Job Discussion Forums

[Joshua1974]

Hello everyone!
I am new to this forum, and to teaching English in general, so can you please help me out.

Basically I'm a sad loser with a 9 - 5 IT job in Ireland, that I'm about to resign from, though its quite well paid in European standards. I'm engaged to a Chinese lady and been to China twice this summer, and want to be together with her, but don't want to rush things and get married just yet, so it seems my only option is to teach English, if I want to live together with her in China.

I've read on one thread that instead of an university degree, having 5 years experience on a specialised field also intitles one to get a foreign expert status. This is true, right? I myself got no degree, no TESOL diploma, and no real teaching experience.

However I do have 5 years experience in the IT industry at senior level, and in my current role I occasionally provide technical training and tutoring to technical support teams and their mentors. I'm native Scandinavian who is currently living in Ireland since 4 years, and in addition to my native like fluency in English, I speak native Swedish and Finnish, and good Norwegian. My accent is quite mild, definetely better than most other European nationalities. My grammar is fine too, but I probably need to catch up with the grammar jargon (terminology). My native colleagues claim I have sometimes problems with "S", which is probably true, but if I am about to teach, I make an effort to speak more clearly than what I do when having a casual conversation.

Two schools are currently interested in my work experience and considering to hire me, Nanjing Neoscape Education Training Center and Guangdong AIB Polytechnic College. Does anyone have any experiences about these? If I don't get a job from them, or it isn't good enough, my plan B is to take a TEFL course at the Boland School, or TEFL course in Zhuhai, which one do you think is better?

Any advice is appreciated, but please don't comment on irrelevant stuff, like our engagement, she's not the only child, therefore not so hopelessly spoiled and is willing to work, though at the moment I have offered to pay for her English studies as she gave up her job to spend the summer with me and didn't find any good one afterwards. Anyway, I'm not a wealthy man and she knows it, and doesn't expect me to buy her a house, like some sad stories I've read on the web about Chinese ladies. I'm 30 and she's 28, and I've been visiting her family several times, so now you know that I'm not some old sad loser who has found a young servant wife from China and is cheeky enough to ask advice from respectable teachers on this forum.

[Roger]

Hello, mate,
welcome to China, and please, don't take things too seriously! Go easy on the dame, or else you will find yourself, hum, you said I am not to make comments on irrelevant things...
You will have little trouble getting a job though I have no personal experience with the schools you mentioned; the AIB Polytechnic must be a total newcomer. Expect some teething problems there, but otherwise it might be a good choice. You will find the summer here pretty stifling, but the winter very pleasant; the easy access to Hong Kong weighs in favour of Guangdong. too.
I wouldn't try a "training centre" as a newbie! They are commercial, and will loan you out to others. You will be constantly assessed, and not necessarily fairly so.

Your English is pretty good, judging by your post; you don't "live in Ireland since 4 years' but "for 4 years". My advice is for you to keep personal details under wrap and only mention what's strictly important; you hail from the UK or from Eire (whichever), and you have an it background. The latter might be a polytechnic subject but I don't know of any such school that uses English as a language of instruction.

Your pay won't be so good that you can maintain your Chinese significant other; if I were you I would make it conditional on her to find a job, any job.
Otherwise you will be saddled with a double burden. Just think what the heck you are going to do about her if you fall on bad times...

And don't cohabit with her too openly - it's still illicit, officially!

[Joshua1974]

Cheers mate. Yes you're right, I stand corrected. The since 4 years is incorrect, I placed it in there to see if anyone will make a remark about it...
Yeah right but seriously I do know that "for 4 years" is correct, and was suspicious about the usage of "since" in this context, but it is correct to say: "I've been living in Ireland since year 2000.", isn't it? This might have been my original thought.

Let me rephrase myself, please do feel free to comment on irrelevant things as long as the comments themselves aren't irrelevant. I may be in need of a lesson about Chinese ladies.

She is like a direct heir of the Xia dynasty. An Empress she is, and thinks she's ruling China, and me...

I actaully had to persuate her to study English, she wouldn't accept my money, saying she'd rather work, well I finally offered her 1800 rmb per month if she'd study and not look for work. Then she agreed. I'd hate to disappoint her now, even though she actaully did offer to give up 'em and find work together with me in Chengdu, but it wasn't a very good deal for me, I mean the job in Chengdu that I was offered.

How much money do we really need if we'll live in Nanjing or Guangzhou? We're a slim couple and she's got a stereo system, I'll take my laptop and mobile projector, so I don't need to invest in any high tech gadgets, and don't need to go to cinema, so all outcome we really have is dining out several times per week and going to concerts, museums, art gallaries or clubs during the weekends. Isn't 4000 - 6000 yuan enough per month for all this?

I'm moving in February, so I'll get tax free pay here in Eire for two months and I will sell some stuff I've bought during my stay over here. I want to insure a peaceful mind for myself, and occasional holiday fun. So I will save up minimum 7500 euros to take with me. Now I'd hate to spend more than I earn, excluding her studies. We plan to move back to UK or Eire after a year or two, after we get married, and I hope some money is left by then.

When I visited her in China in August, her parents offered to live with their other daughter so we two could have private time in their flat for 12 days and I'd save money on accommodation, but I suggested 7 days to be enough as we wanted to spend the weekends in the city centre, and an ensuite in a nice inn in Shanghai costs only 140rmb per night for two. She's an excellent lady in saving my money - to be Chinese -, well she did demand a diamond ring for our engagement and it had to be a good one so that she wouldn't lose face, but that is what western ladies want too, except the modest women of streets.

edit:typos

[dajiang]

Hey Joshua

Good plan. I reckon you won't have too much trouble finding a job. I'm Dutch, and last year I taught English in a couple of places. At the time I didn't have a degree either, and that was the only thing that stopped me from working at government university. I did have a TEFL diploma (Boland school by the way: nice place, no regrets, valuable diploma) and I got a job at a private English college, and later also at a private uni in Beijing.
I'm currently back in Holland studying for a BA, because you do have a lot more choice with a degree. But don't let that stop ya. I had a great time at both schools I worked at. It really isn't a problem if you've got a neutral, or 'native' accent, and you just show up and tell them you'd like a job.
The only thing that was a bit of a nuisance was that whenever I applied online for something, the 'non-native' just did me in. So, I simply left that out mostly, and like Roger said, focused on the positive (teaching experience, lived in Australia, worked in China before, and speak Chinese). I tried to call the school directly whenever that was possible, cuz by hearing me they wouldn't know I was Dutch. Applying in person makes the best impression. Then later when it came up my nationality wouldn't be that important anymore.
You could definitely use your business experience, and that you've lived in Ireland for 4 years. Just go for it, and you could first try and find something and try teaching for some time. Then if you like it, go for a TEFL diploma. That way you at least know whether or not you like it, and to have had some classroom experience really helps during the TEFL-course.
Oh and about pay, in Guangzhou I think you should get more than 6/7000 kuai. That area of Shenzhen, Zhuhai, HK and Guangzhou is more expensive than the rest of China too. I'm not sure about Nanjing wages. Anyway, plenty of threads about pay and what is a good figure to get by on.

Hope this helped you out a bit,
good luck with the missus

Da Jiang

[Madmaxola]

Good luck dude!

Just tell your employers you grew up speaking English, although you are scandinavian, and yes, you are a native speaker



seriously!

[Joshua1974]

I think it's best to stay honest, if I'd start to make up things, such as I grew up in Ireland, I'd need to forge my CV to reflect that, and then I'd lose some good references from my Scandianvian work experience, unless I'd tell more lies, and soon before you know it there'd be a huge web of lies, that you can't keep track of.

I'd believe that to mention you're moving due to your engagement or marriage, would be the best ever reason you can have for relocating to a different country, from an employers point of view, at least it's so here in the west, maybe this doesn't apply in China? I mean this rules out the doubt that I might be a tramp, a drifter, who can't keep one job for a long time and wants to have an one year long adventure in China, this type isn't that reliable to hire, now is it? Then again if most jobs are based on one year contract, perhaps this is not so relevant after all, tell me, are there any permanent positions for English teachers in China?

I noticed this Via Lingua banner on this sites front page, and they seem to offer TEFL courses in Shanghai. Has anybody any insider info about them? They seems to be quite good according their website, external auditing, and enough hours to qualify for a real TEFL criteria, but there are no course costs mentioned. I did sent them email on Friday, but so far I haven't received any response.

I think Boland TEFL would be my number two choice, but it bothers me a bit that they don't seem to have any external auditing, or does anyone know better?

Another thing is, I've got dreadlocks, though I'm about to cut them off, and have been sending an old photo of myself as to indicate that my hair is tidy. Does any of you who teach in China have long hair, or dreadlocks? It is a wise thing to get rid of 'em, right?

edit: typos

[Joshua1974]

Does anybody here even read my thread? Oh well, I can always reply to my own posts.
I got a word from Via Lingua, apparently they don't have any courses in Shanghai yet, not before the end of 2005.

My current employer has shown me some gratitude for my slavery years, so they agree to give me a 12 - 18 months long career break. This means I can try out my luck in China without risking a safe and relatively well paid job. If I don't get a job over the web, I'll take that TEFL course and then, at least, I should get some kind of a teaching position. This TEFL work experience will hopefully serve another purpose as well, combined with my IT skills, I should have a pretty good chance to get a job as an IT trainer back home, and those positions come with less stress than IT analyst ones, and pay quite is good too....


On top of this I will be sharing my meager life with my passionate China lady, most likely get married and after my break is due, return back to Eire with her. Now before someone says, watch out she might be after an EU passport, I say, I have seen many guys, business men etc, responding to her MS messenger profile offering to marry her, so if she'd want money or an open door to western countries, she'd have no problem to find a lot more convenient way of achieving this than by taking advatage of me. I'm optimistic and don't speculate any worst-case-scenerios, but for me that would be Cambodia, I'd be a western refugee over there and I like that country in all its' roughness.

It looks like my only (presuming both of my jobs applications would be turned down) dilemma is whether to go to Boland or TESOL Int. in Zhuhai? Then there is this third alternative, the CELTA course in HK, and why is it so expensive? It isn't longer nor more advanced than the first mentioned ones, and what I've read on this forum, is that people say it's a brand thing, the name makes the extra cost, but does the name make up for the extra cost? Isn't the content more or less the same.

So chaps, if you have got any comments, I'm particulary interested to hear about the TESOL course in Zhuhai? I haven't found any info whatsoever conserning it, expect its' website.

Feel free to comment on whatever you think is appropriate enough.

[BluePinay]

Ooohhh.....I'm such a romantic. I love what you're doing for your lady... I wish you good luck. I'm sure you will find a job in China with or without CELTA or other teaching certificates. With the right attitude, you can achieve what you want.

Cheers!