Or at least some of them, including three that were among the best-known in the industry, Kai En, Linguaphone and World Link Education. How and why these schools collapsed, resulting in several of the owners fleeing China, leaving their teachers with unpaid wages and their students locked out of shuttered schools, is the subject of this excellent article on Danwei.
[An important side-note: It isn’t just the article that’s fascinating. Jeremy Goldkorn’s preface to it is equally so: From now on, he says, Danwei is going to have a new mission, with emphasis on providing in-depth articles on stories about China that aren’t covered in the mainstream English-language media, for whatever reasons. If this article is any indication of the quality of what’s to come I’d say they’re off to an auspicious start.]
More than offering breaking news, the article ties together a lot of material that’s been out there and makes it seamless. I had been following the story of Kai En’s downfall on Shanghaiist and was even going to blog about it last year. Then I decided there was no point; word was out, I couldn’t contribute much, and I felt funny about the whole thing; I had met Ken Carroll for dinner (a big group dinner with much of the Chinese Pod team) the year before, and I thought it would be better not to comment on their troubles.
And I’m pretty much sticking to that now. This is an article you have to read, but I don’t have much to add to it, except that I’m sorry it ended this way for Ken. I never did business with him, but he was charming, brilliant, and we had the best talk on Shakespeare I’ve ever enjoyed. And I’m especially sorry because his flight must have sent out shock waves that affected several people I truly admire.
The overarching lesson in the article is about growing too fast. I’ve worked for more than one company that went belly-up because they enjoyed a big initial success and then tried to expand too quickly. In the case of Kai En, there’s a lot of personal intrigue added to the mix, which makes this article a page-turner. But this story should be studied by everybody doing business in China now, or thinking of doing business there in the future. It should also be read by everyone considering teaching English there.
One other point. This is also a story about the global financial crisis, how it’s changed the lives of working Chinese and forced them to change their plans, like studying English. It’s true that China hasn’t suffered like the US and much of Europe have, but it’s only a matter of degree. The crisis has shaken China into new socioeconomic alignments that will be in effect for years. That’s the tie that binds the three collapsed schools. And you have to wonder if they’re the only ones sent reeling.
1
By Mike Goldthorpe
“One other point. This is also a story about the global financial crisis, how it’s changed the lives of working Chinese and forced them to change their plans, like studying English.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/7441934/Chinese-language-damaged-by-invasion-of-English-words.html
March 17, 2010 @ 7:21 am | Comment
2
By Richard
Good luck changing that trend, Mike.
March 17, 2010 @ 7:41 am | Comment
3
By A.Connector
Hmm maybe with the apparent Google pull out that will be less of a problem mike. re: Story I know 2 of the principles from their early days in Taiwan. Sadly, management savvy and timing can often de-rail hard work,charisma and inspiration.
March 17, 2010 @ 7:57 am | Comment
4
By Peter
Chinese language damaged by invasion of English words
In the long run, Chinese will lose its role as an independent language for communicating information and expressing human feelings,” said Mr Huang.
Stupid nationalists, they’ve got the French disease trying to keep their language pure. If there were any truth to their concerns English would be hopelessly “damaged” today. And so would Japanese, Vietnamese and Korean by all the Chinese loanwords they have picked up.
Pure language = backwardness and isolation.
March 17, 2010 @ 9:17 am | Comment
5
By HongXing
So many of you here will lose your jobs and go home to your country? Good.
March 17, 2010 @ 10:06 am | Comment
6
By lensovet
+1 to peter’s comment
March 17, 2010 @ 10:53 am | Comment
7
By Brendan
My understanding of the situation was that it wasn’t just the economy that did for these schools, but rather the influx of larger chain schools like Wall Street, EnglishFirst, etc.
March 17, 2010 @ 7:29 pm | Comment
8
By Richard
That’s addressed in the article, along with the economy.
March 17, 2010 @ 9:41 pm | Comment
9
By Twisted_Colour
So many of you here will lose your jobs and go home to your country? Good.
And many Chinese will lose their jobs. Is that good, HX?
March 18, 2010 @ 8:23 am | Comment
10
By HongXing
And many Chinese will lose their jobs. Is that good, HX?
That’s our problem, no need for your foreigners’ concern, thank you. Please take care of your own business first.
March 18, 2010 @ 12:39 pm | Comment
11
By Twisted_Colour
HX, you 粪青troll, my business is in China and there is sweet fuck all you can do to change that, and given that I am quite sure you would do little to help your fellow citizens, I have a suggestion for what you can do instead – GFY.
March 18, 2010 @ 1:16 pm | Comment
12
By Mike Goldthorpe
“So many of you here will lose your jobs and go home to your country? Good.”
“That’s our problem, no need for your foreigners’ concern, thank you. Please take care of your own business first.”
Careful what you wish for – it may come true.
Of course, should it come true, these foreigners would also take their stuff away with them…
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/business/global/18research.html?ref=global-home
March 18, 2010 @ 5:14 pm | Comment
13
By Zictor
+2 to peter’s comment.
Language purity is the biggest BS ever.
March 19, 2010 @ 10:25 am | Comment
14
By merp
Of course, should it come true, these foreigners would also take their stuff away with them…
Not seeing what English teachers and these companies have in common, but okay
March 19, 2010 @ 11:26 am | Comment
15
By sptwo
@HX
That’s our problem, no need for your foreigners’ concern, thank you.
Yeah, Manchu Emperor Qian Long literally sealed off China from the outside world with his isolationist policy in 1795. Guess what happened in 1839?
March 19, 2010 @ 11:41 am | Comment
16
By Mike Goldthorpe
Merp, I believe you fellow countryman was asking for ALL foreigners to leave. English teachers (not the Chinese ones, I assume), engineers, scientists, investors…
Globalisation is a concept that the religiously inclined don’t like, I find.
March 19, 2010 @ 2:41 pm | Comment