Teaching English In China
Trip Start
Feb 01, 2004
1
21
29
Trip End
Feb 01, 2008
Dongying,
China
Sunday, August 19, 2007
by Tom Carter
Having little luck finding an attractive job offer in the U.S. in 2004, I
decided to take my skills where they were wanted -- abroad.
Enticed by
the "Teach English in China -- No Experience Necessary" ads saturating the
online classifieds, I emailed my resume with one hand and packed my bags with
the other. I had no idea what to expect, but then, the great unknown can be what
makes a job like teaching English in the People's Republic so
appealing.
As the world's largest economy opens to foreign investment,
education has become one of China's thriving sectors. Confucius probably
wouldn't stand for it, but he wasn't wearing pinstripe suits and driving a shiny
black sedan. The country may be Communist in theory, but the renminbi -- Chinese
currency -- is emperor.
A Chinese adage says that the best advice is
often born from the most challenging experiences. After three years helping the
sons and daughters of Han learn English, I've had my share. Westerners looking
to teach in China may want to consider the following before packing their
bags.
Some foreign English teachers may be shanghaied at least once
during their time in China. Baiting unsuspecting Westerners to China with false
promises of a high salary, deluxe apartment, airfare reimbursement, visa or
other incentives is a common online scam. Blame it on temptation. Often Chinese
laws are too fluid and relationships ("guanxi" in Mandarin) with authorities too
intimate, leaving some foreigners with little protection against
scams.
The moment I arrived in the Middle Kingdom I had what some
seasoned expatriates call "the complete Chinese experience." The "school" that
had accepted my application turned out to be a nickel-and-dime operation run out
of an apartment by a guy in his bathrobe. I'd come half way around the world for
a job and found myself out of work.
I was literally lost in translation.
Despair and a desire to return home to Mom set in. But I quickly learned that,
commensurate with its sizeable population, China has a profusion of
kindergarten, primary, middle and high schools and universities in even the most
remote cities. In short order, I wound up with a position and salary more
attractive than the one I had originally accepted.
Chinese parents may
work night and day to pay for pricey English lessons so that their child can get
a head start in this competitive society of 1.3 billion. Unfortunately,
academics are not an issue to many of China's new educational entrepreneurs who
put profit before curriculum and quality. Classroom experience and Teaching
English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) certification is nice, but in many cases a
Western face is all a native English speaker needs to land a teaching job in
China.
In more reputable schools, most prospective English teachers don't
have it so easy. I endured a weeklong interview process, including a series of
teaching demonstrations before 300 stern-looking parents, all while I was still
jetlagged and suffering from culture shock. I must have done something right,
because I was chosen to teach at a top school in the province.
Being
rice-wined and dined by my prospective employer over 30-course banquet dinners
did not distract me from negotiating a fair salary. Many foreigners ("laowai")
prefer to live in a cosmopolitan city like Beijing or Shanghai than a small town
such as the one I had chosen, and I was able to use this preference as leverage
during contract discussions. All deals in China, like the price of fruit at the
marketplace, can be negotiated.
Most English teachers in China needn't
speak Mandarin in the classroom. Instead, we instruct students through a process
of language immersion and simulation, which in time invariably leads to
proficiency. Diligence and a little creativity are all that are really needed,
but like performing on stage five times a day, it takes its toll.
Over
the next few years, I would meet a number of disappointed young Westerners who
came overseas as English teachers expecting to party all night and spend their
free time pursuing adventures in the countryside. That, I would tell them, is a
lifestyle for tourists, exchange students and embassy brats, not the hardworking
teacher.
As a foreign expert English instructor, I'm scheduled for up to
30 classes a week and spend most of my free time planning lessons. I'm up at
dawn with the older folks practicing their Tai Chi and not back home until after
10 p.m., about when the migrant construction workers also are getting off
work.
I never thought I'd be an educator. I didn't like most of my
teachers when I was a kid. Teachers the world over are typically low paid,
overworked and underappreciated. But the fatigue and the hit on my income --
compared to what I might earn in the U.S. -- are what I pay for being part of a
rapidly-changing China. As it turned out, I'm not so bad in front of the
chalkboard -- I actually like it.
-- Mr. Carter is a business English
trainer in Beijing.
###
Tom Carter
of San Francisco is an internationally published freelance
photographer and travel writer specializing in the People's Republic of China.
Tom has traveled extensively throughout all 33 Chinese provinces and autonomous
regions and currently resides in Beijing.
This article originally
appeared in a February 2007 edition of The Wall Street Journal Career Journal.
