Job Discussion Forums

[Nano]

Hey guys, so I've been applying to jobs to teach english in China but I got an offer to teach Math or Physics to 15 year olds (grade 9??). The salary is way more than I would get as an English teacher (18,000rmb + 2,000 rmb housing allowance per month) with 15-20 teaching hours.

I have my university degree in mechanical engineering but I am not sure what level these Chinese kids are on. With english, there is a lot of interaction between students so you don't have to talk as much but for math or physics I assume that I will be doing most of the talking. Not sure how stressful the job is either, I mean we are all probably way more advanced in speaking english than chinese students but I'm afraid that Chinese kids in math will be learning what I learned in 2nd year university haha. This will mean that I will have to stay on my toes and fully up to date with everything.

Hopefully someone could provide some help/experience.

Ⅰ. Basic information Date:
School Name Hangzhou No. 4 High School skyper ID for Interview 　
School address NO.438 the Sixth Street of Xiasha District Apply for work visas（Y or N） Y
School Website 　 Organization Code 06396157-0
Contact info. George TEL:13024271523 Email:[email protected]
Ⅱ. Recruitment requirements
Gender NO-LIMITED Have Teaching qualification Certificate (Y or N) NO-LIMITED
Nationality THE US THE UK AUSTRILIA OTHER EU COMPANY Contract Period ONE YEAR
Age NO-LIMITED Language Requirements ENGLISH
Educational background ABROVE BECHOLOR DEGREE the minimum requirement of the number of year for working experience NO-LIMITED
Personal Background MATHMATIC, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS Recommendation Letter (Y or N) N
Recruiting Numbers 3 (ONE OF EACH SUBJECT) Latest date for duty THE END OF AUGEST
Ⅲ.The teaching and treatments
Teaching Hours every week 15-20 Monthly wage and bonus 18000RMB+2000RMBHOUS ALLOWENCE
Work Days/Week 5 Accommodation NO
Working time 8 HOURS The number of days of paid annual leave SUMMER AND WINTER HOLIDAY
Students' ages and class size AROUND 15 YEARS\25 STUDENTS PER CLASS Visa category 　
can spare time for part-time job NO Medical Insurance and ticket 8000 RM PER YEAR

Thanks guys!

[kev7161]

Can you ask them which textbook you'll be teaching from? Perhaps you can find it on Amazon and order a copy. Or maybe they could take photos of a few pages (one chapter?) and email them to you. In this way, you'd at least have an inkling of the level you are to teach.

I teach 5th grade math (among other things) and most of my students keep right up (sometimes they're even correcting me if I make an error on the board!). They also get math from a Chinese teacher 3X a week and his math is easily junior high school level or higher. One of my students the other day told me she likes my math because it's "easy and fun" but she doesn't like her Chinese math because it's "much too hard"! HA! I'm teaching from an American 5th grade math book so, ???

The pay is a good pay. That's roughly $3000 USD a month. That is gross pay though I'd imagine. But still, pretty good, esp. for a 1st year salary. It took me 9 years to achieve a level that is right around yours!!!

[jimpellow]

I used to teach subjects in China (Business, Economics, IT, Critical Thinking). I was not at all qualified for the last and still don't get it! Brush up a bit and you will be fine. A main goal of a subject like math in these prep programs is not so much as to further their math skills, but to have them doing math in English.

The two biggest stressors from these programs are in my opinion:

1. The students come from affluent families and generally lack motivation to put it mildly. Their parents most likely made their money by playing the Chinese money game the best (lying, cheating, bribing, etc). Therefore, the parents and the children believe the same when it comes to education.

2. The schools. But that is China. Corrupt teachers and headmasters taking bribes from parents, changing vacation days at the last minute, backstabbing, etc. Often the on-campus housing is a hassle but since they are giving you a stipend you don't need to worry.

Still I think they are an excellent choice in comparison to most teaching jobs in China. The salaries are much higher, lots of paid vacation time, and the workload is very manageable.

You do want to research the school itself and the organization through the Internet first. As the prep programs have proliferated, so too have the scam artists in setting them up to take advantage of students and teachers alike as is the natural progression of anything new and profitable in China.

If you don't like that school or program, you have oodles and oodles of schools that will hire you on. You could do better than 18 if you really wanted to.

Hangzhou is a great city for China though hot as hell in summer. But you won't have to be there.

[Nano]

[Guerciotti]

Grade 9 is most likely pre-calculus, maybe derivative calculus. You know, the first semester of calculus.
Definitely ask which textbook you will use. You can get a copy and sort it out before you arrive. Teaching style? Explain the concept, the why. Do the examples and problems. Ask the students about the problems while you work through them. Give them in-class problems to solve. Give them lots of homework.

[kev7161]