Teaching English with Chinese-medium Bachelor's degree from Chinese university

[LinZhenPu]

The rules for applying for a Z visa and work permit clearly state that the minimum requirements are a Bachelor's degree, 24 years of age and 2 years of work experience. For working as an English teacher, you generally need to be a passport holder from one of the countries that the government classes as English-speaking countries. The larger schools such as English First can work around the 2 year work experience requirement.

 

I hold a passport from Australia and I'm 25. I've not yet done a degree, and I really want to get my first Bachelor degree in Chinese language for foreigners from a Chinese university, but there is a thought that has occurred to me. What if, down the track, I decide I'd like to teach English for a year or two to fill in some time and when I try to apply for a job, I get turned away because my only Bachelor's degree is in Chinese language from a Chinese university?

I can see the conversation now: Them: "Sorry, but you need a degree from an English-speaking country." Me: "Don't be silly, the working visa rules simply state a Bachelor's degree. I'm a native speaker of English and I hold a legitimate Bachelor's degree from a legitimate university in China. Why does it matter in what language I did the degree in and where I got it from?" Them: "Sorry, but we don't consider you to meet the educational requirements to work as an English teacher in China because your degree wasn't from an English-speaking country."

 

I daresay I wouldn't be the first one to try to get a job teaching English with the only degree being a Chinese-medium degree from a Chinese university... Can someone chime in on this? What are your thoughts?

 

tl;dr: Is a Bachelor's degree in Chinese from a Chinese university good enough to work (legally) as an English teacher in China?

[davoosh]

I doubt they will turn you away because of a Chinese degree from China. If you're a native English speaker, have the required 'experience' and a degree, I don't think it should be too difficult to find teaching jobs - especially given the tighter visa rules I imagine people who meet the requirements will be more in demand. Also, being in China would give you the opportunity to speak to schools directly, which helps.

[Angelina]

What is your goal? Are you interested in: a) Moving to China? b) Learning the language? c) Getting a degree? d) Teaching English? 

 

Hypothetically speaking, it is possible to teach English in China legally with a bachelor's degree in Chinese from a Chinese university and an Australian passport. At least for now. Just because it is legal it does not mean that it will be legal when you graduate and it does not mean that schools will be willing to hire you. 

Not sure if that is the best option because I can't see what you are interested in. Since you will need a lot of time until you learn the language, maybe you can try one of the Sino-Foreign universities in China where the language of instruction is English. This way, you will be in China and get a degree. If you were younger, I would have suggested learning Chinese and going for a degree taught in Chinese. You can still try that, but it might get frustrating. 

[LinZhenPu]

You raise a few good points Angelina. Luckily for me, (spoken) language learning is probably my strongest area of predisposition, passed down from my father's mother's side. And I'm really not concerned about my age, there's no point in worrying about that because I can't change my past but I can change my future.

 

I am interested in learning the language and getting a degree. As for moving to China, I am more interested in immigrating to Canada in the future but that is some years down the track. I'm still plenty young enough to do a working holiday in Canada as well as Taiwan which I'm also very interested in, but I digress.

 

Since you want to know what my goal is, actually my solid plan is to get a degree in Chinese as a second language (ie a degree that only those whose native language is not Chinese can take ala Bachelor's Degree in Chinese for foreigners), and then go back to Australia to do an entry-to-practice Master's degree in Medical Imaging. It might sound like a round-about-way of doing it, because why don't I just take a Bachelor's degree in this? The answer is simple, it's purely for adventuristic reasons. I want to do something off the beaten track. In fact, I did get entry into a degree called Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science at Charles Sturt University and after one semester I realized I really wanted to go to China to pursue my dream of speaking fluent Chinese as soon as possible. I had waited long enough.

 

Of course, it's not guaranteed that I will get into an entry-to-practice Master's degree in radiography. It depends on how good my marks are in the Bachelor's degree and it's not even completely guaranteed that the university that offers the particular type of program I would prefer to do (in fact only two universities in Australia offer an entry-to-practice Master's degree in Medical Imaging) will even recognize the Bachelor's degree as being equivalent do an Australian Bachelor's degree. What will I do then? Bite the bullet and do a 4-year Bachelor's program to qualify? Nah - if I were to do that I would probably still be at Charles Sturt University. Do some extra study online part-time to strengthen my application and go back to China to work as an English teacher for a year? Well, why not - plenty of people take a year or even two to teach English abroad after they graduate and that's the point of my life that I will be at, never mind my age.

 

I want to somehow find a way to combine the two into a career - radiography and Chinese language ability. It's not impossible to work as a radiographer as a foreigner in China, I've seen job postings online that welcome such applicants (you need to have both proficient English and Chinese) and although there are not many positions available and the salary isn't anything to write home about, the experience would surely be quite beneficial for my career.

[Angelina]

Your parents are of Chinese heritage? That explains the academic pressure. Now, let's get something rational and not completely incomprehensible out of your thoughts. 

 

 

the salary isn't anything to write home about

 

 

You basically need to have a degree and/or a career that will make your family proud.

 

 

The answer is simple, it's purely for adventuristic reasons. I want to do something off the beaten track

 

 

Be careful with this, you don't want to stray too far from common sense. 

[LinZhenPu]

Heh. No, I don't have any Chinese ancestry, at least none that I'm aware of. I'd be very surprised to uncover a distant Chinese ancestor or even Asian ancestry. I have no academic pressure to speak of, in fact my own father talked me out of going to university after I finished high school because the university campus that I was accepted into is in the country (Bendigo) and in his opinion "second-rate". Little did he know that I could have gone anyway, gotten decent marks and transferred to a 'better' university in as little as one semester, but he was too pig-headed to consider that possibility. How differently things could have turned out!

 

As for a career that will make my family proud, that's a fair enough point but my background is a bit of a differentiating factor there. I've decided not to go into details on this thread but PM me if you're curious. I daresay you will, you seem to be quite a rather inquisitive soul.

[Angelina]

You probably became interested in this bachelor's in China because you heard how it is possible to get a bachelor's degree in only a year or two, it was a trigger to things you have experienced before. However, this is mostly for students who have been studying Chinese at a university for years, so they don't have to start all over again from year one. This is not for you and is being phased out anyway. 

 

I don't know you that well, maybe it is better to talk to people physically closer to you, not sure what kind of things you have been through. Maybe studying in China can help you cope. Just try to stay rational. You should continue learning Chinese, but make sure you are making informed decisions. 

[LinZhenPu]

Sure.

I realize the two year option is being phased out, but it's unclear whether this is country-wide or if it's specific to upper-tier regions. Depending on where I go, I might be able to get admission to a two-year program somewhere before it's too late. Apparently Xiamen University still has this but you have to go to their Xiang An campus which looks like a fairly crappy place to live, but maybe I could put up with it for 2 years if I make good friends. As for Sun-yat Sen University in Guangzhou, this year was the last chance to enroll in the 2 year program but a 3 year option is still available. If I want to go to one of the better universities at least I won't have to study for a whole 4 years in one place. I got 261 in the HSK3 test so I might be able to get into an OK university in a 2.5 year program which would be good. I would even spend 3.5 years doing this if I could spend 1 year on a Confucius Institute scholarship in one place and then 2.5 years in another place - my marks should be better this way increasing the likely-hood in getting into the Master's I want. Heck, I might even be able to get a degree in 2.5-3 years on a one belt one road scholarship at Sichuan University considering I'm applying for Serbian citizenship by descent. Nothing is definite, I'm just going along with the passage of time and will make decisions according to what happens and what I feel like at certain points. 

[Angelina]

Oh yeah, 李克强 is now an honorary citizen of Belgrade, funding is available. 

[Lu]

Of course, it's not guaranteed that I will get into an entry-to-practice Master's degree in radiography. It depends on how good my marks are in the Bachelor's degree and it's not even completely guaranteed that the university that offers the particular type of program I would prefer to do (in fact only two universities in Australia offer an entry-to-practice Master's degree in Medical Imaging) will even recognize the Bachelor's degree as being equivalent do an Australian Bachelor's degree.

I think your long-term plan to become a radiographist is great, but I have a few doubts about your planned route to get there.

 

- Is a Chinese BA degree accepted by Australian universities?

- Is the entry-to-practice Master's you'd like to to competitive? If so, you might need something entirely different from Chinese skills to have a chance.

- Does the Master's have any requirements for what kind of BA its students should have? Nevermind that your BA will be from China, the same question would apply if you'd have a degree in Spanish literature from Harvard. It's an entirely different field.

I think these are things you need to look in on.

 

Furthermore, for most people, teaching English is something they do for a few years and then get out of. For the vast majority, it's not a career. Especially not if you actually want to be a radiographist.

 

Have you considered other options? For example, summer school in China/Taiwan, or a an exchange year in China/Taiwan, or Chinese classes in Australia while also pursuing your long-term plan.

 

As to your actual question, I think you'll likely be able to find a legal job. Not as easily as if you'd have an Australian BA, but eventually.

[LinZhenPu]

Yes, I did looked at the questions you've raised. They are important issues.

 

Firstly, as for English being something that most people do for a few years and then get out of, yes, that's why I said I would do it just to fill in some time.

 

Whether or not a Chinese BA is accepted by Australian universities, the short answer is yes. The long answer is that whenever someone applies for something using qualifications from abroad they are always assessed on a case-by-case basis by the university's admissions team. Having a degree from a more upper-tier university can't hurt.

 

Yes, admission into the Master's program will be somewhat competitive but not as competitive as getting into medicine. At least that's something. That said, for applications to the Master's program a formal interview either in person or via Skype is part of the application process and is used in ranking applicants to ensure that only people who are genuinely interested in pursuing radiography will be admitted into the course.

 

The Master's has absolutely no requirement for what type of BA applicants need to have, much like graduate entry medicine in Australia. You could indeed have a Spanish degree from Harvard and be eligible to apply. Plenty of Chinese people get into other Master's degrees in Australia with a Chinese BA, so why can't I? That said, they do have the prerequisite that applicants need to have completed 2 units of Anatomy and Physiology. This can be done via online distance learning and I confirmed with one of the lecturers in the course that the units I found online (Open Universities Australia) should meet the requirement.

 

If I am unsuccessful in applying the first time around, they are not just going to turn around and say something like "Sorry, out of all the successful applicants you just weren't one of them" and leave me with nothing more than that. If I ask them, they will tell me what I should improve on or what I can go and do to set myself apart.

 

I did consider trying to do some exchange program to do an exchange program at a Chinese/Taiwanese university and get credits towards my program. In fact, I put considerable effort into seeing if it was possible and came to the the conclusion that it's basically not possible. "Difficult, but possible" was the language that someone used, which was interpreted for me by the head lecturer as being university-language for 'it ain't gonna happen'. People do this sort of thing with business, international relations or language degrees but anything health related is more difficult. You can't even transfer between universities when it comes to radiography in Australia without sacrificing a significant time investment, because the radiography-specific course content is simply not similar enough between universities to gain credits. Now imagine trying to do the same thing with a university abroad. One Taiwanese university replied to my emails and said that they would welcome me to come and do an exchange year but the problem is for radiography the English course is still in development so I would need to already have high Chinese proficiency to be able to undertake the course.

 

All in all... if I can achieve my goals, it will be very much worth it indeed. That's the biggest motivating factor for me, going about this in a way that very few other people would even seriously consider. And if I can get it done, I will be different. My resume will be much more likely to stick in the head of whoever reads it when I apply for jobs in the future and that's what gets you interviews, that 'wait... what?' factor.

[Lu]

Glad to hear you looked into all this and the road ahead for you is clear. I hope you succeed in your endeavours.

[LinZhenPu]

Thanks. Time will tell. If worse comes to worse I'll just stick it out for 4 years and do another Bachelor's from scratch.