Job Discussion Forums

[herman]

I was wondering if any Chinese-Americans or Chinese-Canadians/British/Australian etc. have taught in China?

What has been your experience and how have the people treated you? Do they view you differently, especially if you can (or can't) speak Mandarin, too?

I've been thinking of applying for EFL teaching jobs there, but not sure how they--both the employer and the students--will see me as a Chinese-American (as an asset because I can speak Mandarin or a bad thing because I'm not "foreign" enough?).

Hope someone's had this experience and could share it!

Thanks,
Herman

[Victoria]

my best bet is for you to apply at the highest university

most other will disrespect you......

[Roger]

Mixed impressions.
I know two Hong Kong-born ladies teaching in Guangdong; one taught at a university in Guangzhou. For her it was a huge culture shock (just 150 kms, same ethnicity, same lingo - but a culture shock nevertheless...); the other emigrated to Britain 25 years ago, and owns a large apartment in rural Guangdong now; she ended up working for a fraction of the salaries she as a FAO had to offer to foreign English speakers. Her own English is British-accented, but all she was able to get from a "Singaporean"-owned kkindergarten was a position of English teacher *beep* hirer of "Native English speakers" - and she accepted an Italian-born Canadian (with a heavy Italian accent) for her school; he makes three times her salary!
IT's not always as bad. But clearly, China's education system needs a serious overhaul!

[NateM]

Someone just posted on my site about what it's like to be an overseas Chinese person teaching in China. It's a pretty good read. You can check it out here:

http://p082.ezboard.com/fteachingenglishinchinafrm38.showMessage?topicID=17.topic

[herman]

Thanks to those who've replied so far. Nate's link to the post is really helpful and interesting.

I guess I should've known the answers to my questions already...I was just hoping to hear a bit of the contrary

I worked in Mongolia though and everybody treated me really, really well over there, whether they knew I was Chinese-American or not (I often passed for Mongolian, actually, unless they made me talk).

But perhaps overseas Chinese would be better received in the more rural areas than in the urban?? And in the more ethnically-diverse areas than in the Han-dominated??

[sbucha004]

i'm working in china in shandong province in a small town and am half HK chinese and half caucasian American... my students think it's interesting and most of them seem to feel/act more comfortable and normal around me... they feel they have more in common with me because we look similar and they're interested in what it's like to live in HK and always ask me to teach them some cantonese... it's also good because people here won't stare at me the way they do other foreigners, and they assume i know what i'm doing...

but at the same time, my students are convinced that i'm not truly American, i'm not authentic enough, and people won't believe me when i tell them where i'm from... because i can speak a little chinese, people are constantly assuming i'm just the translator and they always ask me 'where do the foreigners want to go? what do they want to do? what are they saying?" and they don't care what i want... i'm also really sick of people telling me what i look like, the same as they do in the US - 'you're american? you look chinese' or 'but your hair is black!' or 'but your eyes are black and you speak like me!' or 'you look chinese, why?'

people will choose blonde teachers over asian americans every time, and 'real' foreigners are more interesting than us... people are less impressed with my chinese because they assume that i can do it without realizing i have to study just the same... but if you can find a job where the people are nice and still respect you, there are a lot of advantages in daily life to not looking so obvious... i much prefer getting passed over by beggars in the street than being followed for 4 blocks... i get better prices... and i get called 'big sister' by my students... so there are ups and downs, it just depends on whether you're the type of person who likes being noticed all the time or prefers to blend in and pretend to be a local...

susan

[ranmawoman]

Umm. I'm kinda stuck in the same situation. I'm full Chinese and have been told by some other people that it kinda sucks teaching in Taiwan because of the same reason, they pay you less because you're Asian.

Makes me wonder if I should die my hair blonde and or put blue eye contacts in.

I've travelled a lot to Asian countries and have found that yeah, by the way I look, I look like the others. But as soon as I get disrespected, or ignored at some shops, all I do it open my mouth and start asking them things in English. That is when I get respected.

This has actually occurred several times, ie speaking in English if people don't respect you.

My sister is also getting her masters in HK. As soon as she gets disrespected, ignored, wants better service etc, she puts on her speak English only hat. =)

In addition, I've also tutored kids who have trouble in English. Once they found out I spoke the same language they did, they started to take advantage of it. They started to speak in Chinese to me instead of using their English.

Maybe you might not want to speak in Chinese in school and not really let people you know you speak Chinese. That way you'll seem more "White." And also the fact that (via reading all these posts), a lot of people say that they don't want you speaking in the native language in class anyway.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

There are some private schools like my own that are looking for one or two American/Canadian-Chinese teachers that speak Chinese.

Just need to look around. There is always a market for everything.