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interpreter
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 16
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 Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:01 pm Post subject: TEFL Courses and job placements in China |
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| I hope everyone is doing all right today. I have seen a few TEFL certificate programs that claim to help you find a job in China after you complete their training program and I was wondering if any of you had ever tried anything like this. Specifically, I am referring to on-site TEFL certificate programs in China. Thank you in advance for any feedback whatsoever. |
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west2east
Joined: 03 May 2009
Posts: 120
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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I did my 120 hour (CELTA) TEFL in the UK which I think is the gold standard, others may disagree. Personally I think it's essential if you are not a qualified teacher to give you a sound grounding in ESL teaching.
You will find that (probably) the majority of ESL teachers in China are either not fully TEFL qualified or have no TEFL (or similar) whatsoever. The demand for native English speaking 'teachers' (sic) in China is huge and no matter how 'qualified' you are, you WILL find work.
It all depends on what you want and where you want to work. If you are not picky about location and salary, then come on in. If you want to work in a specific kind of school/university and city, then the more officially qualified you are, the better you chances. Crap qualifications and crap city = 3,000RMB/month. Qualified in a good 2nd tier city = 4 - 8000RMB/month and in good 1st tier city = 10 - 15000RMB/month.
Whatever your circumstances, aim high and approach many places. One way or another you will find what you want. But to get what you really want, if you have a degree (in any subject) with 'relevant experience' for two years and a full TEFL certificate and the world is your oyster.
I've told you what I know from getting a TEFL from the UK. Perhaps you need to hear from someone that got their TEFL within China.
Hope what I have said helps. |
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interpreter
Joined: 01 Jun 2009
Posts: 16
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| Posted: Mon Jan 03, 2011 5:55 pm Post subject: |
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| That helps quite a bit, west2east. Thank you for writing such a detailed response. |
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igorG
Joined: 10 Aug 2010
Posts: 1473
Location: asia
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 6:29 am Post subject: |
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My observation is that many such courses are businesses first and foremost. To my knowledge, they don't try to enforce some academic standards with any employers. Cert programs happily offer leads on jobs as they may have or copy of internet some connections with employers and that's as far as they go. Then, FTs are on their own and often in the hands of unscrupulous local employers.
| Quote: |
| I did my 120 hour (CELTA) TEFL in the UK which I think is the gold standard, others may disagree. Personally I think it's essential if you are not a qualified teacher to give you a sound grounding in ESL teaching. |
The CELTA, I believe, is for teaching adults, and, as many other such courses, is about L1 teaching. On mainland, that becomes as tricky as it is. In this country's market, EFL-ESL or L1-L2 may be pretty interesting. Not so much for a sound grounding I would say.
| Quote: |
| You will find that (probably) the majority of ESL teachers in China are either not fully TEFL qualified or have no TEFL (or similar) whatsoever. The demand for native English speaking 'teachers' (sic) in China is huge and no matter how 'qualified' you are, you WILL find work. |
As for the ESLers in China, it may or may not be true what's been said above. Years and years ago, foreigners of all kinds were warmly welcomed to varieties of the country's schools. Nowadays, the local employers are more aware than before and some can follow English email correspondance or talk on phones or use the internet much much better than before. If that message was written 10 years ago, I would've more agreed with it than today. However, there surely is a great "leftover" of such "not fully qualified individuals around. Writing about it, however, seems just like blaming them for being here and that's, in my opinion, wrong.
As for the demand and the local job market, it's probably huge and bigger than, say 10 years ago, although there are changes in a few respects. One is that the local perception about us has gone down, and one is that many local terms and conditions are more hostile towards us than before.
| Quote: |
| It all depends on what you want and where you want to work. If you are not picky about location and salary, then come on in. If you want to work in a specific kind of school/university and city, then the more officially qualified you are, the better you chances. Crap qualifications and crap city = 3,000RMB/month. Qualified in a good 2nd tier city = 4 - 8000RMB/month and in good 1st tier city = 10 - 15000RMB/month. |
This almost looks like a job advert. It all depends on how willing you are to compromise with the local standards that often change with winds. Also, it depends on whether you are ready to pass all your students or not. You could face consequences. The current SAFEA regulations may send you packing as quickly as the next month if not next day.
As for the TEFL programs, I hope they'll be more useful one day. I hope they'll think about the locations where they are sending their graduates and they'll pay attention to the local terms and conditions more than they do today. We pay our hard earned money to be certified and then we make efforts to help around the world, don't we? |
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frenchfrydoggy
Joined: 16 Nov 2010
Posts: 53
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| Posted: Mon Jan 10, 2011 7:16 am Post subject: Re: TEFL Courses and job placements in China |
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| interpreter wrote: |
| I hope everyone is doing all right today. I have seen a few TEFL certificate programs that claim to help you find a job in China after you complete their training program and I was wondering if any of you had ever tried anything like this. Specifically, I am referring to on-site TEFL certificate programs in China. Thank you in advance for any feedback whatsoever. |
Many places in China are now requiring a "valid" TEFL-type certification.
Some are not.
Do not do a course in China - they are not being accepted.
That being said... you will find a job without the need to join their program and get the job after you've been trained. Those programs are acting as headhunter/agents and cashing in on your gullible-ness of paying a couple thousand dollars, when you can do a solid-on-site-in-classroom-experience TEFL-type course for less and still find a job on your own.
I'd be happy to take half your enrollment fees and I'll set you up with a course a job in the end. |
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