On Teaching English in China
If you’re thinking of taking a job teaching English in China, there are a number of points you need to consider. Admittedly, this is a wide topic (indeed, entire books have been, are being, written, about it). This understood, a summary of some oft-overlooked points can be of great help.
City versus Countryside
Strangely enough, this basic consideration of location is usually completely ignored by the newbie to China job-hunting. Well, before you sign away a year of your life, you’d better give this fundamental choice a good think.
Living in one of China’s major cities (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin) will provide you with the insights and conveniences of modern China. Here you have a fast-paced, at times chaotic, market-based economy. For the foreigner who would like some knowledge of how the best of Chinese business is conducted, this is the place. If, on the other hand, you would just like to see something of this country and not have too tough of a time of it, again, head for the bright lights.
The rural areas of China, however, and particularly the interior, offer a far more traditional perspective. In all likelihood, farming will be the base economy, some regional dialect will be spoken, and many old beliefs and customs will still be in practice.
Type of School
Basically speaking, there are two English teaching possibilities for foreigners in China: 1) public universities, and 2) privately-owned “language schools”. While not exactly dichotomous, these two options are nonetheless about as different as mist and mast.
Working for a bona fide university will entail a teaching load of 16-18 hours per week, a minimum salary of 4000 RMB monthly, with a rent-free apartment to yourself. You will be expected to teach the range of college courses (i.e., conversation, reading, writing, and culture). The students will be at least 18 years old and acceptably prepared and motivated for the usual four year stint. In short, the atmosphere is, more or less, of the academic type you’d expect.
The “language school” is, however, very much a course of a different color. All of your classes will be conversational English, with 90% of the students grade and high school age. The desire to learn and the general ability will vary widely. Foreign teachers are given around 25 classroom hours per week with a monthly pay of 7000 RMB (or more). The accommodations are often dorm-style: several separate bedrooms with a common bath and kitchen located in one apartment. If you don’t mind a busy pace and working with kids, I’ve heard it’s ok.
I must here insert a warning: some of the “language schools” are indeed disreputable, cheating students and employees alike. Before signing a contract with one of these businesses, I would certainly recommend that you carefully investigate its background and contact one or more of the foreigners working there.
And now a second general warning: any reputable Chinese school serious about hiring you must arrange for your working-visa permit before you come to China. Here’s what happens: after signing and returning (with various documents) the contract they have sent you, they will now send you, via snail-mail, an official “letter of acceptance” from their local government offices; this, with your passport and other documents, you will now send to the Chinese embassy in your home country; after a couple or so weeks this will be sent back to you with a Z-visa stamp allowing you to work within China for one year for said school.
Here’s the scam: Just come over to China now on a tourist-visa, and then we will have the working-visa arranged later…
Not only is this illegal (you could be fined and then deported), but, I can assure you, these people are not serious about hiring you. It’s simply a con-game to use naive foreigners cheaply.
The Horse’s Mouth
So, having done your internet research, you’ve e-mailed resumes to, say, 30 prospective schools. Let’s hope that about 10 come back with a positive response; now, cut this down to the best five. From here you’ll want to set-up phone interviews with the foreign affairs liaison person, the foreign affairs director, and the dean of the English department. All of these people should not only be willing but be glad to speak to you. Having a list of definite questions ready may be helpful.
With this formality completed, it’s time for the down and dirty: you’d like to speak to one or two of their current, or at least former, foreign teachers. No legitimate school will balk at this, and the better ones will welcome it.
Parthian Shot
The majority of first-time foreign teachers in China have a pleasant experience; occasionally, however, serious problems arise. All, or most, of the foul-ups can however be avoided by simply getting accurate information at the start, and then taking the time to sift the wheat from the chaff. As mentioned, there are many good books available on teaching in China; I’d read two or three.
The entire procedure pays off when you finally touch down, and someone from your new school greets you with, “Welcome to China!”
About the Author
Robert T. Tuohey was born in 1961, Danbury, Connecticut. He has studied psychology at the State University of New York in Albany (1988), and California Coast University in Santa Ana (1993). In the U.S. Bob worked in the field of mental health; for the past ten years, he has lived abroad (in Japan and China) teaching English at the tertiary level. His current position is Foreign Expert in the Languages Department of Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, PRC.
Bob’s published works include an introductory textbook on English literature (From Beowulf to Joyce, Taiyuan University Press, 2001), numerous short stories (try, for example, Botkin’s Resignation, Top Ten Tell-Tale Signs of Chess Addiction, http://www.baja-blue.com/crypt/ or szirine.com), his home page at http://jadedragon.250x.com/welcome.htm, and his quarterly chess column on forgotten players of the Royal Game http://chessville.com/misc/History/PastPawns/index.htm.
In his spare time, Bob plays chess, practices martial arts, and tries his hand at a bit of blues guitar. His e-mail is ima_potzer@yahoo.com
How to Learn English in China
|
|
Travel to China: Learn Chinese Dialogue for Visiting Xi An, Hang Zhou, & Su Zhou $3.88 You can learn to speak Chinese while visiting some of the most amazing Chinese cities such as Xi An, Su Zhou, and Hang Zhou! With a dialogue that not only provides Chinese characters but also Chinese PinYin, you can easily make the transition from English to Chinese as long as you already know the fundamentals of Chinese! With an English to Chinese translation, you’ll find yourself exploring an … |
|
|
What the U.S. Can Learn from China: An Open-Minded Guide to Treating Our Greatest Competitor as Our Greatest Teacher $12.80 While America is still reeling from the 2008 financial crisis, a high unemployment rate, and a surge in government debt, China’s economy is the second largest in the world, and many predict it will surpass the United States’ by 2020. President Obama called China’s rise “a Sputnik moment”—will America seize this moment or continue to treat China as its scapegoat?Mainstream media and th… |
|
|
China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know $9.20 The need to understand this global giant has never been more pressing: China is constantly in the news, yet conflicting impressions abound. Within one generation, China has transformed from an impoverished, repressive state into an economic and political powerhouse. In China in the 21st Century: What Everyone Needs to Know, Jeffrey Wasserstrom provides cogent answers to the most urgent questions … |
|
|
Ni Hao, Kai-Lan: Kai-Lan’s Great Trip to China $3.38 Join Kai-Lan and her friends Rintoo, Tolee and Ho Ho on their exciting trip to China! In the double-length, feature episode Kai-lan and her friends travel to visit her aunt and a baby panda in China, and are amazed by all the things they see along the way! The DVD includes 2 additional episodes, plus a music video, ‘We’re Going To China.’… |
|
|
Follow Jade! Learn Chinese: Let’s Go To Market in China $22.94 Award-winning Follow Jade! Learn Chinese: Let’s Go To Market in China teaches basic Mandarin Chinese. Children will visit a market and farm in China, and learn about fruits, animals, body parts, action verbs, and more. Children learn while having fun, through Jade’s engaging and interactive teaching style. Key vocabulary words are shown on screen with Romanized Pinyin spellings, and each secti… |
|
|
… |
|
|
Rosetta Stone Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1-3 Set $399.00 Connect with the world. Learn language fundamentals from greetings and introductions to simple questions and answers. Give and get directions, tell time, and dine out. Share your opinions, and talk about everyday life: your interests, your work, current events, and more…. |
|
|
English For Chinese Speaking People (Mac/PC Interactive CD-Rom with Companion Digital Audio CD). $9.95 English for Chinese speaking people SE (special edition) is a 2-CD pack which contains a computer CD-ROM and a digital audio CD. This 2-CD pack is developed to help Chinese speaking people learn to understand, read, and Speak English quickly and easily. The language is absorbed gradually through a series of self-guided and easy-to-follow lessons. The interactive course covers the following topics:… |
|
|
Rosetta Stone Chinese (Mandarin) Level 1 $179.00 Build a foundation of fundamental vocabulary and essential language structure. Gain the confidence to master basic conversational skills, including greetings and introductions, simple questions and answers, shopping, and much more…. |
|
|
i-CHINA: Hand held pocket size electronic English-Chinese dictionary/translator $49.99 This is a powerful Chinese learning device and also a China travel survival tool. It loads with hundreds of useful travel sentence with native Chinese pronounce for your instant help when you travel in China. It’s a hand hold, pocket size device available anywhere and anytime for your Chinese lesson…. |
