Job Discussion Forums

[dajiang]

never mind that last post.

its hostility does not reflect the way you (or your friend) will be most welcome here in china. just goes to show some people have bad people skills.

[Shan-Shan]

There seem to be very few "Stay Away" signs written by Chinese for the eyes of FTs.

If you are inexpensive, of decent disposition, and have nothing terribly abnormal with you, many teaching jobs are waiting. That said, a teaching job is not necessarily what one may want to do for any long or short duration of his/her time in China. Some are likely quite decent; many an utter waste of intelligence and patience.

China cannot afford to be too picky. I don't imagine that thousands upon thousands of English speakers are racing to complete MAs in Linguistics and TESL for the honour and privilege of coming to China to work for less than 1,000CDN per month. If Korea has yet to be utterly saturated, China is a long ways behind (in most places).

[Steppenwolf]

[Shan-Shan]

If fossilization is an epidemic, then the ratio should be lowered. Korea is realizing this in its primary and middle schools, and will thus likely produce a greater number of competent English speakers. Besides, I imagine that most Chinese start learning English in primary or middle school anyways. Early exposure to an FT would only be a benefit.

Some FTs, too, are quite capable of injecting "life" back into the English classroom even by the university stage. The damage there is greatest; send in those who might be able to save the patients. My students at the university level often express happiness for having a chance at last to use English. I don't believe that is pointless.

And I still disagree that schools can be picky (that is, schools who offer 3500 RMB or so). Are there really that great a number of people who have no job or family commitments back home, and who are able to come to China, work, and not earn anything substantial other than "life long friendships"?

(Actually, I question that last statement of mine)

[dave_merk]

I don't disapprove of non-degree holders working as FT's here in China (obviously, since I am one). And would I send my child to learn a foreign language from a native speaker who didn't have a piece of paper that said he'd learned it in school? Well, yeah, if he could prove that he could do a good job of it! It's completely different from "would you go to a doctor who never finished medical school," as well. We're not talking life and death, here...we're talking 45-50 minutes in a classroom each day and looking through some books. I challenge those uptight FT's who claim that a degree somehow equals more quality to ask the parents of their students for their opinions. Do you honestly think that the parents (or the students themselves if they're older and paying for school themselves) would really care about the degree status of their son or daughter's teacher? Give me a break. As long as you can speak English and aren't a total moron, then you can be a quality teacher.

What I DON'T like, though, is people who come to work in China and then just assume that it's going to be easy. While you may not end up teaching anything really complicated and may turn out to just be one of those "english-speaking monkeys," teaching ESL in China is NOT easy. Not by any stretch of the imagination. If you don't absolutely love China or have some special reason for wanting to live here then you'll need inhuman patience, you'll need to be willing to compromise on everything from salaries to lesson plans to housing to the date of your payday and you working hours, you'll need to actually have some stamina and be able to stick out when times get tough...because it isn't as easy as "walk in, teach, walk out." I found that out when I stepped into my first classroom of shrieking second-graders who wouldn't listen to a thing I said. But I'm still here because I love it. For some reason...

[Steppenwolf]

[Malsol]

[sheeba]