Many organizations connect prospective teachers with schools, colleges, and universities. But some are fronts for Christian missionary organizations (both overt and covert), others are money makers (for the organizers), and everything in between.

If possible, do your homework so you know about the organization doing the connecting…and the teaching unit/organization where you will teach. Take the approach of a sales person and an customer. You are the sales person and need to meet your customer’s needs. That will help guide you in the lessons you do and assignments and grading.

Pay varies, but ask about the round-trip airfare to and from China and your home. Some deals include it, some don’t…and others do it with conditions….be sure you know the conditions.

Housing varies…could be included with the job (most common). The standards may be well below your home country.

Inquire about medical coverage…with the market economy firmly in place, expect that if things are not provided by the school, they may off-handedly toss out, “no problem, foreigners just pay more).

Coal is the leading energy source for most things….so winters can be really stressful on your respiratory system. Wear masks…soot, ash, dust, are everywhere and will undoubtedly challenge you when it comes time to keep your nasal passages and lungs clean. Oh…and people tend to smoke like chimneys, too.

Check sites like www.worldclimate.com so you can get a handle on what the seasons will be before you commit to a contract. China is a huge country and climates range widely.

Language can be challenging…so many dialects and region variants…but students want to learn English so speaking slowly and distinctly will go a long way…and then you can always point, fumble with a dictionary, and mime your way through the market place.

Be sure all your papers are in order….exiting the country before your contract is up can create some tense times at the borders.

hope this helps…good luck and best wishes.

My experiences are different in some respects, the same in others.

One, I do not have a university degree, which does limit my employment possibilities, but I still have no problem finding work.

I teach in a college which in China is pretty much equivalent to a jr college in the states. The universities are harder to get into for the Chinese student. Like in the USA, they have their version of SAT. The best students go to the best universities.

I have taught at a university, but only summer programs. They will not hire me for a regular teaching position because of my lack of a diploma. I have my ESL certificate.

The colleges are a bit frustrating to teach at. While many of the students are dedicated, there are just as much, if not more who are simply taking up space. The university can be the same as the people who score low go to the least desirable universities. The best universities in Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong you will find the most dedicated students. The bigger the city, the more desirable universities and colleges. I live in a relatively small city in China, only 100,000 and therefore the University and College are nowhere near being top, but probably rank pretty low.

My living accommodation’s are very good. I have a western style apartment. By law, the bathrooms must be western style and I also believe the kitchens.

The air here is good because we depend less on coal because of the 3 Gorges Dam. Black outs were common here prior to the dam going online, now it is rare.

One place to go is Daves ESL Cafe

http://www.eslcafe.com

Be careful of head hunters — the ESL Cafe has a black list of schools and head hunters, not sure how up to date it is.

Check out my web site of China photo’s. There are some photo’s there of my students and classroom.

http://www.pbase.com/sailingjim

I hope this helps, I wanted to write more but I got to run. Maybe later.

Peace

Jim

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Be wary of the “I’m a former teacher” and “I lived in China for six months teaching English” agents who put up fly by night webs hoping to glean a fast commission from their school by introducing you. You will get no support from those outfits..

Overall, living and working in China is a wonderful experience.. Enjoy!