Hey Foreigners, as part of our continuing "Teachers exist in China" week, today we bring
you the ultimate guide to teaching ESL in China.
I'm going to tell you everything I know about the job search: what to look for and what
to avoid, to find your foreign teaching dream job.
So grab a pen and paper, you're going to want to take notes.
Let's begin with an overview of what we're going to cover.
This guide has six parts.
Firstly, I'll lay out my experience and credentials, so you can decide if you even want to take
my advice.
Then I'll break down the kinds of English-teaching jobs you can get in China, and their advantages
and disadvantages.
Next, I'll talk about some cultural differences that will be present no matter where you work.
After that, I'd like to make a brief plug for Luzhou, my hometown in China.
Then, I'll go over some interview questions you might not know that you should ask your
potential employer.
Finally, we'll wrap it up with a discussion of the legal shenanigans you may come across
while teaching in China.
If you have any questions after all that, feel free to leave a comment, and I'll address
your query to the best of my ability.
Let's do this.
Let's do this.
I'm Emily, of course, and I've been teaching in China for more than six years.
I've done ... most of it, from kindergarten to private teaching to working for a couple
training schools to working for a public school.
I even taught a month-long continuing ed. summer course for other teachers one year.
Most of my experience has been right here in Luzhou, a prefecture-level city in south
Sichuan province, and I spent one year in the even smaller town of Lijiang in Yunnan
province.
I estimate in my time here that I have taught many thousands of students.
And that's what Emily means to me.
Let's take a short break, and after we'll talk about the English teaching jobs that
may be available to you.
So, what's the best ESL job?
Well, that depends on what you're looking for.
I'm going to look at four different categories here: private training schools, private kindergartens,
public schools, and colleges.
The private training school is basically an after school-tutoring center, where you teach
extracurricular English classes.
They will all tell you that your students will be of all ages, but pretty much babies
are their bread and butter.
Training schools in China are constantly looking for new foreign teachers, so it's super easy
to find these jobs.
And they'll offer you a lot of money, too.
Because it is HARD WORK, and a lot of foreign teachers quit before their contract is up.
I did.
Twice.
I have to admit my bias, here: I really think training schools are the worst.
Training schools are privately owned, so the specifics of why each one is the worst may
vary.
And, I've heard that some people who are not me have actually found tenable work situations.
Let me know in the comments if this is you.
I'm dying to know what a "good" training school is like.
But, so, each school does things a bit differently.
You can be sure, however, that you'll have to work most evenings, and your Saturdays
and Sundays will be packed to the gills.
If they tell you differently, they are lying to you.
In one of the schools I worked at, I had 24 different classes weekly of four students
each, taking lessons across 7 different textbooks.
Lesson planning was a huge, hidden part of the job -- that they expected me to do pretty
much on my own time.
When I started, I was also made to do public marketing activities and demo classes, but
I eventually negotiated my way out of those.
If your school is afraid enough of losing you, they will make a deal.
If you're a shrewd negotiator, you may be able to create the situation you want, but
get any extra deals in writing and be prepared to have to constantly defend those concessions.
You're not supposed to speak Chinese with the kids in most English teaching jobs.
And at the training schools, I had assistants to help me out when we got in a translation
jam, kind of.
As I became more experienced, I realized their role was actually to sell more classes to
the parents than to help me out.
It was as punishing a job for them as it was for me, so there was also a lot of turnover
among the Chinese staff at these schools.
There's usually a uniform, which is ... fine.
Some kind of polo shirt or athletic wear with the school's logo on it.
Why is teaching so sporty?
I don't get it.
The vacation policies at training schools are dissatisfying to say the least -- if I
only wanted two weeks off a year, I would have kept my job in America.
And, [sarcasm] as a special ... treat, I had a boss who would schedule our school holidays
during my weekend, so I wouldn't get extra days off.
Like, in my normal schedule, my days off were Monday and Tuesday, so she scheduled the Christmas
break for a Monday.
Basically, I felt when I worked for a training school, they took all of my energy and all
of my good free time.
They would reschedule my classes at the last minute without consulting me ahead of time.
"Can you come to school now?" was a call I learned to hate.
The sales associates made ridiculous educational decisions without my input, and then because
they sold a certain thing to the parents, I would have to teach it.
They would assuage these hurts with bonus after bonus, and that was good enough for
a while, but in the end, I decided the money wasn't worth it.
I wanted my lazy expat China life back.
You may decide differently.
If you do go this route, please keep this warning in mind: Training schools are a highly
competitive business, and some of them are less than scrupulous when it comes to getting
you a legal visa.
We'll talk more about this at the end of this video, but if you do work for a training school,
do your due diligence and know your rights and responsibilities as a foreign national.
Private kindergarten, on the other hand, is a dream!
Full disclosure, I work for a kindergarten now, but you cannot have my job.
Here's what's good about it.
The schedule is the same every week, about 20 hours a week, and I'm done by 4pm, with
a two and a half hour lunch break while the kids nap.
Any prep I need to do can be done during work time, and all of my weekly classes use the
same lesson plan.
It's a lot of songs and games and dancing, which if you like these things, it's kind
of fun.
I have heard of people complaining that they feel like they have to be a clown for their
kids, but I have never felt that.
The kids are just looking to make a connection, the same as any other human.
I have an assistant, who does all of the disciplining; all I have to do is M.C. the fun.
The base pay is decent, and there is an opportunity to pick up private classes if I feel like
making more money.
We get all the public holidays off, and between the summer and winter break, I get plenty
of time off -- to make these videos!
The bad: In China, they start kindergarten at 2 years old, and it takes a lot of energy
to keep up with those babies.
And there is always someone crying at any given moment.
Both of these things took a lot of getting used to for me, but it's not actually something
I mind, now.
Another thing is that the class sizes for the older babies is pretty big.
I think I have, like, 40 kids in my 6-year-olds class.
But I had upwards of 60 kids in my middle school classes -- if you can't handle large
class sizes, maybe teaching in China isn't for you.
There's a uniform -- another tracksuit -- but I only have to wear it on occasional school
outings.
Which I am well-informed of in advance.
Much like training schools, private kindergartens can vary widely in quality, so do your research
before you sign anything.
When we come back, we'll take a look at public schools and colleges.
My first job in China was at a public middle school, where I stayed for four years.
I have really fond memories of working for the middle school ... which have kind of obliterated
all the annoyances I know that I felt at the time.
But first, the breakdown.
The standard contract is usually something like 20 40-minute classes a week, which works
out to a 16-hour time commitment.
I was responsible for prepping 1-2 lessons per week, on my own time -- with complete
freedom to teach mostly whatever I wanted, as long as it was in English.
The flip side of complete freedom, however, is zero guidance; you're kind of on your own
when it comes to teaching, though my school did give me a copy of the English textbook
for reference.
I didn't have an assistant, either, which made communicating with the kids really difficult.
But it is doable.
Searching out "Immersion Classroom strategies" will help you a lot if this is your situation.
Vacations a-plenty, including paid days off every month when the kids had exam days.
The downside is that the pay is often much lower than training and private schools.
Some schools provide half pay during the non-teaching winter and summer months off, but mine didn't,
so I had to be careful to hoard my nuts.
And, like I said before, the classes are huge.
Gifted kids were about 30 to a class, but other classes could be more that 60.
I have heard that if you teach in a rural area, you might have, like, 80 students in
one class.
Managing that many people to do anything is really hard.
Again there is no assistant, so it really is trial by fire of any classroom management
techniques you've learned.
Education is provided for free in China up through middle school, or about 15 years of
age.
If they continue their education beyond that, their family has to pay, though there are
merit scholarships and financial aid available for talented high schoolers.
Classes are tracked by ability, which means you'll have classes full of gifted kids, which
almost teach themselves, and classes full of kids who may drop out at the half year
to take a job in a factory.
The middle ground is actually where I had the most fun -- the gifted kids are well behaved
beyond your wildest dreams, but that can be a little boring.
The bottom of the bunch are still deserving of an education and your compassion, but honestly,
they can be pretty checked out.
But!
The middling kids are interested in what you have to say, but loose enough to go on some
pretty funny tangents.
From 12 years old and up, for many students, school is often a sleep-away experience.
The middle school I taught at was the size of a small liberal arts college in the States,
and the teachers and students all dormed together in neighboring buildings.
Because of this, Chinese teachers can be as important in their students' lives as the
students' own parents.
And, if you choose, you can form really strong bonds with your students.
We had kids over to our apartment to make western food, or play guitar, or just watch
English-language movies.
I still keep in touch with some of my students from that time today.
I'm close with my students from private school, too, but being their teacher has much more
of a hired-gun feel.
In retrospect, teaching in public school was both really challenging and incredibly rewarding.
I stayed at that school for four years and I'm really thankful for that experience.
As for college life, beyond the continuing education course I taught, I don't actually
have any experience with teaching English at the university level.
The reason for that is because of all the ESL jobs in China, the pay is by far the lowest.
At my current job, I make, like, six times what I could make teaching college.
I will also share that when I taught continuing ed. it was a very unsatisfying experience.
The adults were completely unmotivated and it seemed that most of them didn't want to
be there.
I've heard from other teachers that college students are similarly apathetic.
In China, the reputation is, you basically kill yourself to get through high school (sometimes
literally), but college is kind of a joke.
In fairness, the upside to teaching university level students is that it's generally a higher
level of English, and the lessons can be much more interesting.
Also, you can make genuine connections with your young adult students, some of whom are
actually interested in learning English.
Let's take another short break, and when we come back, we'll put all this information
into an easily digestible chart.
OK. So here's that chart I promised you
Because this is China, there is one constant that I will guarantee will be a part of your
job, no matter where you end up: People here are terrible at planning, and then also terrible
at communicating that planning.
I mentioned before the training schools calling to say, "Surprise!
You have class right now, come to school!"
That was an extreme example in degree, but not all that uncommon in principle.
Everyone I've ever worked for has had some kind of last-minute: "Hey, come here."
Also, in the middle school I worked for, at the start of spring term one year, they moved
every classroom to a new location on the first day of school, without telling anyone.
It was chaos.
We would often get invited to events, and not be told until we got there that we were
the star of said event.
Or, it's parents' day, but nobody told the foreign staff, who had just prepared a normal
lesson.
For various reasons, I've made many impromptu speeches.
The key is to remember that no one actually cares what a public speaker says.
Just end with, "and your kids are great!"
There may even be a plan communicated to you ahead of time ... that has nothing to do with
what actually unfolds.
Just a few weeks ago, my school had a 2.5 km fun run that had originally been characterized
as supervising kids playing in toy cars.
This is China, and those things are going to happen.
And more, probably.
If you find that kind of disorder upsetting, it's possible that China isn't a good place
for you.
If you like surprises, on the other hand ... China welcomes you!
One other thing: Ten to twenty years ago, you used to be able to get a job anywhere
in China just by showing up and being white ... oh, yeah, sidebar here: The Chinese have
a well-known problem with racism.
White skin is openly preferred.
Because, [gesture down] privilege, I don't have any experience or advice with this.
To teachers of color, I can only offer my condolences.
I'm really sorry that this is the case here.
It sucks.
To other white teachers, consider pushing back against racist statements when you hear
them.
People love you for your skin color, you don't have a lot at stake if you make waves.
But this applies to foreigners of all colors: these days China expects you to actually be
able to teach.
I work really hard to make sure all of my students are learning something.
In fact, when I cited job stress as a reason I wanted to quit training school, my boss
told me that my lessons didn't have to be that good.
But that means I get to pick and choose my opportunities, and ask for more money.
Being a good foreign teacher gives me a lot of power.
Of course in a small market, you can get away with being just so-so, if that makes you happy.
But it's not acceptable anymore to roll up hung over and lecture at your students about
your drunken exploits the night before.
Especially at private schools.
The parents pay a lot of money for these lessons, and they demand satisfaction.
Their baby better have learned something -- they're watching you on the closed circuit TV.
Coming up next, a city on the rise.
Alright ... here I'd like to make a case for my Chinese hometown, Luzhou.
Come to Luzhou.
A prefecture-level city in south Sichuan province, Luzhou has a lot to offer an ambitious foreigner.
It's a city on the rise: Old China is still accessible, but you can also find bread, and
butter, and other Western comforts.
Not really cheese, yet.
But we have our own Peter's Tex Mex.
We're so close to pandas!
And there are tons of under-exposed natural and man-made wonders just a few hours drive
from the city.
Leshan's Big Buddha, Yibin's Bamboo Sea, Mt. Emei, and hot springs!
Jiujiagou is a short plane ride away, but IT'S STILL IN SICHUAN!
There's fantastic hiking all around us.
South Sichuan butts up against the Tibetan plateau, and there are forests, gorges, and
all kinds of nature to get lost in.
Prefer the city life?
We have access to three!
Luzhou itself is a city on the rise.
And our more established neighbors Chengdu and Chongqing host art galleries and rock
clubs that attract acts from around the world.
If you're looking to improve your Chinese, young people here speak Mandarin!
And very few people speak English -- as compared to in a first-tier city -- so you'll be forced
to take your book learning out into the real world, right away.
There are some other foreigners, but there aren't a lot of us, which to me is ideal.
You have access to an international community, but you won't get caught in an expat bubble,
spending all your time living abroad interacting only with other people like you.
Fewer foreigners also translates into great opportunities for the aspiring English teacher.
I get job offers just walking down the street.
Seriously, at the grocery store, at the hot pot restaurant, in the elevator of my building.
Twice, I got offers of work, while I was ALREADY AT WORK!
And the weather ... well, it's hot and humid, and occasionally sunny!
On a nice day, Luzhou rivals any place I've been.
The river walk is lovely, and we've got parks all over.
Most larger Chinese cities are unwieldy behemoths, clad in concrete and ring roads.
But Luzhou is a manageable, walk-able size, and it actually is beautiful, I think.
So, come to Luzhou, a city on the rise.
I honestly can't imagine why you'd want to live anywhere else.
Stay tuned for the questions you need to ask before you say yes to your dream job.
OK, when you're looking for ESL work, especially if you're in Luzhou, there are still a lot
of jobs, and not a lot of competition, so I really recommend taking your time to find
the job that's a perfect fit for you.
A job interview is a job interview anywhere in the world, but there are some things that
are specific to China.
We're going to talk about some of the details you should know in the area of contracts,
pay, hours and housing.
And then, after a short break, we'll address the topic of legal working visas in China.
Any reputable school will have a contract translated into English for your approval
that lays out all the details of your job, the deal you're getting, the visa they are
sponsoring, fire-able offenses, and how to terminate that contract.
They may have you sign two contracts with a small difference that I'll leave it to them
to explain.
It's common practice and no cause for alarm.
But there is a cultural difference around the contract that it's important to be aware
of.
My Chinese colleague explained that in local culture, a signed contract does not mean negotiations
are completely finished with regards to your job description.
Bosses expect to be able to change your duties -- usually with no extra compensation.
I'll let you guess what kind of schools are the worst offenders at this: Starts with a
T and rhymes with "paining!"
If you push back against the mission creep, I can tell you from experience, you'll be
told, "But it's Chinese culture!"
You won't get fired, though, if you stand your ground.
They need you.
Make sure you know what your compensation plan looks like: Base salary, bonuses, stipends.
Are holidays paid?
Sometimes they aren't.
Public schools increasingly don't offer any pay for the summer and winter holidays.
But some places will offer half pay during your downtime if you sign up for another year.
Will they help you pay your taxes?
When is payday?
It's pretty common to be paid only once a month.
Also, for a while I was paid in a big, fat wad of cash every month, but most institutions
these days can set up direct deposit with a Chinese bank.
And, of course, they will help you set up a Chinese bank account.
If there's a flight allowance, when can you expect that or other expenses, to be reimbursed?
What other costs are you allowed to expense?
If you're just arriving in China, know that you will need to have enough savings to get
you through at least your first month before any money starts coming your way.
Some schools offer nice perks, so ask what they can do for you -- where I work now, they
give me free lunch from the school cafeteria, if I want it.
You can see what a typical Chinese school lunch looks like in a video from earlier in
the week.
The other big part of your contract is the amount of hours you're expected to work, and
what those hours mean.
A lot of training schools, in particular, will split your schedule between teaching
hours and office hours -- at my last training school job, they only paid overtime if you
worked extra teaching hours ... but they would expect you to work as many office hours as
necessary.
Ask what duties might be expected of you during an office hour, and be aware that the time
between classes, where you clean up after your last class and prepare for your next
class, might be counted as a "break."
If you don't have enough teaching hours in a given week, what happens?
How do they handle and communicate schedule changes?
Like I said earlier, no matter where you work a change of plans WILL happen.
Can they guarantee you 24 hours notice?
Will they call you at 6am?
Or midnight?
And what's the procedure when a class is cancelled or rescheduled?
And demo and marketing activities ... I hate these, so if these are a part of the job,
I'm out.
But if they're not a dealbreaker for you, you should know exactly what you're getting
into.
Ask about it!
It's common for ESL contracts to include a provision for housing, whether that's a school-owned
apartment or a rent subsidy in your paycheck.
If it's a school apartment -- where is it?
On campus?
There are perks and drawbacks to living with your students.
No matter where you plan on living, get a picture of the facilities first, if you can't
visit in person.
I've mostly had good apartment experiences, but I've also heard horror stories of people
being put up in storage rooms, so be careful.
Will your apartment have a western toilet?
A washing machine?
It won't have a dryer, but you can ask.
Also, dishwashers are unlikely.
It's standard for apartments in China to come furnished, so you probably won't have to worry
about that, but knowledge is power.
If you have to find your own apartment, be aware that rent is generally paid a full year
up front -- or in some cities quarterly or at the half year.
A supportive school will help you find a place, but you'll have to finance the initial payment
yourself -- if your school provides a subsidy, it'll be included with your monthly payment.
Rent in Luzhou for a two-bedroom apartment in the nice part of town runs about $300 U.S.
per month.
I can't really give you numbers in the rest of the country, but it's safe to say that
bigger cities would be more expensive.
Come to Luzhou.
If you can, I really recommend talking to the foreign teacher who was there before you.
Schools can be pretty desperate, and tell you things that you want to hear rather than
the truth.
And bad working conditions can really make your time in China a nightmare.
Stay tuned, and in our last segment we'll discuss legal Chinese work visas.
Lastly, I want to talk about work visas in China.
I don't want to alarm you, but I don't know one person who hasn't had some issue with
theirs ... although the good news there is that visa troubles are normal and survivable!
There are two issues with your employer that you'll have to watch out for: One, they are
actually a crook and lying to you.
Use your common sense and ask all your questions, and you'll be able to sniff this out.
Two, they are uninformed and make big mistakes.
It happens.
But either way, it's good for you to know the law and what can happen to you.
If you do something wrong, even if it's what your school told you to do, the consequences
fall directly on you.
So know your dates of when paperwork is due, when permits expire, all of it.
The correct procedure to follow is that you apply for a Z-visa in your home country, come
over here and your school will apply for something called a Foreign Expert Certificate.
With the FEC in hand, you will apply for your foreign residence permit, which will allow
you to enter and exit the country multiple times, and, more importantly work there.
You should finish the process within thirty days of your arrival in China, though if you
need more time, I think you can extend the Z-visa.
The school holds onto the foreign expert certificate, and your passport is yours.
The school has no reason to take it from you, and you should question it if they say they
do.
Unfortunately the goal posts keep moving in terms of what precisely you need to do to
qualify as a legal teacher of English in China -- as of 2018, you need a valid university
diploma and a certificate of no criminal record, both authenticated by the Chinese embassy
or consulate in your HOME COUNTRY.
If you're starting out now, a TEOFL is useful too, I hear.
Next year, I'm sure the requirements will be something new and exciting, and the same
for the year after that.
But here's something that will always be true: You cannot work on a tourist, business, or
student visa, and if someone tells you otherwise, they are lying to you.
Also, only people from countries that have English as their national language can be
certified to teach English.
I know it's totally possible to be a good teacher even if English is your second language,
but in China, that's just the rule.
Again, if a school tells you differently -- lies.
Knowing this, if you still want to take the risk, you are less likely to be caught if
you're further out west, or in a smaller city, but Uncle Foreigner categorically recommends
against this.
Depending on where you are, how much sleep the police officer got the night before, and
what shenanigans you've been a party to, the punishment can range from a very steep fine
to deportation.
Jail is unlikely, but not out of the question.
Recently, an American on an illegal student visa had to spend a month behind bars in Chengdu,
and it did not sound fun.
If you want to hear his story, I'll link to a podcast he was on in the description below.
Something that is a grey area but everybody does it, is that your school may ask you to
come to China as soon as possible on a tourist visa, and they'll work on getting you your
work permit while you're here.
Here's what I don't like about this: There is minimal risk of getting caught working
in your first months while you're still on the tourist visa, but it's still illegal.
Also, your school, through malice or incompetence, may not ever be able to get you the legal
visa once you're here, but you've already overhauled your whole life for a job in China.
Thirdly, even if everything else works out OK, swapping the tourist visa for a Z-visa,
is a big pain.
It involves a trip out of the country to reapply at a foreign-soil Chinese embassy or consulate.
Usually, you can just do this in Hong Kong, but a few years ago, Hong Kong stopped issuing
work permits for a time unless your company had some magic fairy dust or something ... and,
anyway, even if Hong Kong is issuing work permits, it's an expensive trip.
They've got so many tempting great restaurants and bars, and the shopping is fantastic.
Some schools will reimburse part of your expenses, but never enough to do Hong Kong right.
I love Hong Kong, and it's a great place to travel, but an emergency trip there to do
paperwork is not my idea of a good time.
Though there is a great Cantonese breakfast spot right near the consulate.
My verdict: Tread carefully if you want to go the swapsies route, and have a backup plan
in case you need it.
China used to have a reputation as a wild west in the east.
Anything went, and there were easy opportunities for losers back home.
No qualifications?
You could handprint your diploma in crayon, and you'd get hired.
Got a criminal record in one province?
Move to another.
But this is not really true any more.
Behaviors that were fine then just don't fly now, and regulations are tightening up every
year.
In addition to the hiring requirements that I talked about earlier, the police have also
started to expect your job to reflect what your foreign expert certificate says it is.
This means: no more side hustles.
Six years ago, when I taught at a public school, my boss would help me find additional jobs
and tutoring students.
And it was totally fine.
Last year, however, there was a huge crackdown on foreign teachers who took on work outside
of the school that sponsored their visa.
That dream of stealing away all of your training school students to start your own secret private
school -- now you'll actually need to do it on the up and up.
And that involves a lot of paperwork.
Also, it's a jerk move.
Open a school if that's what you want; it's an advanced move, but for many foreign teachers
it's a legitimate next step.
But don't do it out of spite.
Just don't work for a training school if you hate them.
Which concludes the advice I have to give on teaching English as a foreigner in China.
To sum up: There are a lot of different types of teaching opportunities -- do your research
to see what situation fits in with your life goals.
Ask lots of questions: moving to a new country is a big life change, you'll want to be reasonably
sure of what you're getting into.
And, always know your legal rights and responsibilities.
China can be a great adventure, but paying fines at the police station is not the kind
of adventure you want.
If you still have any questions or even your own stories or tips to share, leave them in
the comments.
I'll be active in the discussion, and if we get a really good one going, maybe we'll plan
some sort of sequel.
Oh, and consider Luzhou!
It's a city on the rise.
Thanks for watching everyone.
Good luck out there.
And come back tomorrow for a more general look at that lazy expat lifestyle.
And remember the three magic words: subscribe, subscribe, subscribe.
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