If this is your first time looking for teaching work in China, it might be useful to have a quick rundown of the different types of teaching job available. We’ll do that after the break so that you can take a look at your options and (hopefully) choose the job for you.
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Some years ago it was possible to teach English in China with no more than a high school graduation certificate and a bit of luck - the better schools would certainly look for a degree, but demand for English teachers is so high that there were plenty of other institutions willing to let people teach in China without a degree.
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China-based online video sites now provide a massive number of Chinese movies and a huge amount of television online, for free. If you’re in China and have even a halfway decent Internet connection you should be able to watch movies and tv smoothly, and there’s plenty of overseas movies and TV to watch as well - it’s not all Chinese.
Some online movie and tv sites to try follow after the break. Read the rest of this entry »
In my experience I have found it very difficult to get my students to really do any homework assignments I give out. I think there are a number of reason why this might happen. Firstly, your ESL class probably doesn’t count towards their overall grade. This really kills motivation to do homework. Even if the course does count, homework from other classes usually takes precedent and your assigned work doesn’t get done or is only partially done.
Something I’ve found moderate success doing is in letting students assign their own homework. I know it sounds a bit strange but sometimes it works. Here is what I do…
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Teaching ESL in China is not like teaching as a certified teacher in your home country. In general you’ll find things are more relaxed, disorganized, and unprofessional. You’re not really held accountable as much and the quality of your classes is not monitored as much. Of course I’m speaking generally. What is heavily measured in my experience is the teacher’s relationship with the students. Since teaching methods are different from China to many western countries Chinese schools don’t have a whole lot to gauge a teacher’s class besides what the students are saying. Most administrators also can’t speak English. For these reasons, what your students say about your class can really have a difference on how the school or training center measures your abilities. So how do you give the students a better feeling about your class and get them saying nice things about you as a teacher? Let me give you a few tips.
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I know how much the Chinese love holidays, but when I see the chaos that ensues over Spring Festival it amazes me every time.
The Chinese people make any excuse to celebrate and be happy. This is seen through their gracious celebrations of other countries’ holidays. If there’s a holiday, the Chinese are sure to set aside some time to forget work and be merry. When it comes to their own holidays they pull out all the stops.
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This is always a concern of every teacher. It can be frustrating when your students seem to be loosing interest or motivation in your classes. Below are five suggestions for how to foster student motivation and help them find a drive to learn English.
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Put students in two teams and assign a leader to each team. Have them choose team names and write them on the board
In the activity each team will make a vocabulary test for the other team. All words must come from vocabulary they have been given in the past. Round up all the words and put them in one big list. If you have enough words, split the list in two and give each team one list. This will give the tests more variety.
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Teaching vocabulary traditionally was not a focus when teaching a second language. It has now become one of the staple categories of any language curriculum. With so many methods of teaching vocabulary available it may sometimes be hard to choose the one that best fits your needs. Of course it depends on what stage your learners are when you start teaching them. They might already be advanced speakers in which case you’ll need different tactics that if they are beginners.
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So what is the Chinese government afraid of? It’s quit easy to see what exactly they’re afraid of by what they censor in media coming into China from the outside.
President Obama’s recent inauguration speech is a great example of the Chinese government’s fears being seen.
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