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