Job Discussion Forums

[milarka]

Hi everybody
A friend of mine is looking to teach in China. I heard some rumours that you don't need a degree to teach there. Can anybody guide me to a site where they advertise these kind of jobs? She is a native speaker, but South African, and would really just like to get out of her current job. A good salary is thus not the most important thing. Also, if you don't have a degree, do you need some kind of TESL training?
Thanks a lot, anything would help. I am currently teaching in Korea and don't know much about the situation in China.

[latefordinner]

milarka, I'm gong to assume here that you aren't trolling. (Gods, please be forgiving if I'm wrong)

There is a world of difference between what you think you can get away with and what you think you can accomplish. I would go so far as to say that there are 2 kinds of people; those who want to do something, and those who only want to get away with something. Your mileage may well vary of course, but for me that's one of life's primary watersheds.
Hey, I've got this friend here at the old bar and grill who's pretty quick on what he thinks is right or wrong (after he's had a few), but doesn't have a law degree or even a BA; can he set himself up and hang his shingle as a lawyer? Hey with enough money we can go to Texas and get him made a judge. Well, do you want him responsible for your affairs if things ever turn south for you?
Hey, I've got this other friend, he thinks that blood is red, but can't keep this A, B, O business straight. Never finished secondary school let alone pre-med, but wants to hang his shingle and practice medicine. Do you want him to be your surgeon?
Hey, I've got this friend who's never been to uni, never earned a genuine teaching degree , not a CELTA nor even a quick and dirty TESOL. Do you want him teaching your kid a foreign language? Moreover, do you want him at a uni, where this untrained fool's impulses and uninformed opinions partially determine the academic and career paths that determine who eventually graduates to become the doctor or engineer or lawyer or political leader your own welfare depends upon?

Make no mistake; the fragile and overstretched educational quasi-system in China has suffered enough from unqualifed hacks, snake-oil salesmen, charlatans, flakes, pederasts and substance abusers. A significant few of them have even been foreigners like ourselves. Why throw another wrench into the already discombobulated machinery? And if your friend really wants to learn the trade, to become a responsible and contributing member of an under-apreciated and generally misjudged semi-profession, why encourage him/her to come to such a muddled kingdom as this without any training to fall back on? Read Sheeba's excellent thread and give some thought to how difficult it is for those of us who are really trying our best. Why throw such a lamb into such a wolves' den, if you really care?

[Calories]

blah, blah, blah. Now it's time for the short answer. YES! Just get a TEFL certificate before going. Obviously, if this is something your friend wants to do for more than a year or two, a degree is a good idea.

[milarka]

Thanks Calories
To that other person: I didn't really ask whether you want my friend to go and teach, no did I? Please don't insult people you don't know anything about. If you grow up in the slums of a third-world country, it doesn't matter how hard-working you are or how good a person you are, getting a degree is a dream, and just that.

[tw]

This question has been asked SO many times, there ought to be a sticky for it since many people don't bother with the search function, or don't know how to use it.

This is the most recent thread regarding the topic: www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=42029

[milarka]

Thanks!

[Steppenwolf]

[milarka]

[englishgibson]