Job Discussion Forums

[fpshangzhou]

I'm about to embark on a new career change into the wonderful world of ESL/EFL. I'm starting with an onsite tefl/tesol program, which includes a teaching component with real students. Coming from a hospitality background, I'm curious if there is a demand in China and other Asian countries for ESP for tourism/hospitality business English? I've been here in China working in hotels for the past couple of years and feel pretty confident that there is a demand, but just don't exactly know how to approach this special niche market. All thoughts on this topic are very welcome.

Thanks,

Aaron in China

[choudoufu]

yes, yes, yes, and yes.

look into 3-year vocational-technical colleges. probably more of those
than there are standard 4-year universities.

i'm currently suffering in/on hainan island, no pollution, no winter, many
bikinis, close to the beach. working a massive 12-14 hours/week.

teaching:

hotel english
tourism english
business english

[johntpartee]

Not enough "yesses", choudoufu. Or maybe just one big YES!

Even many (perhaps most) of the academic colleges have some sort of tourism major. They are usually labelled "Practical English".

[Non Sequitur]

A qualified 'yes'.
There are hotel management colleges eg Qingdao and other schools with tourism majors eg Dalian.
But often the standard of English is so low to begin with that getting anything from the students is the first task.
I'm all for specialisation which should lead to higher salaries for teachers.

[johntpartee]

[fpshangzhou]

I agree that most college grads that go work in international hotels & restaurant establishments have very basic level of oral English speaking skills. I've been holding English classes for all departments from front desk to food & beverage to housekeeping to catering. One of the top recruiting requirements are their English skill, which dictates what department they are placed. Speaking of my experience, would I be able to use my 2 years teaching experience at various hotels in China count since they weren't held in an educational environment?

I tried finding vocational colleges/universities for China in order to apply to them directly from here in Hangzhou. Does anyone have any links that might have such a listing?

If the demand for this sector is in such demand, would it be wise to get a job with said colleges/schools or should I make an attempt to drum up my own business to offer private training services to the western restaurants/hotels for the local staff?

Again, thanks for the feedback from all so far and look forward to more input from all.

Cheers,
Aaron

[Non Sequitur]

I taught here a few years back.
http://www.admissions.cn/qchm/