A Teacher's Life In China
Special thanks to Susan Simerly
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Significantly updated at 12:40:20 PM on 1999/6/28 by Deni Harding
Also highly recommended: TEFL China Mailing Lists
Also see the ELT Two Cents Cafe Links Gallery for links to thought-provoking papers about teaching in China, and teaching Asian students, by Mingshen Li
Coming soon: Is there any advice you can give me to improve my chances in acquiring this position and surviving in China?
So Ya Wanna Teach in Mainland China... You may already be a Foreign Expert! No religion or politics can be discussed in class, this includes English Corner. What else do you need to know?
Coming soon: What are some social "gotchas" (caused by cultural differences) that I need to know about/avoid?
| Is it easy to find a job? |
For most people, at this time, yes! There are several ways to go about
finding work teaching English in China:
Go through someone you already know, who is presently working there,
has previously worked there, or even a friend who knows a friend and so
on.
If you have a master's or Ph.D. (in anything)
you can write to the:
State Bureau of Foreign Experts
Beijing Friendship Hotel
3 Bai Shi Qiao Road
Beijing 100873
PR CHINA
email : sbfe@chinaonline.com.cn.net
| Can you recommend any placement programs? |
Do you know of or can you recommend any of the American programs that place you in China (Appalachians Abroad, Western Washington U., Colorado China Council, Princeton-in-Asia, World Teach, etc.).
I think they all charge a fee for finding the job for you and for training. Some of these are religious organizations. They don't indicate that in their name as it is illegal to send missionaries to China. You can get jobs on your own without much trouble. Anyone with a master's degree or Ph.D. can write to the State Bureau of Foreign Experts
Or you can check web sites like the Two Cents Cafe' or Dave's ESL Cafe' or TEFL Professional Network [http://tefl.com/jobs/search.html] for jobs in China and many other countries.
| Do I need special training? |
I've looked at programs that offer various levels of training, ranging from 4 days to 1 week to 2 months. I've been volunteering as an ESL conversation partner for 2 years (have had a max. of 5 students), but I don't know how to approach teaching a big class. Where do the lesson plans come from? Are you doing all the talking during class time while the students are silent? I'm not a shy person, but on the other hand, speaking for hours in front of a group would make me nervous (at least initially!) I'm worried about how I will fill up all those hours.
Any training or education you may have in TESL or a closely related field is quite useful. However, I don't think you absolutely need more training. In my experience, teaching one or teaching 50 is really about the same, you just have to pay more attention to individual needs in smaller classes. I believe the rule is to let students talk at least 50% of the time. I found it hard to get them to keep talking in English. If the group is too small, or of you are doing "pair" work, most students will just chat in Chinese. Groups of 5-7 seem to work well, providing the topic is of real interest to the students. Sometimes I assign one person in each group to remind them to keep speaking in English and to stay on the topic.
| What is a foreign expert? |
If you have a master's degree or Ph.D., then you already are a foreign expert. Foreign experts get extras like higher salaries and return airfare. Sometimes your organization will pay for you to ship things to and from the school.
| What is a foreign expert's card? |
This is not really a card, actually more of a book, given to most foreigners who are working as teacher in the PRC (foreign expert or not). This can give you discounts on hotels and entrance fees to tourist attractions. The idea is that you pay the same price as Chinese people. Note: Not all hotels give discounts for the foreign expert's card, but it doesn't hurt to ask.
| What are the qualifications to get a job in China? |
For younger folks, you must have at least a BA or BS degree. If you are over 30 then this is one place where life experience does count. In either case, submit a cover letter and resume. The cover letter should be brief and to the point as the person reading it will not likely be a native speaker of English.
| What about visas? |
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Write to the Chinese Embassy or Consulate nearest you and request a visa application and health certificate form. You will need to send them a self-addressed stamped envelope and they will return the forms quickly. In the USA you can find their address on the Internet at http://www.china-embassy.org/Consulates.htm |
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Make sure you have at least six months before your passport expires. |
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Get passport photos made. You need two for the visa and the school may request six. If you plan to travel to other countries from China, you may need more to submit with your visa applications. You CAN get the photos taken in China. |
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Submit the completed visa application and health certificate 30 days prior to departure. It will take about 14 days to get the visa by mail. Full instructions come with the application. |
| What is the health certificate for? |
This is required by anyone planning to stay for one year or longer. If you plan to be in China for six months or longer you must get an HIV test done. The results needs to be negative of course. The requirements on the health certificate also include typical blood tests, a chest x-ray, eye test (including color blindness), and an EKG.
You need to submit the health certificate with your visa application. It will be returned to you and you should hand carry it to China. Once there, you will turn it in to your Foreign Affairs Office.
In the USA the health certificate must be "authenticated". This is fun! You have the doctor sign the form; you have his signature notarized (his office should be able to do this for you); next you take it to your county court house and have the signature of the notary authenticated; next you take or send it to your state's Secretary of State for authentication of the signature of the county representative (in my county it is the Register of Deeds). Last but not least, take or send it to the Secretary of State of the United States of America. Sigh... The last two may charge a small fee.
| How much money can one make? |
Currently, salaries are Y1700 to Y2000 a month for non-foreign experts (that is, foreigners who are not officially considered to be Foreign Experts. Foreign experts start at about Y2500 and go to Y4500 per month. Most state schools offer a vacation allowance of Y1100 at the completion of each term.
Non-foreign experts pay their own airfare. If you stay for 2 years, the school will pay the return airfare. Foreign experts may get all airfares paid, some schools only pay return airfare after one year of service.
The Chinese, outside of big cities like Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, earn an average of Y500 to Y800 per month. When I first went to China in 1994 I earned Y1200 per month. Today Y2000 is more realistic assuming your accomodation is paid. In the areas of Beijing, Shanghai or Guangzhou, you probably need to earn at least Y3000 with accomodation.
| What is the exchange rate and the cost of living? |
It does not fluctuate very much. As for the cost of living, foreigners tend to eat out quite a bit and take more taxis than the Chinese.
The actual cost depends on where you live. It is cheaper in the North than the South, excluding Beijing. Perhaps now in the North an average of Y15 to Y20 a day is necessary for food. In the South, maybe Y20 to 50 if you cook at home. Buses tend to be the cheapest form of transportation, normally Y1 in cities of less than one million. Even in Beijing, it is a cheap form of transportation. The subways are also inexpensive —currently in Beijing, just Y1 to go anywhere.
| Do you get ripped off a lot when you buy things in China? |
There are honest and dishonest people everywhere you go. Many people WILL try to cheat you, but it doesn't take long to find the honest folks and go to them regularly. At first you should shop with a Chinese person until you are familiar with the prices of things. Shopping in department stores is also a good idea if you are worried about being cheated.
Taxi drivers are the worst. Stand your ground or you make it worse for those coming after you. They don't ALL try to cheat you, just most of them. For example, some friends of mine recently traveled to Beijing. I had given them the name of a good hotel and know for a fact that the price for a taxi from the airport to that hotel should have been about Y60 to Y70. They paid Y410! Another time I was taking a taxi from the airport and I asked the driver to use the meter. He did. Then he covered it with a cloth. I insisted on being able to see it. I looked at the meter just before we reached the driveway of the hotel. It said Y64. As the taxi stopped he pushed something on the meter and suddenly it said Y124. Very slowly, in English, I said, "Wait here, I am going to get the police!" He replied, "How much you pay?" I then replied, Y64. DO NOT tip in the PRC unless you are staying in a 4 or 5 star hotel. Unfortunately, those before you tended to feel sorry for folks--or didn't know the rules--and now some folks expect it, especially from us so called "rich" foreigners. YOU DO NOT HAVE to tip even if you stay there. This is a Western custom, not Chinese.
| Will I be able to save any money? |
If you are living on a campus you will be able to save more than if you live on the economy. I've been able to save money in both situations, and I go out quite a bit.
| What are the terms of the contract? |
Most contracts are for one year, but it is possible to get them for only one term. As far as I know the contracts are standard throughout China, unless of course, you are working for a private school. No religion or politics can be discussed in class, this includes English Corner. The government takes this very seriously and so should you.
| How is health insurance provided or acquired? |
Most schools provide health insurance which covers 80% of the costs. However, I broke my foot in April 1995 and my school paid for almost everything. I needed to rent a wheelchair for a month and it cost Y200, which I felt was most reasonable.
| What is the focus of the curriculum, and who is responsible for developing it? |
This is different from place to place, but for the most part you will develop it yourself.
| How many hours a week do you teach on average? |
In most schools foreign teachers are in class for 12-16 hours a week. If you work more than that you should be getting paid more than the normal rates. In most places, classes consist of two-50 minute periods. For example, if class begins at 8, then you would take a break at 8:50. The second half of the class would begin at 9 and go until 9:50.
Do you have free time between classes or do you have to keep office hours?
Unless you are in a privately run school, you can do what you like in your spare time. The foreign teachers at my school, in Liaoning Province, started holding office hours for an hour or so each week. The purpose was to help students, but they often just came by to visit.
| Is the teacher housing decent? |
This varies from school to school. My school, the Liaoning Institute of Technology, has very good accommodation AND a very good FAO.
| What about dress codes for teachers? |
As far as the teacher's dress code goes, for women, are pants and a sweater acceptable or do you have to get more corporate? Is a skirt above the knee acceptable?
Pants and a sweater is fine. In winter few Chinese women wear skirts or dresses—a(at least this is true in the north). The Chinese are modest in their dress and you should be too. I think a dress above the knee would make you seem very young, and it may be harder to get the proper respect from your students. Students in universities are between 19 and 24 years old.
| Do I need to be able to speak Chinese? |
It helps to speak some Chinese, but many folks get away without speaking the language. I could only say a few words my first six months. If you are only going for a year, I suggest learning to count, and some polite phrases to get by. I do have one friend who is now in her third year and can still only say Ni Hao (hello). She seems to do okay and she is the only foreigner in a city of 300,000. After my three- year association with China, I can now easily shop, ask directions and argue with taxi drivers. Am I fluent? Not by any means.
| What is the best way to learn Chinese? |
You may find that even though your heart is in the right place, most teachers find it difficult to find time to study while actually teaching English. You will find there are more people who want to help you than you know what to do with. I was there three months before I was able to go anywhere alone- and this was accomplished by sneaking out! Those who come to visit you want to practice their English. The best way is to take a course or get a qualified teacher, rather than a friend, to work with you. By qualified, I mean someone who teaches Chinese professionally, gives assignments, and so on. You may have to pay them, but I guarantee you will learn more than you will from a friend. Again, fees vary depending on which part of the country you are in. I think in smaller cities you can find a teacher for Y40 per houyr, but in Guangzhou it is Y120.
| Mandarin or Cantonese? |
Mandarin is standard throughout China, but in the south not everyone can or will use it. Cantonese is the most common language in southern China and in Hong Kong. However, Hong Kong has some Cantonese words only spoken there. Fortunately, everyone can read the same language.
I live in Dongguan, in Guangdong Province, now, and folks here speak Cantonese or the local dialect. I speak neither, and I get by in most situations with Mandarin.
| What are a few reasons that teaching in the PRC was such a good experience for you? |
I found that most of my students wanted to learn and were enthusiastic about everything. When you teach English in China you can really make a difference in the future of each person you teach. Not everyone is good at foreign languages, but the ones who are make teaching a pleasure.
| Is there pollution in China? |
Yes, but the only place it ever bothers me is in Beijing. I seem to develop a cough which goes away a day or two after I leave. Some cities have worse pollution than others. Chong Qing, one of my favorite places to visit, had the worse pollution of any place I traveled to. I understand that Chengdu (Sichuan Province) is much worse.
| How do the Chinese people, young and old, act towards foreigners? Is it possible to make friends among the people? |
I found that most Chinese people are very happy to meet a foreigner. There are still many times when you will be the first foreigner a person has seen. The Chinese are not shy about stopping to stare at you or to follow you around for a while... I am told that few foreigners make really close friends in China. I've a number of close friends whose friendships will be lifelong.
| Of the things that you were missing from Western life (besides family and friends), what was profoundly absent for you in China? |
When I arrived in Jinzhou, which is in the northeast, I missed real
bread.
Now they actually have some. My thinking is that the longer you stay
there the less you will miss -- and the better things like the Chinese
version of chocolate will taste! 
When I first came to China in 1994 there were few western goods available outside the big cities. That is changing dramatically now as China is catching up to the rest of the world. I can now find many western goods, or copies of western goods. I live about an hour from Guangzhou and there is a wonderful shop called the Daily Living Store. If I am willing to spend the money, I can find most of the things I miss, even garbanzo beans and brown rice. One thing I do have trouble finding in China is pickle relish.
I suggest bringing spices and herbs that you like and maybe some packaged salad dressing and sauce mixes with you.
Things you CAN find here include: garlic, ginger, cilantro, cinnamon, curry, olive oil and butter (in larger cities), salt, and, of course, MSG.
Things you might want to bring include: cumin, black pepper (the kind they use here will numb your tongue if you use it in the same way), parsley, turmeric, tarragon, rosemary, and that type of thing.
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