ESL as a Career

[Hero Doug]

There's two points to this post. The first is to run my plan by everyone here to get some feedback. The second is seeking information.

I was of the train of thought that there just wasn't enough money to do ESL long term. Not an entirely untrue statement seeing how most people (including myself) come out here with a degree in a totally unrelated field; many come out without any degree or certification.

I'm sure it doesn't matter what field you enter, without being properly qualified I'm sure you won't be commanding a strong salary.

I don't think ESL is any different.

I'm planning to get a B.A. in English while working here (from a reputable University in Canada). I'm also looking into something like a Delta (high quality teaching cert) which leads into a Masters. The person who mentioned it to me said that once the Delta is finished a large chunk of your Masters is also finished (because the credits can be transfered over).

I plan to eventually return to Canada, go to teachers college and get my certification in Ontario (Canadian province). Hopefully, even land a job for the work experience.

The idea, is once that's done, I should theoretically be able to teach in any country. I have my eye on Britain since I have the right to abode there anyways.

Any flaws in my logic?

The second part is about the salaries in China.

I just read on the net that the pay scale for local University teachers in China is said to only be 3000 - 4000 RMB monthly, but in reality it's much higher, 20,000 - 40,000 RMB monthly. Any truth to that?

Thanks in advanced for all the feedback.

[wushijiao]

I think your plan isn’t that bad. I think as far as getting a DELTA, the first step is to get a CELTA (although I’m not sure). In any case, I’ve heard good things about the DELTA program from the people I know that have one.

If you are a certified teacher in your home country, and if you have additional qualifications like a masters or a DELTA, and if you have experience, you could teach at expat international schools in China, and other countries. Those schools roughly pay in terms of what US teachers would get paid at home. As time goes on, there will only be more demand for those type of teachers as more expat businesspeople move to China.

As far as universities in China, most public ones tend to pay on the low end of the scale- 3,500-6,000, more or less. The advantage of teaching at public universities is that the students tend to be top-notch, and you don’t teach to many hours, leaving you free time to watch DVD’s, study Chinese, or take hours on the side elsewhere. There are, however, quite a few private universities, or joint ventures at public universities with foreign universities. These types of colleges tend to pay higher (around 10,000), but I don’t think they usually get up to 20,000 RMB, although I’d like to be corrected if wrong.

[roddy]

You definitely want to get a CELTA en route to your DELTA - last time I looked it was virtually essential for admission to DELTA courses, which wanted a CELTA + 3 years of quality teaching experience. Even if you can get onto a DELTA without one, it'll bring your salary up while you get the experience.

ESL salaries in the UK tend to be at the lower end, perhaps because there are so many returning teachers. However, the work is there. If you are looking at it as a career you might want to think now about what path you want to take - focus on getting high-paying freelance teaching work? Teacher training? School management? Textbook writing? Linguistics? - so you can steer the jobs you take towards that end.

[Hero Doug]

wushijiao >> True, I think schooling in China is trying to westernize as much as possible, or rather, the students want western schools and those that don't reconize this will fall behind.

A good example is a recent article I read (on this site) that students are opting to go to Honk Kong Universities over Beijing University. So it makes sence to think that Chinese schools with actual qualified foreign teachers will have an upper hand so to speak. The demand is already building.

I'm also aware of what the universities pay, but I'm also aware that their paying people who's only real qualificaiton is being able to speak English Fluently (even that qualification isn't fulfilled on a regular basis).

I'd like to speak to someone who's taught as a qualified teacher. I work with someone who has two friends who are teaching their majors and making 20,000 RMB monthly, each (so he claims). I've also seen job ads for qualified teachers paying 35,000 monthly. Since I haven't seen it first hand (or have met someone who has done it themselves) I'm still a bit skeptical.

roddy >> Thanks for the heads up about the Delta. I'll look into the CELTA. Having three certs (those two plus the one's I have now) won't look anything but good, especially if it paves the way towards a masters.

Note

Maybe I should have been a bit more specific in the title. I think the plan could also be expanded to general teaching as well (high school, College/University at a lower level). I hear the U.K. has a shortage of teachers. Hopping over to a high school there for a few years would be a good way to see Europe.

[gato]

I'd like to speak to someone who's taught as a qualified teacher. I work with someone who has two friends who are teaching their majors and making 20,000 RMB monthly, each (so he claims). I've also seen job ads for qualified teachers paying 35,000 monthly. Since I haven't seen it first hand (or have met someone who has done it themselves) I'm still a bit skeptical.

International school teachers probably make that much at least. See how much they charge for tuition.

http://www.shanghaiexpat.com/index.php?name=MDForum&file=viewtopic&t=22365

(Puxi): Shanghai American School (SAS) - Puxi Campus

Price: USD20,000

(Pudong): Concordia International School

Price: USD21,000

[Hero Doug]

Nice link Gato. Those are definately highly priced schools. I remember hearing that schools in my county only received $1500 per student (1,500,000 at 1000 students). So at $21,000 the owner's of those school's must be doing quite alright.