Job Discussion Forums

Hwozdecki · Joined: 08 Mar 2005 Posts: 14 Location: Calgary Canada

Just wondering if you can make good money teaching English in China? Everyone tells me Japan is the best place for money. I dont' want to go to Japan because I want to learn Chinese. I also want to learn more about my half Chinese side and the history of the culture. But I also want to teach English and make some decent pay to help pay off those darn student loans.

Let me know what you think...
Jeff Hwozdecki

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

Economically, this is a bad place to be to pay off student loans. Most contracts do not allow for more than 20 hours of teaching a week, if that, and forbid outside work.

Depending on where you go, however, living is cheap. You will have a free apartment and you can get a decent meal for less than a $.

Out in the provinces, I've heard it is possible to make $800 monthly, but I make much less. You should be able to easily live on half your salary, but when you meet a local lovely that wants you to buy a house before delighting you with her exquisite charms, you are going to be one frustrated dude.

Where I am, a guy with financial problems such as you describe is chopped liver, and when you see some of the women out here, you would be willing to give them the moon if they asked for it. The culture more or less demands that a boy have a house before marrying.

No doubt you could try it on with some of the local bimbos, but a decent woman here likes a guy with a house.

That's going to cost you maybe $30,00, which is a lot to save when half your salary is going for school loans.

So sayeth Tofuman

go_ABs · Joined: 08 Aug 2004 Posts: 507

I'm one of those folk that tofuman mentions - out in the provinces earning almost US$1,000 each month. However, I'm in my second year at this school and negotiated a substantial increase. My first year here I earned US$650 each month.

Forget about buying a house, tofuman's off on some weird tangent there.

You might save enough to pay off your student loans, but probably not easily. In my dinky little city there's not that much opportunity to spend my money, so I kind of save by default. But this also results in a rather extraordinary amount of boredom.

You could ask the people on the Japan forum about the possibility of learning Chinese while in Japan (???). You'll obviously need to have a bit of Japanese, too. Maybe you can learn purely functional Japanese while also studying Chinese. (But I can barely say anything in Chinese, and I live here...)

Good luck,

rickinbeijing · Joined: 22 Jan 2005 Posts: 252 Location: Beijing, China

Jeffmeister,

If you need to pay off loans and want to do it quickly, East Asia is not the place to be teaching ESL. Risk going to Saudi Arabia and you can thwart those nasty interest rates but maybe face down the barrel of a gun. Or, better yet, accept an inner-city ESL assignment in California in a district with lots of Chinese immigrants (or perhaps Hawaii) and not only pick up putonghua from your students and their parents but get hazard pay as well. If the school is ghetto, the federal government may even waive some of your college loans. No shi-ite.

Japan may pay more but the cost-of-living is much higher and who wants to eat all that bland (albeit healthy) Japanese food anyway?

The BEST pay comes from tutoring biz execs in small sessions where you can make upwards of 250 RMB per hour with Business English. But as an IELTS examiner (with M.A. and CELTA TEFL) you can make 15,000 to 25,000 RMB per month and travel a lot at their expense. That's lucrative.

In general, private schools pay better than public schools but require a bigger workload. Middle schools pay better than colleges and universities even if you're a designated foreign expert, but the workload rule still applies.

I knew of one guy who got 350 RMB per hour teaching Business English on a B.A. with no TEFL Certificate to some young IT types in Beijing. But you need some guanxi for that.

Good luck, bronco.

crespo · Joined: 28 Nov 2004 Posts: 29 Location: Taiwan

I don't know why nobody has mentioned Taiwan. It's pretty easy to save money here and you can study Chinese (although admittedly, i find it easier to learn Chinese in China).

ContemporaryDog · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 1477 Location: Wuhan, China

I think most of these things are purely anecdotal.

China is one of the ultimate how long is a piece of string places.

There's a guy on here who claims he makes 400 yuan an hour. That's more than my friend who is a qualified Lawyer in the City of London, after 3 years of Law school and 2 years working, makes (per hour)

(of course I doubt the guy on here is getting 400 yuan per hour for a 35 hour week))

On average though if you're getting 5000 a month in a place which isn't that interesting, with not much to do, you will find spending money a struggle. The only place to spend money are expatty bars. If you are already attached and spend most of your time chilling, you'll find you can save virtually all of it, cos you have no bills, rent etc.

In a lot of towns in China there isn't really much to spend your money on, I reckon.

tofuman · Joined: 02 Jul 2004 Posts: 937

Nearly every person that I have discussed the matter with, and there have been several, including, if I recollect, a large group at an English corner, affirm that a young man is expected to buy a flat prior to marriage. If you think you might make a life here, it is something to consider.

If ABS is making a thousand US dollars per month, I congratulate him, but many are making half of that and those struggling with school loans are not thrilled.

People need to save to get reestablished in the West when they return and spending down to your last few dollars because of school loans is not a good way to do that. In case things turn sour, you should also have a comfortable bank account upon which to draw. No one should be dependent upon or in any way beholden to their employer.

These people are not our friends. General "Vinegar" Joe Stillwell, who served many years in China during WW2 observed then that, deep down, the Chinese hate Westerners and resent having to do business with us.

They only did it then to milk what they could from American Lend-Lease policy. They only do it now because they think it will help them make money and gain legitimacy in Western marketplaces.

Voldermort · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Posts: 597

I don't want to go off on a tangent here but I both agree with tofuman to an extent.

In order to marry a Chinese girl it is important to make her parents happy. They ned to know and trust that you are able to look after their daughter. One of the only ways of doing this is to show how much money you have. As you know in China, money and social status are important. Buying an apartment, car, holiday home in Taiwan are all ways of showing that you have the money.

For some reason having a good job, university or college, in a well know or famous place gives you that social status. That is what my fiancees parents want from me at any rate.

If you are unable to show these things to her family, they will introduce her to people who can. Usually the son of a powerful or rich friend. This of course is usually with only the younger generation, if you are dating an older woman you may find her family are just glad that she may marry a person. So remember if you are dating and wish to marry, spend a lot of money in front of her parents.

william wallace · Joined: 14 May 2003 Posts: 2869 Location: in between

Nothing to say.

Babala · Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 1303 Location: Henan

If you are looking at getting a high paying teaching position over here, I would suggest looking at some of the big English centers. Some universities pay well but they require a higher level of education than a BA. Schools such as Wallstreet and Web International English only require a BA and pay about $1000 American a month. You will put in 40 hours a week (25 teaching and the rest in office hours) but you could use the office time to study Chinese.