Job Discussion Forums

[jenkins]

Hello, I am writing this as a favor to someone who would like me to relay to him personal experiences of people who have
taught in China. I would also appreciate any other relevant information or tips that may not be covered in the following
questions.

What school did you teach in? What schools are recommended in China?

What were the accomodations like? Were they honest to what you were promised ahead of time?

What was the work enviroment like, co-workers, atmosphere, etc?

What was the transporation situation?

Was there a reliable airport pickup?

What was the total number hours of preparation and paper work time above paid teaching hours?

What was the pay like? What percentage of tax comes off of the wage?

What is the cost of food and entertainment like?

Was medical insurance covered?

What was the communication abilities like?



Thanks to any respondents, you can also email me at [email protected] if you would like.

[mmm... pancakes]

Hi Jenkins,

I would strongly recommend to your friend that he/she comes here and trawls through the archives for several hours. The questions you've listed have been covered time and again.

That being said, I've always liked filling in surveys, quizes, etc, so here are my answers:

1. (take a big breath) Le Dudu Bilingual Primary School of Quality Expansion.
2. Bigger than I imagined, honest to what was promised but had a hurried feel about it; sealings etc not dry yet.
3. Nice enough, positive atmosphere for the most part. Co-workers friendly but distant because of the language barrier.
4. I walk to work, and it takes maybe 2 minutes. Taxis around the city start at 4 yuan.
5. Yes.
6. That varies week to week, depending on what you plan to do. If you want to play a card game in your lesson, for which you need to make cards, then your prep time skyrockets. I take about twenty minutes per lesson plan, and about two hours per class preparing. All up I reckon I work maybe... 20-25 hours a week. (I teach kids.)
7. Considering the workload, the pay is pretty good. Saving a reasonable amount, sending it home at regular intervals. The school pays my tax.
8. Food is as expensive as you want it to be. Maybe fried rice for 2.5 yuan, or a dinner at the local Western-style restaurant for 125 yuan. Usually I spend 500 a month on regular groceries, and probably almost as much on eating out. I eat out a lot because I'm a crap cook and too lazy to learn. Entertainment? What's that? Not in my city, buddy. The closest you'll get is 10-pin bowling for 7 yuan, or buying DVDs for between 5-10 yuan each.
9. Yes, though I've never had reason to check it out (touch wood).
10. Of whom? Mine? I speak crap Chinese, and because I'm going home in six months my motiviation to learn has dropped significantly. Few people in my little city speak English. That's why I'm here. My teaching assistant and a few people at the school speak tolerable English. My students are getting better .

Now I've a question for you: What does "oneworldorder" mean / refer to? Why didn't your "friend" come here themselves? Oh, wait, that was two questions. Sorry.

[Volodiya]

Get enough responses, and Jenkins will be set to start his recruiting business. Luck to ya!

[jenkins]

First off, thanks for the response. The person I mentioned is my dad, who is on the verge of borrowing me some money for a plane ticket. He insists for me to convey to him some personal experiences on the questions I asked even though I told him that his questions would probably vary greatly from person to person and from school to school.

my email address refers to the new world order that is being put into place, but [email protected] was already taken.

I have one more question in reference to the preperation time involved. You said you worked 20-25 hours a week in total, so that said, how many hours of actual teaching time is that(because in all the teaching ads they always just give the teaching hours)

[Girl Scout]

The teaching hours they give are actual contact hours. I work 18 hours, which in practice translates to 18, 50 minute periods. I am also required to hold 2 hours of English corner per week. In reality this has turned out to be my office hours.

Prep time is however long you want to spend. The better you get at this gig and the more meterials you have or have collected the less time you will need.

[Chris_Crossley]

[Roger]

What school did you teach in? What schools are recommended in China?

- Universities, colleges, primary schools, and kindergartens, i.e. PUBLIC
SCHOOLS: recommended to some extent, because your working
conditions are relatively uniform - low pay according to some, but
good enough pay, with a lot of holidays thrown in and low
workloads;
- private training centres: most are cowboy outfits that promise you
a lot more at the beginning than towards the end; many loan you out
to schools, hence more transport hassles, timetable changes and in
general more unpredictability.


What were the accomodations like? Were they honest to what you were promised ahead of time?
- Very variable though public schools I have worked for have offered
above-standard housing, not seldom better than their own teachers.
- Cowboy outfits vary far more between very good and lousy! In some
cases you will have to find housing for yourself.

What was the work enviroment like, co-workers, atmosphere, etc?
- In public schools your local colleagues tend to have seen far more
FTs and have formed their biases or opinions based on their first
impressions; sometimes for the worse, sometimes for the better.
Don't forget they tend to look down on FTs because so many of
us do not have equivalent education to be teachers.
- At training centres you sometimes rub shoulders with friendlier
Chinese, but you stand a great chance of losing sight of them in
a short time because they quit readily if they feel their hopes for
better remunerations are better fulfilled elsehwere.

What was the transporation situation?
- Pucli schools: Transportation, what transportation? Normally you work
on campus. Transport is offered to a few choice destinations in the
nearest town for recreation and shopping; but yes, some universities
or middle schools house you off campus or away from your main
campus; they do organise transport.
- Training centres that farm you out may or may not provide transport.
THis can be a big downside to working for them.

What was the total number hours of preparation and paper work time above paid teaching hours?
- Public schools assign you to oral or conversation classes; some
put a silly textbook in your hands, many don't. The short answer
to your query is: get the feel of your class, find out their level and
weaknesses, then work on the latter and try to entertain - this
way you will spend the least amount of prep time.
If you want to be professional, you will put in a year or more finding
out what works and what won't; during this time your students go
sour and you have a hard time until the end. So if you want to take
it easy (and give the students an easy time), you will spend a
couple of hours to 4 hours a week planning and fine-tuning your
lessons.
If you want to improve their English competency you will have to
contact their teachers and find out what they have covered, and how,
then remedy some of the worst problems; this way you can spend
virtually all your waking time outisde your contact hours!


What was the pay like? What percentage of tax comes off of the wage?
- Your pay will be two to three times the salary of a local office clerk,
teacher, bank clerk, or one third to over 100% higher than a
Chinese magistrate, high-ranking policeman or PLA officer. It will be
comfortable but you can not save much.
Tax is around 20% or 25% on any income above 4000! Not everyone
pays it though.
What is the cost of food and entertainment like?

Was medical insurance covered?
- Many public schools have some barefoot doc, perhaps even a
clinic. I personally don't want to use those services more than
once if an emergency leaves me no alternative...

What was the communication abilities like?
- Whose "communication abilitites"? Don't expect your boss to speak
English. Some might, many don't. If there is a misunderstanding
it often is ascribed to "cultural discrepancies", and then it is your
fault because you are the foreign body in the Chinese culture!


]

[yamahuh]

[mmm... pancakes]

I read that as meaning that her dad is about to borrow some money on her behalf. It made me pause, too, but I think I know what she meant.

A Pakistani friend of mine would say that too. "Thanks for borrowing me your gear!"

[Brian Caulfield]

This is an error of transfer. Most languages use the same word for borrowing and lending .

[Don McChesney]

You borrow the money off Dad. He lends it to you.

Don't forget, if you get a reasonable contract, the institution will repay the airfare you borrowed, so if you do the right thing and all goes well, your Dad is in no danger of losing the dough he lent you

[yamahuh]

OK good.
So it's not just me...

[jenkins]

They call me Mr.Gremmar. Honestly though, the context in which I used the term borrow is used by just about everyone around here(Saskatchewan, Canada). Even though it may not be technically correct.

I am a 'He' by the way.

Those taxes sound pretty insane, the average pay I have seen is 4500 yuan which comes out to $657 Canadian dollars. Is it more uncommon than common for the schools to take the tax burden?

I do not have a BA, so which types of schools will I most likely receive more offers from?

Would 15-20 hours of actual contact time a week be a reasonable request on my behalf?

An in house clinic was mentioned. Is this the way that medical is usually handled? My health clinic here dealing with my vaccinations mentioned official health centres in China which are preferable for foreigners in the sense of cleanliness etc.

[Roger]

Working hours:
Public schools usually work you fewer than 20 hours a week, with most of the remaining time remaining yours (and often enabling you to earn on the side).

Private training centres work you at least 20 hours, often 30 a week; they pay more handsomely but in the end you might feel it's not worth the extra pressure (because you are, after all, an employee and your schedule is decided upon by your employer who may have whims of his own).

Medical:
Vaccinations are NOT normally done by them. ANd your medical check-up prior to obtaining your resident's permit has to be done in a public clinic, at your employer's expense. Your school clinic would not know how to identify HIV viruses in your blood.

[jenkins]

Would I be required to have a University degree to work in a public school? I have a 3 year College diploma.

I already have all required vaccinations, but not an official health test. How immediate could one leave the native country after doing these HIV tests you mentioned.

Is there anything you found most unexpected or unprepared for when moving to China? Or any important questions I might have missed.