Job Discussion Forums

[level]

My Boyfriend is thinking of teaching in China. His father is 3/4 Chinese 1/4 white and his mother is white. He looks a bit Chinese but mainly white. Is he going to have problems finding work?

Is there any way of posting a picture?[/img]

[tw]

OK, so he is 3/8 Chinese and 5/8 white, which is pretty close to half-and-half. Well, unless his family name is a Chinese name, he should have no problem finding work in China. Otherwise, he'll probably get the typical ignorant questions. My first co-worker in Dalian was 1/2 Chinese and 1/2 Irish and even though you could see some Chinese features on her face, half of the people thought she was white and the other half thought she was of some Chinese minority ethnic group found in Xinjiang or something.

Although my rule is that "anyone who looks Chinese will have a very hard time being considered for teaching positions in China", I think the other rule, "anyone who looks like a foreigner can easily be accepted for teaching positions in China" takes precedence.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

My daughter is half Asian and half white. Chinese who have seen her say she looks like a foreigner. I'm sure he won't have much problems, unless as tw pointed out, he has a Chinese surname.

[kev7161]

[tw]

[Chris_Crossley]

[wayne_weed]

I'm 100% Chinese, born in Taiwan, but am a an American citizen. Contrary to what most people would think, English IS my first language because I immigrated to the states as a baby and learned English much faster than my native Taiwanese/Mandarin which I know very little of by now.

Now, I want to know, because I'm seriously considering seeking a TEFL job in China, how hard will it be for me?

I mean, even after I show them my American passport, show that I'm proficient in English, tell them my history, etc., etc., would they still think that I'm incapable of doing the job simply because of an obviously false notion that a caucasian would do better?

What's the deal here?

[tw]

[cujobytes]

[dalong]

Kevin, I'm laughing with you at the moment. But I'll leave it to you to respond to tw and Chris_Crossley as you see fit.

[mlalahoi]

i hate to say it, but I am going to have to agree, finding a job teaching english in China with a Chinese face is really, really hard. These days most of the recruitors will not even read an application as soon as they see the picture of an Asian American/Englishman/Canadian etc. If you do manage to find a job, it will most likey not be a good one. i don't mean to be rude in any way, but IMHO, if you are of Asian decent and want to teach english, go some where else.

[tw]

[william wallace]

Nothing to say.

[Babala]

tw, I will it again, I KNOW there is discrimination towards people of Asian heritage BUT there is not a university in my city (or most I would think) that would hire someone without a degree. Any teacher should who is teaching at a university should have a degree.

[tw]