Chinese teaching English...acceptable?

[Willie]

Hi guys.

I'm new to this site and would firstly like to say hello! The people here are amazing and I've found a lot of things that would help me when I do embark on my teaching career.

With the amount of people teaching English in countries such as China, Japan and Korea, I was wondering what do you think are the chances of me finding a good English teaching job or A teaching job in Asia. I like China and Hong Kong more, because I've always wanted to go back. Does it give me more of an advantage or disadvantage? Salary wise, living conditions etc.

The reason I am asking this is because I'm a full blooded Chinese and would like to know what you think.

I've lived in Australia since I was two and I have always thought about going home to do my teaching after I complete my degree.

[Antonio]

Hello Willie and welcome.

Nice to see you have heaps of enthusiasm to start off your teaching career. With the right qualifications and enthusiasm, you can go a long way. Schools just love teachers that love to teach and full of energy.

I would steer clear of China and Taiwan though. They tend to prefer English teachers with an caucasian appearance. Try teaching in Japan or Korea. You would have better chances there.

[bosslove72]

Willie,

I have a friend who is Vietnamese from Australia who teaches with me right now at a private school in China. It is very difficult for her. Parents constantly try to find something wrong with her English. However because she doesn't speak Chinese they also look down on her. It's a no win situation for her.

I'm black and I have a better chance to get a job than she does. China is sadly very racist when it comes to selecting foreign teachers. They would rather have a blue eyed blonde person in the classroom, even if they can't teach English. There was a Swedish girl in Beijing who got lots of job offers but she could barely speak English, but was told if she just said that she was American, she would get jobs. She did... So it isn't the quality of the education that you offer, but often the face that speaks it.

[Willie]

Originally Posted by bosslove72

Willie,

I have a friend who is Vietnamese from Australia who teaches with me right now at a private school in China. It is very difficult for her. Parents constantly try to find something wrong with her English. However because she doesn't speak Chinese they also look down on her. It's a no win situation for her.

Hi thanks for your replies so far. I do feel sorry for your friend that teaches with you. I can understand the way she feels as people from the mainland do tend to bicker and question your credentials because of your skin colour and for some other odd reasons. I can imagine myself going back and actually doing my job, but still get questioned because I am not a 'westerner' in their prying eyes. However, I believe that one of my main strengths is that I am multilingual, being able to speak 3 languages. I don't know if that will assist me or not.

What do you think?..Does it help?

[bosslove72]

It will help, but you must still have a lot of patience with the people here. If you do speak Mandarin, it will help greatly. I forgot about my other friend, who is Cantonese and speaks Chinese very well. He still gets a lot of grief, but he can give it back. The Chinese are hard pressed to learn English from someone who looks like them. If you wish to try, Godspeed.

I wish you well in your teaching. Enjoy it as much as you can.

[waixingren]

I must agree with what's been said in this thread. It is possible for you to find a job here in China, but it certainly isn't easy no matter how qualified you are. You would have to be very careful about schools that require a photo with your resume--maybe you can get around that by not submitting a photo until you have an employer interested. You might have some luck in Hong Kong though (sorry, I haven't worked there and don't know the situation exactly).

Good luck and I hope you find a decent job that treats you with respect.

[JustR]

Thanks for these replies! Like the OP I am also (can speak Cantonese pretty fluently) but was born and raised in Canada. I've been researching and looking into teaching english in Asia as well.

From what I've concluded it is pretty hard for an "asian" person to find a job there which is quite unfortunate!

I guess I am better off trying Korea! Although I had my eyes set on Taiwan or China so I can learn Mandarin!

[sethimayne]

I agree that it can be more difficult for a Chinese person to find a job teaching ESL, but it is far from impossible. I'm white Canadian and my girlfriend is Taiwanese-Canadian, and we came to Japan together to look for work. I was definitely able to land a lot more interviews than she was, despite the fact that she is an English major. Nevertheless, she had the last laugh in the end, landing a pretty sweet job at a Japanese high-school that was founded by Chinese, and they were actually looking for an ESL teacher who also spoke some Mandarin.

So know your skills and keep your eyes open - there's bound to be something out there for you.

[editordgw]

I see that this question has already been asked, so this might be a bit redundant, but even after doing some research, and talking with friends that have taught in China, I can't seem to figure out if the bias against Asian-American teachers really exists.

I just applied to a program to teach English in Shanghai and now I'm starting to get nervous that I'll be facing an uphill climb against discrimination once I get there. I have a BA in English, I've been a book editor for a number of years, and I'll have my TOEFL before leaving. I was born and raised in the US, heck my Cantonese is as bad as it gets (and no Mandarin at all); will my appearance still trump any qualifications?

In a somewhat unrelated note, my wife has applied to the same program and happens to be white. It'll be interesting to see how our experiences differ, especially since we're insisting on being placed in the same school.

Any insight would be great. Our fees have been paid, so we'll be going through with this regardless; just wanted to know what to expect.

Thanks for reading everyone.

sorry, just read replies to other posts and they were quite helpful. now if I can only figure out how to delete my post....

[gfell]

It does exist. If you are not a typical white faced English teacher, then it will be somewhat (not impossible) to get a teaching job in China.