Earlier this week I mentioned James and Sallie Bishop, foreigners teaching English at a provincial university in China who have been told that they must leave the country because they have reached age 60.
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This piece on Danwei answers an interesting question: Learning English has never been more popular in China, so why are so many English language schools going out of business?
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I don't know why I ended up staying in China of all places, because there are certainly more favorable areas on Earth where I could live. Maybe I just got old and tired and lost interest in bouncing around. Maybe it was because after all was said and done, and beyond and outside everything in Chinese culture that is different, of all the places I've been, China felt the most normal to me...
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This morning I was informed, with ten minutes notice, that I would be giving a brief lecture on the differences between Chinese and American culture to students preparing to study abroad. I was told to make America sound attractive. Being completely caught off-guard by the request I mangaged to elucidate the following in a tongue-in-cheek manner to a totally unreceptive audience.
read more »Once again we get some solid ESL advice from Matt Schiavenza as he reviews a few of the sometimes true/sometimes false things we're all told when we land our first English teaching gig in China.
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I saw a movie years ago called La Ciudad. A series of vignettes about Hispanic immigrants in the US. In one, a new arrival goes home with a girl and in the morning wants to be sweet and go buy breakfast. Coming out of the store he looks up at the identical Robert Moses built NY projects and realizes he'll never find his way back and the girl with think he ran.
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Matt shares some good advice for current and prospective ESL teachers on some of the responsibilities that fall on their shoulders - unknowingly or not - and also warns of some lines not to cross.
read more »This in-depth post gives some excellent advice for anyone considering teaching ESL in China - and, in particular, at Chinese universities. Tam gives prospective teachers a large list (broken into categories) of questions you should be asking when considering employment.
read more »Asian Americans can't compete with white instructors in China. When Douglas Lee started searching for a job as an English instructor in Chengdu, he seemed just like any other American to his potential employers.
But when he submitted a photo of himself, the 26-year-old graduate of San Diego State University discovered that he had one blemish on his application: He looked too Chinese.
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Professor Lonnie B. Hodge writes an open letter to his students about what he hopes they will learn from being in his classes and about the conditions of education his students will face in the future.
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The ups and downs of teaching English in China as told by expat Tom Carter in the Wall Street Journal.
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China is in desperate need of curriculum and faculty development.
read more »One of my students gave a short speech yesterday on the person who had most influenced her life. Like many others she named her mother as her personal hero. It was a great impromptu speech and I applauded her for her candor about one issue in particular: She lauded her mother for giving up a high paying managerial job to take care of her as she grew up, but lamented that her father was
read more »A good post from Panda Passport outlining some things anyone considering coming to China to teach should know. If you're thinking about coming to China (to teach or otherwise) this is a must, and if you're already here - read and reminisce.
read more »Daniel, who has experience both in Taiwan and on the mainland, offers a counterpoint to Mark's earlier article about how to make money teaching EFL in Taiwan. Daniel details what it takes to run a successful tutoring business as a westerner.
read more »Some great advice on earning more money as an ESL teacher. Though set in Taiwan, the advice is easily adapted to ESL teaching in any country.
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