Job Discussion Forums

Mena · Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 19 Location: California

I graduated in 2006 from a pretty good liberal arts college in massachursetts. I studied political science while I was there. During my time there, I got to teach ESL in Belize for a short amount of time. I loved it! Now, I want to go to China to teach ESL/EFL.

I guess my main question is where do I start.
I want to be able to send $500-$700 home while I am working.
I want to teach of course.
I want to teach myself Chinese as well. I know little bit of mandarin already.

What is my best course of action right now?

I am not sure which schools are legit and which ones are not.

Will they really pay what they claim in ads?

I have contacted www.teachinginchina.org and http;//www.haoqian.cn
Not sure what to do. Anyways, please help!

Basilm87 · Posted: Mon Jan 05, 2009 1:05 am Post subject:

Where to start? this website is a great place to "start" your search for a esl job in China. ( at least I think so :p )

Only been in China once, only had one esl position so far, but being able to send back 500-700 "$", do you mean us dollar? If so, tell me when you find a place where you can send back 3000-5000RMB a month. (Cause I guess you mean monthly, and not annually? ) Never heard of such a well-payed place, unless you got some serious teacher exp and some nice certs etc (You got some documented teaching experience, and some kind of ESL/TEFL/CELTA/Whatever course completed? )

Alot of schools offer you a mandarin lesson or two a week, otherwise you can always find some local to teach you, or some mandarin course closeby, was no problem in Shanghai at least, dunno bout smaller cities.

Impossible to answer yes or no on if they are upholding all what they claim in an ad. I got payed what the ad told me, however not all "benefits" of the ad/contract are always followed as strictly...

I dont know what you should do either, I would say search here on the jobs for China, AnESL.com and similar places youll find, google is your friend.

Besides that I dont know what to say, your 500-700 us dollars (if u really mean us dollars a month), is gonna be more or less impossible to send back monthly, but what do I know, Im not a native speaker of English, and I was sure reminded of that almost everyday in China :p

Mena · Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 19 Location: California

Maybe there is another country I will have better luck sending more money home. :/

Lhenderson · Joined: 15 Dec 2008 Posts: 135 Location: Shanghai JuLu Road

Go fer the UK jobz.

They pay WELL.

And the demands are amazingly less than youd expect (so you might get hired!) cuz the UK uniz franchise there brands to Chinese business groups.

Look into this. They will hire just about anyone on sight if you can make the punters content.

Weird, eh?

Mena · Joined: 02 Jan 2009 Posts: 19 Location: California

therock · Joined: 31 Jul 2005 Posts: 1266 Location: China

If you want to save that much every month go to Korea.

toteach · Joined: 29 Dec 2008 Posts: 273

I agree. Head for Korea or Japan if saving money is essential.

My wage here in Jiangsu is 5000 RMB for 20 forty-minute periods. It's enough for life in China plus a little to put away to travel in China on the odd weekend, but I can't pay my bills at home with what I save.

You'll make more at private schools, but you'll also be expected to work more hours.

China.Pete · Joined: 27 Apr 2006 Posts: 547

"I want to be able to send $500-700 home while I am working." -- Mena

If you mean yearly, no problem -- especially if you skip the annual trip home and your school will pay you the airfare/travel allowance in cash. If you mean monthly, there are a very limited number of well-paying jobs in China. Most of these will be in a few large cities, like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and I'm talking �10,000-20,000 a month on the upper end with your credentials. Anywhere else, expect to earn a maximum of �10,000 a month, with �4,000-6,000 (roughly what you are planning to send home) being far more typical. Let me be clear, China is not an ideal destination for people who need to send money home from day one; it is probably best for younger people without families to support or student loans to repay, and for more mature individuals who are not quite ready to retire.

kungfucowboy83 · Joined: 25 Jan 2006 Posts: 479

it can be done in qingdao too. check the lower level international schools since they don't pay as much as the higher level ones they can't fill all their positions with certified teachers. You should still be able to get 10000ish plus housing without any trouble . On the other hand it will be a lot more work than a language mill or a university. so it shouldn't be too hard to send back around $500 each month.