Job Discussion Forums

[Mojoski]

Is this illegal beyond the tax issue? There are few jobs in China that can satisfy my financial needs, so one alternative that has occured to me is a job with a light workload so there is more time for private students. Is the climate adverse to this in China? I'm used to Poland, where the grey economy is well accepted, and you have to fight off high paying private students with a stick, so you have a little free time.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

contracts used to prohibit outside work (some may still), but the one i just signed no longer does, it merely states that outside work isn't encouraged and that any events surrounding outside work are the responsibility of the teacher (or smth like that).

people do outside teaching all the time here, foreigners and chinese teachers. and none of that money, at least I've never heard or seen of, is ever taxed.

[cblack76]

Any idea on what to charge for privates? I heard no less than 200 RMB...

[dialogger]

Even if your contact states 'no outside work' you can do it provided you don't rub the school's nose in it.
A lot of Chinese teachers run home schools for extra cash over summer and an FT doing privates might be taking some of that business away.
I came by some of my better outside students from the FAO via a quick word in the corridor. The same FAO which would have had to enforce the contract terms if put under pressure.
I've heard of up to 250RMB per hour in Beijing with students coming to teacher's apartment i.e no travel.
I find private students very 'resource-hungry' in that what would take a 30-student oral class an hour to work through, will be completed by a private in 15 minutes. 'So what's next Teach?'

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

Given the same lesson material, a class of one will always take less time than a class of 30. I'd say its not that private students are more resource hungry, its because you can spend more time focusing on one individual and less time managing an entire class, meaning you're going to finish the private lesson sooner.

But if its oral english, those private lessons often stray off topic/off lesson (talking about whatever comes to mind) anyway, and the time's up before you know it. That was my experience anyway.

[dialogger]

If you're being paid by the hour I'm not sure that finishing early is going to help.
I like the restaurant ones where it is just an English environment you are providing and the student is likely as not 'big noting' it in front of his acquaintances.
Like EC Cleric any general drift conversation type lessons are good. I liked to take the adult students for a walk through the uni campus and encourage them to talk about their time in school. Familiar topics get the juices flowing and you can then introduce more complex or unfamiliar subjects.

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[alter ego]

[englishgibson]

i've had a share of private students in china, some that've come along on their own and some that i've had to suggest the option. as for the tuition fees, it depends on what location you are in, or who you tutor. china's a huge country with a great gap in between rich and poor and areas of the country have some varieties of income levels as well. your strategy whom you want to tutor, a rich or poor may also have a factor on how much you can get out of it. personally, i wouldn't tutor a spoiled rich brat 'cause her parents want her to join a western uni and that even if they offered a thousand quai per hour.

expanding on how much to charge a private student, i'd say that the length of course/tuition matters, or should matter. if your student is up only for a few lessons to get ready for a proficiency exam, you might want to charge a bit more than the one who wishes to stay on for a long period of time. by the way, i hate the ones who come for "an hour" to just see how it goes, but that's life and that's their right as they want to get to know you/your teaching style. in this case, keep in mind that these kinda might want to assess your performance and their progress instantly. i'd charge these kinda arm and a leg.

yes, it's essential to lay out a plan from the beginning of these kinda private courses, although i have tutored a middle school girl for 4 years and we've had mostly "oral english" classes where she's just wanted to discuss varieties of topics. my focus with her was on handling social exchanges well and fast and she has progressed greatly as we've had chances to talk about so many things.

[Hansen]

EG,

Off topic, but what is this about public school educators wanting to discredit FTs?

"My" school is cutting back on English classes and the Chinese English teachers are seeing their hours diminished, which cuts into their pay. Naturally, I can undertand why they would resent that. Are there other issues?

[englishgibson]

if it's a public school, they're on salary. if the chinese english teachers' work load decreases, there are probably other subjects to be taught more often. schools' trend may as well reflect their goals, directions for exams etc. chinese teachers' resentment may come in a form of the loss of opportunities as well as in a form of the belief that they can do their job in the same way or better than us.

however, and as you've mentioned "other issues", there are directives from local/centeral government offices where chinese english teachers are to take control of the english langauge education around the country. so, we're only the "fillers" and "a draw" to classrooms and their acadmic programs. in some chinese unis, it means that they get that much wanted student exhange programs where chinese uni students are offered a quick western uni MBA and a year abroad...a deffinite draw for parents in china. high schools are not the same story as fts aren't so welcome. brainwashing is in progress there.

cheers and beers to private students and tutoring that "resets" their way of thinking

[Orrin]

Go to www.zhuhainights.com and check out the "Delta EFL Network" group. I have a rather long post there that discusses the issue of private students in great detail.