My husband and I are mature-aged (58 and 60 this year), and both of us are thinking of going over to China next year. We would like to teach conversational English, after my husband finishes his
degree in Naturopathy and Complimentary Medicine.

I finished my degree a couple of years ago, in Mass Communication, majoring in Public Relations. My husband will finish his degree at the end of July 2009.

As I have never been overseas, I wonder about how we would get on over there, as we don’t speak Chinese. I am also wondering about the living conditions, working conditions, how wages for ESL jobs in China compares with Australian wages (to determine whether or not it is worthwhile doing it).

Also, neither of us have teaching qualifications. Does this matter with Conversational English?

Which website/s do you endorse as being completely honest in their advertisements for Australian ESL teachers?

Pam

Jean answers Pam’s question on Ask Jean About China

Dear Pam,

First, congratulations on thinking about teaching in China at your ‘mature’ age. You must have a great spirit of adventure and I hope that you have the chance to come and enjoy this wonderful culture.

Regarding your concern about your lack of Chinese language skills, I would venture to say that the vast majority of teachers who come to teach in China for their first time can barely even say hello in Mandarin. These days, there are plenty of people who speak English in China and if you find a decent place to teach English, the school administration should be able to help you with everything that you need.

When I first taught in China, I had no college degree at all; only a TESOL certificate. If you and your husband have degrees, you should have no problem finding work. Teaching qualifications would be ‘icing on the cake’ but they are not necessary in China.

I would like to make one suggestion. If you come to China to teach, don’t do it for the money because you will probably be dissappointed. While an average foreign teacher’s salary is 5-10 times the local average wage in China, you cannot possibly compare what a foreign teacher makes here to what an Australian makes teaching. In other words, you are not going to get rich teaching English in China but you should be able to live quite comfortably and perhaps even save some money depending on how much you travel and party.

The only website that we endorse is one of our own websites which contains almost everything you need to know about teaching English in China. The address of this website is http://www.EnglishJobsinChina.com. I would suggest that you start there for more detailed answers to all of your questions. In terms of finding a place to teach, you need to do your own due diligence. You can start by checking out our ESL job board. If you find a school that you are interested in, look around on the Internet to find out what others are saying about that school.

In closing, I would like to encourage you by telling you that there are plenty of people your age who are teaching in China. Many schools are even more interested in hiring couples because of increased stability. I hope that you choose to go because you will never regret it.

Sincerely,

Jean

Ask Jean about China is a weekly feature on TeachAbroadChina.com. We welcome any questions related to living and working in China. Feel free to submit your questions by clicking here. We look forward to hearing from you.

You will find that “being a Good Samaritan” is a concept that is foreign to most Chinese people. China is a country where people will watch an event transpire but rarely lend a helping hand. This is a good way to help students think about doing something for something else even if they don’t receive anything in return.

Warmup: Print this article out and have the students read it outloud. Ask them what they think about what happened and what they would have done in the same situation.

Questions to Discuss:

• Are there “Good Samaritans in China?”
• Why are people so often unwilling to help a fellow Chinese citizen out?
• Should you help someone if you may bring danger upon yourself?
• What is the Golden Rule?
• Other than saving someone’s life or preventing someone from being robbed, how else can you be “a Good Samaritan?”

You can also discuss with students what they would do if they found someone’s cell phone or wallet on the ground. You may be surprised by some of the answers that you receive. Don’t judge these people based on their answers but try to help them understand that doing something nice for someone else is a good habit.