01 April 2009

Gweilo English teacher


Click the picture and read. This ad for a gweilo English teacher was standing at the bus stop on Bonham Rd outside Hong Kong University last week. So what exactly is a gweilo English teacher? If you know Hong Kong, Malaysia or Singapore you won't need me to tell you. For those who don't, a gweilo is a (male) white ghost (female: gweipoh) or a white foreigner - a fairly affectionate term mostly used by gweilo's themselves.

Hong Kong isn't going overboard for native-speaker English teachers quite as much Japan, Korea, China and Taiwan, but it is a selling point. With a gweilo you get a little bit extra - you know that your native speaker will also be foreign, white and male.

But how about 'practical secrets to communicating effectively and with passion'? What kind of bullshit is that?

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