Job Discussion Forums

[Ming]

Received an offer in the children's program with Jiangsu International
Training Center. Has anyone had experience with this organization ?
I'm so stoked, I'd start their orientation/training in August in Nanjing (my city of choice). Thanks.

[saint57]

[Girl Scout]

Maybe a little overly dramatic, but this has been my experience with orientation programs. Another eye opener is that there are plenty of schools that use the term "orientation" to mean teaching without getting paid. They call it practise. They stick a CT in the room who speak no Englsih and tell you they will evaluate you method.

You need to contact a current teacher from the school and find out what they think. Specifically what is the worst thing about the school.

[Calories]

You might luck out and get the kind of 'orientation' that I had which is really 'sit in a tiny room and listen to someone talk about teaching until you are on the verge of suicide it's so boring' They pay you and you get to explore the city and that's all that really matters during orientation. They review tefl with an emphasis on one thing and age level, but you might be teaching something else in a city you didn't know you were going to until the day before you left. Don't take anything said to you seriously and don't trust the foriegners in command!

[Ming]

Thank you for your honest and realistic responses...

If I have learned nothing else over the past year of preparation, it is that TESL is a frontier emassed with dangers, dishonesty and disappointments but has the possibility of great joy that can make all else temporily unimportant.

I am 40 (ish)OK, OK ! I'm 51 ! Never formally taught but have raised children of my own and have worked with chldren for 15 years through various volunteer programs. I have no degree but have a dipolma and a TESL certificate that I earned through Oxford Seminars...Rightly or wrongly, I have accepted this teaching position and fully intend to do my best. This is something that I want to do and life has taught me to adapt/ajust/adapt/ajust and be happy.

If this position proves less than ideal well, so be it. I will be in an amazing country, doing something that will give me enough $$ to support myself and enjoy my time. With any luck I'll have the occassional date, meet all types of new people, make some friends and finish my contract with more satisfaction than regret.

Again, thanks for your input... I did and will do what you suggest realizing that nothing is perfect, I think that I'd settle for "not so bad".

If anyone in Nanjing wants to do coffee or whatever ones does, I'd be game. My name is Angela and I am fairly sane..at least for awhile.

[Oz-One]

I'm not sure how far Jiangyin is from where you will be going but I'm contemplating a position there. I do know it is in the same province!

I am also a 51 year old female, actually it's my birthday today!

Like you I have never taught before and do have a degree but no TESOL qualification. However, I have done some research and have been given a few tips from my daughter who is a secondary school English teacher.

[Kent F. Kruhoeffer]

^ 45 for me on Monday the 5th ((yikes!)) so from one Gemini to another ...





! !










Thailand teaching and travel resources available here :::: The Master Index Thailand ::::

[Ming]

Well happy birthday to both of you.
Thanks for posting Oz-One. Yes you are/will be in the same province as me. Jiangyin is about 3 hours from Shanghai and 2 hours from Wuxi.
Who knows perhaps we could visit, it would be a good to know someone in another town/city, a good way to see another part of the province .
I get to Jiangsu August 10.

[tedkarma]

Some of the earlier posts are great and reflect exactly my first experience.

Got off the plane - finally got to the school jet lagged - don't even know where I will be living and they say, "Well, we would talk, but your students are waiting" as they walk me to the classroom. I had been wearing the same clothes for more than 24 hours and was totally fried.