I have just completed my first year working for King’s in Tianjin and am starting on my second. I will break down my thoughts on the job and the city so people can get an idea of what the school is like.

Classes, and Hours:

We teach classes from 6:30 - 8:00 on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. This is just one class, each class being an hour and a half. On Saturday and Sunday we teach from 8AM until 8PM with a maximum of 5 classes each day. Most teachers get at least one break a day (with new teachers usually having more breaks while they accumulate new classes), but not everyone does. While the hours are long, this still leaves us with 2 hours for lunch, a 1 hour break, and two half hour breaks between other classes. This time is necessary to relax and prep. The weekends are no joke… especially if you have no free period! The bright side is that after they are over, you have 5 days to recover!

During the 6 weeks over summer that Chinese children are on break from Chinese school, the foreign teachers teach an extra class on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday (again, some teachers may get a break on one of these days).
Students range in age from 3 – 12. 3 year olds are very uncommon, I don’t teach any myself… perhaps my colleagues do, but at my center I don’t think we have any. Even 4 year olds are pretty few and far between for me. Out of about 70 students I have perhaps 3 or 4 kids that are 4. 10 months ago that number was probably around 10. Each class contains anywhere from 3 kids (usually older S’s in smaller classes) and 12 kids, with rare “classes” going over that number for a special event like a birthday party. In the younger classes we take two 5 minute breaks, in the older ones we take one 10 minute break.

If you teach demo classes (classes to showcase your teaching ability and the schools equipment to get kids signed up) any old kid can turn up. For those classes you might get a 2 year old showing up, however, when this happens our boss asks them to return in a few months when the child is old enough. Demo kids are tough, you get awesome kids, and awful kids but they are just kids and more often than not dead nice! (I don’t teach any demo’s… some teachers do 3 a week, just depends on your schedule).

Syllabus, & Equipment:

Each classroom is fitted with an interactive whiteboard in addition to the usual classroom gear and tools. Like anything else in the classroom, it is down to the teacher to use it or not. I don’t use it too often and rely more on being active and using flashcards with games to teach.

We have two courses available, one for younger S’s and one for older S’s. The syllabus for younger S’s works as a guideline for most teachers. Sometimes there is just not enough work for the kids, or I think it’s too easy. You will need to cut and tailor the classes for your specific class. A lesson plan that is perfect for one of my classes could be totally inappropriate for another class that is at exactly the same place in the lesson plan. The majority of the material for the older S’s is more appropriate and I find myself having to do less additional prep in general for my older classes.

The equipment at the school is generally in good condition. The computers sometime run quite slowly or break down. Every now and again it is difficult to get a hold of the materials for a class. For example there may not be enough large sheets of paper etc. This is one of the more frustrating things about the job.

Teaching! :

The kids are great! It’s important to like young children in this job. I really enjoy teaching and playing with the younger students. If lesson planning causes me some stress, working with a bunch of younger students perks me up again. I find teaching the 4-7 year olds the most and they are highly active. It allows me to be very creative, play games, shout things out, and generally go stamping through the class feeling like the pied-piper. I know a lot of teachers prefer the older students as those classes are far more laid back. It is certainly nice to have a balance.

As kids only have 3 classes every two weeks, don’t expect your students to go from “Hello” to “Hey teacher, I see you picked up a new shirt!” in a year. Its slow work and difficult, but still pleasantly rewarding when you see that they have picked up something you taught them.

We also have teaching assistants. Like everything else, they vary. Be nice to your TA and you are going to find things easier. There English is good. Sometimes it’s good enough and sometimes it’s outstanding. They help relay any messages too complicated for the kids to understand in English, gather flash cards and generally make life easier. I always lesson plan with my TA’s. Having worked before without a TA at a different school I have seen how much difference having someone else in the class helps.

Pay, Reimbursements, and Chinese lessons:

No one I know has ever been paid less than they are owed, failed to receive reimbursements offered to them (medical bills use to apply for the visa for example), or not received a bonus. EVERYONE always gets their money. Back around December 2012 we received our pay late… perhaps around a week late. The following month we received late payment again by a few days. At the time this was a real worry. I hadn’t been here too long by then and I was concerned about the company (I should say, a couple of teachers at the time that had run out of cash and complained so school paid them on time… everyone else waited the week. No one went hungry). However, since March we really haven’t had a problem. All the foreign staff get their pay. Last month we got paid a day late; not due to financial ruin, but instead because of poor accounting. Mistakes happen… but they get fixed.

I took 5 Chinese lessons a week. They helped to improve my Chinese to the point where I can get around and take care of myself. Recently I have lost drive to learn. The truth of it is that 5 lessons as week is HARD WORK. It’s a huge time commitment but if you are ready for it and willing to learn you will receive the lessons and see solid improvement. It’s difficult, and I don’t see eye-to-eye with some of the teachers but that’s a personal thing. Many of the other teachers enjoy their classes.

Overall thoughts:

This is my second ESL job. I enjoyed my first one, but this one is superior in many ways. It offers a lot of free time, good pay, and a supportive staff. You get out of the job what you put into it. If you don’t try in your job you will find it far less rewarding or interesting. However, if you work hard and try in your job you are going to reap the rewards.

This is a good ESL job. There are some real grim places out there you can go and work at that will promise you the moon on a stick. King’s has come up with everything they offered. After talking to people that work at other centers around Tianjin I am confident that this is the best ESL job over here when comparing hours and pay. My colleagues that have worked at other schools in China all prefer this one.

We have anywhere from 20-25 teachers in Tianjin now. No one I know or I have heard about has left before the end of their contract. And many like myself sign on for an additional year. Most people pass through the school without leaving a message on a board like this or sharing their thoughts but I think it’s fair to say they are content with the job.

Living here can be tough. China can be a difficult place to live; it’s a very different culture. Some days you will find yourself getting stressed or tired with the job or even frustrated with the behavior or some of your students. However, overall I would be happy to recommend this job to my friends.