Job Discussion Forums

[pokkonnu]

How easy would this be in Shanghai?

I was thinking of studying Mandarin for one or two hours a day, getting my school to get me a student visa, and then just teaching English on a private basis.

Would this be possible? Would it be legal? If it isn't , is it risky? If Shanghai is a bad choice I may do the same thing in Taipei.

[JGC458]

Well, it's certainly not legal to earn money on either a tourist or student visa. As to whether it's possible is up to how enterprising you are, who you meet and who you annoy. I'm sure there are lots of other variables as well.

[foreignDevil]

It is not legal. It is possible to do it, but it will be very difficult for someone new to a community to just instantly make a steady income teaching private students.

This came up in another thread, about advertising for privates, etc. In reality, all of the people I know who teach a lot of private students (including myself,) have been in the community for a long time and get students by word of mouth. And when a student leaves, moves on, etc, I generally get a new student based on referral.

I don't mean to discourage you. Everyone's situation is different.

***Edited to add something about the illegality. In my city it has never been a problem to have private students. And I have never heard of police zealously cracking down on this in other parts. I've never been to Korea, but I've heard it's much more strictly enforced there. So, even though my caution stands about it taking time to build up a good base of private students, the legal aspect at least isn't such a concern.

[JGC458]

[haopengyou]

You might also want to consider where you will live. The cost of living is high in Shanghai. The pay will be a little bit higher though. If you move to another city you may find that the pay/expense ratio works out in your favor. This is especially true if you can work into tutoring kids.