Moving to Nanjing

[rsgc89]

Hi,

I'm starting a bachelor's degree (International Business) at NUAA (Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics)this September. I have a lot of questions about Nanjing.

What's the cost of living? Is it easy to find a part time job as a student? I'm fluent in Spanish and English. Spanish is my first language but I learned to speak English at an early age so, people can barely notice my accent. I've been looking around to see what kind of jobs are there, and it seems that teaching English is the most popular, but most places ask for "Native speakers". Is there a demand for Spanish teachers? What's the minimum wage I would get if I was a part-time English/Spanish teacher?

I also would like to learn Chinese. What is the best option to learn Chinese? How is the nightlife in Nanjing? Do people like foreigners?

I think those are all my questions for now....

Thank you.

[Brandon263]

I'm in Nanjing now and should be able to answer a few of your questions.

1. Expect to spend about ~1000-1500RMB a month on food, toiletries and local transportation if you are frugal.

2. You can find a job as an English teacher quite easily if you speak English with an American accent and -- sorry to say this -- are, or look, white. I think wages start around ~6000RMB/month (for full-time positions). You can probably charge 100 RMB or more per hour for private, part-time, tutoring sessions. I haven't heard of any schools that are looking for Spanish teachers.

3. Nanjing University and Nanjing Normal University are the best places for learning Chinese in Nanjing.

4. Most people are very welcoming and helpful to foreigners. You might have a bit of trouble if you don't know any Chinese at all, though, so you may want to learn a few basic words so that you can get around more easily.

[skylee]

I am sorry to ask a question (actually two) that is obviously off-topic : why have you decided to study International Business at NUAA? And how can you work when you are a first-year student of a bachelor programme in a foreign country where you don't speak the language? I think the study and adaptation will be overwhelming. ( I think my question is wouldn't study take up all of your time?)

Sorry there is one more irrelevant question: are foreign students allowed to work legally? (student visa vs work visa etc)

Apologies again for being off-topic.

[rsgc89]

Hi skylee,

The reason why I picked NUAA is because it's the only university that offers undergraduate courses in English (the only one I've heard of). If you want to know why I want to study in China, the answer is because I'm from the north of Mexico. Because we are so close to the USA, there's a lot of drug related issues. I like China because it's far from Mexico, and because it's a whole different culture. I want to learn the language and live there for a while.

I do not want a full-time job or anyrhin like that. I just want something to do on my free time (I assume that I would be going to university 6 hours a day or so. Then I'd probably spend another 5 hours a day on assignments, and about 2 hours a day learning chinese, so that leaves me with 3 hours free). I was interested on teaching English/Spanish on my free time because of the same reason you mentioned (I do not speak Chinese to do somerhing else).

As far as I know, I can't work on a student visa. But after 30 days of my arrival I can apply for a residence permit, and that allows me to work (I think!).