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Also no one has ever developed a crippling drinking habit.
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Nov 29, 2013 04:51
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Certainly no English teacher in Asia.
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Nov 29, 2013 05:03
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hitension posted:Also gently caress anyone who literally thinks they deserve special privileges just for being white, I think the internet even invented a term for that. Is it poowizard? I bet it's poowizard. Having Thanksgiving on Saturday here in Pingdong with Lokk and a whole mess of other cats. Hopefully my tiny apartment can manage!
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Nov 29, 2013 05:47
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hitension posted:Not to mention to get to the bus terminal or anything it's a ridiculous hike either through the maze that is the underground mall OR risk walking around above ground where there are almost no crosswalks or skybridges. Taipei Main really bothers me somehow. Again, blame the Japanese  Taiwan and Hong Kong worships Japan and love mimicking them. See sweet bread, hot springs, number of restaurants, and line chat.Shinjuku is a mega monster station spanning multiple blocks and different railway companies. What keeps it together? Why malls and underground malls of course! Keio railways, Keio department store, Odakyu railway, Odakyu department store, oh boy oh boy: real estate collusion with public transportation infrastructure  Japan just likes to be anal about everything. You get lots of arrows, maps, and other directions which are great! But all these changes came after the Korea-Japan world cup. During 80's and 90's, tourism in Japan was "WELL THIS IS JAPAN, IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT YOU CAN GTFO". Plus Korea and Japan weren't really rich then and Japan had far fewer Asian tourists. quote:TOLD YOU SO. Everyone's calling bullshit. He's still pretty much in the closet. Like Ricky Martin.  People also made Photoshops too  http://image.baidu.com/i?ct=5033164...T8612&S18&TPjpg He is pretty good in attracting everyone though. 
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Nov 29, 2013 06:13
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caberham posted:Everyone's calling bullshit. He's still pretty much in the closet. Like Ricky Martin. Lord have mercy under what rock do you pay rent? Ricky has *done been* super duper out for some time now.
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Nov 29, 2013 14:10
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Sorry if I wasn't clear. Like Ricky Martin spent all those years being in denial of his homosexuality when everyone else knew pretty much that he's gay.
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Nov 29, 2013 14:14
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Yeah, much like Leehom that closet was made of the highest-quality glass on all six sides.
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Nov 29, 2013 15:05
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So I just left my soul-destroying buxiban job and got a new job in a swanky private school in New Taipei. It all sounded awesome until my last day of training today. That's when a bunch of teachers there revealed that our grades are bullshit and the lowest score you can give is 90. Otherwise the parents will call the head office to ask why the worthless idiot lowborn foreigner gave their perfect angel anything less than the A+ they clearly deserve. The protocols for marking tests are such that, unless nearly all of the answers were left completely blank, the grade mathematically can't drop below 70 or so. I'm not really sure how to react to this.
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Nov 29, 2013 16:09
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Sounds pretty par for the course, I'd not give it a second worry and enjoy your swanky new job.
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Nov 29, 2013 16:29
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This isn't by chance in Tucheng along the expressway is it?
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Nov 29, 2013 16:29
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Yeah, every job I worked at in Taiwan was VERY generous with the scoring. And even the kids who were likely to fail out because they would just not try at all and get every answer wrong would get bumped to the next level if their parents threatened to take them out of the school.
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Nov 29, 2013 19:12
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Well that's reassuring then. I'll just roll with it and enjoy the paycheck.Atlas Hugged posted:This isn't by chance in Tucheng along the expressway is it? Nope. It's quite a bit east of there.
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Nov 30, 2013 04:06
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I only ask because I drive by that place occasionally and saw a viral thing on Facebook about what an awful place it was to work in general. If your only complaint is that the grades are hilariously arbitrary, then just enjoy the ride.
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Nov 30, 2013 04:16
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The worst part about the Chinese air defense identification zone isn't the possibility that it may spark an armed conflict, it's that every time I have to type out the acronym in a story or headline I keep typing "AIDZ" instead. 
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Nov 30, 2013 04:28
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HappyHelmet posted:Yeah, every job I worked at in Taiwan was VERY generous with the scoring. And even the kids who were likely to fail out because they would just not try at all and get every answer wrong would get bumped to the next level if their parents threatened to take them out of the school. Yep, when your business is dependent on getting kids to re-enroll, then of course you're going to tell the parents how amazing the kids are. At Hess, anything under an 85 means they have to redo it until they get an 85+. I've seen teachers just sit down with kids that are many levels beyond their abilities just work through every problem in a quiz together until hit that threshold.
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Nov 30, 2013 04:33
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The five stages of teaching at a kids buxiban: 1 "Look at all these fresh young faces waiting to learn English!" 2 "I can't give them bad grades? Isn't that... a little immoral?" 3 "Oh god I feel terrible for taking advantage of these people. Someone should tell them." 4 "I gave that student an 85 so his parents are pulling him out of the school?" 5 "Eh. These people are paying for the express purpose of getting taken advantage of. gently caress 'em." What's great is that once you hit stage five anything your managers ask you to do can be answered with a combination of "Oh I'm so sorry!" and then continuing to not do it.
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Nov 30, 2013 04:40
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Moon Slayer posted:The worst part about the Chinese air defense identification zone isn't the possibility that it may spark an armed conflict, it's that every time I have to type out the acronym in a story or headline I keep typing "AIDZ" instead. Try ADILZ.
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Nov 30, 2013 05:25
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Atlas Hugged posted:I only ask because I drive by that place occasionally and saw a viral thing on Facebook about what an awful place it was to work in general. If your only complaint is that the grades are hilariously arbitrary, then just enjoy the ride. I'm more worried about getting summoned into the head office because a student only got a 90 and the parents are outraged. I've been told by multiple teachers to expect and accept this. When I responded to one teacher that this whole setup seems dumb for an expensive private school, she told me to just sweep my logic under the rug for now. I think it's part Taiwan thing, part Rich People thing. If loaded parents want to pay me a lot of money to give meaninglessly high grades, I'm ok with it.
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Nov 30, 2013 05:35
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If it's like my branch, they'll just white the grade out and change it before it ever gets home. It's actually a big pain in the rear end, I've gotten really used to grading like a softie (the secret is to not care about grades in general) but there's just one CT at my branch who grades everything really tough and I have to switch up my different scoring methods, it's kind of a hassle sometimes. I'm so used to "1 point for spelling mistakes, 2 points for grammar, 5 points for WTF does this even say" that when I get a test for her class and I'm expected to take off ten points for a little spelling error, it throws me off.
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Nov 30, 2013 05:40
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quadrophrenic posted:If it's like my branch, they'll just white the grade out and change it before it ever gets home. Yeah, different teachers grading differently confuse things. There were some students that switched from one teacher's class to my class, and suddenly their grades dropped. Obviously it means I'm the worse teacher, with angry parents calling in. Actually, the previous teacher barely took points away for anything, whereas I was doing the '1pt for minor spelling, 2pts for grammar' and such which isn't even that tough. Had some big meeting where we were supposed to standardize our grading after that, which I'm pretty sure everyone just ignored.
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Nov 30, 2013 05:58
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I read the China Post on the plane back to Hong Kong. It wasn't bad. No typos anyway. I think I'll stick to the South China Morning Post though.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:09
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Oh. My. Zeus. posted:I think it's part Taiwan thing, part Rich People thing. If loaded parents want to pay me a lot of money to give meaninglessly high grades, I'm ok with it.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:17
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Oh. My. Zeus. posted:I'm more worried about getting summoned into the head office because a student only got a 90 and the parents are outraged. I've been told by multiple teachers to expect and accept this. When I responded to one teacher that this whole setup seems dumb for an expensive private school, she told me to just sweep my logic under the rug for now. This is the kind of thing that drives that good and rational part of my brain insane because I assume people should care about the integrity of their grades, but then I have to remind myself that as long as people have money like that to throw around, they're not really playing by the same rules as everyone else anyway. Those grades don't matter. But the problem is pretty widespread in the buxibans too. Even my school has to deal with it a little bit and we do a fairly good job of putting kids in appropriate levels and I've never been told to pull my punches when grading. But all this stuff about HESS CTs walking kids through quizzes to guarantee a minimum of 85 makes me really sad. You'd think someone in a position of authority on the island would be aware of this phenomenon and try to put some standards on English education, but as it stands any jackass can open up a buxiban and rake in those sweet, sweet English teaching dollars. They don't even have to teach English to the students, at least not really.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:20
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But walking students through tests is pretty much what their educational system is all about anyway. At least, that's my understanding of the situation, which applies to all topics, not just English. That's the problem with any system that has an emphasis on standardized tests. You end up teaching more how to pass exams than to actually learn anything, which was one of the many reasons educators opposed No Child Left Behind in America. Sure, a CT literally just telling a student how to pass with the bare minimum is something of an extreme case, but I think it's a lot less of a foreign (heh) concept in a place where standardized examinations are a big loving deal from a very young age.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:26
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duckfarts posted:This reminds me of the white suburban mom comment by the US education secretary or whatever that was; it's pretty universal that idiot parents don't want to be told their kid doesn't get it. Yeah I overlooked the most influential aspect: Parent Thing.
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Nov 30, 2013 06:30
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The Taiwanese education system is so hosed it drives me crazy in several ways even as a non-teacher. The quality of essay and paper writing, even in Chinese, is hot street trash, for one. People can't write for poo poo, even in their native language. And then there's the people who come in applying to go get like a Master of Education or something, all full of idealism and a clear understanding of how and where the Taiwanese system is hosed and desperately trying to resist the creeping realization that the rot is too deep and their idealism will inevitably be crushed under the wheels of a system that long since stopped caring.
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Nov 30, 2013 07:01
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I wonder if there would be a market for 'rigorous Western-style grading' or if it would fail due to a) "But we score so much better on standardized tests than you Americans  " or b) "WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY CHILD GOT A 70%?!?! I SENT HIM TO THIS SCHOOL BECAUSE IT'S SUPPOSED TO BE THE BEST!!!!"
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Nov 30, 2013 07:05
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TetsuoTW posted:People can't write for poo poo, even in their native language. 
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Nov 30, 2013 07:18
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It sounds pretty bad but I'm sure there are bastions of rigorous top schools where parents fight tooth and nail for their kids to get in.
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Nov 30, 2013 07:20
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It's purely anecdotal, but my buddy runs a buxiban that actually turns away students. If he's not opening a new class and a student doesn't match the age and level of an existing class, he refuses to enroll them. This works out great for me though because he sends them to my school. I have another buddy who works at a school that emphasizes performance in class and results on tests that has a pretty stellar reputation. The thing is, their tuition is actually lower than HESS's. POCKET CHOMP posted:But walking students through tests is pretty much what their educational system is all about anyway. At least, that's my understanding of the situation, which applies to all topics, not just English. Yeah, I get that it's not isolated to English classes and buxibans. It's endemic. But I can only really speak from my personal experience on the matter. The idea of independent educational facilities without any oversight just completely boggles my mind. But that's where my paycheck comes from so whatever.
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Nov 30, 2013 07:50
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Hi guys, Sorry to bother you with such basic questions, but I'm having trouble finding definitive answers on the internet. I'm planning to teach English in Taiwan starting early next year. It says here http://laws.cla.gov.tw/Eng/FLAW/FLAWDOC01.asp?lsid=FL028069&lno=42 that you need a bachelor's degree or "qualification certificates for language teaching if they have not obtained bachelor‘s degrees". I'm finishing my degree requirements in December, but there is no official convocation until June. In the meantime I can get a letter from the university which is a "a formal document which confirms your graduation status." Does that count? If not, will a TEFL certificate count instead? I hadn't been planning on getting a TEFL certificate. Is there any reason to otherwise? Another question I have is whether it's possible to get an ARC directly from a visa exempt entry (Canadian). Should I book a flight out of Taiwan just to get past immigration and then not take it?
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Nov 30, 2013 10:01
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hailthefish posted:I wonder if there would be a market for 'rigorous Western-style grading' or if it would fail due to a) "But we score so much better on standardized tests than you Americans This is partially a problem on the personality and age of the CT, I've come to notice. Alot of younger CTs who don't have any kids aren't able to convince parents that they are working to make their kid better. Middle-aged one with kids, or part-timers who don't get return rate bonuses, can fail kids easier. I have been told that for a regular, Step Ahead/EFL class, you need 12 kids in it to make a profit. If you keep trying to hold back kids when your class is smaller than that, there be problems.
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Nov 30, 2013 10:39
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What do Taiwan's media laws say regarding nude art in the newspaper? Need an answer soonish. No reason.
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Nov 30, 2013 10:53
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No idea, but I did see a commercial with censored cleavage yesterday.
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Nov 30, 2013 11:12
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duckfarts posted:This is not unique to taiwan in the least. Moon Slayer posted:What do Taiwan's media laws say regarding nude art in the newspaper? Need an answer soonish. No reason. e: Also def. buying the China Post tomorrow by the sound of it. sub supau fucked around with this message at 12:14 on Nov 30, 2013 |
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Nov 30, 2013 12:12
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TetsuoTW posted:There was a big shitstorm about titties in the media - not even naked titties, just jiggling titties - that got the government to crack down a few years ago. Using a girl in a tanktop operating a jackhammer is a perfectly legitimate commercial to sell a random_fantasy_mmo_01 here in Taiwan, comeon!
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Nov 30, 2013 12:56
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Wasn't the girl in the tanktop with a jackhammer the exact reason why a furor was raised and the government took action?
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Nov 30, 2013 14:10
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POCKET CHOMP posted:Wasn't the girl in the tanktop with a jackhammer the exact reason why a furor was raised and the government took action? Yep. That's why I mention. I can't find that commercial on youtube sadly. I think it was the 殺很大 chick.
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Nov 30, 2013 14:18
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Yeah, there was a rash of ads specifically showcasing her tits, starting with 殺很大 and then onto 不讓你睡  for some energy drink, which included the jackhammer one.
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Nov 30, 2013 16:56
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Yeah those are the reasons why 郭書瑤 is my favorite Asian performer. I was packing something up in Taiwan using cheap newspaper and I saw an article about her yesterday. It was about how thick her thighs have gotten. Good old entertainment news 
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Nov 30, 2013 17:36
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