Job Discussion Forums

[homunculus]

Hey guys, I'm a college student from the US who will be taking a year off from school to study Mandarin in China. I'd like to work on the side to cover some of the cost. It seems these forums are geared toward contract-jobs in schools, but would anyone be able to give me the run-down on how to get a private tutoring job? I have no teaching credentials, but when I spent a summer in China a few years ago, parents paid me 100 RMB an hour to tutoring their children in English. Unfortunately this time I'll be entering a city without any relatives to help me navigate the (very casual and unregulated) tutoring market, so any tips for how I can proceed on my own?

I am not quite fluent in Mandarin and am worried about being cheated, etc. Do you think the Chinese university to which I am attached through language courses and dorming will have an informal system in place to match international students with Chinese looking for tutors? (wouldn't mind a language partner either)

How much of the following do you think would matter in China? Would any of this differentiate me, for better or for worse, from others? I am Chinese-American and a native English speaker. My Mandarin is poor, but my English, particularly writing, is good. I have experience TAing and conferencing with students for essay-based classes in my college (though I am an undergraduate without a completed degree). I also have experience tutoring high school students in the SAT. I scored 800's in the critical reading and writing sections, and would be happy to tutor Chinese students in SAT also. Ideally I would work with high-achieving students because I am good with the nuances of language use, but not formally trained in the specifics of grammar instruction. But I realize high-achieving students probably come from well-to-do families looking only for the best, i.e. those with degrees.

Finally, I'm new to these forums and I have some very basic questions that I am loathe to ask, but will anyway because I couldn't find the answers in any of stickies:

1. Can anyone inform me of the legal status of private tutoring without a work visa? What are the consequences, de facto? I will have a student visa.
2. Last time, I heard about a Chinese government-issued certification demonstrating proficiency in English, to teach English. What is this called?
3. Random tips?

Thanks all! This is a great forum.

[HaveAGoodRest]

Once you get established at the school, meaning after a month or so, just go to the Dean of the Foreign Language Department. Tell this person you want to tutor English. Odds are this person'll know a boatload of people that could use you.

China is pretty much the Wild West of teaching English right now. If you have a pulse and are from an English-speaking country, you can do it. And people will pay. Heck, at the university I taught at, they had Germans teaching college English majors.

As for working under the table, every country has people who do this. In the USA, a good quarter of the workforce are illegal. If you get caught in CHina, you didn't know you couldn't do it, right? Hint hint, nudge nudge.

The demand is just so high for English tutors in China right now, it's unbelievable. There's one American for every 4 Chinese. So keep that it mind when you negotiate tutoring terms.

[homunculus]

[homunculus]

[HaveAGoodRest]

It is based on personal experience. Just approach the dean with a neutral statement.

That is, instead of, 'I desire to work illegally,' you could say something like 'You know, I'm not really busy right now, and I wish I could teach more students in China' and see what the dean says.

Then again, odds are the dean's English might be shaky to the point where you must say 'I want teach. More. Me more teach.'

But it'll work out eventually.

Just don't blatantly advertise your services in the local newspaper. Go by word-of-mouth instead. Worst comes to worst, play the role of the clueless foreigner who doesn't mind losing face in public and then say 'Please let me go.'

The few foreigners that I heard got caught were swiftly executed.....j/k.....if you get caught, I think it's par for the course that it's time to bribe the police. Of course, develop a few Chinese friends whom you can count for counsel in times like these. The bribe may mean like a month's salary, so that would suck. But it's in the best interest of the parents of the students not to turn you in, cuz of the whole trust and reputation thing in relationships being so important in China.

If you ever get in real trouble, you can also resort to the line 'I want to invite everyone out to dinner so we can have some happy, happy times.' That one always works.

[homunculus]

Do you think I should ask a friend to ask around at the local high school?

[The Ever-changing Cleric]

[Halapo]

Asking at high school students will mean working on weekends, most of the time. Its the only time they are free. ( there are however a small number of schools using a more traditional Western approach to lessons and school hours, normally these schools cost more)

Chinese students in high school here are probably the busiest students in all of China, if not the world. They are almost always in the school, from 6am till 10pm on weekdays. They get tutored by their teachers ( and they pay extra for this too, it goes right to the teachers, in theory the school knows nothing about it ) on the weekends.

Also, high-schoolers normally try to talk more, but they lack the vocabulary/grammar of university students. It gets very frustrating for them. High-schoolers need to build up their vocab and grammar ( even though they don't want to ), because that is all they are every tested on.

[Zero]

Well, the Chinese have their own reasons for the laws they have set up. Some of the reasons may not be obvious to us, but I�m sure they set them up to serve the best interests of the country, which is their job. I�m sure they want to protect the job market for their citizens, maintain economic prosperity and monitor the flow of immigration. We have to trust that they are acting in good faith.

So I would obey the law. They invite us as guests and we have a duty to go by their rules. After all, the Bible instructs us to obey the laws of the land. That applies to whatever land we�re living in!

So I wouldn�t work off the books. It isn�t right.

[drjtrekker]

[Menino80]

[Non Sequitur]

Best talk to someone from the FAO away from their office. In the office they are toeing the official line and others could be listening.
The response could be non-committal but you will later be approached - again in the corridor or dining hall.
I got my best private tutoring jobs from staff in the FAO. On the first occasion the FAO recruiter whom I had dealt with followed me out of her office and said 'A friend's family are migrating and need help etc...'

[sharpe88]

I would not advise a clueless foreigner to try bribing the police in this situation.

[Miles Smiles]

Get a job at a school in China first. If you have something to offer your students, the private tutoring jobs will come to you via your FAO.

[homunculus]

What's an FAO? Foreign Affairs Office?

I don't have the time to get a regular job at a school--I'm a part-time student myself. Also no credentials, prefer not to have the additional risk.