Job Discussion Forums

fieldsofbarley · Joined: 12 Nov 2010 Posts: 47 Location: Mexico City

Hi there,

I�ve been applying to a few universities in China with some success. I have a degree, a CELTA and teaching experience.

My partner is also interested in teaching there, not English but Spanish. He�s a native speaker with teaching certificates and experience, but he hasn�t got a degree. Would this be a problem for him in terms of getting a job and/or a visa?

Many thanks

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

I think the issue will be the demand for Spanish language tutoring rather than lack of degree.
There are a number of foreign language universities around - there's one in Dalian I know for sure.
If a city is big enough to host one of these then there will be other schools close by with ESL needs.
So, my advice would be get the partner a job then slot in yours.
A google on 'foreign language universities cn' should get a few leads.

tr_waters · Joined: 18 Nov 2010 Posts: 14 Location: Jinan, Shandong

The rules are clear

mike w · Posted: Sat Jan 15, 2011 2:05 am Post subject:

fieldsofbarley · Joined: 12 Nov 2010 Posts: 47 Location: Mexico City

Thanks for the info, Sequitur.

Mister Al · Joined: 28 Jun 2004 Posts: 840 Location: In there

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Well I don't have a degree and I have just finished my 3rd year in China at a public college - and... as Director of Teaching Affairs.

The Great Wall of Whiner · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Posts: 4946 Location: Blabbing

A lot of people teach in China without a degree, both legally and not.

One of many reasons why the salaries are so low...

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

it also answers the question: "why do some people take the low salaries that are offered?"

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

I think the OP posted about degree requirements not salaries.
That is a topic that has been well examined elsewhere and my view remains that one should look at the package, not just the salary.
For the record as the 'non degreed' DTA I was paid RMB1000 per month above the highest paid degreed teacher.
Fields of barley - get a list of Foreign Languages (and Foreign Studies) universities and get on with it. I think your partner will be agreeably surprised. I've just looked at the Dalian FL Uni site and they definitely offer Spanish. The others will as well.
For the record my English majors often asked what second international language they should study. Many had thought about German or Russian.
I always advise Spanish.

7969 · Joined: 26 Mar 2003 Posts: 5782 Location: Coastal Guangdong

fieldsofbarley · Joined: 12 Nov 2010 Posts: 47 Location: Mexico City

Non Sequitur, thank you for your PM - I replied to it but I�m not sure it�s been sent.

Thanks for your help.

kev7161 · Joined: 06 Feb 2004 Posts: 5880 Location: Suzhou, China

I've always wondered about teaching a language other than English. Most of us who teach English I'd guess is not to start from scratch (unless you're teaching very young children) because we assume teens and young adults already have a background in the basics. And so many teach the so called "spoken English" classes and there's not much there when it comes to detailed grammar or even heavy duty vocabulary learning. So if one were to teach Spanish and his charges didn't already have a background in the language, how would he go about doing it? Wouldn't it be a Chinese to Spanish process? And if that same teacher didn't know a lick of Chinese to compare vocabulary, what then? A WHOLE LOT of pictures? Or, assuming the teacher knows English, would he compare English to Spanish as there are several similarities in vocabulary but a whole other mess of grammar rules?

nickpellatt · Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 1522

I would think a well skilled teacher could teach entirely in the TL without using any of the students L1. When I did my Trinity course one of the modules was called 'Unknown Language' and we had no briefing whatsoever on what this would be.

First lesson a teacher walked in to the class of me and my fellow trainees, and conducted everything in the TL (which we subsequently learnt was Greek). He didnt use any English for 50 minutes, which was quite scary for us, and he ended each lesson with 10 minutes in English to review the process, rather than the language learnt. We had 4 of his lessons, and learnt some basic language. He used a lot of gestures, props, photos and even puppets as learning tools. I think with experience and good materials it can be done.

On a side note I have a proposal pending with my UK employer to do a new teacher orientation and training program in 2011. Part of this program will be teaching new teachers an EFL game/class activity, and I plan on doing this whilst speaking nothing but Chinese! The idea is similar to the trinity course one, in that is gets the prospective teachers thinking about how to use gesture etc to make students understand.

Non Sequitur · Joined: 23 May 2010 Posts: 4724 Location: China

Some interesting points.
I think that a student at a Foreign Language/Studies university would have some experience of English and that the uni may be the first encounter with Spanish.
In this case tuition (language of instruction) would be in the language students and teachers probaby have in common - English.
I've worked alongside Korean and Japanese teachers and have never given a thought to what language they instruct in. In these cases it could well be that the teacher speaks Chinese.