Hi, I'm posting a new topic as it appears the last date anybody posted in SA's in Beijing was in 2013!!
Im from Cape Town and living in Thailand at the moment. I have had two great job offers in Beijing and would like to go. One is as the private tutor at a company. The other is as the au pair for a wealthy family with 4 children. Both expressed concern about my having an SA passport. I don't understand why??
Is there some sort of restriction for SA's in China? English is our first language. I am confused. Please can somebody tell me if they have heard anything like this?
The reason I'm asking is that it is getting increasingly harder to work on an SA passport in Thailand - no matter your clear accent, blond hair, fair skin etc. An assumption seems to be maid on the 'Africa' part of South Africa, that we cannot speak English.
I'd love to hear some advice and the experiences - now, in 2015, that people are having with visas and work permits.
Kind regards
Jaydee
South Africans in Beijing
I have not heard of any problems for South African passport holders.
Re English skills a big difference between Cape Town accent to Pretoria accent!
Hi
I am truly sorry that you only came across this sort of shit now......I am also native English speaker, but the chinese find it hard to understand our freaking Afrikaans accent....Afrikaans? Yes we have been influenced linguistically by the burgers.....Why?......anyway I am an English teacher and literally changed my accent to suit my students, i.e. changed to an american accent.....so I pretend....silly? I know....and I hate myself......just to get the kids to understand, once they understood I went back to my Afrikaans accent, but I also just signed a new 2 year contract and plan on staying for the next 10 years.
Just speak slowly and pretend you're casting for "Friends"....I like the San Francisco accent...suits me!
I am a Brit and also have trouble understanding a strong Afrikaaner accent.
The problem is that we are native english speakers who struggled with Afrikaans at school. Even the brit accent, like some of the scots need some sort of intervention for the kids to understand.
true
South African accents vary dramatically! However, South African English accents are just as clear as British accents - I guess in some cases schools prefer American accents. I have heard some difficult to decipher Canadian accents before so I'm not sure - really depends on the individual. That said, I'm from SA and didn't have any visa issues.
I'm not a South African and in my experience there is a huge difference in S. African accents.
Cape Town being easy to understand and very similar to other English speaking countries whilst English spoken by someone from Pretoria with a strong Afrikaans accent is hard to understand.
Articles to help you in your expat project in Beijing
Jinan is the capital of China's Shandong province. It's one of the most beautiful cities in China, known ...
China continues to be an attractive destination for new and experienced professionals from around the world ...
As the world's second economy, China attracts a lot of entrepreneurs and investors. However, running a business in ...
Shanghai frequently tops the list of the most desirable destinations for expats in China — in no small part ...
Shenzhen is known as the “Silicon Valley of hardware” in China — it's the city where a lot ...
Beijing is the capital of China, and as the country's major city, it offers a wide range of opportunities for ...
