To Teach or to Study?

[evasiege]

As the title states, I'm trying to figure out whether or not I want to teach English or study Chinese. Simply put, I have been learning Chinese for the past couple years and just graduated college, but feel I definitely need to learn in the country in which it is spoken. My primary goal is to learn Chinese, but its not that simple. I have applied for the CSC scholarship and am waiting patiently for the results. I am also talking with English schools that are hiring for the fall now both in China and Taiwan. However, in the case that I did actually get the scholarship or land a teaching job, I am still undecided as to which I would choose for the following reasons:

- I have little to no money (though I have no debt)

I'm somewhat tired of relying on cash from mom and dad every month because I have no flow of income. Being able to teach English would help solve that. Though would I be able to make a sufficient amount of money tutoring on the side while still learning Chinese at a university?

- I little to no job experience.

Teaching English would help with this and be beneficial in the fact that I would have something to actually put on my resume for job experience at the end of the year instead of excuses for why I have no job experience. Though if I were diligent (self study, language exchange) could I still effectively learn Chinese in my spare time?

I suppose if I didn't get the scholarship it would make this decision much easier, but if I did receive it, I would be stumped. I'm pretty bored and am currently interviewing for teaching positions in Aug., but even if I were asked to work, I wouldn't necessarily want to commit without knowing the results of the scholarship. I was only planning on staying for a year, but now I'm not so sure. I really don't know which to choose...

[muyongshi]

The fact that you already have some learning experience changes how I would approach this question. Teaching english while trying to improve and build upon your existing knowledge means [in my opinion] it won't be as difficult, ie the teaching won't take away from your learning experience as much.

That being said, I think ideally you could put 1 year into full language study and then teach. I think this would help satisfy both of your desires. It will get you firm in what you already know, help you advance quickly, and by the end you won't feel like you have the intent of always relying on your folks. Then with what you know already, all that you'll learn by the end of the year, you can continue quite happily while doing english teaching, you won't have the feeling of relying on your parents for too long, etc.

I think either way would work but I strongly encourage doing at least some singularly focused language study, even if it's for one semester or a year. That added on with the fact you already have been studying, I think you will feel good about your decisions and your Chinese learning experience.

[imron]

Teaching English is not the best way to study Chinese. You will almost certainly learn more Chinese if you are able to study full-time for a year because teaching English can be a huge distraction to learning - and not just because it takes up your time, but also because after a day/week of teaching you might not feel like opening up the books to study.

Having said that, I used teaching English as means to study Chinese in China and it can be a good option if your finances don't allow you to do full-time study. You do however need to be disciplined with yourself otherwise you might find you spend all your spare time watching 6 kuai DVDs with the other foreign teachers.

My recommendation would be to find a public university in a 2nd or 3rd tier city. Public universities offer less pay than private schools however you have less teaching hours and therefore more time to study. You also need to learn to say no to your school as they may try to load you up with extra teaching hours. A 2nd or 3rd tier city is not necessary to provide language immersion, as you can that anywhere in China, however it does ensure that you don't have as many distractions that will keep you away from studying.

[mplj111]

Temporary teaching is just a way to support ur life, I don't think it as a perfect choice. My suggestion is that may be you can try to enter a famous chinese university which is better in second-grade city in china ,that can bring you more chance to explore that area.

[chinahandinfo]

Teaching English can be a good way to ''wet your feet'' so to speak. While teaching English will definitely take up quite a lot of your time, you should be able to build up quite a solid base during the year which will put you in good shape for any further intensive Mandarin study should you choose to pursue it. I definitely agree with Imron, stay away from DVD'S and torrent sites and you should be ok! Staying away from the internet altogether would be actually be ideal, if only i myself were that strong of mind!