Job Discussion Forums

[rowberbear]

Hi all,
I just recently received my TESOL/TEFL Certification 60hrs. I am trying to find a way to get work in Dalian as a first start into teaching english. Does anyone know of any good schools to start off with that are reputable? I was hoping to teach conversational english first and then maybe move into teaching younger students grammer.

Thanks.

[cj750]

Dalian is noted for being a location of low pay..but many want to work there..I did for 9 months and found it (except the bike riding ) kind of boring...but I do know that Future school has its head quarters there..started by Americans ...many of the teachers that I met in Dalian like the school and their situation so much they signed for a second year..also the English first crew seem satisfied with their lot..even though they worked far more for their cash than other schools...beware of companies that hire out foreign teachers (to public schools) as one or two of them..(one in particular) will double time you and skim your cash....Dalian Educational often has extra work on the weekend...it is near the Walmart..Olympic Park...as well as EF...

[latefordinner]

DL is (for me at least) a lovely city to live in, but for EFL teachers the ratio of salary to cost of living is possibly the worst in China. A few dodgy sausage factories (language mills) add to that. Still if it has to be DL, then search the usual sources online and be very picky. Right now, the mills are the ones desperate to hire new foreign faces.

[rowberbear]

Hey CJ750, I guess you ride too. I was asking about how to get a motorcycle in Dalian when I was there and someone mentioned that they are actually not allowing anymore motorcycle licenses? Not sure if that is true. BTW: I used to ride a 2002 GSXR600 and now had to downgrade to a 1991 Honda CB750

Anyways, CJ750, do you know which schools your friends worked for? I will definitely look up the "Dalian Educational" if they have a site or a number? By the way, what were you referring to when you said "EF"?

Latefordinner, do you which schools are considered "language mills"?

When I first started looking around for schools in Dalian, I started looking in the job boards of course and I saw that there was a school called, "Oriental Intelligent Computer and Foreign Language Training School". Does anyone have any comments on this school?

From other sites, there was also mentions of the "Dalian Institute of Light" as well as the "Shane school", but there seems to be some issues with these two schools. Regardless though, I will have to try them out and see how it goes.

Thanks all, your comments are appreciated.

[jammish]

City of Low Pay? Well, costs are only slightly more than the previous city I was in (which had considerably worse quality of life) and my salary here in Dalian is over twice that of my previous job.

Part time Tutoring here also pays a lot better than other cities, starting at 200 RMB per hour.

My school also provides me with my own apartment, unlike my old job which required us to reside in a shared house.

I don't think Dalian is particuarly expensive. The monorail is 4 RMB from Kaifaqu to either the city centre or to Jinshitan, sounds cheap to me. The buses are 1 RMB, which compares favourably to my previous city. Fruit and veg about the same price. Meat a bit more expensive. Eating/drinking out roughly the same. Property prices are higher, but only if you want to live right on the seafront.

And let's get back to my original point: QOL far, far higher. There can't be many cities where you can have a mountain with scenery like DaHei Shan, a cab ride away from the centre.

[rowberbear]

Jammish,
Definitely a very lovely city. I was there for a month and I gotta say the scenery is beautiful.
Can I ask, what schools you are working for and recommend any other ones?

Thanks.

[jammish]

Don't want to say on here as am starting teaching at my main job soon!



But was informed by another foreigner a couple of weeks ago about the private tutoring... he said look for Koreans in particular, as they will pay very well. Lo and behold a couple of weeks later I have been offered my first private job.

Anther foreigner even told me of a friend who is teaching Korean kids, each kid pays 300 RMB for an hour, so the total pay is 900 for one hour! That's a good rate even for the UK...

Very different to my previous city where they were loathe to pay more than 100 per hour for any private work/tutoring, sometimes paid less.

[rowberbear]

I think EF means Teaching English First School correct? I just applied to them to see if they have any opennings. I guess they considered the number 1 school right now? At least for Dalian?

[Malsol]

Try Web International

[jammish]

[latefordinner]

Jammish: QOL is definitely what I meant by a lovely city to live in. Other's mileage will of course vary, and no small part of that is what part of the city you live in. We're looking to buy a home next year, that says something.

rowberbear: by language mills (sausage factories), I mean the after- school schools, that do their business on Saturdays, Sundays and Wednesday afternoons. A song parody you might find running through your head, if you choose to work at one:

The sun is goin' down on a Liaoning town,
People are comin' in for the evening
Classes after work and classes after school.
Sometimes its just too much for believin'.
There's parents on the stairs, children everywhere
Somebody here is turnin' English into gold

After a few years of that, I decided that I much prefer a saner Monday-Friday job, and if I want to make more money (rather, if my wife and daughter require that I make more), then I can pick and choose my privates with care. That doesn't exclude say a Sunday at a language mill, if I don't mind getting home at 7 or 8 in the evening just so I can prep for next week. Hint: language mills are usually happy to pick up experienced teachers for just one or two days a week, as need arises.

Dalian Institute of Light Industry (DILI) is on the north edge of town, just past the airport. TW and I have both had good experiences, but others haven't. you can do a search. EF has a looooooooong history of discussion on Dave's, some of which could even pass for civil discourse. I wouldn't know where to begin with that one, but IIRC everything I've heard and read about the Dalian branch has been second or third-hand. (Apologies to any Dave's regulars who've actually posted from their own experience in DL; my memory isn't perfect) Take everything with a large grain of salt.

[cj750]

[rowberbear]

i was actually looking at one of the contracts for the Oriental Computer School, it has this statement...

The Teacher is usually expected to be at School from Wednesday to Sunday, five days a week. The day span will normally be during your class time (Schedules will be organized by the Headmistress and given to you in advance). The work week will normally be 20 hours. The School will hold weekly progress meetings (from 9:30 11:30, once a week) which are also considered mandatory and not apart of the teaching hours. At least 2 hours a week (inside the school) should also be set aside to lesson prepare with the Chinese Assistant teacher (for your classes).


I was wondering if this one of the mills that you were talking about? Wednesday to Sunday??

[latefordinner]

Wednesday to Sunday sounds like just a sausage factory I spent a year in. The bulk of the teaching was on Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday afternoons, when the kiddies were out of school. The other days were for joint lesson-planning with teams of CTs, and sporadic after-work and/or after-school classes for adults and middle-school aged students.

During lesson-planning sessions I was expected to observe CTs as they prepared and practiced their lessons for the upcoming week. I was also expected to demonstrate my own ideas and lesson fragments from time to time. I found the CTs fell into 3 broad groups: The comatose, the clueless, and the capable. <shrug> Find the one or two in each group who actually want to get something done in a morning and your time won't be wasted.

Mostly I think they just wanted me to stay in one place so I didn't go out and work PT for a competitor.

[rowberbear]

I was also shopping around and I friend had these schools in Dalian. Anyone heard of them?

1.WeiBi Engish School
2.Global IELTS training school
3.Federation IELTS training school
4.English School of Wisdom agency

Thanks.