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mcviking
Joined: 15 Aug 2010
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:10 pm Post subject: How does teaching in China compare with Korea? |
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So I am looking into making the switch next year and had a few questions?
1. What are the minimum requirements other than a bachelor's degree?
2. Is a TEFL or equivalent certification really necessary to find a decent job in China? Are online certifications acceptable or must they be done in class?
3. What sort of visa requirements are needed? (i.e. do I have to get everything apostilled and certified, transcripts, FBI background check, etc)
4. Are Chinese friendly to foreigners?
I am sure these questions have been answered a billion times. MOD EDIT Thank you in advance for your input. |
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johntpartee
Joined: 02 Mar 2010
Posts: 3258
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 3:38 pm Post subject: |
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| 1. What are the minimum requirements other than a bachelor's degree? |
That and two years teaching experience, technically. Lotta people don't even have that.
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| 2. Is a TEFL or equivalent certification really necessary to find a decent job in China? |
No.
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| 3. Do I have to get everything apostilled and certified, transcripts, FBI background check, etc? |
No.
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| 4. Are Chinese friendly to foreigners? |
Some are, some aren't. |
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nickpellatt
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
Posts: 1522
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| Posted: Thu Aug 19, 2010 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| I think Chinese people are incredibly friendly to foreigners, and if what I read about Korea is true, then China will be very different. I have always found it very easy to make friends in China, and its pretty easy to meet girls too. I personally think one of the best selling points about China is the friendliness of the people and the ease of joining new social circles |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 7:18 pm Post subject: |
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| nickpellatt wrote: |
| I think Chinese people are incredibly friendly to foreigners, and if what I read about Korea is true, then China will be very different. I have always found it very easy to make friends in China, and its pretty easy to meet girls too. I personally think one of the best selling points about China is the friendliness of the people and the ease of joining new social circles |
Having lived in both China and Korea, I agree with you mostly. Chinese people are much friendlier on the street/on an impersonal basis than Koreans, BUT, I might point out a couple of fine points:
1. For some reason, in Chinese culture, it is completely acceptable to laugh at someone hysterically who has just fallen down, bumped his head on a hard object, or injured himself otherwise. At times, this can REALLY get under a person's skin. I've noticed the Koreans do this much less. It is incredibly infuriating to slip and fall, and while you're still wondering whether your wrist is broken or not, some nearby fat 50-year-old with no shirt starts laughing hysterically like it's some sort of comedy routine. I've noticed less of this in Korea.
2. If you speak Korean, Koreans will often treat you extremely well on an individual basis; they greatly appreciate any Korean you have learned. I've noticed that Chinese tend to take a foreigner speaking decent Chinese more for granted. Koreans appreciate that you took the time to learn the language of their thimble-sized, insignificant country; Chinese just think "well, he's living here and we have 1.5 billion people, no big surprise that he decided to learn to speak Chinese."
That said, Chinese people are, in general, much nicer to people they don't know than Koreans. |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Posts: 6613
Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 8:46 pm Post subject: |
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This is the International board and this is the China Job-Related forum. Postings here must focus on living and teaching in China. Postings related to teaching in Korea must take place on the Korean board and separate registration is required.
Korean focused postings here will be deleted. |
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LanGuTou
Joined: 23 Mar 2009
Posts: 621
Location: Shandong
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| Posted: Sun Aug 22, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
Chinese just think "well, he's living here and we have 1.5 billion people, no big surprise that he decided to learn to speak Chinese."
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Really? 
I have always been greeted with amazement when I speak even one word of Chinese!
In the first place, most Chinese assume foreigners cannot and do not speak Chinese - especially the less educated ones that work in shops, restaurants etc.
When I do speak Chinese, it often takes a few seconds for them to even realize the fact then their entire attitude towards me changes to friendliness and acceptance. Often, the simple fact that there is a "waiguoren" speaking Chinese attracts onlookers like paper clips to a magnet. |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:01 am Post subject: |
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| LanGuTou wrote: |
| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
Chinese just think "well, he's living here and we have 1.5 billion people, no big surprise that he decided to learn to speak Chinese."
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Really?
I have always been greeted with amazement when I speak even one word of Chinese!
In the first place, most Chinese assume foreigners cannot and do not speak Chinese - especially the less educated ones that work in shops, restaurants etc.
When I do speak Chinese, it often takes a few seconds for them to even realize the fact then their entire attitude towards me changes to friendliness and acceptance. Often, the simple fact that there is a "waiguoren" speaking Chinese attracts onlookers like paper clips to a magnet. |
It's true, you get that reaction in China a lot too, just not *QUITE* as much as you do in Korea.
I think you'd have to study a very large sample size to see the difference, but yes, I think Koreans are slightly more amazed by it than Chinese are, on average.
This is an opinion I've come to gradually over the period of five years in Korea and four years in Chinese-speaking areas (Hong Kong and Taiwan), but it may not hold true for mainland China. I've noticed that in Hong Kong and Taiwan, a larger number of people are indifferent to your language skills than in Korea.
And the reasons for this slight difference are easy to see -- with the Mandarin boom, every college kid and his little brother are studying Chinese now. China is just plain bigger in the first place, and Chinese are more likely to expect foreigners to learn their language.
Sure, you still get a ton of people saying "WOW! NI GUO YU JIANG DE HEN HAO!" but I maintain it's not quite as many as in Korea. |
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The Mellow Peril
Joined: 23 Jul 2010
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 1:58 am Post subject: |
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| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
1. For some reason, in Chinese culture, it is completely acceptable to laugh at someone hysterically who has just fallen down, bumped his head on a hard object, or injured himself otherwise. At times, this can REALLY get under a person's skin. I've noticed the Koreans do this much less. It is incredibly infuriating to slip and fall, and while you're still wondering whether your wrist is broken or not, some nearby fat 50-year-old with no shirt starts laughing hysterically like it's some sort of comedy routine. I've noticed less of this in Korea. |
Sounds like you really need to take more care when leaving the house imo... |
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Rooster_2006
Joined: 24 Sep 2007
Posts: 984
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| Posted: Tue Aug 24, 2010 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| The Mellow Peril wrote: |
| Rooster_2006 wrote: |
1. For some reason, in Chinese culture, it is completely acceptable to laugh at someone hysterically who has just fallen down, bumped his head on a hard object, or injured himself otherwise. At times, this can REALLY get under a person's skin. I've noticed the Koreans do this much less. It is incredibly infuriating to slip and fall, and while you're still wondering whether your wrist is broken or not, some nearby fat 50-year-old with no shirt starts laughing hysterically like it's some sort of comedy routine. I've noticed less of this in Korea. |
Sounds like you really need to take more care when leaving the house imo... |
It rains a lot in Taiwan and it is very hard to avoid slipping. |
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creeper1
Joined: 24 Aug 2010
Posts: 481
Location: New Taipei City, Taiwan
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 12:03 pm Post subject: I too am thinking about making the move to China. |
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I too am thinking about making the move to China. Before I make the move however I would like to sound out you guys on wheter it's a good idea to leave good old Korea for China.
I would like to have opinions on the following topics
1. Student motivation - Are the students motivated and excited by English? Do they seem ambitious? Is it important in Chinese society to know English? I am asking this because in my current location I can at least say that some of the students are motivated.
2. Technology in the classroom - Do you have computers wired up to big screen in front of the classroom or is it just plain old board and chalk type stuff we are talking? These days in my current location I use a lot of powerpoints and videos and it makes lessons interesting. I wouldn"t like to go backwards so to speak.
3. Accomodation - I heard China can be pretty dirty. How is the accomodation? In my current location I have a clean apartment but fight roaches. I don't want such issues in China.
4. Sports. I like to do two sports - swimming and judo. Is it usually easy to find a pool in China. There is an olympic size pool close to my current apartment.
thanks guys in advance for any info you are able to give. |
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cormac
Joined: 04 Nov 2008
Posts: 768
Location: Xi'an (XTU)
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| Posted: Thu Aug 26, 2010 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Creeper, its going to depend on the particular school, and the location. There are plenty of different type of conditions right across the board. I had a dodgy school but they gave me a great apartment to live in. Whereas I knew others in ok schools, but had crap apartments. From what I can gather its pot-luck. |
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Gamecock
Joined: 18 Nov 2003
Posts: 102
Location: Zhuhai, China
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| Posted: Fri Aug 27, 2010 11:31 am Post subject: |
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creeper1,
I made the move from Korea to China about 2 years ago. So I'll address your questions based on my experience (which may not be universal):
1. I find students are far better motivated to learn English than Korea. I think it has to do with the massive amount of competition for jobs later in life. There are many more foreign companies and actually being able to speak English is a real skill (as opposed to Korea where it is mostly just to pass an exam). I generally find the under 22 Chinese to be MUCH more fluent than Koreans.
2. Technology in the classroom is hit and miss. Every workplace will be different. This is a good question to ask when applying for positions. On a side note, internet is SLOW in China compared to Korea, but do-able IMO.
3. Housing is generally MUCH better for foreign teachers. At least in size, you will probably have a full one or two-bedroom apartment rather than an efficiency chicken coop standard in Korea. Apartment cleanliness is no different than Korea.
4. Sports is no problem. Unless you live in the middle of nowhere in China you will be able to find a pool. |
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Mr. Kalgukshi
Mod Team
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
Posts: 6613
Location: Need to know basis only.
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| Posted: Sat Aug 28, 2010 12:18 am Post subject: |
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A Korea focused comment and follow-up comment have been deleted. If there are more, the thread will be locked and there will be sanctions.
Disregarding posted Mod warnings is not the best of decisions on this site,
EDIT: Some members become ex-members when they disregard posted Mod warnings including the following found at the top of this forum:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=76122 |
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