Job Discussion Forums

[vjareid]

I have accepted a contract from this company and was curious to hear stories from anyone who taught or is currently teaching here...Thank You

[KateCee]

Hi vjareid,

My friend (from England & 19 at the time) taught at Bond 4 years ago. I've dug through some old e-mails of his & I've found one that may help. It's what he wrote to some other friend's friend who was considering going to China. I have blanket permission to share his scribblings simply because I think he's a bloody good writer. Enough about me. Let it pour forth from the horse's mouth.

Kate

**
After completing my TEFL course in London (a 20 hour, 2-day course.... piss easy!) I submitted my details onto the tefl.com website, and within a week I had been e-mailed by a woman called Maria Wang who worked at the Bond Language Institute in Guangdong, a province in south China. The email was a straight-up job offer, no interview needed, no special credentials, no qualifications (expect for a TEFL certificate of course) [when I arrived last year, degrees were not needed to teach in the People's Republic of China. The Chinese Government have since changed that, and now a recognised degree certificate is necessary]. Of course, I jumped at the chance and immediately said 'Yes!', and less than 2 weeks later, I was on a plane to Hong Kong!

Everything moved really fast, which in a way, was good. You see, China is the sort of place you can do months and months of research on to try and figure it all out; people, food, language, culture.. etc - but the best thing, really, is to just hop on a plane, come here and see if you like it. Sure there are some weird things here, and some things that us, "Westerners", may find disgusting/horrible/freaky/plain funny. You want examples? OK, well, yeah, they do eat some weird things here, like snake, dog, toads, horse, monkey, donkey.... even cat! But remember (not sure how good your Chinese history is) not so long ago, in the 50's and 60's, there was a massive famine across the whole entire country which starved millions and millions of Chinese to death. so after that tragic period, they made no hesitations in eating everything they could find! There's always a reason for certain "weird" Chinese behaviour and customs.

Also, you'll see a lot of people spitting in the street. And sometimes in restaurants. And on buses. You get used to it. Though it's always a little off-putting when you see a hot girl strolling down the street and she hocks a massive loogie onto the floor. Babies and toddlers usually pee (and crap) anywhere they want on the pavement/in the road. A bit odd, but just make sure you don't walk through their line of fire! And on one occasion, I've even seen an old man squatting in the gutter taking a dump. That was a low-point, for both of us I think.

Other things to bear in mind: the traffic is absolutely mental - more than once I've seen motorbikes, and even cars driving on the pavement just to get to their destination faster; pollution is a big problem in most big cities and it is really quite noticeable - you get used to it, but watch those lungs!; you will get stared at by everyone (unless you're in a massive city like Beijing or Shanghai) because most of the people, especially the older generation, have never seen a foreigner before (except on TV) and find it quite fascinating. There are literally so many amazing new things to see and experience here, I'm actually having a hard time to remember because I guess I've become acclimatised over the last year.

Bottom line is this: don't come here if you DON'T have an open mind. If you are seriously considering coming to China for whatever reason, there are only three things you should bring with you:
1) An open mind
2) Patience
3) A sense of adventure

Open-mindedness is essential for accepting the above craziness and general polar difference in culture; patience is for the insane amount of bureaucracy that goes on in every establishment here: things like changing money at the bank can take up to an hour (I recently opened a bank account with Bank of China and it took just over 2 hours), even sending a postcard takes way longer than it does in the West 'cos of paperwork and forms to fill out etc; and a sense of adventure will help you get into the core of 'real' China, not this sanitised, westernised, fake version that fat Westerners with equally fat wallets come to see.

As far as picking up the language goes, you have to want to do it yourself to be motivated. I came here with the intention of learning as much as I could, and within a year, I could speak conversational Mandarin Chinese. Sure, you can function without picking up any at all, because there will always be some eager Chinese people who want to practice their English with you, and as a nation, they genuinely do enjoy hosting you around places and taking you out and about, which is very sweet when you first come here. But I know some people who have been here for over 7 years and can still only say 'Hello' 'Goodbye' and 'Two beers, please', which, admittedly, is utterly pathetic. Another reason for me wanting to study is because I wanted to be able to have as many choices as I could: by that, I mean when travelling, buying things down the supermarket, meeting people etc. I didn't want to feel restricted by the language barrier (because, in general, the level of English in china is dire - hence the need for as many English teachers as possible!), so picking up Chinese lets you become more autonomous in that sense, able to roam more freely around the country, and even in the city you're living in.

So when I was studying the language I only studied the spoken part, 'cos their writing is a bitch to master, and ony had one lesson a week because of teaching duties marring a whole lot of free time. But EVERY single opportunity I could, I went out and practiced with everyone (but mainly hot girls - in abundance in every single city here!). Also when you have a grasp of the language, you feel more confident you're not being ripped off (when bargaining for stuff), which is quite common for Chinese to overcharge foreigners because they assume that we're all bloody millionaires.

It's not terribly difficult to study spoken Mandarin; the one obstacle to overcome is that it is a tonal language, having 4 main tones which dictate the way a word is pronounced. And a different tone means a different meaning. That is something that comes with time; it took me 2 or 3 months to get comfortable with accurately pronouncing the words and the tonal variations. Other than that, the grammar is piss-easy: no tenses, plurals, or any of the twisted irregular grammar rules that plague English and other European languages. Reading and writing is a lot more difficult to acquire, although once you can speak, you don't really need to be able to use the characters. It is helpful for travelling to know the place names in Chinese characters where you are going, for boarding the right bus, etc!

One thing that has been immensely helpful throughout my time here has been the Lonely Planet China guidebook. Also the Rough Guide Mandarin Phrasebook is great for starting out; I'd avoid the Lonely Planet phrasebook as it utilises a non-standard form of Pinyin. Pinyin is the Romanised form of Chinese characters, for example the words 'Beijing' or 'Shanghai', these are written in Pinyin - how it sounds, but written using the English alphabet.

When you study Chinese here, the teacher will almost certainly use pinyin at first - it is a standardised form used throughout China (and any place that teaches Mandarin Chinese in fact!). In the Lonely Planet book, they use their own form of pronunciation key, which is just confusing. But the Rough Guide book has pinyin, and a simpler pronunciation key. PLUS it's cheaper than the Lonely Planet one! Buy those sorts of books in England; you'll never find that stuff in Zhongshan. In a year here, I've only found ONE English book in Zhongshan, and that was Dan Brown's 'Angels and Devils'.

More about Bond:

Like I say, I flew to Hong Kong, then got a ferry to a city called Zhongshan, about 90 minutes away from Hong Kong. From there I went straight to Bond. Bond itself is a tiny place, but most of the teaching work is done in outside schools i.e. 'proper' schools.

In most teaching establishments in China, the school or host institute will give you bloody good salary, pay for your flights and visa (usually at the END of the contract though) and put you up in a reasonable apartment. The salaries us foreign teachers get are huge compared to the local Chinese. I received 5,000 RMB per month, which is about 360 pounds sterling. To compare, the Head of English at the middle school I worked at got only 2,000 RMB per month. It's kind of embarrassing, getting over double a proper qualified teacher's wages, but you gotta remember if you brought that payslip back to England, you'd survive only a week or so. So the wages, wherever you are, will be fruitful and allow you to live very very comfortably, although I suggest saving for the holidays in order to go travel and see as much of this magical country as possible.

Teaching-wise, the main thing you should remember is you are employed as more of a token foreign face than a professional teacher. The prestige associated with having a foreigner teach at a school (or rather, the fact that they can afford to employ a foreigner!) is confirmed by the way they invite you to all the school performances, banquets and social events, and parade you round like a celebrity of sorts. It's not rude or intrusive, it's actually quite fun (though a little daunting at first), but at the end of the day, you are there to inspire the student's interest in learning English, so you should aim to make the lessons as interesting and varied as possible. The kids will no doubt be fascinated by what you get up to in your home country, what people there do for recreation, what kind of school life foreign kids have. Just like we're fascinated by all aspects of Chinese life! Oh, and don't be angry if a kid falls asleep in your lesson. They are in school from 7am - 9pm with a couple of hours break for lunch. So when they sleep, I let them. Poor buggers! You'd NEVER get English kids to work that hard, even for money!!

Some bum points with Bond (and other employer agencies in China): expect broken promises. Nothing life-crushing, just things you expect to happen, don't. I had trouble with things breaking (phone, water heater etc) and not being fixed on time, even after pestering the staff numerous times.

I've chatted with plenty of people in other organisations, and this seems to be the norm for China. That's where that 2) Patience comes in handy again. Be prepared to wait for things to happen. It's no real big deal though, but there were a LOT of demanding foreign teachers at Bond who kicked up a shitstorm every time something didn't go their way. I'm pretty easygoing, so didn't mind, but I can see how it could become a problem.

Coming to China has been the best choice I ever made in my life. I've learnt so much, seen and experienced so many amazing and wonderful new things, and basically had a brilliant time! So, yes, I strongly recommend coming to China to teach as it is an experience you'll never forget, but I do realise it is not for everybody. There have been people who have arrived, then gone straight back home within 2 days because it was either too different to their country's culture, or nothing like what they expected. So in this email, I've tried to outline some of the most vivid and important things in my memory, and hope it will help you make your decision.

[mturner902]

I just finished a ten month contract with the Bond Language Institute and I can state with full conviction that the school has come a long way from what the two negative reviews described five years ago.

Bond offers their teachers rent-free accommodations, a flexible schedule, paid-vacation time, Chinese lessons and even cultural outings. It pays on time, is reliable and even assists with minor things such as banking and travel arrangements.

At Bond, I was exposed to teaching virtually all ages and levels from kindergarten students to seasoned business professionals. It was this well-rounded teaching exposure that truly made my teaching style versatile and adaptable.

Bond is essentially a family run operation which has grown from humble beginnings to a city-wide operation. The location (Zhongshan) is ideal for travel in and around southern China as well as a gateway to southeast Asia. Buses and ferries leave daily to Macao, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The city is a perfect size, not too big and not too small.

Bond has dramatically improved its quality and offerings to foreign English teachers and the consensus of teaching alumni seems to be positive and grateful. It will not only give you a job teaching English, it will give you a chance to enjoy, explore and embrace China. That's why, unlike other programs, Bond offers the whole package.

[LarssonCrew]

[quote="mturner902"]I just finished a ten month contract with the Bond Language Institute and I can state with full conviction that the school has come a long way from what the two negative reviews described five years ago.

Bond offers their teachers rent-free accommodations, a flexible schedule, paid-vacation time, Chinese lessons and even cultural outings. It pays on time, is reliable and even assists with minor things such as banking and travel arrangements.

At Bond, I was exposed to teaching virtually all ages and levels from kindergarten students to seasoned business professionals. It was this well-rounded teaching exposure that truly made my teaching style versatile and adaptable.

Bond is essentially a family run operation which has grown from humble beginnings to a city-wide operation. The location (Zhongshan) is ideal for travel in and around southern China as well as a gateway to southeast Asia. Buses and ferries leave daily to Macao, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Hong Kong. The city is a perfect size, not too big and not too small.

Bond has dramatically improved its quality and offerings to foreign English teachers and the consensus of teaching alumni seems to be positive and grateful. It will not only give you a job teaching English, it will give you a chance to enjoy, explore and embrace China. That's why, unlike other programs, Bond offers the whole package.[/quote]

1 post and this seems like a friggin' propoganda post!

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I have to agree with LarssonCrew. People do not normally sign up to a website just to make one positive post about a school unless there is a motivated purpose behind it.

Perhaps it is even all true, but take it with a grain of salt.

[mturner902]

Look, I understand that most people leave short, quickly written and most of the time, negative reviews about their past teaching experiences. This was my first teaching experience (which explains why I signed up to leave only one review) and I actually had a great time at Bond. Most teachers do enjoy the program but don't follow through with the feedback after their contracts finish. So, it's your decision to believe what you want, but know that I was treated very well at Bond and really liked my arrangement, and overall teaching experience.