Even before the economic crisis hit, finding a job in China was a perilous process. Traveling for days, waiting in line for hours, competing with dozens of other candidates, and being forced to accept or reject a job offer within a matter of minutes are just some of the difficulties that the average job hunter in China faces. Those who do accept jobs are often required to complete a 3 month probationary period with a ridiculously low salary. With the dark clouds of recession hanging over the global economy, this process in China is sure to become even more difficult and frustrating.

While all sectors of the Chinese economy will inevitably suffer from the crisis, I fear that English majors will be impacted the most. Many of my students in the English department hope to work for foreign companies in China and perhaps even go abroad. With no hope for an economic turnaround in the near future, foreign companies in China are unlikely to be hiring new staff. Chinese trade companies, which usually have a great need for English staff members, are suffering from decreased international trade and will not be recruiting either.

Students of mine who are not English majors will also find their options limited; Chinese companies that depend on foreign income will certainly not be looking to hire anyone. Thus, many of my students who are graduating in the near future will have to settle for jobs that are not related to their fields of study. Understandably, this possibility is a nightmare for those who had high hopes of jumping into an exciting English career immediately after graduation.

While I see many worried faces – especially in my senior classes – nobody seems to be blaming anyone in particular for the financial crisis.

“These things happen,” a student said to me after class recently. “It is the way that the world is and it’s nobody’s fault in particular.”

My students are certainly aware that the financial domino effect originated in the United States but few are willing to point fingers. They realize that the financial crisis has been devastating to the United States and seem to believe that everything possible there is being done to remedy the situation. In the meantime, my senior students are crossing their fingers and hoping that graduation does not come too soon.

What is to stop them then from reading these differing accounts? My friends all have computers. They can access the web as easily as I can. While it is true that much information in Chinese about certain events is blocked, there are many more English sites with the same information that have not been blocked. But most people I talk to in China really have no concept of looking for information outside of China. And many of them have no desire to. They have been fed by the Chinese Media Machine their whole lives and they trust no other news sources. In fact, they are told that other media organizations routinely distort the news to destroy China’s repuatation.

So why has the government here allowed the explosion of English learning? Is it not  concerned about access to more information? In truth, the government has taken a risk by allowing the business of teaching English to thrive in China. But so far, the calculated gamble has paid off because most people are not using their English skills to look up government secrets or find out what is happening in a region. Instead, English is being used in China to create new businesses and establish stronger ties with foreign countries which of course results in more revenue for the government. And the few people that I know who do search for “forbidden” information in China are labeled as crazy and unpatriotic.

In closing, it seems that most Chinese people have not discovered the true potential of learning English. If only they knew what information that had access to. If only they cared. Knowledge is power but for now the government has the monopoly on most knowledge in China.

Authors Note: The author has to write this article with some caution so certain names and details have been omitted.