When looking for a teaching job in China, where do you want to teach? The following places are available.
When looking for a teaching job in China, where do you want to teach? The following places are available.
Public Schools and Universities
Here are longer holidays, shorter teaching hours, usually no weekends or evenings although sometimes they may want to have an evening English Corner or event. Students are usually pleasant and keen to learn. Salaries on average range from 5,000 up to 6,000 RMB ($635 to $770) with free accommodation and other benefits.
Colleges and Vocational Schools
Similar to universities, however, salaries are traditionally a little lower and sometimes students can be a bit more difficult to motivate.
Primary, Middle, High Schools
This group offers the biggest portion of ESL Jobs in China and in many cases can be the most lucrative if you have an education degree. Salaries at the lower end of the scale are on a par with colleges, rising up to as much as, and sometimes more than, 20,000 RMB ($2,550) at international schools.
Training Centers
This sector also makes up a large proportion of the China ESL job market with new training centers opening monthly throughout China. Mainstream international chain schools like English First, Shane, and others are here along with a plethora of Chinese outfits of varying quality and standards. There are huge differences in both pay and conditions, so you need to study offers carefully. Teaching hours range anywhere from 20 to 30, with pay scales from 6,000 to 10,000 RMB ($770 to $1,280) being the norm. Most training centers in China do not provide accommodation, and again apartments in China vary in price greatly.
Teaching Kids
If you love children, you can try. But you should know the younger the children, the less attention span they have so you really need a lot of activity and fun-based lessons to keep them busy. If you teach young learners from middle school through to tertiary you may be asked to teach EAP (English for Academic Purposes); if you are chasing the money and are good at grammar and very patient then it may suit you.
Teaching Adults
As with teaching younger learners, it comes down to personal taste. Adults can be very demanding. The upside in teaching adults, and in particular business, is that they can make each and every lesson more interesting and enjoyable.
Freelance Teaching
While freelance teaching is officially not permitted. In the bigger cities like Shanghai some Chinese agencies are actually procuring students for private study with foreign teachers and charging the FT a small commission.