Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Pluto]

An interesting article came out of Newsweek. They are doing a special report on "Global Education." One of their articles is on English as a Second Language.

Some things to consider, even as China continues to rise as a global power;

Currently only 50 million people worldwide study Mandarin while there are more than 148 million English students in China.

The Chinese English buxiban(roughly related to a hagwon) industry is now worth US$2.6 billion and is growing at a rate of 12%.
For those interested teaching in China, it might be something worth considering.

The author mentions that students of English will peak at 2 billion people worldwide by 2010. He mentions an outside shot of Mandarin catching up but I wouldn't hold my breath.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20216718/site/newsweek.

[Tjames426]

Standard Pay in China is less than 1000 USD a month. No one cares about how pay is "supposively equal" to living standard in China crap.

It is not about China, it is about how much my years of teaching experience and my TESOL degree is worth.

Pay me 20,000 RMB a month, cash. Plus free Housing. Plus everything else I get in Korea in a contract.

Unless I see that in a contract, NO.

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I have been in China for over 3 years now. I make roughly 14,000 RMB a month, and save about 10,000 RMB of that every month.

In Korea, I was making 2.1 million won, and saving virtually nothing at the end of the month.

In my little world, China wins hands down.

[stevemcgarrett]

Great Wall of Whiner:

But you know full well that in your "little world" being able to land a teaching position that pays what you make (assuming it's not from private tutoring) is the exception to the rule.

Heck, even Ph.D's at key universities like BeiDa or BeiWai make only about $500 a month. And the medical insurance is a token, covering only the most common of injuries and ailments, usually at campus clinics that even students are afraid to visit.

The glaring reality is that professional pay has not kept pace with cost of living increases since 1994, especially in larger metro areas. Nowadays, most Chinese professionals earn more than well-trained foreign EFL educators, and that's to the detriment of Chinese students, I'm afraid.

That said, if money isn't an overriding concern, living and teaching in China exceeds anything you're likely to encounter in Korea. There is a reason, after all, why proportionately so many more EFL educators flock to China (rather than Korea or Japan, for that matter): the unsurpassed variety of culture and cuisine, the tea culture, the myriad historical sites and relics, and the friendliness of most toward foreigners, not to mention the generally more gregarious nature of Chinese students.

[flummuxt]

Very interesting article. Thanks for the post, Pluto.

I found it generally pretty accurate, until I came to the end and the author predicted that Mandarin Chinese might become the dominant international language in 50 years.

That's preposterous. Everyone knows Arabic is going to be the sole world language in 50 years, or sooner, once Al Queda conquers the United States, Canada, Mexico, South America, Europe, Russia, China, India, the rest of Asia, Africa and Antarctica.

So if you really want to get ahead of the curve, it makes sense to teach English in Iran. On the other hand, who's going to need to know English?

[mithridates]

[Kuros]

[Pluto]

[bucheon bum]

[mithridates]

[The_Conservative]

[Mosley]

Just to add to what Steve said: One of the problems w/FTs in China is the large number of dilettantes. They don't care if they're only making 6,000 quai/month. You see ads for jobs all the time : "come teach in China-retirees welcome." At first I thought "Wow, Confucianism in practice!" In reality, most Chinese employers want foreigners who won't biatch about their salaries. And retirees fit the bill as do younger teachers who just want "the China experience."