On Teaching English in China
If you’re thinking of taking a job teaching English in China, there are a number of points you need to consider. Admittedly, this is a wide topic (indeed, entire books have been, are being, written, about it). This understood, a summary of some oft-overlooked points can be of great help.
City versus Countryside
Strangely enough, this basic consideration of location is usually completely ignored by the newbie to China job-hunting. Well, before you sign away a year of your life, you’d better give this fundamental choice a good think.
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Living in one of China’s major cities (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin) will provide you with the insights and conveniences of modern China. Here you have a fast-paced, at times chaotic, market-based economy. For the foreigner who would like some knowledge of how the best of Chinese business is conducted, this is the place. If, on the other hand, you would just like to see something of this country and not have too tough of a time of it, again, head for the bright lights.
The rural areas of China, however, and particularly the interior, offer a far more traditional perspective. In all likelihood, farming will be the base economy, some regional dialect will be spoken, and many old beliefs and customs will still be in practice.
Type of School
Basically speaking, there are two English teaching possibilities for foreigners in China: 1) public universities, and 2) privately-owned “language schools”. While not exactly dichotomous, these two options are nonetheless about as different as mist and mast.
Working for a bona fide university will entail a teaching load of 16-18 hours per week, a minimum salary of 4000 RMB monthly, with a rent-free apartment to yourself. You will be expected to teach the range of college courses (i.e., conversation, reading, writing, and culture). The students will be at least 18 years old and acceptably prepared and motivated for the usual four year stint. In short, the atmosphere is, more or less, of the academic type you’d expect.
The “language school” is, however, very much a course of a different color. All of your classes will be conversational English, with 90% of the students grade and high school age. The desire to learn and the general ability will vary widely. Foreign teachers are given around 25 classroom hours per week with a monthly pay of 7000 RMB (or more). The accommodations are often dorm-style: several separate bedrooms with a common bath and kitchen located in one apartment. If you don’t mind a busy pace and working with kids, I’ve heard it’s ok.
I must here insert a warning: some of the “language schools” are indeed disreputable, cheating students and employees alike. Before signing a contract with one of these businesses, I would certainly recommend that you carefully investigate its background and contact one or more of the foreigners working there.
And now a second general warning: any reputable Chinese school serious about hiring you must arrange for your working-visa permit before you come to China. Here’s what happens: after signing and returning (with various documents) the contract they have sent you, they will now send you, via snail-mail, an official “letter of acceptance” from their local government offices; this, with your passport and other documents, you will now send to the Chinese embassy in your home country; after a couple or so weeks this will be sent back to you with a Z-visa stamp allowing you to work within China for one year for said school.
Here’s the scam: Just come over to China now on a tourist-visa, and then we will have the working-visa arranged later…
Not only is this illegal (you could be fined and then deported), but, I can assure you, these people are not serious about hiring you. It’s simply a con-game to use naive foreigners cheaply.
The Horse’s Mouth
So, having done your internet research, you’ve e-mailed resumes to, say, 30 prospective schools. Let’s hope that about 10 come back with a positive response; now, cut this down to the best five. From here you’ll want to set-up phone interviews with the foreign affairs liaison person, the foreign affairs director, and the dean of the English department. All of these people should not only be willing but be glad to speak to you. Having a list of definite questions ready may be helpful.
With this formality completed, it’s time for the down and dirty: you’d like to speak to one or two of their current, or at least former, foreign teachers. No legitimate school will balk at this, and the better ones will welcome it.
Parthian Shot
The majority of first-time foreign teachers in China have a pleasant experience; occasionally, however, serious problems arise. All, or most, of the foul-ups can however be avoided by simply getting accurate information at the start, and then taking the time to sift the wheat from the chaff. As mentioned, there are many good books available on teaching in China; I’d read two or three.
The entire procedure pays off when you finally touch down, and someone from your new school greets you with, “Welcome to China!”
About the author
Robert T. Tuohey was born in 1961, Danbury, Connecticut. He has studied psychology at the State University of New York in Albany (1988), and California Coast University in Santa Ana (1993). In the U.S. Bob worked in the field of mental health; for the past ten years, he has lived abroad (in Japan and China) teaching English at the tertiary level. His current position is Foreign Expert in the Languages Department of Taiyuan University of Technology, Taiyuan, Shanxi, PRC.
Bob’s published works include an introductory textbook on English literature (From Beowulf to Joyce, Taiyuan University Press, 2001), numerous short stories (try, for example, Botkin’s Resignation, Top Ten Tell-Tale Signs of Chess Addiction, or szirine.com), his home page, and his quarterly chess column on forgotten players of the Royal Game.
In his spare time, Bob plays chess, practices martial arts, and tries his hand at a bit of blues guitar. His e-mail is [email protected]
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