Job Discussion Forums

[Mr. English]

Go freelance and teach private students. Teach at private schools, not mills, but small private schools, to fill in the hours until your private business is full-time. Definitely more money and far, far, far more pleasurable, interesting students when you freelance.

[7969]

[Miajiayou]

I was recently thinking about making a jump to a language mill. When I broke it down, I would be getting paid less per hour than at my university.

I also don't consider grading to be bothersome paperwork. I actually like teaching. I am a teacher. It isn't just something I do in between "having my own life," it is a part of my life.

I do know teachers who feel fulfilled working at Web and Wall Street, so I know not everyone is this way, but it always makes me laugh when people think their job is better than mine because they don't really do anything. Some of us like having responsibilities, accomplishing tasks, achieving goals, etc.

Not saying, of course, that a Chinese uni is the perfect place for an ambitious self-starter, but there are some of us here who have fit it into a plan that not only involves bigger and better things but also avoids the worst of the economic situations in our home countries. Not everyone is just looking to beat their personal laziness record.

[Non Sequitur]

Great thread people - should be a sticky.
As I'm from the Sthn Hemisphere I use the paid winter break to go home. Don't often make it for Christmas but the idea is there.
I've never been paid for the summer break July/Aug even when re-signing for another year. But I can continue in the uni apartment and teach if I want to at a language school downtown or have privates in my apartment. That means my salaried uni work is only about 10m.
I don't mind big classes, I just adjust teaching style. My uni classes are all oral English so no wading through masses of plagiarised paper.

[Miles Smiles]

[Yu]

I worked at a uni for the visa. It is the way to get a visa for the fewest hours of committed work. (At most I worked 16 hours in one semester, the least I worked was 6 hours in one semester.). This allows me to choose how I spent my time and to do a variety of different jobs. After a few years of teaching, I found some part time work that I really enjoyed, and some other part time work that albeit tedious paid very handsomely.

I also choose uni work because I planned to go back to the US and I wanted to continue to teach here in universities. My belief was that teaching in a uni would be better for the resume. It would be more recognized. I do look down on the teachers who work at language schools and generally perceive them as unqualified backpackers (again this varies with language schools and teachers) but my feeling was if I looked at language schools in this way, then how might other employers also see this? And does it matter?

[Kurochan]

Another advantage of teaching at a public university is that you are assured that it won't close or go bankrupt suddenly, leaving you without back pay or a job. To me, that is one of the big advantages of a university job.

Also, I think you are less likely to be fired capriciously than at a language school. It seems like at a language school if you have the wrong personality, "wrong" appearance, etc., you can be terminated with little warning, whereas the only times I've ever heard of someone being removed from a university job midyear was when the teacher did something really beyond the pale, like assault a secretary or throw frequent screaming/cursing fits in the office. Plus, it's standard in university contracts that if you are terminated without going through a particular procedure you can claim compensation. I doubt most foreigners would pursue that, but since it is there it makes schools cautious.

[igorG]

I'd hate to spoil this party, but wouldn't it be really better to teach English to all of our students from total beginners?

I have been a uni teacher and what i have seen in my students' use of the English language is an incredible interference of the local approach to the foreign language teaching. Getting rid of habits is one thing and convincing that the foreign teacher is correct is yet another. In 1997, I had only one issue to fight, the first one. Today, I also have to assure and re-assure the uni students what is correct/appropriate and/or incorrect/inappropriate use of English language. Still, in their little programmed brain cells, the students will have more than a doubt and whatever has been said in the classroom will probably not be accepted by many of them later on.

So, what's our role? To practice what they have learnt and chip in a few extras? Or, to demonstrate our capability to grade tests that'll make little difference in their uni studies?

I am appalled by the way the English language is introduced in this country. And, i am more than disgusted by how some local experts are using it.

[cormac]

Honestly, I'm not that bothered by the mistakes that are made, and the refusal to be corrected both by teachers and students alike. I'm more bothered by the lack of importance that oral english has in their educational system. In my university there are over 50 chinese teachers dedicated to various forms of reading and writing. There are 6 chinese oral teachers all for the non-english majors. And lastly, there's little ole me for the english majors.

Oral english is an after thought. It has no real support from administration. Considering for most people the ability to speak is a firm indicator of language ability, is shocking the lack of focus on it. Never mind having more foreigners teaching... Chinese teachers with decent ability would be acceptable. But its not going to happen.

[wangdaning]

[Lobster]

If you would understand one thing, all other things would be clear. In the Chinese school system after primary school, English is a subject and not a language. The focus is on the ability to get high marks on an exam which may be multiple choice or include obscure grammar or usage points. It has nothing at all to do with communicative ability.

All the CTs' efforts are put into helping students do well on this exam. They simply teach to the test. If you are teaching in a public school environment, you will help your students most by adapting your oral lessons to shadow the content of their regular English classes and by helping them with any issues that might arise in them. Ask for their course book!

Your role is simply seen as building enthusiasm for the students' English studies, which hopefully will carry over to the CTs' class. Academically, your class has little merit in their eyes, as it is not tied to the exams. If you are teaching in a public school, but do not understand how it functions, your job may be incredibly frustrating. If you're lucky, you'll teach at a uni where the FTs grades count toward the students' final marks.

RED

[Non Sequitur]

I recall a student back in 2005 (she is still a friend) who said it was oral English with an FT that got her enthusiastic about the language.
Her words 'At last I could see that I could put it to use'.
Prior to that like most other students, she had endured English from middle school years.
Happy to say she is at near native skills now orally and her written is also very good.

[igorG]

Today, on a public bus somewhere in Guangdong, a senior high school girl began a chat with my 4 year old son and i. She could handle some short social exchanges pretty well, although with some shyness in her voice she claimed her spoken English wasn't so good. When i asked her whether her written English was better than her spoken one, she hesitated. I didn't insist on her answer, so i let her practice her oral English with my son.

Now, from my very experience with hundreds of local youngsters between 16-23, there is a large number of mainland Chinese that lack in the area of writing as much as in the area of speaking. I read plenty of rather poor writing assignments of locals that believed their writing was much better than i thought. I felt sorry to disappoint them, but i couldn't lie to them for their words, sentences, or paragraphs that made little or no sense to me.

So, why do local students lack in writing, when their local teachers drilled them with grammar? Perhaps, the below quote has an answer to my question of writing.

[igorG]

[Non Sequitur]

Igor makes interesting points.
As a subject taught in Chinese, English has a remoteness to it. Both student and teacher examine English - from afar. In biology class they examine birds and fish.
What FTs bring to the table is English as a social skill or enabler. A bit like ballroom dancing was taught in upper crust boys schools in England.