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| All these tales of cheating, underpaying, unscrupulous schools, etc ! We are just new to ESL, are there any good stories to tell? Surely among all the schools in China, there must be many good ones.Why not tell more good stories and give us newbies an idea where to head for. Annerobw@hotkey.net [2004-11-03, 21:59:00][ID: 1037-5600] All of you are new, all of us are old. The stories are true. Sorry to disappoint you. ESL World Traveler [2004-11-04, 11:56:00][ID: 1037-5608] The best thing is to do is to empower yourself through some active research. Bobito [2004-11-04, 15:42:00][ID: 1037-5622] Agreed. China is an unsafe place to work and live. I am in Beijing now, and I can say that it is really cut throat here. I did some time in Ningbo, and Taiyuan. Taiyuan was really bad. Almost all of the schools there were terrible, and no foreigners. Ningbo was okay. I recommend that you study up more. It’s a large problem with new teachers here. If you don’t have any certification, get something quick. Korea is just as bad as I understand. Joe Budden [2004-11-05, 09:09:00][ID: 1037-5626] Has anyone checked out his email address at annerobw@hotkey.net to see if it is valid? Bowncebac [2004-11-05, 10:55:00][ID: 1037-5630] Since it pays the lowest wages (if they can be called that) then of course the country attracts the lowest people. Such people create all sorts of problems. Litany over. Deal real [2004-11-05, 11:02:00][ID: 1037-5631] I don′t quite think the situation is as simple as "they pay peanuts so they get monkeys!" If they offer so little why would someone ultimately leave their homeland to work for almost nothing aside from being somewhere different? Besides if someone offered a comparable western wage in China for teaching then that would be grounds for suspicion!! The real issue is concerned with business practices and this is a major source of contention as the way TEFL Schools/businesses are run are very different to western places. Hence people are somewhat bemused by the staff culture when they arrive in somewhere like China, or in Asia in general. To compound the situation standards in somewhere like China are also much lower than in many instances to your average western language school, and to be honest this problem is prevalent throughout the TEFL industry all over the world, and let′s face it, that′s what TEFL is! An industry! Of course, there are schools ran on well-founded pedagogical grounds but on the otherhand there are schools ran as a way to make money. It′s the same with the name ′university′ - don′t expect Harvard, Oxford, Yale, Cambridge, etc. - expect a glorified high school instead! Don′t expect too much, you won′t get burnt, you won′t get disappointed. Bobito [2004-11-06, 09:46:00][ID: 1037-5646] Agree with Bobito…the "lowest pay, worst teachers" line is hogwash. Usually, anyway. I′ve known too many amazingly qualified, enthusiastic and able teachers here. If you shop carefully, you can find decent pay in China. It does take patience and discrimination. The nominal value may be lower than salaries in Japan, Korea, or HK, etc. but I suspect at least some of us actually have a better lifestyle than many of our colleagues in those countries. Unfortunately, what you tend to read about treatment, and the approach to operating an educational institution, in China is all too often true…in fact, it′s often short of the ugly, ugly reality. These things are an unmitigated disgrace in China. I like living here, but I am seeking to make a permanent exit from teaching school here. Raoul Raoul Duke [2004-11-06, 17:09:00][ID: 1037-5654] Good points Raoul. Bear in mind too that many TEFL instructors consider themselves too able teachers after undertaking some TEFL certificate spread out over 4-6 weeks. No other industry in the world readily accepts ′qualified professionals′ after so little training. Furthermore, if you go to the middle of China the average wage is only about $100 a month for a local. How can someone from abroad expect ten times as much? If people considered local contexts more then there would be far less problems. You can′t go running around like it′s the Alamo and not have problems. Maybe George W should have been told that about Iraq and then a poster on another thread could seriously go to teach in Iraq with far less bother than now. Bobito [2004-11-06, 18:14:00][ID: 1037-5655] I think I′ve sent an email to that address before, (I think they posted something similar on a different site), and I believe it did work just fine. Nathan Mittelstaedt Nate′s China School Review NateM [2004-11-08, 03:29:00][ID: 1037-5672] I wonder why my e mail address needs checking? We are just what we say we are, two people new to the Industry of ESL. We are mature age and live in Australia. We don’t want to go to China for the money, we are retired. Why we should raise suspicions of Bownceback, I don’t know. Our e mail as shown is wrong, its annerobw@hotkey.net.au. We have had some direct replies to that address by some very considerate people and we thank them. We are still doing our searching for a school that will suit us. Sorry if that makes people suspicious. Annerobw [2004-11-18, 07:27:00][ID: 1037-5719] Hello Annerobw How can employers get in touch with you if your original email address was incorrect? Give thanks that someone took the time to check it out and alert you that there was some error. You do not have to take offense about that, a thank you might be in order. Anyway, if you want a job why not post a brief of your resume here on this site like other teachers have done. Why the secrecy in not stating your name in your post? Rose [2004-11-18, 15:30:00][ID: 1037-5720] Anne, based upon what I′m hearing here- willingness to tolerate low pay and a desire for something resembling decent treatment and standards- I would like to recommend that you consider working for a university in a small city in a rural area of China. It′s your best shot at a pleasant experience here. These jobs are pretty easy to find- the pay is low!- so you′ll have the luxury of picking the region you want to experience. If I may be so bold, let me please refer you to a thread on my own forum. In it I′ve led off with a summary overview of teaching jobs in China…not presented as gospel, just one man′s opinion. It′s followed by observations from several of our members. Regards, Raoul Raoul Duke [2004-11-24, 21:37:00][ID: 1037-5776] Rose, for heavens sake , do you really think I don’t know my own e mail address?? Somehow, the au got lost in transmission, maybe I forgot to put it on myself sorry about that.If it was secret, do you think I would post it here now? There was no secrect intended, and we do thank all who answered us with some advice. I do take offence at your attutude. Read my posting, you will find that I have thanked people who have offered advice, it’s a pity that you didn’t have any to offer Rose. But that seems to be the way of ESL postings everywhere. So many want to bitch and complain, few really are prepared to help. OK, JUST FOUND THE PROBLEM! The box below wont accept the au, so, to relieve your suspicions, our e mail is annerobw@hotkey.net.au I hope that suits everybody. Annerobw@hotkey.net [2004-11-25, 08:51:00][ID: 1037-5777] Ah the box! Now, there is a perfect example when a critique does not think outside the box. It was because the sender box was not big enough to contain the whole email address. Now, that is a perfect example of how technological design can obfuze a perfectly legitmate request for information. Ann, we hope you get the job you are looking for. Klick [2004-11-25, 12:24:00][ID: 1037-5781] Thanks Klick, and thanks to all that have had advice to give. May we ALL find the jobs that we′re looking for. |