| > | | | | get a head start in this competitive society of 1.3 billion. |
| | | | Unfortunately, academics are not an issue to many of |
| Unemployed? On the lam? Get the skinny on teaching | | | | China's new educational entrepreneurs who put profit |
| English in China by seasoned China expat Tom Carter. | | | | before curriculum and quality. Classroom experience |
| Teaching English In China by Tom Carter | | | | and Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) |
| Having little luck finding an attractive job offer in the | | | | certification is nice, but in many cases a Western face |
| U.S. in 2004, I decided to take my skills where they | | | | is all a native English speaker needs to land a teaching |
| were wanted -- abroad.Enticed by the "Teach English | | | | job in China.In more reputable schools, most |
| in China -- No Experience Necessary" ads saturating | | | | prospective English teachers don't have it so easy. I |
| the online classifieds, I emailed my resume with one | | | | endured a weeklong interview process, including a |
| hand and packed my bags with the other. I had no | | | | series of teaching demonstrations before 300 |
| idea what to expect, but then, the great unknown can | | | | stern-looking parents, all while I was still jetlagged and |
| be what makes a job like teaching English in the | | | | suffering from culture shock. I must have done |
| People's Republic so appealing.As the world's largest | | | | something right, because I was chosen to teach at a |
| economy opens to foreign investment, education has | | | | top school in the province.Being rice-wined and dined |
| become one of China's thriving sectors. Confucius | | | | by my prospective employer over 30-course banquet |
| probably wouldn't stand for it, but he wasn't wearing | | | | dinners did not distract me from negotiating a fair |
| pinstripe suits and driving a shiny black sedan. The | | | | salary. Many foreigners ("laowai") prefer to live in a |
| country may be Communist in theory, but the renminbi | | | | cosmopolitan city like Beijing or Shanghai than a small |
| -- Chinese currency -- is emperor.A Chinese adage | | | | town such as the one I had chosen, and I was able to |
| says that the best advice is often born from the most | | | | use this preference as leverage during contract |
| challenging experiences. After three years helping the | | | | discussions. All deals in China, like the price of fruit at |
| sons and daughters of Han learn English, I've had my | | | | the marketplace, can be negotiated.Most English |
| share. Westerners looking to teach in China may want | | | | teachers in China needn't speak Mandarin in the |
| to consider the following before packing their | | | | classroom. Instead, we instruct students through a |
| bags.Some foreign English teachers may be | | | | process of language immersion and simulation, which in |
| shanghaied at least once during their time in China. | | | | time invariably leads to proficiency. Diligence and a little |
| Baiting unsuspecting Westerners to China with false | | | | creativity are all that are really needed, but like |
| promises of a high salary, deluxe apartment, airfare | | | | performing on stage five times a day, it takes its |
| reimbursement, visa or other incentives is a common | | | | toll.Over the next few years, I would meet a number |
| online scam. Blame it on temptation. Often Chinese | | | | of disappointed young Westerners who came |
| laws are too fluid and relationships ("guanxi" in | | | | overseas as English teachers expecting to party all |
| Mandarin) with authorities too intimate, leaving some | | | | night and spend their free time pursuing adventures in |
| foreigners with little protection against scams.The | | | | the countryside. That, I would tell them, is a lifestyle for |
| moment I arrived in the Middle Kingdom I had what | | | | tourists, exchange students and embassy brats, not |
| some seasoned expatriates call "the complete | | | | the hardworking teacher.As a foreign expert English |
| Chinese experience." The "school" that had accepted | | | | instructor, I'm scheduled for up to 30 classes a week |
| my application turned out to be a nickel-and-dime | | | | and spend most of my free time planning lessons. I'm |
| operation run out of an apartment by a guy in his | | | | up at dawn with the older folks practicing their Tai Chi |
| bathrobe. I'd come half way around the world for a job | | | | and not back home until after 10 p.m., about when the |
| and found myself out of work.I was literally lost in | | | | migrant construction workers also are getting off |
| translation. Despair and a desire to return home to | | | | work.I never thought I'd be an educator. I didn't like most |
| Mom set in. But I quickly learned that, commensurate | | | | of my teachers when I was a kid. Teachers the world |
| with its sizeable population, China has a profusion of | | | | over are typically low paid, overworked and |
| kindergarten, primary, middle and high schools and | | | | underappreciated. But the fatigue and the hit on my |
| universities in even the most remote cities. In short | | | | income -- compared to what I might earn in the U.S. -- |
| order, I wound up with a position and salary more | | | | are what I pay for being part of a rapidly-changing |
| attractive than the one I had originally | | | | China. As it turned out, I'm not so bad in front of the |
| accepted.Chinese parents may work night and day to | | | | chalkboard -- I actually like it.-- Mr. Carter is a business |
| pay for pricey English lessons so that their child can | | | | English trainer in Beijing. |