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Teaching English in China
Posted by Mike in Work
Based on what I’ve heard from those experiencing it first hand, teaching English in China can be a fruitful or thankless job depending on your personality, your expectations, and your life standards. Here is a run down of what you should know if you are considering moving to China to teach English.
Teaching English in China: The Pay
The first thing you should know is that teaching English in China won’t make you rich. If you are coming out here to live like a king, you have chosen the wrong profession. English teachers in China make up to 12,000 RMB / month (roughly $1750 USD). Some get housing on top of that. However, many make less than 12,000 RMB. It will depend on what company or school you join and what location you are placed in. While those who make 12,000 RMB / month straight out of university will survive well in China, those making roughly half of that who are mid-career workers will need some additional stipends to survive comfortably. Bare in mind that you will likely spend more than 100 RMB / day on food alone. If you decide to go to bars and clubs frequently, you could easily be doubling this value, bringing you up to 6,000 RMB right there. Once you add up the rest of your expenses, you can quickly see how living in China as an English teacher can become a struggle.
Teaching English in China : The Profession
Teaching English in China can be an excellent experience for those entering with the correct mindset, but you should really examine your personality
before going into the profession:
- Do you like children?
- Do you like helping others?
- Do you like to talk?
- Are you easily frustrated?
To put into perspective what you will be doing — try this exercise — go to a technical or financial website and find an article of little to no interest to you. Read it out loud very slowly — making sure to focus on pronunciation. When you are done, summarize that article (again, out loud). Once you summarize it, summarize it again, but use words that are very basic (something that a 7 year old English speaker would understand). Then, imagine further questions on this. Imagine talking about this same article for 30 minutes. Imagine only 2 or 3 students caring about the topic while the others are studying for something else, sleeping, or chatting with their friends.
Still sound glamorous?
This isn’t to say that there aren’t positives to the job. There are. However, I want you to go through the test above to see what you are in for. Think of doing this for 20 hours each week (and then 15 hours of office hours).
Teaching English in China: The Positives
Ok, enough about the negatives, let’s focus on the positive side of teaching English in China. Here are some of the most important positives of the english teaching experience:
- You get to live in China!
- You build a great network of friends who are going through the same adventure as you
- You have an international experience on your resume that can be an asset as you apply for future jobs in your home country
- You get the opportunity to learn Mandarin (or Cantonese / Shanghainese if you dare :))
Teaching English : Conclusion
These are all solid reasons to go after a teaching job upon graduating college. You don’t get these opportunities often and, admittedly, I wish that I had considered teaching English abroad when I first graduated (instead, I did accounting). I admire any of you who are willing to go this route. Just be sure that teaching English is right for you. Also, do what you can to get into a major city if you are concerned about comfort — Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou or Shenzhen.
For those interested, here is a video on teaching English in China:
Hello fellow ex-pats (though I am not very fond of that name as I am very fond of my country=)! I decided after the loss of my husband, my mother and just a few other reasons to leave the country (U.S.A.). Now I thought, where could I go across the world, use some of my education and get the opportunity to show my children the vastness of the world? How about Cambodia? No, too much civil wars at the time and I have a 17 y3ear old blonde daughter and twin 7 year olds..so this wouldn’t work..but then I thought I could cross the ocean and come to China and they would be able to experience an entirely different world. We have been to villages (that even the ghetto wouldn’t compare or survive) and we have been in high-society positions.. and with each place we go the children have learned “Empathy”. a word that not many of our American children understand..for I have three additional biological children and one adopted son, so I am a bit knowledgeable on the children factor. I want for my children to learn to feel emotion not just see it. And we have experienced it all here thus far..And We all LOVE it! Even my 17 yr old daughter who fought me tooth and nail to get here!
The only problems I am having are finding “public” schools open to taking foreign children. I do not want them learning English for I can teach them this and they will never lose it..but we have come across many hurdles..My 17 yr old has been home schooled and now is ready to enter into the Chinese high school if allowed. I guess this next week will tell if we can accomplish our goals! Thanks for listening/reading! We love it here in Suzhou. Hope that more people come and experience the world outside of their own country!
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Mike Reply:
April 22nd, 2011 at 7:36 pm
Fascinating story. Thank you for sharing!
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Allison C Reply:
June 1st, 2011 at 12:04 pm
Hello Tracey.
Thanks for your posting.
I too want work teaching English in China and take my soon to be 13 year old son with me. I finish my Master of Education (TESOL) studies later this year (mature-age student) and currently work casually teaching ESL and literacy. It’s the school thing for my son that is delaying me. Home schooling is viable (my son is an high school Australian student) but that means he would be home all alone for the whole day that I am working which is no fun and as you already know the international schools are an impossibility because of the $$$. Would love some feedback from a ’single’ Mum (Mom) as there are very few postings on ESL sites such as Dave’s to get information from and the ones there are from husband & wife with family scenario’s. Also, if you have three kids, what sort of wage is sustainable?
Hope to hear from you in the future,
Allison :)
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Mike Reply:
June 10th, 2011 at 11:27 pm
Hi Allison,
I’m not sure who Tracey is, but I assume you mean me :). Living with three kids in China likely won’t be sustainable on the salary of an English teacher in China, especially if you plan to live in western housing. If you just have one kid (I’m a bit confused), you might be able to get by, but I would recommend that you don’t live in Shanghai or Beijing since the costs will be high.
Hope this helps.
Mike (not Tracey)
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Allison,
Yes I do have 3 children here in China and we love it! My children are 7 year old twins and a teenager! I live and work in Suzhou New District and travel to visit Bejing and Shanghai when it is convenient. The pay is enough to support myself and my family, as well as travel a bit. (We also do reside in western housing) I do not think becoming rich is an option, but we are very comfortable and have a great resource of friends and co-workers.
The school issue is complicated if your child knows no Chinese, but my children knew no Chinese and are enrolled in Chinese language classes to be able to enter public school next semester. My employer is wonderful in that when there is a problem, there is also an answer. My family adores our arrangement and we are not “suffering” at all, we also aren’t making “millions” but we can support ourselves and see other parts of the world while doing so.
We are always interesting in new teachers and if you decide you want to make the journey please feel free to send me your resume’ and information personally. I would welcome the opportuinity to assist another single mum as I always look to expand my friendships! Our semesters begin September 1, February 1 and July 1. The paperwork is daunting from the business end of it and can take several weeks, so if this is something you want make sure to begin your paperwork as quickly as you can.
Your schedule would be diverse depending on whether or not you worked in the public education system or privately. Most private schools operate around school hours, so you would in fact be home with your son during the day, and if you had an agreeable employer you would be able to bring your son with you to your work place. The best thing I can say about moving to China for our family was that we found a way back to the basics… kind of like a simple way of life I guess is another way of putting it. Everything is basically on a cash basis, so you dont get into the credit thing..there are fruit and vegetable stands on every corner and bakeries with fresh bread on every street…I find it soothing to not be absorbed into the megastore mentality all the time, but if you need them they are still around..one doesn’t drive places, instead takes the public busing or taxis places.
Well if there is anything else I can add please feel free to ask. Have a great day and hope top hear from you soon!! Tracy
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Who spends 100rmb or more on food a day?!
that’s ridiculous! I spend less than 50rmb on food a day.. and most days its near 25rmb. One thing expats need to do is get away from Western food.. We’re in China-partake in all the “chinese goodness” there are some great little places to eat and if you learn to cook on your own markets offer an inexpensive way to bypass the expensive Western Food Experience. I make 11,000rmb after tax and am able to pocket most of this.. I moved to a Chinese neighborhood.. rent only 2,300rmb. Electric, gas, water, cable, internet… a fraction of their US counter parts — 100, 25, 25, 15, 50 = in that order.. it is VERY possible to bank and save a lot of money teaching in this city if you do not have bills to pay and are willing to Live CHINESE… few trips to fast food or western restaurants, limited taxi rides and not a lot of after work and weekend drinking.
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Mike Reply:
February 26th, 2012 at 11:41 am
Jeremy,
Just speaking for myself — with a few recent instances of food poisoning (and potential HEP scare) recently due to living “CHINESE”, I understand the rationale for eating at more expensive / clean places. Also, for those who are dating, you might be spending for two. Are you having alcoholic drinks with your food? Good luck spending a day under 100 RMB.
I do agree though, you could have a pair of steamed dumplings for breakfast (4 RMB). Some dumplings for lunch (6 RMB) and some vegetable noodles for dinner (8 RMB).
It all depends on what your nutritional needs are.
I prefer to cook for myself to keep things clean, but I need a lot of meat that can get expensive even though I bought in Shanghai at small veggie / meat places.
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