planning to teach in China

[panny]

I'm having plans to teach in China this year, as I dont understand mandarin I'm hoping to learn it up by living there.

Does anyone have any recommendations on which agency/website I should sign up with?? - I know there's gaplife, worldwidelink

It will be my first time in China does anyone have any advices? Or anyone planning have interests in going this year too.

Thanks x

[liuzhou]

Please tell me you're not planning to teach English!

[panny]

Any advice Lihuzhou?

[magores]

Okay, I'll take a stab at answering the question....

-As far as not knowing Chinese... Don't worry about that.

-Learning Chinese while here ... Have it written into your contract that classes/lessons are provided.

-I can't recommend any agencies, because I didn't go that route before I came here. I started looking around here, and at Dave's ESL Cafe. I looked, I read, I asked a few specific questions, and then I responded to a couple of ads I saw somewhere.

--

Your mileage may vary ... I believe I "lucked into" a very good situation. You may have the same luck your first try. You may not. Follow your instincts.

--

My main advice would be to do some research. People will tell you, often before you ask, which schools are good, or bad. What locations are good, or bad. Etc.

Search is your friend.

[liuzhou]

I have no wish to sound negative or sarcastic, but your first post is full of mistakes in basic English - mistakes which Chinese students would spot instantly.

Hence my question.

[panny]

Thanks Magores, will keep your advice in mind

[panny]

My mistake for not proof-reading!, but I don't think it will determine my overall level of english

[kdavid]

Panny: If you're serious about learning while teaching you'll need a good Mandarin-only environment (i.e. not Beijing, Shanghai or another big city where many people speak English), a school that provides lessons as well as resources for independent learning, and a good long-term plan. I highly recommend that you check out the following link. I am personally involved with this program and believe it to be something that may suit what you are interested in doing.

www.willexcel.com/tesol/main.htm

[terryswift]

this looks like a terrible deal to me. 22 hours of teaching for a paltry 4000rmb? good luck trying to learn mandarin with that kind of workload! also, unless this is a different kdavid, it looks like the 'recommender' is involved with this company.

[imron]

Outside of big cities, that's not such a bad deal, and if you were working for a government school instead of a private company, you'd be hard pressed to earn much higher than that. Also keep in mind that the cost of living in much lower outside of big cities, so you might end up saving more than what you would in say Beijing or Shanghai, even though you have a lower salary.

[kdavid]

this looks like a terrible deal to me. 22 hours of teaching for a paltry 4000rmb? good luck trying to learn mandarin with that kind of workload!

terryswift: Have you ever been to Harbin? Probably not, otherwise you'd know that a modest life-style in this city is around 1000 RMB per month. Some months I have trouble spending that much. Also, note the pay jump that takes place upon resigning with the school after the initial 6 months training.

Also, 22 hours a week is considered a big workload? Not sure what type of work you're doing, but this is much less than the average Joe back home would be working--not to mention those working 6 - 8 hours a day in public schools across China. Most teachers have a heavy load on Saturdays and Sundays (3 - 4 classes for 6 - 8 hours each of these two days) followed with an evening class / university classes on the weekdays.

This type of schedule allows for plenty of time to study--not to mention the opportunity to be immersed an a Mandarin-only environment. It's absolutely essential that foreigners here learn to speak Mandarin in order to survive--thus providing the best enviornment possible for those considering serious study.

And, yes, I am involved with this program. I have no qualms whatsoever about recommending this program to those like panny (the original poster) who are interested in studying Mandarin while teaching full-time.

[mpallard]

a little defensive aren't we?

[terryswift]

the vast majority of teaching jobs that people i know have (or have held) have included a larger salary than that, with fewer teaching hours. sure, you can find many universities offering those kind of low salaries, but they also should include holiday pay, housing (or housing allowance), and a round-trip air ticket after a one year contract (or one-way after six months). and you can often negotiate to join the chinese program in that university, free of charge. and yes, 22 hours is a heavy workload. also, if you are interested in this or other positions, check to see if that is 22 clock hours, or 22 class hours (usually 45 or 50 minute periods). check some websites for comparisons, e.g. daveseslcafe.com. i am not sure what your comment about the average joe in the u.s. has to do with anything- i dont think joe is making only the equivalent of 4000rmb per month if he is a teacher.

and no, i havent been to harbin, but have been around china and so i am aware that if you want to, you can live on 1000rmb a month. i could also eat all of my meals at cheap restaraunts of the university dining hall and do the same in beijing.

so again, in my opinion, this is not a good deal. it is also my opinion that you should state your involvement with a company before posting a recommendation. but of course, these are only my opinions, and i could be wrong.

[roddy]

When I worked in Harbin about five or six years ago I was on 5k for 20 class hours per week. I'd got myself a rise due to being more experienced than the other teachers (actually, it was more a case of 'look, I've been to China before. You can be fairly sure I'm not going to decide I don't like it and run away. What's that worth?') who were on 4k.

I'm not sure how the market has changed since then, but I would have expected salaries to have risen quite a bit since then. 22 hours is no great workload though, assuming that you are either experienced or negligent enough that you don't need to spend hours on preparation.

As an aside, I really do recommend anyone commenting on a company they are associated with - either as owner, employee, customer, grudge-bearer - makes the relationship clear in the first instance. It's relevant information and not revealing it leads to the question "Why?".

[kdavid]

the vast majority of teaching jobs that people i know have (or have held) have included a larger salary than that

You're profile states that you're in Beijing. I'd hope that teachers in Beijing are getting paid more than 4000 a month as the cost of living is quite high there.

Also, I'd like to point out something that you probably didn't catch in the FAQ section: Our partner school is sponsoring these TESOL trainees--this means that there is no cost for the TESOL training aside from the $200 deposit (you're average study-abroad TESOL course is about $1500).

In regards to the monthly salary, trainees are eligible for up to 1000 RMB a month in bonuses after the 3rd month, making the salary 5000 RMB a month, and receive a significant pay raise after graduation from the diploma course if they decide to resign.

you can find many universities offering those kind of low salaries, but they also should include holiday pay, housing (or housing allowance)

We provide free private accomdation in newly rennovated apartments. Lunch and dinner are also provided.

22 hours is a heavy workload

I just don't agree with this at all.

As an aside, I really do recommend anyone commenting on a company they are associated with - either as owner, employee, customer, grudge-bearer - makes the relationship clear in the first instance.

Agreed. I've fixed this.

[liuzhou]

Quote:22 hours is a heavy workload

I just don't agree with this at all.

I spent over ten years teaching in China and never worked more than 16 'hours'. The hours were only 45 minutes! Most teachers (chinese) taught fewer hours.

[gato]

To be on the safe side, one should assume that each hour of classroom teaching requires at least one hour of outside preparation and homework grading. So 22 hours per week probably translates to more than 40 hours a week of actual work.

[kdavid]

I spent over ten years teaching in China and never worked more than 16 'hours'.

You got quite a good deal. I've never heard of this before. Almost all contracts I've seen have been 20+

To be on the safe side, one should assume that each hour of classroom teaching requires at least one hour of outside preparation and homework grading. So 22 hours per week probably translates to more than 40 hours a week of actual work.

For new teachers in training, I agree with this assessment 100%. New teachers often do spend a lot of time preparing for classes. Grading papers does take some time as well, but generally only around the mid- or end of a term when papers are due and tests are being taken.

On the other side, experienced teachers may spend no more than 15 - 20 minutes per class preparing. At this point in time, I sit down on Friday afternoons and spend 2 hours preparing for the entire week. Now, while a new teacher cannot expect to do things this quickly, it does come with time.

[Rincewind]

In my school in Liaoning, the deal is comparable to that mentioned above. When I first came, I did 15 hours per week teaching for 3k salary. That 15 hours was really 10 classes of 45 minutes and 5 of 55 minutes each. So not real hours. I had to prepare about 3 hours worth of material per week which then got recycled half a dozzen times.

Last term, I had 24 classes of 45 minutes each. I only prepared one lesson which was then taught 24 times. So there is not much preparation time involved here. For that work I got 5k per month.

This term I'm teaching entirely at the private schools. I get 100 to 150 yuan per class. A class is always 1 hour. Preparing classes doesn't take much time. Especially after the first year since I get to reuse last years lesson plans on the new students. There are a few lessons that I have polished to near perfection after repeating them more than 50 times each in the last year. Keeping good notes before and after each class means that you can save yourself allot of time later on. Re-using the good lessons and re-writing the lesser ones.

[puffdradon123]

looking for partner to creat an online spoken english teaching site

i'm in beijing and planning to creat a website of online spoken english teaching,i want to find a partner to do it together,if you are interested in it,whether you are an english native speaker or you are a chinese in beijing,please contact me: 1,by email: puff1 212@163.com 2,by msn: rq1212@hotmail.com 3,by skype: dudududu205