Job Discussion Forums

[Nabby Adams]

I am curious as to the level of your average foreign teacher in China. I've just read the thread on adjectives and have been very impressed by the knowledge and obvious interest in the subject displayed by many posters. I'm in Japan and I wouldn't have thought that any more than 5% of the "teachers" here could add anything to the discussion. (myself included)
Is Daves a home for frustrated acedemics or is that thread representative of a pretty high calibre of instuctor here?

Also if the likes of 11.59, Aussie in China, and the others from that thread read this, may I ask why you have chosen China to ply your trade? My image of China is one of lower working conditions and yet you guys seem to be top draw teachers. So what brings/keeps you in the republic?

[Anda]

There are quite a number of English teachers earning good money in China. I have worked in South Korea for eight and a half years and would say that it is better in China for someone with good qualifications than either Korea or Japan these days. First off most jobs in Universities and Public schools in Japan and Korea are only offering two or three weeks off with workloads of around 20 to 25 hours a week. The better jobs here are offering up to three months off and twelve to sixteen class hours a week. The big money jobs here are in company teaching and pay better than Japan and Korea.

Eating out here is cheaper than Korea or Japan. Getting a relaxing body massage is very reasonable in price here. I'm not up on some costs but big flat screen TVs seem to be good value. In general fitting out an apartment with some extras seems to be fairly inexpensive. Computers seem to be the same price here as back home but computer sticks etc are cheaper.

After having said all this I would say that there are many here in China living like paupers in places like Shanghai that just don't make the grade as teachers or just lack the experience to bargain / negotiate for better conditions.

So provided you can teach okay and manage yourself in the environment here then life here can be just as good as Korea or Japan. I don't want big hours or to save a bundle but I do want to be able to live comfortably, so far China is providing me with a good lifestyle.

[AussieGuyInChina]

[AussieGuyInChina]

Incidentally, I am fully aware of the high-paying NET scheme in Hong Kong but the workload and 'office politics' are too much for me to cope with. Besides which, Hong Kong for me is an interesting weekend sojourn but the place denies one a peaceful and relaxing lifestyle.

[lf_aristotle69]

[Lobster]

A lot of us are 50ish old farts who have been teaching for eons. We've been here a long time and have the connections and experience to put together a good living. We have teaching credentials from universities and not on-line certs. Chinese schools are obsessed with grammar, so maybe it rubs off. Many work several jobs and can get 4-5k per month without working too much. Personally, I like to keep busy, so I usually have 5-6 things on the go simultaneously. I don't know how many teachers choose to actually settle down in Korea or Japan, but I know many who have bought houses here and are in it for the long haul. As for going home to teach, well.....

[jwbhomer]

[eslstudies]

True. Base+ball=baseball is a compound noun, but in baseball bat, it's an adjective.

To back previous posters, for those with appropriate education and experience, there are good teaching jobs to be found in China. The places that pay decent salaries rarely advertise on-line. They work through networks, and generally recruit in English speaking countries via universities and curriculum organisations.
Bear in mind that while $US 2-2,500 a month would be a bleak salary in a Western country, in China you can save 70% of it, or buy a house.

[freakyaye]

mmmm i don't think baseball should be considered an adjective, you would confuse people saying that. Instead, call "baseball bat" a noun phrase.

[Lobster]

Yikes, that was just a joke, as in "the baseball bat (com)pounding your head"!

RED

[mcl sonya]

hm.. I don't think most oral english teachers know much about grammar. well, do you really need to though? your job is to chat and get them to talk. the rest is icing.

when my mom visited China last week, one of the Chinese teachers told her that I'm the best qualified foreign teacher she's ever met.. My students were surprised (they actually gasped) the first time I wrote a word in the IPA on the board. For whatever reason, they sometimes have a tendency to only use the modal auxiliary, and they were kind of amazed that I knew what a modal was and that it required a verb after it. I literally saw respect dawning in the eyes of certain students. Phonetics-wise I spent a tedious month of going into how to pronounce certain consonants in English as opposed to how to pronounce them in Chinese, and while many people still say them wrong, they self-correct now or correct each other too. It's beautiful.

[eslstudies]

[aleskis]

I would agree that "baseball" functions as a classifier, though my argument retains its status as a compound noun and not an adjective. If it were an adjective, it would be possible to say "a very baseball bat", which, I would argue, even if possible is highly unlikely.

(Google lists 98 results for the phrase "very baseball bat"...so obviously it is a possible combination in some dialects, though still statistically negligible)

[arioch36]

Oh Goodie, lets talk adjectives on my day off. since I am not crazy enough to travel today ...

Baseball is a noun. baseball is a noun. baseball is a noun

Nouns can modify other nouns. If the noun becomes an adjective simply because it modifies a noun, then it is no longer a noun. However, ain't so.

Baseball is a noun. Baseball is a noun. baseball is a noun.

My point being, baseball is a noun

Nouns can modify nouns, my point being ...nouns can modify nouns


Hope that's good enough for me to pass as an TEFL teacher in China. Probably not good enough to qualify as a TESOL teacher though

[eslstudies]