Job Discussion Forums

[little horsey]

Hello,

I am a very recent graduate and am thinking about teaching in China. I have some questions. Any and all positive feedback would be greatly appreciated!


1. Am I crazy for wanting to go into China at this time (SARS, etc.)?

2. Do you think the there will be an increased demand for teachers in China? I wonder this because I think many teachers will NOT want to go to China or teachers that are there may want to get out.

3. Do you think salaries will go up? I'm not looking to get rich - just curious, is all.

4. Where are good/trustable places to look on the internet for job postings in China....y'know, besides here?


I had way more questions I was going to ask earlier, but they must've slipped my mind. Anything else you could tell me that might help me out would be great!

Thanks so much,

little_horsey

[Owen]

1. You are taking a calculated risk if you came to China right now. Where you go to makes a lot of difference too. In another couple of weeks it will be pretty clear whether they are going to get a handle on SARS or have it get completely out of control. Right now it could go either way. Life is not perfectly safe anywhere.

2. There will probably be a good demand for teachers this next school year. It is true that many have left or are going to leave as soon as they can. Many more will decide against coming because of SARS concerns.

3. Will salaries go up? Not likely. This is not a supply and demand issue, for government institutions, the amount of money that is paid to the school for hiring a foreigner is a set amount. A few schools pay extra to get what they see as a better qualified person, but most do not. I personally would not recommend private schools to anyone new to China. To easy to get cheated big time.

[MW]

China recruits 150,000 foreign English teachers each year.

Chinese english teachers are limited to 9 teaching periods per week but wind up teaching 18 to 20 due to a shortage.

As there is a movement to reduce oral English class size to less than 30 students (some now are as large as 150) even more teachers and FEs are required.

There is such a demand that a FE recently negotiated a 12 hour work week at 8,000 rmb, all classes to be taught in 2 days, leaving 5 days for travel and research to pursue a project financed by Grant of 150,000 rmb by the school.

[Roger]

And why would you want to come to China in the first place?
It's perfect with me if you say you just want to get the feel of the country, and one year will suffice to just do that.
But have you considered the bumps on your career road after a sojourn here?
And, do you want to fit into a nanny system that transforms human beings into robots?


The question about TEFL future in China is highly academic. China's people don't take the learning of a second tongue as seriously as people in other countries do. It is a fashion, nothing more and nothing less than that, at the moment. Once people discover they pay without getting the results they are craving the craze will die down. It is so high now almost only because the central government has declared the learning of English as a strategic educational goal owing to China's entry into the WTO and the Olympic Games.
I bet that once we are past the 2008 threshold, English will be on the back-burner, as it always was until 4 years ago!

It will continue to be a compulsory subject, which kids hate to take (which kid loves studying foreign languages???); but CHina's schools will no longer need so many expat teachers.
I witnessed this in pre-1997-Shenzhen - same English craze, same effect for me (good business then!), with the same blase attitude of locals once the authorities decided to focus on more pressing issues, and English was no longer a subject would-be permanent residents had to pass an exam in.

[gerard]

horsey-first, good luck. The sars question should answer itself in the next couple of months i.e. it will be under or out of control.
I think it is safe to say salaries will not go up.
As for demand who knows??? I have a hunch demand might end up going down. Schools might say HEY we can get along with 4 foreign teachers instead of 8. And the private places could lose business when people realize they shouldn't be in an airlee classroom with 70 other students.

[Minhang Oz]

The above comments are well considered but show there is a considerable range of opinion in relation to your questions.Roger's "suck it and see" advice is sound.You can find out if teaching here,and at least as important,living here,is for you.The system will test your faith in what you've learned about TEFL_ I'm currently doing some distance study,and the reality of 50 students in a writing class beggars the theory of developing a program for each learner. There is an upside though that the other posters didn't mention.Here [Shanghai] there's a big market in corporate work which I assume exists in many cities.The best of this is excellent-intelligent,highly motivated students,airconditioned board rooms,transport,good pay. There are more offers than I can accept.But of course,you have to be here to get them.So,a regular college or uni. job,housing included,ordinary pay,but short hours are the way to go initially. Cheers.

[little horsey]

Thanks for all your input.

I'm pretty sure China is the country for me right now. I'm not just a backpacker. I've known I wanted in this field for some time now and I do have the qualifications. I've heard that people get shafted when they return to their homelands, but I'm not concerned with this right now. I'm young enough to recover. Naive? Probably.

Thanks again.

[Roger]

Having today answered your query about Ji'nan, I can better understand what attracts you to China.
I can only say: Go, young man, go, but don't expect honey and milk, and do not promise anybody you meet in China the Heaven, least of all your girlfriend!
If your job pays 3500 in Ji'nan, consider this a very acceptable proposition although you may always end up receiving much more, or just a little more.
Just look a little ahead and consider your stint as a one-year show. Don't get bogged down in Cathay the Bizarre! At your tender age, you should NOT commit yourself to an unlimited period of time here!

[little horsey]

I hear what you're saying Roger.

I'm not really going to China for this girl. She's going to be in Canada for at least another three years. That is another can of worms!

Right now, I feel like Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate, minus the older lady sex. It just doesn't seem like there is a place for me here in Canada. Maybe travelling to China isn't the answer? Maybe it is? I'm sure I'll figure it all out soon enough.

Thanks for your advice. I really do appreciate it.

[hubei_canuk]

"minus the older lady sex."
....
If that is what you are missing then go to Taiwan.
They are still traditional enough that unhappy marriages don't get divorced, but modern enough to have opportunity for affairs. Because of the lack of Judeo-Christian or other such Western Moral structures, the solution is extra-marital affiars totally without guilt nor with spouses caring about it.
..
How do i know? Because of the multitudes that came on to me.
Also with the advent of the internet and chat-groups, that kind of thing has gone rampant in Taipei according to one friend who used to "specialize" in these sort of things .. he said most of his liasons were rich and gave him things so that clarifies the specialty somewhat. He used the internet to start relationships. He had more loves than he could handle.
HEY!
There's a career idea for you!
Be a Richard GERE in Taiwan.

[little horsey]

hubei_canuk:

I'm not really looking for the older lady sex. But thanks for the input anyways! Maybe one day I'll be searching for that...

Sunaru:

I've heard from many people (here and off the net) that when they return back home from teaching, they find that nobody takes them seriously or that they can't find any work with the experience(s) they've had while abroad. I don't know if I believe this or not. It probably has a lot to do with what they had when they left in the first place. For example, if the person travelled to work in China with a grade ten education, they should expect to be employed accordingly when they return to Canada. I have heard many success stories too.