Job Discussion Forums

[hankpeters]

I am Chinese, but American born. And I was just wondering if there were many native English speaking Asian teachers in China. And if there are any on this board, could you share your experiences of finding work? Is it much harder if you look Asian, and are there still opportunities? How are you treated? Any info would be great. Thanks!

[NateM]

I'm not an Asian-American, but there was one that used to spend quite a bit of time on my site, who wrote up some stuff for American-Born Chinese who want to come here to teach. You may want to check it out:

http://p092.ezboard.com/fteachingenglishinchinafrm38.showMessage?topicID=17.topic

[hankpeters]

Thanks Nate,

After checking out the info from your link, it appears that most American-Born Chinese will have a difficult time finding work in the cities. My motivation for teaching English in China is a little unique. I am a secondary school language arts teacher in the states. I earn a good salary and benefits. But my fiance lives in Guangzhou, China and may not be able to move to the US anytime soon. So I may have to move to China, marry her, and find a way to make a living.... and this has been a scary thought.

I know that for visa requirements, expats must remain hired by a school. But if I marry her, I am guessing that I can apply for some type of permanent residency. And if I do that, is it possible to forget the schools all together and earn a decent living as a private tutor? Any guesses are welcome.

[NateM]

I could be wrong, but I don't think it's really that hard, it's just not as easy. Try to do things like arrange phone interviews so you can demonstrate your English proficiency, as that is part of what at least some schools are worried about when they see a non-white face, because they have preconcieved notions about what "Americans" or "Native English Speakers" look like. If you speak a good deal of Chinese or Cantonese, as well, that might go some distance to helping you out, perhaps even in a field outside teaching.

[Roger]

Non-white TEFLers have get mixed feelings over here. Personally, I knew Nepalese, afghans, Filippinos, Nigerians working in China, and anglophone Chinese, Koreans or Japanese fall into a special catgory that gets treated differently: sometimes well, sometimes - well, that's hard to define: do Chinese have bad vibes with overseas Chinese because those huaqiaoren represent something like a "traitors"? Anyway, some do complain their Chinese students have poblems accepting that they speak "good English"...
In GUANGDONG I would say you are more likely to be faced with this type of attitude; it may have to do with the locals' proclivity to emigrate.

I am not convinced you can freelance here on a semi-permanent residence permit. How would you obtain that in the first place? You would probably have to get naturalised. If you marry your fiancee you can, after 5 years continuous sojourn here, apply for a special 'D' visa. Meanwhile, this is not very often granted.