Jad / tj / tJad
Tales told by an idiot – me –
full of sound and furyt,
but signifyin nuthin.
Nuthin.
Nothing at all.
As of 2003-11-09, I found myself in Liaoyang, Liaoning teaching English at Talenty Elementary, a big network of private schools in northeast China. I've been writing about my experiences -- like getting naked with my boss -- via a Yahoo Groups email list, which you can join here.
If you're thinking about teaching English in China, then you can go anywhere in China you'd like. How do you go about choosing which city and teaching environment? Here's some thoughts based on my own (limited) personal experience.
I'm in a small city (pop: 600,000) and I may be the only American here and one of a half-dozen or dozen foreigners. Most of the Chinese here have never left this city and so I'm the first "round eyes" they've ever seen...in person. As a result, I get a bit of a rock star treatment. People stare at me everywhere I go, which is fun for the first few months, but it does starts to get old. Almost every Chinese I meet warns me to watch out for other Chinese who -- they say -- will try to take advantage of me. In a small city, however, everyone seems so enamored with meeting a foreigner that I have yet to really experience this. I suspect, however, that this is a legitimate issue in larger cities.
Also, in a small city, prices are much lower so your salary will go much, much farther. Taxis here, for example, cost 5 yuan to go almost anywhere in town while they cost a minimum of 7 yuan in a larger city and probably much more since you're likely to drive further to get where you're going. Now, two yuan ($0.25) may not seem like much, but it is a 20% increase.
Rent and utilities are usually covered by your school, so your biggest expenditure will be food. Western restaurants (KFC, Mickey D's, Pizza Hut, etc.) are about five to ten times more expensive then local Chinese food -- whether in a large or small city -- but even Chinese food is cheaper here in Liaoyang then in larger cities. (Here's one of my blogs about prices in Liaoyang.)
The flip side is that in a small city, there are fewer western things: people, movies, books, etc. If you want to experience Chinese culture, this is generally a good thing, but it does mean that you're more likely to feel isolated and alone on occasion. This is made worse by the fact that in small cities, there are fewer Chinese that speak English.
China is roughly the same size as America and the climate between north and south is the same here as it is there. Go to north China (Beijing) and the weather is like Chicago. Go to south China (Hong Kong) and the weather is like Florida.
This is similar to the small/large city option. Cities in the east are more westernized while cities in the west are less so. The one difference may be Internet access. Even though I'm in a small city, my school was able to install ADSL for me at my apartment (which costs only 80 yuan/month ($10)). I don't know what the telecom infrastructure looks like in the west, but that may not be an option. (Knowing what I know of China, however, I suspect that it's only the far, far, far west that doesn't have Internet.) You can easily verify this by asking.
If you want to teach at a public school or university, salaries range from 2,500 to 4,000 yuan/month. In theory, these schools are less flexible with salaries because they're government run, but I was negotiating with one college that seemed willing to go up to 6,000 yuan. (Government regulations are frequently citied during negotiations, but are easily ignored if and when desired.) As a rule, however, private schools offer much higher salaries simply because they can afford to pay a lot more money. I make 5,000 yuan and I think this is in the middle range. (Chinese teachers make, in comparison, about 1,000 yuan/month.) Schools will initially offer 3,000 to 5,000, but if you ask for 6,000 or 7,000, then you might settle at 5,000 or so. (Though you could earn less in larger cities where there are more foreigners and hence, less demand.)
BTW, in China, everything is open to negotiation and you earn points by negotiating well. Moreover, you can lose respect if you don't negotiate at all. But be careful about negotiating too hard. You may be able to get your salary up to six or seven thousand yuan, but then find increased pressure on you to justify that salary. Many times the Chinese will treat you like a God when you arrive, but then turn you into the anti-Christ when you, inevitably, don't meet all their expectations.
Also, I'm not sure if this is a general rule, but I suspect you'll teach fewer classes in a private school simply because your classes are more expensive then classes with Chinese teachers. (I only teach 3 classes a week, but this is extreme.) At public schools and universities, I suspect that the administration will want you to teach as many classes as possible (e.g., whatever the contract states). And, of course, it's more prestigious to teach at a university, but I think this only makes a difference for your resume since foreign teachers are well regarded regardless of where they're teaching.
Another benefit of private schools is that they can hire you immediately since they can start classes any time. (Small cities are so eager for foreign teachers that they'll hire you yesterday.) Public schools and universities will generally hire at the beginning of the term -- September and February.
There are two major downsides to private schools. The first is the risk of not knowing what you're gonna get. Whereas Americans/westerners are generally nice people, the Chinese are either super-nice (the more common) or, well, not-so-nice. You can tell the super-nice Chinese because they'll warn you about the not-so-nice ones and they'll be very, very protective. The not-so-nice Chinese, however, are exploitive and ruthless in negotiations and, later, in management. I don't think you can distinguish the two during negotiations since most Chinese are good negotiators, so I recommend only signing a 6-month contract with the school. All of them will push for a 12-month contract, especially upon arrival and signing of the contract, so it's best to be ready with a good excuse -- i.e. a family commitment -- about why you can only sign a 6-month contract. Moreover, the only benefit you get from a 12-month contract is round-trip airfare, reimbursed at the end of your contract.
The other major downside is a clash of values. Most people who want to teach are attracted to teaching because they want to help people. Entrepreneurs who set up English teaching schools, however, are attracted to teaching because they expect to make a lot of money. There's no way to predict how this clash will play out, but if it's something you're really worried about, then you should choose a lower salary with a public school/college.
email: tJad at DuWaik dot com (Why the weird format?)