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Requirements for teaching in China (and other general things)
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Barton Fink -

I have glanced through the topics in this forum and gathered bits and pieces of information, but
like any new poster I am inclined to ask questions regarding my own situation as a potential
English teacher in China. I have been researching job opportunities in the bigger cities, and
trying to figure out cost of living and what a general contract is composed of (salary, flights,
vacation, accommodations, ect) but have not yet decided upon what kind of experience I am exactly
looking for. The lure of the big city has always appealed to me, but I think with regards to what
I want my first year to be like in China, I am leaning toward being outside of the major major
cities.

I suppose the essential question I have been pondering is if my Bachelor of Arts with a major in
English from a highly respected Canadian University (Dalhousie University) will be enough to get
me a job fairly easily in China, or if I should pursue some sort of ESL training, which takes up
money I don't have and time I don't want to sacrifice, as I have quite the itch to travel and
teach now that the end of my degree is rapidly approaching, specifically in China. Is having a
degree in English a bonus, and should I use that to my advantage, or does it really matter what
your major is in? Also, I don't have any formal ESL training, but I have tutored in University,
corrected and edited many papers, and even guest lectured formal University classes. If I have
this experience, and have the ability to push it, would this suffice in the negotiating process
and perhaps eliminate the purported disadvantage of not having a ESL certificate? Does having a
degree in English for a job teaching English in China make that much of a difference in acquiring
employment and establishing a fair contract with the employer and perhaps even acquiring
free-lance jobs on the side, teaching business people or other professionals in Chinese society?
Is my English degree more useful than other degrees.

If all works out with my credits and degree audit, I would want to leave for China in early 2008.
Is this a prime time for opportunities in acquiring an English teaching position? If not, what are
the high activity months of the year, or is it not that simple and basically I have to wing it and
hope that everything goes well?

Everything else I'm sort of trying to piece together myself, but these two questions are the most
immediate ones I need to sort out so that I can start to establish a foundation for the process of
moving to China. Any assistance would be great, and perhaps even some correspondence and personal
advice would help a lot also.

Sure am glad I found this forum



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kdavid -

Hi Barton.

The bare minimal requirement to teach English in China is that you are a native-English speaker.
Degrees and certifications are bonuses. However, meeting the bare requirements will only grant you
access to entry-level schools. In other words, the more qualifications you have (degrees,
certificates, experience, etc.) the better (and higher paying) jobs you'll be able to find.

The semesters here in Harbin, and likely in other cities in China as well, begin around the second
week of September (Fall semester) and late February / early March (Spring semester). These are
prime times to apply for university positions. The other option would be private language schools
which typically hire year-round.

In regards to location, you might want to check out this article, which discusses saving potential
in, to use your words, non- "major major cities", and this one which discusses the benefits of
living in major regional cities as opposed to hectic mega centers.

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any further questions.










simonlaing -

Hey Barton,

To work in a University or a middle School you need a bachelor's degree. The university may give
you a little extra money because your major was english, but it would be better if you had a
teaching degree or MA. (there are government regulations that state the base salary of Uni
teachers, though many schools pay bonuses on top of this regulation)

THere are private and kindergarten classes that being a native speaker is the requirement. (Also
Causian skin will be a bonus.) The difference is these are more money, but often more work. The
private companies will work you 4- 5 hours of class a day 5 days a week, where the University or
school will be 12-16 hours a week.

I am in medium/large city Nanjing and enjoy it here. Shanghai and Beijing are places where you can
work for a month at a job and then take the next month off.
In smaller cities you can negotiate special treatment. I had a friend who had a job in Zhejiang a
province south of SHanghai. He negotiated with his university for fridays and mondays of and went
to Shanghai for 4 days of the week. Train travel is easy and cheap so having time off to study
helps.

Universities and School get summer vacation and spring festival off, where as some private
companies work through them, though will close for 2 or 3 days in Spring Festival.
There is still a high demand for English teachers most places in China, you will be able to find a
job don't worry.
have fun,
SimoN










Senzhi -

As for teaching business English to corporate clients, you would likely need a solid background in
international business, through actual experience. These clients do not only seek to learn English
for business purposes, but also a clear understanding of international business cultures.










Rincewind -

The bare minimum is that you are a native English speaker and have either a degree or a teaching
qualification. Having both is probably gilding the Lilly a bit unless you have the time and money
to get both. Since you will be teaching English, having a BA in English should open a few more
doors. However, there is such a demand teachers that some schools will take almost anyone. I know
teachers here that have no degrees and are not native speakers yet they still get paid a decent
rate simply because they are white and so can fake it.



Quote:

If all works out with my credits and degree audit, I would want to leave for China in early 2008.
Is this a prime time for opportunities in acquiring an English teaching position? If not, what are
the high activity months of the year, or is it not that simple and basically I have to wing it and
hope that everything goes well?

March the 1st is the start of term here in Liaoning province. January and February are holidays.
Though, some private schools may be able to give you classes during the holidays they usually give
these classes to the teachers who are already here rather than newcomers.



Quote:

The lure of the big city has always appealed to me, but I think with regards to what I want my
first year to be like in China, I am leaning toward being outside of the major major cities.

In china, every city is a big city. At least compared to back home. Medium sized cities like
Dalian and Nanjing are bigger that the country I come form! (Scotland). In the middle sized cities
you are more likely to get a true city life as you can probably get an apartment in a central
location with the restaurants and shops right out side your door. Where as in bigger cities you
could be out in the suburbs in a mainly residential area.

Simonlaing is broadly right about Universities and middle schools. If I can just add that
Universities usually pay less than the private schools. I have two friends at Normal University
here. One who is a well experienced American qualified English Teacher and the other has unrelated
degrees in another subject. The American teacher does earn more than here colleague, however she
still earns half of what I get teaching at a private school.

Private schools will often subcontract you out to local Primary and Middle or high schools or even
to the Universities. So you may get more variety and experience doing this. Where as university
posts tend to be more stable and dependable and less likely to renege on the contract.



Quote:

establishing a fair contract with the employer

I don't want a fair contract with an employer. I want a contract with a fair employer. These are
two very different things and the difference is important.

Many foreigners find that the schools do not honor their contracts. I've heard it said that the
Chinese sign the contract first and then start negotiating. This seems to be causing many of the
other foreigners here allot of problems. I was lucky that I found a good school at the beginning.
There are other schools here that offer better looking contracts but I know that they don't hold
by them. What is the point of a contract if one party doesn't respect it.



Quote:

acquiring free-lance jobs on the side, teaching business people or other professionals in Chinese
society? Is my English degree more useful than other degrees.

Most contracts forbid you form taking free-lance work on the side. However, most teachers do
free-lance work anyway. You should expect to get maybe a class or two at the weekend or early
eventing teaching school kids. I find it's most often 8 to 12 year olds. During holidays you might
get a few more private classes if you have got to know the parents a bit. If you work through a
private school, then they may give you some classes but not all private school have their own
classrooms. Many just subcontract you to other schools.

For teaching Business English you need a degree or experience in Management, Accounting or
Marketing. I teach a Business English class because I have a Degree in Engineering Management and
over 10 years management experience. Without the management experience I'd be sceptical about your
ability to teach that subject properly.










imron -



Quote:

Hope this helps! Feel free to PM me with any further questions.

Or, even better, keep posting your questions in this thread so that everyone can benefit from the
answers.










simonlaing -

The whole business English teaching qualification is blown out of proportion.

Most school outside of Shanghai have enough trouble getting a native english speaker let alone one
that is also trained in business. Plus most of the time the level of the students taking the
business classes are barely over intermediate and need to be given so much vocabulary it is only a
passing commonality of Business.

On big issues though is that teaching materials including textbooks are very sparse and hard to
come by in China. In a recent Business English class I am teach the book it self has major
grammatical errors , usage issues and other problems, yet it and another are the only ones
remotely applicable. (So you may want to bring a book or too, or get good at internet research,
Dave's esl cafe etc..)

I would be careful of taking too many classes the first 6 months that you are here as it will
prevent you from exploring and traveling that much. 25 hours a week teaching may not sound a lot
but you will be exhausted.

Good luck,
ahve fun,
Simon
P.S. Yunnan and Guangxi are pretty places to travel and teach though the wages are a little lower
than other places.
P.P.S. I would advise against western and central china as they are poorer, drier and have less
development than other parts of the country. there are exceptions in cities but those are the
general trends.










Rincewind -



Quote:

Most school outside of Shanghai have enough trouble getting a native english speaker let alone one
that is also trained in business.

Actually, it's quite easy. Many University educated people who have done some work back home
before coming to China will have management and business experience and/or degrees.



Quote:

In a recent Business English class I am teach the book it self has major grammatical errors ,
usage issues and other problems, yet it and another are the only ones remotely applicable.

I would be interested in knowing which books you refer to. I use the 'Pass Cambridge BEC...' range
which is printed by Summertown Publishing.










simonlaing -

Keep in mind I had limited choices and am getting the books reimbursed by the the company in RMB
so buying things online with dollars won't work. (And the books won't arrive in time)
The books apart from internet resources of which Wikipedia is fairly decent summary are as follows.

21 Century Practical International Business Spoken English
21 世纪实用国际商务英语口语
Published by Peking University Press, 北京大学出版社 2007.4
(Even the title has some chinglish issues. there sentences like "You must be very tired after such
a long travel.") But the general idea is good and it has discussions on some culture, and chinese
translations all over.

The second book is all english but has some good cultural points.
Business Communication
商务交际 by Foreign Language teaching and research Press, Beijing,
外语教学与研究出版社 2007.5 www.fltrp.com but as I said it is all in english
It also has CHinglish issues "p10 why to people make small talks" but it does have exercises and
end of chapter quizes.
(It still suprises me if you're going to publish an all english book why you don't pass it through
a native speaker editors hands before it is published. This said from guy being the only foreigner
working in a large translation company.)

There is another book of business dialogues that I thought of using but I don't have it handy at
the moment. It is of similar mediocre grade.

Apart from Harry Potter it is rare to see western published books in China, in their original
English.

Have fun,
SimoN
P.S. the Ielts prep books and Cambridge published books I have seen have been of good quality,
unfortunate I have a hard time finding them in the book stores in Nanjing










cdn_in_bj -



Quote:

In a recent Business English class I am teach the book it self has major grammatical errors ,
usage issues and other problems

It also seems to be having a negative influence on your grammar as well.












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