Teaching in China as a foreigner can be exciting and rewarding. What you need are the useful weapons of the TESOL teacher. The following will provide you some useful weapons.
Preparation
First, get TESOL qualifications. An Internet search will yield hundreds of options available for TESOL study—from an MA in TESOL to a 4-week intensive TEFL course. Courses are available online, through distance learning, residential overseas programs, or traditional means of study in your country. Which should you choose?
If you already have teaching qualifications or a degree, in some places you won’t need TESOL qualifications to find employment. However, it’s in your own best interests, and your students’, to study and practice TESOL before launching your new career.
Before committing to any course, find out how it’s regarded both by TESOL practitioners and potential employers. Research now can save you problems later. Go to some online ESL employment sites to check what qualifications employers require. See if there is any advice by teachers about good or bad courses. Talk with former students in the course.
After you’ve completed your qualifications and are ready to find a job, don’t rush into a job commitment. Visit Internet sites to discover the idiosyncrasies of different countries and institutions.
Organization
Once you’ve thought over the possibilities, make sure your resume is current and line up some references. A valid email address and telephone number are necessary so potential employers can contact you. To avoid confusion, leave a summary of the positions you applied for by the phone with a pen for note-jotting.
Don’t stop researching just because you’ve sent out a heap of job applications.
Keep visiting the ESL sites, browsing current jobs, reading, and making posts. Ask questions about your potential employers and try to establish a network with other teachers, particularly those who live where you would like to go. Read as much as you can about places you want to visit and the people you will meet.
Make sure you have the email address of an employee at the school whose job is to answer your questions. Ask for the email address of a TESOL teacher already working there who can answer different questions, such as ones about living and working conditions. Do an Internet search on the school and town. Invest your time and energy now to avoid possible problems later.
Flexibility
Good preparation and organization can manage about 90 percent of the details of your job. Flexibility is needed for the remaining 10 percent. There will be surprises.
Being flexible means you continue until you find a compromise or solution. Perhaps you contact your network, asking for ideas. Make an appointment to see your principal with a bilingual staff member. Ask colleagues about a local solution to your problem. If all else fails, extricate yourself from an impossible situation gracefully.
Sense of Humor
A well-developed sense of humor is your suit of armor. If you can laugh with your students over the inconsistencies of the English language, you’ll be one step closer to understanding them. If you can laugh at yourself while eating deep-fried crickets on sticks, you have what it takes.
Rent a house in China
Enroll a Chinese language school
Find a Chinese kungfu school
Apply for a visa to China
Find a housekeeper in China
