Job Discussion Forums

mcloo7 · Joined: 18 Aug 2009 Posts: 434 Location: Hangzhou

Hi. I have an offer for 5800rmb a month to 7200rmb for 18-22 lessons taught per week (I can choose the amount, and the more lessons, the more pay) at a uni in Hangzhou, Xiasha sub-district. Or I could work at an elemtary/middle school in Shenzhen for 10000 rmb per month plus free housing. The uni comes with free housing also. I would be hired by the Shenzhen school district and they will then decide which school in the Bao'an district to send me to. The elementary school would have about 50 kids per class, the uni about 20-30. Both are oral English teaching jobs. The elementary school students have a separate English class for grammar, I would just be there for oral English classes.

ResearchID · Joined: 03 Jun 2013 Posts: 30

I'd vote for 22 classes/7200 rmb at the uni personally.

doogsville · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 924 Location: China

Ive taught in a middle school before with 50 to 60 kids in a class. 45 minute lessons, and no teaching assistant. It was a nightmare. I had one to maybe five students in each class who gave a s**t about learning English. The rest would just get more and more bored and restless and just talk among themselves in Cantonese. There was no support from the school whatsoever. It felt like a waste of my time and energy and became a grind very quickly. Now I teach in a university and maybe 50% of the students I teach don't care, but there are enough who do to make it worth while, and the job is a whole lot better.

If you make more money doing a job you don't like, in my experience you just spend the money trying to distract yourself.

I would take the uni job, but you have to figure it out for yourself.

rioux · Joined: 26 Apr 2012 Posts: 880

Do you enjoy teaching younger kids?

tangal · Joined: 11 Nov 2012 Posts: 47 Location: Da Nang Beach

Bao'an is a bit outside the city center, although they now have a metro line going up all the way to the airport. Still, you might feel a bit stranded and out of the loop living and teaching in the outer areas of Boa'an rather than the main city center districts of Louhu, Futian, and Nanshan. Hangzhou also has a metro line out to the Xiasha district, and even with 22 teaching hours at the uni you'd still have plenty of time for evening and weekend "part-time" teaching, which could raise your monthly to about the same as the elementary/middle school job. The biggest problem with the Shenzhen gig is that you won't know where they send you until it's too late. Better to know where you're gonna live and teach before you sign a contract.

mcloo7 · Joined: 18 Aug 2009 Posts: 434 Location: Hangzhou

Thanks for the answers. Should the fact that this would be my first teaching job, and my first teaching experience, weigh into the decision at all? Ive asked this before, but could a beginner start teaching in a university, or could it be better to start with kids?

Thanks for the detailed answer Tangal. Is Xiasha in Hangzhou somewhat isolated too, or do you think it's alot better than Bao'an? One thing I like about both of these jobs is that I wouldnt have to teach on evenings and weekends, so I wouldnt want to have to work alot of privates during those times to make up for the lower salary.

roadwalker · Joined: 24 Aug 2005 Posts: 1750 Location: Ch

I'd guess teaching uni, especially oral English, would be an easier start than teaching kids. Forget your preconceptions of university life. Think extended high school here, with homerooms. Your uni students take the vast majority of their classes with the same classmates. English majors will generally have a decent enough grasp of what you are saying. Non-majors could be more trouble. If you like kids and they respond well to you, then maybe the elementary will be more worthwhile. Expect a short but steep learning curve for either. Have fun!

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Assuming 'classes' are teaching hours of 45 to 50 mins each, definitely go with the uni job.
It's a cruisy way of getting to grips with the FT life and I've seen too many who would have gone on to be good teachers, burned off by a bad choice for Gig #1.
Least downside, rather than looking at do re mi.

mcloo7 · Joined: 18 Aug 2009 Posts: 434 Location: Hangzhou

I found out today that the school in Shenzhen will be Zhongwu Elementary school in the Xixiang subdistrict of Bao'an. There seems to be alot of factories near there. For some reason my gut feeling tells me I would rather start by teaching kids, and Shenzhen seems a bit more lively than where I would be in Hangzhou which is Xiasha, but I could be wrong about that. I keep changing my mind about which one I would rather take. I actually know a Chinese girl in Bao'an who started messaging me when I signed up for QQ a few months ago (she's 26), and we have sort of become friends, she is eager to meet. And it's purely by coincidence that I got a job in Bao'an. I think she might even live in the Xixiang subdistrict. So, at least I would know one person there. Of course, however, she does not speak English.

I'm still deciding though. I could just as well choose Hangzhou. I have to decide by tomorrow morning I think. At least that's what the Hangzhou school says. The extra money in Shenzhen does appeal to me. It will definitely feel good to know that I am saving.

ResearchID · Joined: 03 Jun 2013 Posts: 30

Why ask a question and then ignore all of the advice you were given?

mcloo7 · Joined: 18 Aug 2009 Posts: 434 Location: Hangzhou

doogsville · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 924 Location: China

Don't take the job based on the money alone, and definitely don't take it based on the fact that you will be near one person you've never actually met who doesn't speak your language.

Remember that whichever you choose, you're committing to it for a year. That could soon start to feel like a hundred years if you don't like the job. Forget any ideas you have about 'teaching' if you're going into a public school. Like I said, you'll have fifty plus students in the room. They will be stuck behind desks in rows, with no room to move. It's a tough gig. University teaching can be similar, but usually you'll have an easier time and fewer classes. Teaching kids in a language mill is a much easier gig than the public schools in my experience, and uni teaching is easier still.

Either way, I would suggest going to Youtube and looking at some videos of actual teachers teaching in China. There's quite a few, and while it's all subjective, it will at least give you more of an idea of what you're facing.

mcloo7 · Joined: 18 Aug 2009 Posts: 434 Location: Hangzhou

The housing for the Hangzhou college is a hotel on the campus where foreign teachers apparently have the top floor. You get two hotel rooms connected to make a larger apartment. Does anyone have any experience with this? It doesnt come with a stove, but a teacher I emailed there says he bought one for his apt. Does anyone have any experience buying a stove/oven?

doogsville · Joined: 17 Nov 2011 Posts: 924 Location: China

You can buy a single burner gas stove for very little money, less than a hundred. Ovens are not common here. You can buy an electric oven that looks like a microwave, but they can be expensive and on the small side.

macroidtoe · Joined: 27 Jul 2010 Posts: 128

I taught 10-year olds for a term. It actually went pretty well, but it also probably wasn't a standard situation.

They'd split the class of 60 into two groups of 30: one group would go to an English listening class with a Chinese teacher, and the other group would be with me and a Chinese teacher for an oral English class.

The Chinese teachers in the classroom generally didn't get involved (although sometimes they did), but I think just having them present in the room made a big difference in the kids' participation and behavior. There was in fact a week where a Chinese teacher for a specific classroom was gone, and things got a little wacky.

Again, probably not the norm, but it ended up being a good experience for me.