Job Discussion Forums

[Raymond]

Hello teacher's in China. I'm hope some of you can give me the honest truth to some questions I have, I figure the last person to ask is a recruiter. So, here I go.

1) How much should I expect to be paid per month?
2) What do you consider to be the average cost of living per month? Can you save?
3) How easy is it to just arrive on a tourist visa and find work when you get there?
4) My wife is Korean but speaks English almost like a Native, what are her chances of finding work, and how much can she expect to be paid?
5) The Chinese economy is going up and up. Is your pay also on the up?

Thank you for your time. I look forward to your replies.

[nolefan]

Hi Raymond and welcome to the forums.

please read some of the previous posts and use the search feature as these questions have been asked more often that you might think.

Standard of living is subjective, especially in China. Most ESL teachers are paid somewhere between 3500 and 6000 RMB a month to teach a certain amount of hours. While that is roughly the equivalent of a week's pay in the US, it allows for a relaxed lifestyle in in the mainland. more often than not, you just spend that money on shopping, eating and travellin as the schools usually take care of the accomodations. Public schools pay less than private schools as a general rule but it is also an easier gig.

As far as your wife's situation, it really depends. I would think it possible in some public schools if you market yourselves as a couple.

good luck

[Guest]

Hello Raymond

I receive 3,500 yuan per month, and where I live, 3 hours Northwest of Shanghai, that goes a long way. If I did not take toys etc. to the Orphanage, I could save roughly 2,000 yuan per month. I know it is not much, but it would add up.

I only teach 10 hours per week, and that is why my salary is low, but I am very happy here and have no intention of changing schools. I am just commencing my second year with this school.

I personally think that your Wife will be able to find some work once you have settled down there. Once you are accepted, things just seem to happen. I myself intend to try and find some evening teaching work to supplement my income as Christmas is now looming over my head and I have 67 children to buy for. I know that the School would not really approve of my "moonlighting" but I am really left with not much choice in the matter.

[Flabs]

Rhonda -
Are you teaching in an Orphanage or working voluntarily there? I'd be interested in any info you could give me about orphanages in China.

[Guest]

Flabs

I live and work 10 hours per week in a Private Boarding School but I spend most of my time and money on the local Orphans. It was VERY HARD getting in there in the first place 12 months ago as the Chinese Government actively discourages visitors to their Orphanages since the release of the movie (The Dying Romm), which I have never seen by the way. The movie was taped secretly by an American cameraman, I believe, in the 1990's.

Since that time, even the people who adopt from my Orphanage do not get to visit it. They pick their babies up in Suzhou, two hours away.

I think I am like a thorn in their side so to speak, and they basically do not know how to get rid of me.

I can, and have, change lives - and therefore there is NO WAY I am going to leave these children who now look upon me as their Grandmother.
If I thought there would be someone following in my shoes, that would be a different matter, however I still see the door slammed in Chinese faces, and so the children never get visitors unless I go there.

Personally I think that it is very rewarding to help these children, who are still being left in the roadside even today. Some get adopted - mainly to the U.S.A. (I have two babies due to leave me soon), some die, some are retarded and physically handicapped, but ALL need love and one on one attention that they never get. They do get fed and clothed, but there is a lot missing in their lives and I hope I can change that.

I encourage anyone to try and make a difference to these young lives as believe me, any effort you make will be paid back to you threefold by the children.

Best of luck

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

Raymond:

If your wife is Korean, then I would suggest trying to work somewhere in the northeast where there are a lot of North Koreans.

Yangje, Jilin, Changchun, Dandong, and Shenyang all have sizable Korean populations and Koreatowns.

The reason I say this is because your wife will earn next to nothing. Think realistically for a moment:

Why pay a big salary to a teacher who does not draw students to the school?

That is the reason most of us are here. We draw students to our schools. We are westerners.

Expect your wife to earn the same amount of money many Chinese English teachers would make: About or even less than 1000 RMB a month.

But if she works in an area where there a lot of Koreans and teaches Korean kids, that would be different because most Chinese-Koreans who speak decent English often end up working for international companies or do their best to marry a foreigner to book it out of China.

So having a teacher that can explain "Why foreigners do such and such" or "What this means compared to Korean" etc., would be an asset.

Some food for thought....

Oh, and Rhonda:

I saw the Dying Room. I would suggest to you to NEVER watch it. It would tear your heart out.