Amid backlash, Marnus Matthysen reframes his remarks as criticism of low industry rates.
South African online English teacher Marnus Matthysen has drawn backlash after posting a video mocking a Filipina ESL educator over her English proficiency, pronunciation and accent.
In the Aug. 6 video, Matthysen, a non-native speaker, repeatedly paused the Filipina’s introductory video—facepalming, rolling his eyes, and sighing.
“How did you even get your bachelor’s degree if you cannot even speak English properly?” he said.
He also mocked her invitation for students to join her class, saying, “I sincerely hope not,” before calling her a “$2 an hour teacher from the Philippines who can’t even speak proper English.”
“The ESL industry is so frustrating right now for a lot of hardworking, dedicated, experienced teachers,” he added, “because this is what Chinese students’ parents are subjected to.”
The remarks drew criticism from Filipino ESL teachers, who accused Matthysen of “punching down” on the Filipina.
Content creator Hanz D. Teach said Matthysen had chosen “the easy way out” by blaming Filipino teachers rather than improving his skills, learning how marketing works, or exploring teaching approaches better suited to online classes.
Ciha, one half of content creator duo Hadi & Ciha, meanwhile, criticized Matthysen for publicly showing the Filipina teacher’s face while mocking her.
“If her pronunciation is wrong, correct it. If her grammar is wrong, by all means, correct it also,” Ciha said, adding that an accent does not determine someone’s ability to teach English.
“If your real concern is that ESL teachers are charging extremely low rates and driving down the market, then criticize the industry. Talk about unfair pricing, talk about exploitation,” she added. “That doesn’t scream superiority obviously. It screams insecurity.”
‘Not sorry’
Rather than back down, Matthysen doubled down in a 12-minute response posted Aug. 13, saying he was “not sorry” for the controversial video.
Matthysen said he had been “crucified” by the backlash and complained about people commenting on his older posts and photos. He also sarcastically thanked his critics for the engagement.
He then reframed his remarks as an argument about the ESL industry, claiming his real concern was teachers competing by charging extremely low rates.
“I’m not saying cheap automatically means bad. A $2 an hour could be incredible. A $30 an hour could be absolutely useless… we’re making it about marketing and perception,” he said.
He also said nationality should not determine professional worth, adding that Filipino teachers can be “brilliant, hardworking, qualified, experienced” educators.
“A passport doesn’t magically make you a good teacher,” he said, while acknowledging that he may have worded some things poorly or delivered his argument too harshly in the original video.
He then gave Filipino ESL teachers unsolicited advice: “Know what you’re worth. Get better. Develop your skills. Work on your English. Improve your pronunciations. Learn new teaching methods. Specialize. Build a reputation. Get testimonials. And lastly, don’t charge $2 an hour, for f*ck’s sakes.”
But Matthysen’s response does little to change what people actually saw: He singled out a Filipina teacher, showed her face, and mocked her English, pronunciation and accent.
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