extc
- 2012-03-03
I would say you could easily be accepted by a 2nd or 3rd tier college. If you want the better places, I would add some sort of TESL/TEFL certification to your resume. As for a major city, I am really not sure, but don't let that put you off applying though!
Working hours depend on your body! I personally find 20 (45 min) classes a week the max. Anything above that would wreck my sleeping pattern :).
Accommodation can range from awful to acceptable. For example, a friend of mine in Hunan just had the hot water tank removed from his shower room, reducing his running hot water from 10 mins to 3 mins. Also, a lot of accommodation in China is near a main road, or on the school campus, with the school loudspeakers and announcements causing disturb.
Other issues include broken equipment (which is not fixed quickly), power outages, no paint on walls, dangerous electric wiring, leaking or freezing pipes. (Although not everywhere.)
I would avoid anywhere with weather extremes and schools that have bad comments on other forums.
San Migs
- 2012-03-03
I would say you would definitely get a job being a native speaker, and having a degree.
But you likely won't save anything, and will be financially destitute unless you are already rich now. Something to consider?
ontoChina2012
- 2012-03-02
Thanks for the reply! I am definitely not planning on a career in teaching ESL. It is just a way of supporting my two years that I plan to spend in China learning Mandarin and experiencing China in preparation for a PhD in China studies.
Therefore my concerns are:
Workload (in terms of teaching hours and everything else - I need time for the enormous undertaking of learning Mandarin) - this is so important to me that I am willing to take a much lower paying job as long as I get a Z visa, and at least enough to be able to eat etc.
Accommodations - if they are provided, are they at least decent?
Vacation time (but this is not as important as finding a job with as light (in terms of how time consuming it is) a workload as possible.
With these two in mind, I am thinking public unis are the way to go. I have spent two years as a tutor (though not in ESL - but I have worked with Chinese immigrants and Chinese nationals). I have published several articles for the English language editions of a state-run Chinese newspaper. I have a BA from a university that is highly regarded in China and I am an Ameircan who native speaker meets the more superficial requirements (as unfair as they are) that schools look for.
With these qualifications, what chance to I have at getting into a public uni - and if I do have a good chance, would I be able to get into one in Beijing, or do I have to look at a second-tier city instead?
Thank you for the offer to ask you more questions - can you email me at my address that is posted next to my screen name - I tried yours but it said delivery failed.
extc
- 2012-03-02
Yes, I worked at a public university, public middle schools and a private college training center. Regardless of where you go in China, including major cities, there is little substance to the education system, and even less for foreign ESL teachers -- you will find that the students are often rude, have English skills so bad that it is hard to communicate with them. You will feel like you have been used as a scapegoat for a failed education policy on a subject that most hate.
I say that most schools in China, kindy to Uni, public and private are useless. If that was not true, then why do you see badly translated 'English' everywhere?
Read the articles on http://www.chinaholisticenglish.org/ before taking the plunge.
As for your career, I don't think that a year in China looks particularly good, especially if you want to go into TEFL teaching professionally, as most people in the business know that ESL in China is a joke.
Happy to help you more, if you want.
extc
ontoChina2012
- 2012-03-01
Thank you for your response to my post - I had a few follow-up questions for you.
My questions:
Are the ones you refer to as "junk colleges" public or private? Can you name the specific ones you were referring to in Hubei -- I have a friend who might be able to get me a job at a university in Hubei province so I want to know which ones might not be good to work in.
Did you work at a public university, if so how did it compare to private school employment.
When you said it won't do my career much good - did you mean if I wanted a career in teaching, or even if I am going for a grad school program and English and am doing this to learn Mandarin and get some first-hand China experience? What career path did you find it was not helpful in, if you don't mind me asking?
extc
- 2012-03-01
Plenty of junk colleges in Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou - here is your schedule, no textbook, no professional goals, no look around the campus, just get on and teach.
Have a look on Dave's ESL cafe. Just make it a one-year thing though. You are probably not going to like it, and it certainly won't do your career much good.
extc
I am interested in teaching English at a public university in China,. However, I have no ESL experience (though I have two years of tutoring experience in other subjects). I cannot find many public university jobs in Beijing and those that I do find want one or two years experience. Is this the standard requirement now and where exactly does one go to find the many positions at public colleges that are supposedly out there for China.
If it is possible, I originally wanted to live in Beijing - is it possible to get a university job there with no esl experience or should one look at the provincial cities where there is less competition?