Job Discussion Forums

[wangdaning]

You said you had visited China before, but you say the majority of people will speak putonghua. In my years here, I have not had this experience. My wife's hometown is about 3.5 million, ha at the putongfua. They may understand, but the majority cannot speak putonghua. As a person coming into their locality, it is difficult. I find it nice that they know what I am saying, but it is annoying spending 5-10 minutes understanding what would be simple to tell me in a few seconds. Millions of shops around, but I tend to only visit the few who can speak putonghua and can speak in a way I can understand (meaning not trying to test the foreigner with obscure words or being ignorant to small mistakes). Taking a taxi, going to a new place, etc... can open a new can of worms. Been in my location long enough to understand most of the people, but at first it was really annoying. Luckily, the first day I was here I met a grad student who heard me speaking putonghua with the cashier at a shop. He chased after me and made friends, he was able to help me in the oddity that is what they speak here (he was not from here so also had to learn).

As far as teaching age, I would go with adults. It is really up to you, but experimenting on children is not a good idea. They have it hard enough as it is. I am not doubting you want to be a good teacher, just saying children are more impressionable than adults. Adults carry their assumptions while children are learning them. If you are unsure of your ability it would be best to avoid teaching to children. Adults can also give you better feedback. Children can give good feedback, but it is not going to be well thought out, and for a new teacher without support probably not going to be good for your progress.

[nomad soul]

[Taiwanlight Zone]

You could try applying to Hess. I hesitate (or maybe Hessitate) to recommend them because many of their branches (not all of them however) are known for working newbies for all they're worth. You would be teaching children but you would get training and flight and help with accommodation (at least last time I looked) also advances in salary which is handy the first month.

They mostly operate in Taiwan but I think they have opened some branches in China and even Taiwan would be a good fit for you (and frankly a better quality of life). The only thing I'm not sure of is what kind of teaching qualification they would or could accept. Suggest you get in touch with them and plan accordingly. Full name is Hess Children's School.

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

The main thing that everybody on Dave's seems to suggest to newbies is "get a CELTA". But the CELTA only focuses on adults. What if somebody wants to teach children or is unsure of what age group to teach? Would you still recommend the CELTA? Wouldn't it be better to get some CELTA equivalent that focuses on children or a variety of age groups? I guess I'm a bit confused as to why people unanimously suggest the CELTA, when many people would rather teach children.

I am personally undecided about which age group to teach. Teaching children could be fun, and I would like to get better at interacting with children as I always feel quite awkward around them. On the other hand, I could easily see myself hating teaching children. Teaching adults would obviously be easier in terms of classroom management and I get the impression that people view teaching adults as more "prestigious", and that it builds more tranferrable skills and there is more upward mobility. Would you guys agree with this?

So basically I have no idea what age group would be best to teach. Would you guys recommend taking the CELTA despite this?

Also, several people have told me that I shouldn't teach children. But aren't the vast majority of entry-level jobs teaching children. Just looking through the China job boards on this site, the vast majority are for teaching children. The ones that are teaching adults generally require more qualifications and I'm assuming they are much more competitive. It just seems WAY more likely that my first teaching job will be teaching children, doesn't it?

I'm actually curious how many of you managed to teach adults for your first job and how many of you started out teaching children?

[wangdaning]

[The_Big_White_Elephant]

"More job postings could also imply higher turnover. Or that companies can trick more money out of parents by focusing on children than they can out of adults."

But that doesn't change the fact that there are still far more job openings for teaching children. And the fact that you suggest it means there is a higher turnover rate for jobs teaching children would suggest that the jobs teaching adults are "better" jobs, which only confirms my suspicion that these jobs would be more competitive.

Seems unlikely that a newbie like me would be able to land one these adult teaching jobs, and it seems pointless to put out so much effort to get one of these jobs when I would like to try my hand at teaching children at some point anyways.

[santi84]