TEACHERS DISCUSSION FORUM
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#1 Parent foxy - 2012-04-18
Re: I need an EFL job

There are public school jobs available in China's backwaters for you and other non-native speakers of English as well as old laowai of pensionable age who are native speakers. The agent I work for employs Africans and East Europeans too. What I like about working for him is that he's honest and provides me with a teaching assistant. She definitely makes my job easier and helps me with my daily life problems outside the classroom.
Wherever you end up, have a good time, and never ever take a job at a private school, especially not at a training centre/language mill set-up. Many newbies have been burned badly after they were enticed there by high salaries - either the high salaries were a fabrication, or the foreign teachers burned themselves out teaching far too many classes/week to get the big money!
Surf the web for Yuncheng jobs, but if you choose to apply to an agent in that area, make sure you do so direct, and not through a recruiter. Recruiters supplying Yuncheng's agents with foreign teachers will demand introduction fees from the agents. I think that would have a detrimental effect on your employment package, as the agent will recoup that expense by paying you less salary/month, or less air fare reimbursement when your contract's up!

#2 Parent juanisaac - 2012-04-18
Re: I need an EFL job

Pretty much the country side of China is what is opened to you. I have a Spanish name and come from a background in education totaling about 7 years, four in the USA in an ESL high school environment. Sure enough all the work offers I get are in the countryside.
You are European and white (I assume) so after the native speakers from the "big five" find work, there is work leftover for you. When schools can't find a native speaker, they widen their choices. Don't give up. Look at echinacities.com in their employment section. Type in "European" or "non-native speaker" and a few schools will have openings for you. However, keep in mind that these jobs are in places like Harbin and Changchun (close to Siberia) and other less desirable locations. Pretty much the coastal cities of Shanghai, Qingdao, and other top choices for Westerners will have more competition and have less openings. I know of Africans and Phillipino nationals that work in China, and in terms of school hiring choices you are farther up the food-chain.
I would also suggest getting some work experience in Portugal tutoring or teaching English.
If you need extra help, e-mail me and I can get you in contact with someone with many job leads in Jiangsu province. Just keep in mind that Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, and a few other foreign teacher magnets may not be open to you, take care.

#3 Parent Faith - 2012-04-18
Re: I need an EFL job

I have a couple of suggestions for you. Given that you're not averse to teaching off the beaten track in China, and you have no teaching experience, I think it would be a good idea for you to apply to agents rather than to recruiters. You would be teaching for the agent. He would place you in a middle school, and supply a Chinese teaching assistant. He (or she) would teach you how to teach, as it were, as well as make it easier for the students to follow your lessons. I think this would be a good way for a non-teacher to start teaching in China. Last year around this time I bumped into a Spaniard teaching English for an agent in a county. His name was Javier, and I'd say his English was pretty poor, but he was managing to satisfy the middle school where he had been placed, and consequently, the agent who had placed him there. His teaching assistant must have been able to ensure his continued employment by helping him plan his lessons well. The only complaint he had was that teaching each lesson over and over again during each week, week by week, was boring, but he did say he was able to amend it as he went along, so as to improve it.
I know agents and Chinese teaching assistants are criticized severely here by some posters. So, I think it wouldn't be a good idea for me to name said agent on here. But if you like you can e-mail me and I'll tell you how to contact said agent. Anyone else interested, please feel free to do so.

Sebastian - 2012-04-18
I need an EFL job

I'm a swarthy Western European with quite fair English. In my country the employment situation is bad. I am recently graduated with a degree in accountancy. I have no job here in Portugal, but I enjoy travel. I have no teaching experience. I have tried to get a position as an oral English teacher in China, but I have had no offers so far. The three recruiters I have e-mailed to aren't contacting me any more. Teaching in China's less developed areas interests me. Any suggestions?

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