Job Discussion Forums

[TobiasAH]

Hello good people,

My name is Tobi and I am an absolute newbie in terms of teaching abroad...

I have received an offer from a German company called 'Deutschlehrer in China' (German Teachers in China) about a position as a teacher of German in Taiyuan.
The company looks very professional and I already spoke with a few of their staff members but has no reviews online whatsoever
Apparently, they are only active since mid-last year ... now, I am completely new in the field of teaching abroad (and intentionally planned on teaching English at first but circumstances lead towards teaching German) ... so I am very inexperienced in terms of what is a legit offer what is not.

I was not able to find much information in regards to teaching in Taiyuan. There are a few agencies online praising Taiyuan to be a great spot for teaching but that's their job I suppose: I couldn't find any experiences from say real people

Does anybody know anything about Taiyuan - is it going to be a good spot with at least a handful of expats or do i have to expect total lonesomeness This is my first time doing this and I reallly try to do everything right

[Non Sequitur]

Don't know anything about Taiyuan but as a newbe you should be aware of this lengthy thread.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=91394&highlight=job+offer+checklist

[cdchristy]

OP, I have lived in the Taiyuan area for 4 years and currently work in this city. If you have read other postings on this forum, then I can tell that Taiyuan is the same as all the rest in terms of job experiences (more or less). For my part, I have never heard of this school, but of course I do not teach German. Taiyuan is a city in central north China. It is a relatively poor city where most people only learn English to take the GaoKao or to become a teacher. Some richer students plan on going abroad and therefore need better English. Schools that offer this service a few indeed and represent the best opportunities to make a higher income. It is extremely easy to get secondary income (teaching English) if you work for a university and most schools operate by a don't ask and don't tell policy. There are some foreigners in this city, but by no means in this a happening place for expats.
Concerning this German school, I would be very reluctant to take this offer for these reasons. First, it's a new school and any experienced teacher knows that new schools are best avoided. Basically, they will probably push to do more marketing. Perhaps they will promise future rewards in return for your marketing successes. Those are not likely to happen because the local demand for German is relatively low. That being said, I would point towards a larger city like Chengdu, Shanghai, Beijing, etc. where there may be greater demand and greater pay for a German teacher.
If you do decide to come to Taiyuan, feel free to contact me via pm and I will gladly help you.

[Non Sequitur]

Strange that a place that seems to have little demand for English can support a German-language school.

[cdchristy]

Tobi, I think you misread my comments. I never said that there is little demand for English as there are plenty of English TCs who always offer employment. Now, there is less demand for English (that is taught by foreigners) beyond the typical training center for primary students and university students. You can make significant money combining these two, but to find a high paying stand-alone position you will want an international school. To my knowledge, only one licensed international school exists in the whole province. Even that school struggles to attract students. That being said, (like everywhere else in China), there are some unlicensed international schools.
My previous comments were aimed more at the opportunities available to students who develop significant language proficiency in English. These opportunities are much harder to find than they would be in a bigger city.
As you noted, you have not been here so you are viewing these responses in a vacuum perhaps. Chinese parents are focused on getting the high school seniors a high score on the GaoKao. The higher the score, the better college their child may attend. The English component of the GaoKao makes them value English en masse. Typically, they prefer to have their children learn English from a FT (if they have means) during primary school. Afterward, they usually rely on Chinese teachers who understand the GaoKao and the best ways to prepare (trick) the test. Some middle schools and high schools do hire FTs, but this is pretty rare comparatively speaking of course. These jobs can be found and are reasonably easy to obtain, but you will find vastly more university positions and TCs.
Given the local market, even my wife was shocked to hear about this school's existence when I told about you post. If you do decide to take this job, I would be interested to know how it turns out.

[Non Sequitur]

The Gao Kao has no oral English component. I've always doubted FT contribution to written English as Chinese teachers instruct in Chinese.

[TobiasAH]

Hello Guys - Thank you for all your answers!!!

The school is actually called 'Taiyuan Tourism College' (still Google doesn't seem to find much about it ...) - only the German organisation is called 'Deutschlehrer in China' but they also send teachers to other towns.

Since Taiyuan has around 4 million citizens I thought it would be rather easy to meet people who speak the same language or at least make Chiese friends who speak English/German. By no means, I am looking forward to an 'I only want to spend time with foreigners' - type of experience: I have previously been to Vietnam for 2 months in 2016 (to travel) and absolutely avoided any touristic areas. However, I did travel with a local girl whom I met in England previously who was my 'Joker' for not speaking Vietnamese.
So really, as long as I have 2-3 people I can communicate with I would be good... didn't seem too unrealistic for a 4 million citizen's town ... or does it?

Also, out of pure curiosity ... since Taiyuan is even bigger than Berlin: I was wondering if there is ANY arts-scene there as I couldn't find anything online. Photography is my passion next to teaching and of course, I am looking for a few like-minded people. Now, I know that China is going a little crazy in terms of 'We over I' but even a small underground scene would do

In regards to the bigger cities, I have heard you only really get in once you already have 1-2 years of experience teaching EFL...

[Non Sequitur]

That clarifies things.
To each his own, but I always feel that getting a China career off to a good start lies in not getting too adventurous in your first gig.
There are enough challenges in the situation without dealing with a start up.
Your German skills could be of interest to a Foreign Language U like the one in Dalian/Lushun. They've been around for years and should have reasonable systems in place.
Best
NS

[Non Sequitur]

Could this be the outfit?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiyuan_Foreign_Language_School

[cdchristy]

Tobi, I believe I have heard of this college, but I am not sure. I sent a message to a friend to see what he knows. Given that it is called a college, it is most likely a 3 year school. These schools are populated by students who perform poorly on the GaoKao and are unable to enter a University. In addition, tourism, as a major, is reserved for the lowest of the low performers. I have taught students in this major at one of the lowest ranked universities in China. At a Chinese University, students often get placed in a major based on academic performance. Students with a worse performance often end up as hotel or tourism majors.
It is likely that your students may have to take a course or two in German, but they will probably not care to actually learn. Rather, the school will expect you to give them a passing score irrespective. This same experience often occurs for English FTs. My wife and I referred to our experience as teaching the Chinese wall. That being said, I have a deep passion for education. I did serve several years in typical ESL positions while I adjusted to the local setting. I made contacts with different schools until I found my current location. Now, I teach students who genuinely want to learn English so that they can study abroad. I have found that most other students (ones who have no study abroad plans) usually end up looking for short-cuts and test tricks to pass Chinese-made English tests so that they can be certified in English (but lack real ability).

[cdchristy]

Ok, I heard from my friend. He currently working there part-time (he works for several places). In a nutshell, everything I suspected is true. He called it soul crushing and doubts whether or not he will continue next semester. He said the faculty is nice but the students are the dumbest he has ever seen. Just to make this clear, my friend (in the past) worked at that low-ranking college with me teaching tourism majors. He said the students at the Tourism College were even dumber.
As far as location, the school is located on the outskirts of Taiyuan (SE). Busing is hit or miss and nothing is really close by. You will probably live in the city proper and have to ride a bus to get there.

[TobiasAH]

I just doublechecked and the address on the contract they've send me is:

Xiaodian District, Taiyuan
South Dachang Road, Eonomic development zone
- I was unable to find the road but the district is pretty clearly shown on gmaps.

This is APPARENTLY between the airport and Jinyang lake ... I wouldn't want to call it central but it still seems to be part of the major city.

I am curious if this is the place your friend was talking about ... I was planning on getting a bike; reaching town center shouldnt take longer then 30 minutes ...

[TobiasAH]

...also ... your friend is working there atm right? Would be amazing if he could send me some images and/or an exact location.

I personally dont mind working with difficult students as long as they have an inch of motivation; that's all I need. Since he says the institution itself is alright, I'd love to hear more

[TobiasAH]

Wow ... just found their website ... incredible that it took me so long :/

http://www.tylyzyxy.com/index.php?g=&m=article&a=index&id=1&cid=1

Still coulndt find an exact position on Gmaps ...

[Modernist]

If you haven't been to China you don't really understand what a place like Taiyuan is like. It's a bottom-of-the-barrel provincial capital, truly. Shanxi is one of the poorest and least developed of the northern provinces. There will be precious few foreigners there. Honestly, you're lucky you've found one on this forum! Most foreigners in cities like that live incredibly isolated lives, because few Chinese there are either willing or capable of having a relationship with you of any sort, and of the foreigners that DO exist, quite honestly, a lot of them will be extremely strange people.

You are looking at the headline number of 4 million people. 4 million is not very big by Chinese standards. It will have virtually nothing that you as a foreigner might want. If you can't cook you'd better learn or like Chinese food because that is all you will find.

The city has no character or charm whatsoever. It is a sprawl of concrete highrise blocks and offices and giant roads. There is no 'scene' of any kind. This is not Europe. There's nothing to see and nowhere in particular to go, unless you count the cute little town of Pingyao, which is a nice weekend jaunt once or twice.

You are literally hours from anywhere else, too. Zhengzhou, which is only a little better, far south, Xi'an, which is a fair bit better, even further to the west...the massive ugly mess of Shijiazhuang is closest but still more than an hour on a train and it has nothing in it either! After weeks of living in the hole that is Taiyuan you'll be dying for relief and want to go somewhere, anywhere else, someplace with culture, non-Chinese food and English speakers, but nowhere is easy to get to.

And then there's the school. I used to teach next door to this kind of school myself, in this kind of city. It's as bad as other posters have said. Kids there will be bottom of the barrel, unable to get into any better school. They will have zero motivation. They are forced to take language courses, they may not even have picked German but had it chosen for them, or chosen it because of the football team or BMWs or some other ridiculous reason. Beware!