[Grammar] Do we say "You'd better be a native speaker"?

[ohmyrichard]

Dear teachers,
Yesterday evening, I read a post on a forum on the website of the Chinese university where I am pursuing my doctoral studies, a job ad seeking a private English tutor, which goes as follows:

A girl who is at her second year of middle school wants find a English tutor.You'd better be a native speaker. You main task is to help her practice her oral English at the weekend for one or two hours. The salary is high.Tel:15850579195

What in the above post especially caught my eye is the second sentence of "You'd better be a native speaker." BTW this post was presumably written by a Chinese (I myself am also Chinese), most probably a Chinese university student who has learned English for a long time but whose English competence is still not so satisfactory so far as can also be seen from the several other errors. At first glance there seemed to be nothing wrong with the sentence but shortly afterwards I sensed that this was a literal translation of Chinese thinking which is wrong in English. I remembered that "had better" is used to make a suggestion whose tone of voice implied sometimes sounds impolite to the listener. I just now went to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (the 1995 third edition)and it told me on p. 110 that "sb had better" is used to give advice about what someone should do or used to threaten someone. We cannot suggest that someone who is not a native speaker of English change themselves into one. Seemingly by now I can feel assured of the usage of "had better" but my experience with dictionaries tells me that they sometimes fail to tell everything. And this is why I come here for your help. My question is, can we say "You'd better be a native speaker"?

Besides, if I were the post writer, I would have written the job ad like this:

A girl who is in her second year of middle school(or junior high) wants to find a private English tutor.It will be better if you are a native speaker. Your main task is to help her practise her oral English on weekends. The salary offer is sure attractive and is still open to negotiation. If you are interested, pls contact me at 15850579195.

What do you think of my revised version above? If there is still anything which does not sound natural to your native ears, please point it out. Incidentally, I am a teacher of English at a small Chinese university and next Monday I intend to explain to my students possible Chinglish expressions(literal translating done consciously or unconsciously by Chinese learners of English) which are more difficult to recognize in writings or oral English of Chinese learners of English, learning English in a non-English environment, and thus require much more effort on our part to correct. I hope you will not consider me to be stupid in raising such a question which may be quite simple to you native speakers;I am serious in making this inquiry.

A BIG THANK-YOU in advance!
Richard

 

[Gillnetter]

Dear teachers,
Yesterday evening, I read a post on a forum on the website of the Chinese university where I am pursuing my doctoral studies, a job ad seeking a private English tutor, which goes as follows:

A girl who is at her second year of middle school wants find a English tutor.You'd better be a native speaker. You main task is to help her practice her oral English at the weekend for one or two hours. The salary is high.Tel:15850579195

What in the above post especially caught my eye is the second sentence of "You'd better be a native speaker." BTW this post was presumably written by a Chinese (I myself am also Chinese), most probably a Chinese university student who has learned English for a long time but whose English competence is still not so satisfactory so far as can also be seen from the several other errors. At first glance there seemed to be nothing wrong with the sentence but shortly afterwards I sensed that this was a literal translation of Chinese thinking which is wrong in English. I remembered that "had better" is used to make a suggestion whose tone of voice implied sometimes sounds impolite to the listener. I just now went to Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (the 1995 third edition)and it told me on p. 110 that "sb had better" is used to give advice about what someone should do or used to threaten someone. We cannot suggest that someone who is not a native speaker of English change themselves into one. Seemingly by now I can feel assured of the usage of "had better" but my experience with dictionaries tells me that they sometimes fail to tell everything. And this is why I come here for your help. My question is, can we say "You'd better be a native speaker"?

(I would understand this to be some sort of a warning.)

Besides, if I were the post writer, I would have written the job ad like this:

A girl who is in her second year of middle school(or junior high) wants to find a private English tutor.It will be better if you are a native speaker. Your main task is to help her practise her oral English on weekends. The salary offer is sure attractive and is still open to negotiation. If you are interested, pls contact me at 15850579195.

(The "sure" is rather colloquial, and the "still" is not needed as negotiations have not begun yet. Salary is (In the US) understood to mean a set amount of money, regardless of the number of hours worked. Pay, compensation, or, wages would fit better here.

Your version is a bit confusing in that you start with "a girl", go on to say, "is to help her", and then end with "please contact me". I'm unsure if the writer of the ad is hiring someone for the girl, or, if the girl is doing the hiring.

This type of writing tends to be similar to what one might read in the headlines of a newspaper. The normal rules of grammar are suspended in favor of brevity.

My version - Junior high girl seeking a private tutor for English. Native English speakers preferred. The main task will be to help me practice oral English on weekends. The pay is attractive. If interested, please contact me at xxxxxxxxx.

What do you think of my revised version above? If there is still anything which does not sound natural to your native ears, please point it out. Incidentally, I am a teacher of English at a small Chinese university and next Monday I intend to explain to my students possible Chinglish expressions(literal translating done consciously or unconsciously by Chinese learners of English) which are more difficult to recognize in writings or oral English of Chinese learners of English, learning English in a non-English environment, and thus require much more effort on our part to correct. I hope you will not consider me to be stupid in raising such a question which may be quite simple to you native speakers;I am serious in making this inquiry.

A BIG THANK-YOU in advance!
Richard

Gil

 

[Rover_KE]

Like Gil, I would say 'Native English speakers preferred'. This would indicate to others that they would still be considered if they applied.

Rover

 

[ohmyrichard]

Gil

Thank you very much. I'm sorry for causing you confusion; it is the writer of the ad who is hiring someone for the girl mentioned in the ad.

 

[SoothingDave]

Like Gil, I would say 'Native English speakers preferred'. This would indicate to others that they would still be considered if they applied.

Rover

But is he saying that a native speaker is "preferred" or is it a requirement? If it's a requirement, then it should say something like "Native English speakers only."

 

[ohmyrichard]

But is he saying that a native speaker is "preferred" or is it a requirement? If it's a requirement, then it should say something like "Native English speakers only."

I intended to say that a native speaker (of English) is preferred.

 

[ohmyrichard]

Like Gil, I would say 'Native English speakers preferred'. This would indicate to others that they would still be considered if they applied.

Rover

Thanks a lot, Rover. There's another question for you, please. Your revision of 'Native English speakers preferred' is, strictly speaking, a grammatically incomplete sentence. My question is, supposing that I would like to publish this job ad in a newspaper, then is it that grammatically complete sentences are more often used? Another related question is, if the same job ad seeking a private language tutor is publised in a physical newspaper and an online forum or elsewhere online, then will there be a difference between the two versions of the same ad in terms of formality?

 

[Barb_D]

As Gil said: This type of writing tends to be similar to what one might read in the headlines of a newspaper. The normal rules of grammar are suspended in favor of brevity.

 

[ohmyrichard]

As Gil said: This type of writing tends to be similar to what one might read in the headlines of a newspaper. The normal rules of grammar are suspended in favor of brevity.

Hi, Barb. I've got a follow-up question for you. Supposing that the Human Resources manager is discussing with her or his secretary the possible content of a job ad seeking a foreign language or second language tutor for their staff, then is it possilbe for any of them two to say "The applicant had better be a native speaker" and is "The applicant had better be a native speaker" grammatically correct and appropriate in this particular corporate situation where no offense will be evoked since no third party is present at the scene or right on the phone?

 

[ohmyrichard]

Hi,everyone.
There is something which was on my mind at the time of my making my OP but I nearly forgot to mention. Now I think I wish to get clear about it with your help.

Just now I consulted my other dictionary, Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, and like Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, it says that "had better/best(do sth)" is "used to tell sb what you think they should do". All the example sentences given in Oxford Advanced Learner's English Dictionary, also as in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, are all the "had better DO something" type of senternces and there are no example sentences of the "had better be something" type. I have now realized that "You'd better be a native speaker" is an offensive expression in most cases although it is grammatically correct, but I need to add here that the underlying reason why I thought of asking a question about "You'd better be a native speaker" was that to my understanding, if "sb had better", as explained by the above-mentioned two authoritative dictionaries, is used to give advice(suggesting that the addressee DO something), then "You'd better be a native speaker" can be ambiguous. In saying "You'd better be a native speaker", the speaker seems to be urging the addressee to assume the new identity of a native speaker, which is impossible to realize if the addressee is not a native speaker of a language more desired by the advertiser. I would like to know whether or my reasoning sounds ridiculous to you native speakers of English.

 

[Rover_KE]

For the last time—avoid 'You'd better be a native speaker.' It's not offensive – just unnatural.

'We're leaving at 7pm. You'd better be here by 6.30' is one way to use 'You'd better be. . .'

The speaker is suggesting the best time.

Here's another usage:

'You can borrow the car, son, but you'd better be home by 11', which carries the implied threat of sanctions if he's not.

Rover

 

[BobK]

:up: ...well, unnatural in this context. If someone had told his daught to arrange for a tutor and she said 'Don't worry Dad, it's all in hand', he might say 'He'd better be a native speaker'. It's a threat. In the context of an ad, it's saying 'Don't bother applying if you're not' - which doesn't seem to be what you mean. Anyway, the accepted wording for that is 'Native speakers only need apply' or just 'Native Speakers only'.

b

 

[ohmyrichard]

For the last time—avoid 'You'd better be a native speaker.' It's not offensive – just unnatural.

'We're leaving at 7pm. You'd better be here by 6.30' is one way to use 'You'd better be. . .'

The speaker is suggesting the best time.

Here's another usage:

'You can borrow the car, son, but you'd better be home by 11', which carries the implied threat of sanctions if he's not.

Rover

But I am sorry that I don't think "You'd better be here by 6.30" and "You'd better be a native speaker" or "The applicant had better be a native speaker" are sentences of the same nature. According to your explanation of the relevant situation, "You'd better be here by 6.30" is used to urge the listener to be here by 6.30. However, you cannot urge someone to be a native speaker or suggest that they should be a native speaker. The two verb-to-be phrases "be home" and "be here" equal the verb phrases of "arrive home" and "arrive here" respectively or, to be precise, they are both a state that the listener will be in. Then according to this reasoning, it is obvious that "You'd better be a native speaker" is a sentence of a different nature. My feel, which may be ridiculous to you native speakers of English, is that in saying "You'd better be a native speaker", the speaker seems to be urging the addressee to assume the new identity of a native speaker, which is impossible to realize if the addressee is not a native speaker of a language more desired by the advertiser.

 

[BobK]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink - Idiom Definition - UsingEnglish.com ;-)

b

 

[ohmyrichard]

You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink - Idiom Definition - UsingEnglish.com ;-)

b

Excuse me, BobK. What do you mean by citing this idiom? What does the b stand for? Do you mean that I am stubborn in asking such senseless questions? I should admit that I am often slow in processing information you native speakers give. But I am serious in making any inquiry about English language issues on this website.

 

[charliedeut]

What does the b stand for?

Look at the first letter of his name :up:!

 

[ohmyrichard]

Look at the first letter of his name :up:!

I admit that I am slow to learn things. I really cannot figure out what relevance this idiom has to my questions! Please enlighten me even if it may be an insult.

 

[bhaisahab]

I admit that I am slow to learn things. I really cannot figure out what relevance this idiom has to my questions! Please enlighten me even if it may be an insult.

You have been advised not to use 'You'd better be a native speaker', you seem to be unwilling to take that advice.

 

[Gillnetter]

I admit that I am slow to learn things. I really cannot figure out what relevance this idiom has to my questions! Please enlighten me even if it may be an insult.

The relevance comes down to this - Someone can show you the way, but cannot force to take that way. I can take a horse to a water source, but I cannot make them drink the water. What the other posters are saying is that they have advised against the usage of this term, except in special circumstances. It's your decision, as it is the decision of the horse I took to the water source, if you want to accept this advice.

 

[ohmyrichard]

You have been advised not to use 'You'd better be a native speaker', you seem to be unwilling to take that advice.

I am sorry that quite unexpectedly you and BobK misunderstood me due to my mistake of failing to give you sufficient info about my background-- I myself am also Chinese and like many Chinese learners of English find English(diametrically different from Chinese) hard to learn; I have been a teacher of English since 1989 and have been an avid learner of English though I always find that there is always so much to learn about it; I have just returned from my 6-month visiting scholar program at the University of Texas at Austin, which makes me ever more enthusiastic about English and cultures of English speaking countries; I have been striving to be a good teacher for my students. Back to the thread, I've been talking about a language problem in someone else's English job ad. I had sensed that there might be a problem with "You'd better be a native speaker" in that ad before I thought of asking you native speakers about it, but as it is a literal translation of the corresponding Chinese sentence and I myself am Chinese too, I was unable to tell whether it is really something wrong. And this is why I came here for your help.

I have taken your advice(sorry, I did not explicitly say it) and will not use it in any case but right now I have been concentrating on this language issue itself, not its actual use in real life. Just as I said in my OP, I am a teacher of English at a small Chinese university. I want to acquire as much knowledge about this language issue as possible then I will be able to explain every aspect of it to my students in class. I never want any problem I have thought of left unresolved and you may say I am stubborn in this respect. Perhaps I have overthought this language issue, but it is NOT that I am unwilling to take your advice. I do take your advice. SORRY for giving you such a bad impression of being stubborn!

Anyway, THANK YOU for making replies to my questions and helping me resolve this language problem!!!