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Five random lessons I’ve learned teaching in China

Here are a couple of random lessons that I have learned while teaching in China. I have learned most of them the hard way: – Don’t let the school get away with being vague in your contract – A few years back, I signed a contract which stipulated that the school would pay me extra [...]

Why I Quit My Teaching Job in China on the First Day

I was very excited about the chance to work at a well known international school in Guangdong Province last year. The working hours were very reasonable, the salary was great, and I even found out that a friend of mine was working on the staff. I traveled many hours by train to reach the school’s city. [...]

The Paradoxical Land of China

Recently, I was invited to be a guest author on the website TransitionsAbroad.com, an online magazine that provides helpful and timely information about living and traveling abroad. This month, the well known and award winning website featured a webzine on Asia which includes an article that I wrote entitled This is China, Living Abroad in a [...]

My Experience at a Chinese Hospital

The ceiling above my outstretched body was just a blur as my stretcher was rushed down a long dark corridor. “Get out of the way! Move it!.” I am guessing that is what my Chinese attendants were yelling as they rolled me towards a large operating room on the other end of the hospital. For [...]

Should I Use a Recruiting Agency to Find a Job in China?

My most recent experience with recruiting agencies was not positive. I had traveled some distance to meet with a recruiting agent because I thought she could offer me a job that she had advertised on the internet. Instead, she told me that the job that I wanted was “not for me” and that she had [...]

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Job tips for English speaking Asians in China

Posted by Jada on May 3rd, 2012

Why is it difficult for English speaking Asians to find a teaching job in China?

This is a question I get many times from fellow teachers of Asian descent.

Let’s face it. We Asians don’t make good poster boys or girls for schools that want to attract more students. Many schools in China want Caucasian teachers because many Chinese believe that only Caucasians can teach English. Having a Caucasian also brings in more revenue for the school. In other words, more Caucasians + more students = more revenue.

All is not lost, however. If you are willing to put up with lots of inconveniences and to sell yourself as a capable teacher, then finding a teaching job is really easy. Here are some tips that I have found useful in my job search: Read the rest of this entry »

Is it legal to have two jobs (or more) in China?

Posted by Robert Vance on April 23rd, 2012

“I make almost 30,000 RMB per month,” a new foreign teacher friend recently bragged to me. I was somewhat taken aback by this figure. As a university teacher here, I make less than 1/4 of that amount.

“How in the world do you manage that?”, I asked. “Are you so good at teaching that they just can’t throwing money at you?”

“Not at all”, came the answer. “I have four jobs. One main job and three jobs in the evening and on the weekends”.

Four jobs?  I could hardly believe it. For me, one job was enough to sap my energy away. The thought of four jobs made me feel tired. Read the rest of this entry »

Are Chinese people rude or are we just too ethnocentric?

Posted by Robert Vance on April 4th, 2012

My weekly lunches with a foreign co-worker  have too often degenerated into a recap of all of the ‘rude’ behavior that we have observed (or been subjected to) since we last met. Like being shoved into the side of a bus by a crowd or having someone almost run us over with their scooter as we crossed a campus street. Or seeing someone spit right in front of our shoes on the sidewalk.

Sometimes we don’t even have to talk about such behavior in the past tense. It is happening even as we eat lunch. A boy lets a door slam in a girl’s face (and then they go and sit down to have lunch together). Or a boy is talking loudly on his cell phone right behind us apparently forgetting where he is.  Read the rest of this entry »

Are we teachers or entertainers?

Posted by Robert Vance on January 15th, 2012

Or can we be both?

Most of my university students hate their Chinese teachers. I don’t blame them. And I don’t blame their Chinese teachers either.

I blame the system. In China, classes are taught around exams which means that they are predictably boring and sleep inducing.

That’s why foreign teachers in China are lucky. We can prepare lessons that are more creative and imaginative. We can push students to think critically and form their own opinions – something which rarely happens in Chinese classes. Read the rest of this entry »

January 2012 China Visa Update

Posted by Robert Vance on January 13th, 2012

It’s time for an update on the current visa situation in China. This post is based on emails that we receive here at the China Teaching Web as well as conversations that I have had with teachers and schools around China.

Choose carefully before you come to teach here. Due to the increased difficulties of obtaining a visa to teach in China (and finding teachers), schools are not just going to let you walk away from your contract.  Read the rest of this entry »

Teaching Western Etiquette in China

Posted by Robert Vance on January 11th, 2012

Next semester, I have a unique opportunity. I will be teaching a class called ‘Western Etiquette’ and I am free to create the lessons myself. The stated goal of the class is to familiarize students with manners and customs in the West and help them to understand how they should behave if they go abroad.

This should be fun. After living here for a few years, we should have plenty to talk about class. I especially look forward to teaching about some of the DO’s and DONT’s in Western countries — but especially the DONT’s. Those are more fun because I can draw them directly from my experience living here. Read the rest of this entry »

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