t check their certificate， so the only stepping stone is their faces. Thus， it has become very common to see some “unqualified” institutions to hire some foreign teachers without “certificates” even in some educational institutions with record of formal schooling. Those foreign teachers may obtain a business visa or even a tourist visa， and some of them are only international students studying in China.

根據外國專家局規定，從事教育等行業的外國專家必須取得大學學士以上學位，并有兩年相關行業從業經驗，拿到了“外國專家工作許可證”的外教才能申請工作簽證和外國專家證，才有資格在中國從事教學工作。也就是說，想要來中國成為一名教師，起碼要有兩個證：一是外專局所發的外國專家來華工作證，二是工作簽證。此外，一些教學領域還要有專業資格證，比如英語學科要有TEFL（教授非英語母語國家英語學習的國際通用教師資格證書）或TESOL（教授英語為第二語言的國際教師資格證書）等國際認可的英語教師資格證。

然而，有業內人士坦言，外教市場近幾年來都處于供不應求的狀態。目前這個市場尚未走入規范化道路，人員魚龍混雜，一般情況下，家長不會審查教師資格證，幼兒園或其他培訓機構也不去審查教師資格證，唯一的敲門磚就是他們的面孔。于是，在培訓市場甚至一些學歷教育學校內，“無資質”機構聘請“無證”外教的現象屢見不鮮，這些外教有的持商務簽證甚至旅游簽證，有的則是留學生。

There is a website called “foreign teachers network” and especially provides foreign teachers to kinds of training institution. Many teachers here come from non-English-speaking countries like Bulgaria， Hungary and France， and some even just have high school degree. According to the reporter of Focus Interview， not only overseas students， but also “backpackers” in China have become so welcomed by intermediary agents of foreign teachers. It is not important for them that if the foreigners have legal teaching status and what kind of education background they have， but just they have gotten foreign looks.

“Some foreign teachers are not qualified， but pretend to be experts in the training industry and work in institutions，” Xiong Bingqi， vice-president of the 21th Century Education Research Institute， said on his microblog. Ms Li in Qingdao once applied a foreign teacher class for her 5-year-old daughter in a foreign language training school and cost her over 20000 RMB. The school promised the foreign teachers were Americans， but her daughter actually learned “African English”. Later， Ms Li changed other training schools， but the results were not satisfying. But this is not just one case， and the reporter has seen many cases like this. After studying in foreign teacher class， the pronunciation of children is not pure but a combination of different dialects including that of America， England and Canada. Some of the children haven’t learned “foreign accent” from their foreign teachers， some just have had fun with them， and the things they have learned were not that satisfying.

記者發現，網上有一家名為“外教人才網”的網站，專門給各培訓機構提供外教。這里提供的教英語的外教有不少是來自于保加利亞、匈牙利、法國等非英語國家，有些外教甚至只有高中學歷。據中央電視臺《焦點訪談》欄目記者曝光，不僅是留學生，一些來中國旅游的“背包客”也成了外教中介們搶手的香餑餑。他們是否具有合法的教學身份，擁有什么樣的教育背景，對于一些中介和培訓機構來說，這些都不重要，重要的是他們長得一張洋面孔。

“有些所謂外教沒有資質，卻冒充專家，混跡于培訓市場，以外教身份在各個機構游蕩。”21世紀教育研究院副院長熊丙奇在其微博上說道。青島的李女士曾在女兒5歲時給她在一家外語培訓學校報了個兩萬多元的外教班。對方承諾外教是地道的美國人，結果學來一口“非洲英語”。隨后，李女士又換了其他一些培訓學校，結果卻也仍難滿意。然而，這并非個例，記者在很多報道中都看見過這樣的事情。孩子上了一段時間外教課后，發音一點都不純正，摻雜著美國、英國、加拿大等多國地方口音。有的孩子跟著洋老師沒學到“洋腔”，有的孩子跟著洋老師玩得挺歡樂，但學的東西難如人意。