Chinaimmersion.org in tianjin

[chai2zhe2]

@JustinJJ

Thanks for your input, I'm sure people on this forum will find the resources you provided valuable.

If you want to compare China Immersion's Teach and Study program to an English teaching job with a salary of 12,000RMB I must point out a few facts:

1) To have an English teaching job earning 12,000RMB per month you will be working 25-40 hours per week (teaching and office hours). Our Teach and Study participants at most spend 20 hours teaching and/or partaking in office hours.

2) Full time English teachers with a salary of 12,000RMB will be subject to a 20% income tax as a foreign employee in China. http://zhidao.baidu..../327552868.html

3) You can play with numbers all you want to make our program look unappealing. This cost of 8K USD you calculated is based on comparing a full time English teaching job to a language and culture program, you are comparing apples to oranges.

4) I'm sure there are people that can go to China, find part time work, and a Chinese tutor. That's great if you can navigate through the process by yourself. We offer a service which appeals to many people who are interested in coming to China for their first time. Our Teach and Study program provides support mechanisms, training, language acquisition and culture immersion which is a very valuable experience. If I told you that McDonald's only spends $0.05 for the cost of making a hamburger would you be mad when you pay $1? If Apple makes an iPhone for $50 would you be angry when you purchase it without a contract for $800? No, because they are providing a product that you find valuable at a suitable cost.

Again, thanks for your input. I appreciate you providing the opportunity for me to clear up any misconceptions about China Immersion's Teach and Study program. Cheers!

[MeiMay]

I think the point of this program is that you don't have to have previous teaching experience or related degrees. Of course this program isn't for you if you have TESL/ESL/... certifications, a University degree in teaching/languages and experience, but that's kind of pointless to mention. If I understand it correctly, this program is for people who have no certification/experience in teaching but want to get into teaching English and also study Mandarin and live in China. You get to live in China, have your visas taken care of, have accommodation and cover all that by just working 4 hours a day and at the end of it all you get a certificate and experience that will help you get "real teaching jobs" that will pay "real money". I think it's a good deal for many people who are not ready to do all that by themselves and nothing to look down upon. Of course it's not a charity but I didn't see anything that looked too bad, considering the circumstances of the people the program is aimed at. (If you disagree, please tell me why, maybe there is something I missed).

Chang Zhe (常喆?), can you correct some misunderstadings I might have:

If you participate in the teach & learn program:

you study Mandarin for free 1-on-1 32 hours/month

you teach English 20 hours/week

you get free meals

you get your visas arranged

you pay commitment fee of $315 in the beginning

you get paid 3000 yuan a month. you can arrange living for 1800/month (for example).

therefore,

you teach 20 hours a week = you get free accommodation+free meals+free 32h/month Mandarin lessons+you are left with 1200yuan / month.

So, you can live and study Mandarin for free about 1.5 hours per day and have valid visas for a fee of $315 and no other costs. This is subsidized by you teaching English 20 hours a week (4 hours a day). Anything else you do you do with your own money. In the end you get help with finding a job (?)

Is this correct? Or is the accommodation included, so you are left with 3000 yuan / month if you do nothing but teach the required hours and study 32h/month and eat school provided meals? (Hypothetical situation)

Pre-departure TEFL certification. Is this paid with the $315 "commitment fee" or is it extra? TEFL page lists $335 and $346 prices for "educator" and "professional" courses, which course is necessary for the program? Is it reimbursed/paid for by your company, or does the applicant pay for it themselves before being accepted into the program? In which order does this happen: application, commitment fee, TEFL certification, being accepted into the program?

What is the minimum educational background/degree you have to have to be accepted into the program? High school, college, university, what?

Depending on the answers, I think this can be a good program for many people though of course not everyone.

[MeiMay]

jalsamarrai: did you have more valuable things with you? were they safe? did anyone ever have anything stolen from their dorm room/at the school, or only in the streets?

[MeiMay]

Then again, I did some digging and found offers like:

8000 元/month

visa

free TEFL certificate (at the end of your contract)

free apartment or allowance

no degree/experience necessary

so seeing that kind of offers makes me think this program might not be all that good after all. 1-on-1 teaching is of course a great benefit, but with the extra 5000/month you can get 50*100 yuan = 50 lessons / month from someone who charges 100 yuan / hour to teach. Something to think about as well

I read a little more about the program, if I understood it correctly this time:

you provide free accommodation (private room) + 24 h of 1-on-1 Mandarin study / month + free food (school or allowance to eat out) + 3000 yuan / month of allowance/salary/whatever you want to call it. To get this you have to speak English as your native language, get the TEFL certification and pay for it, get visas and pay for them, and be accepted based on your video introduction, written application and the general mood of the person reading the application. No degrees (high school, college or any other kind) required.

If that's incorrect please correct me (and you might also want to rethink your presentation on your website and the pdf with the program details).

"Native speaker of English" what does that mean in practice? A UK/US/CA/AU/NZ passport, or does it suffice if you are indeed a native speaker no matter what country/countries might have issued your passport(s)? In other words, is the proof in the pudding or on the cover of your passport?

What type of visas can your school issue (=provide the supporting documentation for)? Will everyone in the teach and learn program be issued a Z visa (since it's not legal to work 20h/week on an X visa)? Does an applicant need any visa before being issued a Z or an X visa in order to participate in one of the programs in your school? What type of visas can be converted to X/Z visas?

Why is a travel insurance required? Can it be any travel insurance from any Asian country? Can it be a travel insurance from HK? (A little funny to get a travel insurance from HK to China but if you don't have one and you're only getting it to satisfy your school's eligibility requirements, whatever) Does it mean anyone who isn't willing to pay a lot of money to travel (back) to a white people country just to get a travel insurance isn't eligible?

[chai2zhe2]

@MeiMay

 

The requirements for the program are 24 years of age or older, college degree, passport holder from the US, Canada, UK, South Africa, New Zealand or Australia. We issue Z working visas to those who participate in the program. Participants must obtain a 40 hour TEFL certificate or higher at their expense and have valid insurance for the length of the program.  International insurance can be purchased from an array of providers and typically you are covered in multiple countries, not just the country you are visiting. From our experience insurance providers offer two types of international insurance “worldwide insurance excluding the USA” or “worldwide insurance coverage including the USA”.  

 

In addition to the benefits you touched upon there are also weekly activities with your culture tutor and return airfare reimbursement.

If you would like to chat on Skype please schedule an appointment via our Contact Us page. We would be happy to answer any other questions you have.

[MeiMay]

Thank you for taking the time to reply. Clearing up the details was very helpful. Any further questions I might have I'll take up with you on Skype.

[Jwa647]

Hello, 

 

I formerly worked in Tianjin as an English teacher. I found my job online and went through a China Immersion recruiter (Elva - who is outstanding). Though I didn't go through the Immersion program myself since I had the credentials to come over on a Z Visa instead of a X1 Visa (student who is permitted to work (aka teach)). 

 

Elva was fantastic at not only communicating with me, but professional in handling the process. When I arrived she helped me find services, shops, hospitals, get my residency permit and much more. A year into my time in China, a friend of mine came over from Canada and she went the X1 Visa route, and is currently in the Immersion program learning Chinese and working. 

 

I cannot speak for the other people making claims about the website, quality of life, pay and other topics, but I can speak for my friend as she lived with me. The visa situation was taken care of professionally and timely. There are in fact a number of culture activities that are organized for students to attend and work placement is legitimate. I had two jobs through this agency that paid $2,000CAD/$1600USD per month, and both were for about 18/19 hours a week (utilities paid for, rent stipend included, health insurance included, and contract completion bonus). 

 

It's worth noting most of the comments here are from people who seem to be speculating, have not provided there own credentials and haven't completed the programs themselves. It's also worth noting that the government has cracked down on a number of businesses that aren't legit and if one has been running for years, chances are they are legit. The government operates with near immunity, they do what they want. Police can literally just show up to businesses without warrants or cause, conduct searches, seize property, check documents and more -- just cuz they feel like it. What many foreigners assume is that the laws in china are the same as in the West and that is by far the biggest source of misinformation. As a Westerner, there is stuff in China that is LEGAL but would baffle the minds of Westerners, don't let this hinder you. 

 

As someone who has worked with China Immersion, Elva, taught English at two schools, private tutored, lived there for 1.5 years and brought a friend over I can say they are legit. The best part about Tianjin (where I was living) is that the city itself is humongous, if you don't like your job, apartment or other circumstances, you can move to different parts of the city, a different school or to another city. From my recent experience (I left China in June 2017), there is serious money to be made in China, and if you know what you're looking for, the country is the land of golden opportunity. 

[edelweis]

@Jwa647

So you went to Tianjin shortly after the explosion?

Were you not afraid of increased pollution compared to other places in China?

 

Also, I'm curious to know what prompted you to post this message.

 

[Jwa647]

Haha yup! I was there just a few months after the explosion! As you probably know, TJ is huge, I wasn’t super close or anything. As for more pollution exposure, I didn’t hear anything while their about addition risk beyond that of the typical coal/factory smog (or fog, as the locals call it) 

 

It’s seems there’s a lot of people sharing thoughts/opinions who haven’t left their home country (or didn’t state if they did), and toss in my two cents as someone who actually has gone to China and has first hand experience with the company. 

 

I feel people are far too easily triggered into yelling “SCAM” and “they just want to make money” from behind a device because there’s no repercussions in the physical world. 

[edelweis]

@Jwa647 thanks for the reply.

To be honest your reply doesn't fill me with confidence regarding the pollution ah well. (but then, in my country the government lied about the Chernobyl radioactive cloud so...).

Regarding China Immersion it's nice to hear that you had such a good experience with them that you wanted to set the record straight.

I don't know whether you have an interest in discussing China and Chinese culture and language, anyway feel free to look around the forum and share your experience in other threads.

 

[Jwa647]

@edelweis

 

yeah, you CERTAINLY, cannot wholly depend on the data provide on pollution. I even heard some places in Beijing place water canon trucks near the pollution sensors to bring down the rating. The only problem is, you have a city littered with AQI readings showing 400/500+ and one that says “50” lol

 

thanks for for the welcome  

[AaronUK]

Can this topic be closed?

Was reading through this topic based on the dates shown and the history of the posters it looks entirely like an advertisement. We have the link now for the website and they have offered to answer any questions directly in several posts by several 'different' people. So not sure its necessary for us to keep going here.