I am forced to be a teacher

[Kenny同志]

As I shall graduate this June from university, my Dad has been cramming my head with the idea of being a teacher as my future career, a profession I don’t like so much. Though I have expressed clear disinterest on several occasions, he remains insistent on that idea and every time I tell him that I am not at all going to be a teacher, he is apparently displeased. He’s a farmer. Perhaps it’s his conviction that it’s a decent job, and is respected, with good, steady income. This is partly true. What I ever want, however, is quite different. I want to live for what I like most. I want to be a translator or an editor. And as I see it, there’s no good reason why I shouldn’t do these things.

He means well, but I am really distressed.

What should I do to get out of this plight?

[anonymoose]

Be a translator and tell him you are building up experience so that you can be a better teacher in the future.

[skylee]

You should take a job which you don't detest and can make you independent. Doing a job that you don't like day in and day out is painful, especially when you do have a choice.

If your father is displeased, so be it. You must support your family though (think of how your family has supported you all along). If you do your obligation (ie give them money), and keep your mouth shut (don't argue with your father), and don't disgrace them, I don't think there is anything anyone can do to you.

PS - but if you become a translator but need your family's support, then it will look very bad.

[aristotle1990]

Can't you do both? Get a teaching job that doesn't make you work too many hours and do freelance translation/editing on the side. Assuming you're teaching Chinese, you may have better credentials like this anyhow.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you Anonymoose, Skylee and Aristotle for your ideas.

@Skylee

I know it takes quite some time to get entrenched in the translation industry, probably one or two years. Before I get entrenched, there could be financially difficult times. Yeah, it will look awfully bad when I have no assignment and have to fall back on my father.

Anyway, I will be a translator/an editor. In fact, I’d never thought of teaching Chinese as a job. Thanks to Aristotle, you reminded me. Great idea!

PS: I guess my father would not be satisfied if I teach Chinese merely as a part-timer but in few circumstances would I quit my profession which I love most. It’s ME who will live the life chosen by myself.

[Meng Lelan]

I can understand the pressure from your father. I used to date a guy from a rural area in Hunan and he mapped out his whole career and life to satisfy their concept of success. I do think skylee's comment is good.

[xianhua]

I'll write to your father and tell him that your English is the best I have ever seen from a mainland Chinese native - actually, it's better than most English people I know too. If he realised just how good you were and what you have achieved, he may be more sympathetic to the translator route. Or do you have any awards which recognise your English ability?

[creamyhorror]

Set up an English tutoring class, distribute a magazine for English learners to your students and the general public that you personally edit. Make money and do something you enjoy.

[anonymoose]

Tell your father that you've got a laowai girlfriend and that you're going to be a translator. Let him go spare at you for a few days about the girlfriend and the profession. Then later tell him that you have decided not to have the laowai girlfriend. You will probably find it a lot easier to be a translator then.

[Meng Lelan]

Tell your father that you've got a laowai girlfriend and that you're going to be a translator. Let him go spare at you for a few days about the girlfriend and the profession.

He's going to be enraged!

[Shelley]

Hello,

I would also say do both, do the teachers training and take up a teaching post not too far from home. Do the the teaching job for about 1-2 years all the time looking and investigating the job you really want. Improve your English (not that you need much) and after 1-2 years slide from the teaching job into the translating job without too much fuss. Don't make a big thing of it, if your fathers askes what you are doing tell him in a sort off hand way, you know sort of casual. "oh editing and translating these days" When he askes about the teaching just say "Didn't go too well. taking a break from teaching to add to my skills. Might find a more suitable position later" As time passes he will probably mellow as he sees you being happier and things will work out. Good Luck Shelley

[來撒母耳]

I'd suggest not lying to your father at all. I'd add that, do your research. Find out how much jobs you enjoy actually pay, and how much time will it take to reach those goals, maybe research teaching as well and compare them. If it takes a few years longer to reach your goals with translating then maybe you can do teaching in the mean time. basically do all your home work and lay out a detailed plan of success. Maybe if your father saw that you were taking an active interest in both your dreams and your duty to your family, then He would be more confident in letting you make your own choices.

And save as much money as you can, (I'll stop here and say that I'm not familiar with how payment and money work under the government,) if you work as a teacher be motivated by the thought that you're earning money now and getting more experience to bring you toward your dream career later. Careers take time to build and any experience, job, or schooling can give you extra experience knowledge that will help you do well in different jobs later. If you're not motivated you won't get anywhere and you'll get burned out quick, maybe remind your father of this fact. For me I aspire to be a film maker, or photographer. Where am I working now? as a janitor... something that I do enjoy to a certain extent, but as I'm working cleaning public toilets, I'm thinking about the money that will help me become more independent and begin my own photography business soon.

[Don_Horhe]

What about teaching translation? If you're in for it, I'm sure that with your level of English, it'd be a walk in the park to land a decent position in which you could do both 一箭双雕 style.

[gato]

How about finding out more concrete details about translation jobs? I think your dad's biggest worry is job security. Maybe you can this. There are probably many postings on sites like Zhaopin.

http://corp.caing.com/2011-02-25/100229191.html

招聘职位：英文翻译

2011年02月25日 21:09　 本文来源于财新网 订阅《新世纪》  |  注册财新网

http://corp.caijing.com.cn/2011-01-07/110612971.html

职位名称：英文编辑

[jbradfor]

I'm not sure whether it would help, but have you asked him why he wants so bad for you to be a teacher? Maybe if you knew why, you could address his concerns directly, and show him how other occupations would fit what he wants for you.

For example, my grandfather for a long time wanted my mom to be a doctor (M.D.). [she didn't.] It was not until years later that we found out that the reason was that he wanted to be a doctor, but being Jewish in the Old Country, he was not allowed to be. Knowing that earlier might not have made things easier, but it does explain a lot.

[Meng Lelan]

why he wants so bad for you to be a teacher?

Probably because teachers enjoy better pay and status compared to something like ten years ago in China.

[xiaocai]

Are you the only kid of your parents? It would be hard to go against their will sometimes, as what I can see the the strife and distress some of my friends had gone through.

One of them said, of course in a very tactful way with much respect, to her father in the end that, if he will only be happy when she becomes what he wanted her to be, then she will sacrifice everything she had ever worked so hard for and future plans just to make him happy, which is the ultimate Chinese way to be filial. But if he does not want one day, when she grows older and when she looks back, say twenty years down the track, she will feel the deepest regret of giving up her early dreams that would never heal for the rest of her life, as we Chinese always say 世上没有后悔药.

Sounds like a Chinese soap doesn't it? I don't know whether this will work for you or not but now she is a happy graphic designer who now is working part-time before getting her master degree in a few months. And her father now is very proud of that, for the fact that she is the first ever person with master degree in her whole family.

[Kenny同志]

I am quite moved to see so many members offering help. Thank you all. You’re appreciated.

@Meng Lelan

Probably because teachers enjoy better pay and status compared to something like ten years ago in China.

That’s how he sees the whole issue. It seems he holds the idea that the teaching profession is very respectable and more importantly, able to make me financially independent while being a freelance translator does not because there will be definitely ups and downs in my workload which determines my income.

@Xianhua

I'll write to your father and tell him that your English is the best I have ever seen from a mainland Chinese native - actually, it's better than most English people I know too. If he realised just how good you were and what you have achieved, he may be more sympathetic to the translator route. Or do you have any awards which recognise your English ability?

Hehe, thank you for your compliment, Xianhua. It might be true that I write better English than many of my Chinese peers, however, I know for a fact that to write English as well as a well educated native speaker, I still need to spend years of time or even my whole life improving my English.

My Dad knows that my English is very good as a non-native, but perhaps not so good as it really is. Unfortunately, other than the Band-4 and Band-6 certificates (Chinese national aptitude tests of the English language), I don’t have any awards or any other certificates to prove the proficiency of my English.

@Creamyhorror

Set up an English tutoring class, distribute a magazine for English learners to your students and the general public that you personally edit. Make money and do something you enjoy.

Thank you for your idea, Creamyhorror. I think I will be more comfortable tutoring Chinese as I am better at this.

@Anonymoose

Tell your father that you've got a laowai girlfriend and that you're going to be a translator. Let him go spare at you for a few days about the girlfriend and the profession. Then later tell him that you have decided not to have the laowai girlfriend. You will probably find it a lot easier to be a translator then.

Thank you, Anonymoose. It’s a white lie but I prefer telling him the truth. 

@Shelley

Hello,

I would also say do both, do the teachers training and take up a teaching post not too far from home. Do the the teaching job for about 1-2 years all the time looking and investigating the job you really want. Improve your English (not that you need much) and after 1-2 years slide from the teaching job into the translating job without too much fuss. Don't make a big thing of it, if your fathers askes what you are doing tell him in a sort off hand way, you know sort of casual. "oh editing and translating these days" When he askes about the teaching just say "Didn't go too well. taking a break from teaching to add to my skills. Might find a more suitable position later" As time passes he will probably mellow as he sees you being happier and things will work out. Good Luck Shelley

Thank you Shelley. It’s a very good idea.

@來撒母耳

Find out how much jobs you enjoy actually pay, and how much time will it take to reach those goals, maybe research teaching as well and compare them. If it takes a few years longer to reach your goals with translating then maybe you can do teaching in the mean time. basically do all your home work and lay out a detailed plan of success. Maybe if your father saw that you were taking an active interest in both your dreams and your duty to your family, then He would be more confident in letting you make your own choices.

Thank you 來撒母耳 for your very practical advice.

@Don-Horhe

What about teaching translation? If you're in for it, I'm sure that with your level of English, it'd be a walk in the park to land a decent position

Thank you, Don-Horhe. Unfortunately, I don’t have any certificate or diploma for teaching translation. In addition, I don’t like it though I like translation.

@Gato

How about finding out more concrete details about translation jobs? I think your dad's biggest worry is job security. Maybe you can this. There are probably many postings on sites like Zhaopin.

Thank you Gato for your information. It has always been my idea that few non-natives can do CE translation independently and that a translation done by a non-native must be proofread by a native professional before its publication. I will consider such job openings if they have one or more native proofreaders.

@Jbradfor

I'm not sure whether it would help, but have you asked him why he wants so bad for you to be a teacher? Maybe if you knew why, you could address his concerns directly, and show him how other occupations would fit what he wants for you.

Thank you for your idea, Jbradfor. The reason he wants me to be a teacher, inferred from what he’s said, is that the teaching profession promises job security, as Gato said.

@Xiaocai

I don't know whether this will work for you or not but now she is a happy graphic designer who now is working part-time before getting her master degree in a few months. And her father now is very proud of that, for the fact that she is the first ever person with master degree in her whole family.

Yes, I am an only. It’s lucky for your friend to be able to do what she likes. My father is a very stubborn person and I don’t think he would happily let me do what I want to. He firmly believes that he does all this for my good.

After reading all the posts, I feel more difficult to forsake my dreams. While laying the ground for my future career, I will write a letter home to my father and try to persuade him to agree to my decision.

Thank you all again.

[roddy]

Nothing wrong with having two possible careers. You've got the option open now - if you can keep it open, even if it means slightly slower progress, it might be worth considering.

I haven't taught English for the best part of a decade, but I make sure I know where my certificate is.

Best of luck, whatever you do.

[Kenny同志]

Thank you for your encouragement, Roddy. I'll do my best.