Job Discussion Forums

[Simon Hansen]

Since this is my first post on this forum, allow me start by introducing myself.

My name Is Simon Hansen and I'm 18 years old.

In approximatly a year I will (hopefully) graduate from the Senior Highschool of Vejle County, Denmark. In addition to this, questions regarding my future occupation springs to mind. I have come to the conclusion that the best job for me obviously would be something that interests me.
In my sparetime I do shaolin kung fu - futhermore I "study" chinese culture, language, religion and basically everything oriental, so when i came across this website the idea of teaching english abroad was conceived.

I'm studying High Level English in senior highschool and get good grades in the subject. When I graduate I will be 19 years of age.

Could I teach English in China? I have no experience in teaching whatsoever. I'm a fast learner although this probably won't do me much good in my search for a job.

My crime record is clean.

The salary isn't that important to me, as long as I can support myself (food, accommodation).

So here I am. A rookie seeking your advice. I am open to suggestions.
And I apologize in advance if I have missed any topics that matches mine.

Sincerely
Simon

[tw]

Simon, get TEFL certified and then your chances of landing a job will probably improve. With no college education, no experience, not from UK/USA/Canada/Australia/NZ, and not TEFL certified, I'd say your chances of landing a teaching job in China is quite poor.

[MoggIntellect]

Actually, you could probably find some kind of job, the question is what quality of job. The people with the fewest qualifications are often targets for being taken advantage of. For example, in China, in my opinion, it is good to secure a teaching post at a University... about 14 teaching hours and a decent pay as well as they take care of visa issuance. You can also work part time to augment that income if you wish. However, the private school sector is rife with being overworked and underpaid as well as lots of other BS.

What you can do is perhaps try to find a uni over here that will accept you for learning Chinese. In your spare time you can teach part-time, especially posts at middle and primary schools. There are students here who have poor English, but they get jobs teaching English because they have white skin!

That's my advice.

[tw]

Yeah that's true. White skin goes a long way in China. I fought long and hard for 3 months to finally land another teaching job. I've had comments like:

"Our university doesn't want Chinese face foreign teachers"

"Our clients only want foreign teachers with white face"

(From Yakkup) "Because you have a Chinese face, it would take us longer to find you a teaching job. Therefore you need to accept lower wages, less airfare reimbursement, and pay us a service fee" <--- I don't ****ing think so!

I am a loud proud Chinese Canadian.

[hermoine]

Get a TEFL Certificate with over 100 hours of training. The best ones are in England. Because you are not a native speaker, you might need to do a little extra. My 2 favorite teachers I ever hired were non-native speakers. They were the most easy going, the most flexibe, and the hardest working. Find the numbers of some good schools and call them directly from your home country to show that you do not have an accent and that you are a normal person, eager to work for their particular school and are personable.

I must tell you, though, I often had a lot of trouble with teachers under 21 and tried not to hire anyone too young.

Good luck!

[anthyp]

Forgive me for saying it so bluntly, but yes, you are too young to teach.

You ask us, "Could I teach English in China?" and I think you could, yes, but I don't think you should. OK, I don't really think you could, either, unless by teach you mean "be a dancing monkey." I mean, what are you going to teach them?

I agree that you could come over to study, and possibly teach in your spare time. Otherwise, you will be a complete joke to your students, your employers and colleagues, and every foreigner teaching English in China that you meet (as well as a lot of Chinese people). Why do you think anybody should take you seriously? I wouldn't. Your students certainly won't.

So, if you're looking to get laughed at by your students, despised by your colleagues, and looked down upon by your peers, then come on over and teach English in China.

[Babala]

I'm with Anthyp on this one. You are too young to teach. You want to teach and yet you would be barely out of high school yourself. Unfortunately this is China and there would probably be some school who would take you but I for one am quite tired of unqualified people coming over to teach. They give a bad name to those of us who have taken the time to get our degrees and are able to teach.

[tw]

I would have to agree also that 18 is too young to teach. I was trying not to be too offensive or hurtful. But Simon, keep in mind that to be able to teach university/college students you have to be at least a college graduate yourself. How do you think the students will take you when they know that you are at most the same age as they are? If you were to teach in a middle school, the students are not much younger than yourself. At best you would be teaching kindergarten or elementary-age kids and I can tell you, they are not that easy to deal with.

The bottom line is, you are just not mature enough YET and frankly, I don't think YOU should get a teaching job in China now while I've been getting rejections as I am experienced, a native speaker, and more educated than yourself.

[hilary]

I'm fairly ancient myself, but I feel inclined to disagree with most of the responses so far. I do, however, agree with a previous poster that your best bet is to enrol in a university Chinese class (if you're old enough to do it legally). You sound like a sensible person and your written English is superior to that of many posters on this forum (flame! flame!) so I don't see why you couldn't do some conversation classes on the side for pin money.

I think you would be exploited by a private school because of your youth and inexperience, but your colleagues at a university would probably appreciate a bit of conversation experience with a fluent speaker, as so many of them are reasonably proficient at reading and even writing English but absolutely hopeless at spoken English.

You'll need some cash to set yourself up, and accommodation could be a problem, though.

[tofuman]

The idea of you coming here as a Chinese language student is a good one. Colleges and universities are offering "Chinese as a Second Language" courses. The tuition is reasonable, about 700 $ per semester plus room and board.

That will get you here and get you started.

Good luck!

[brsmith15]

A long time ago a very wise person told me that the best teacher for a third grader is a fourth grader.

Don't let the nay-sayers stop you in your tracks and, yeah, maybe you can find a teach/study type of program. It'd be a great way to "try before you fly."

Do keep in mind that regulations governing teachers -- at least on professional levels -- have gotten tigher in the past few years: bachelor's degree, EFT cert and all that. Of course, some of the sleazy private schools would hire you just because of the white face and the fact you CAN speak English, but I don't think you want to join those places: EF, Informatics, Wall Street, Delter/Telfort and the other McDonalds of the "teaching" world.

Keep your dreams alive and, who knows, they just might come true.

[frigginhippie]

[Roger]

As an 18-year old, are you sure you are going to be capable of handling your life in a place 10'000 leagues from your native Denmark?
Why do you want to work in China of all places?

Read in our forums and acquaint yourself with the frustrations most feel after a few months. Most of these posters are considerably older than you are.
Teaching ability yes or no - that's hardly the question here. The question is: will you adapt sufficiently to make the best of living here? OR will you quickly descend into a trauma, never to recover until you are back home?

[william wallace]

Nothing to say.

[dajiang]

Just go for it mate.
Life's too short not to.


I think it would be a great experience for ya, as it is for anyone here.
You've got nothing to lose, and a lot to win. So, don't worry about things too much.

You can see how much of a fast learner you really are then.
If you're on top of things you can make it.
And you can even keep doing kung fu.

See ya,
Dajiang