Sick of living here. Teaching English in China - Questions.

[lavezzi]

I've decided that I'm sick of living here.

Last night I was sitting on a bench in a busy street minding my own business when a little scum rat came out of nowhere and mugged me using a knife - he took my phone and wallet (with €40 in it). This kind of occurrence is far too common here, even though we're a wealthy country with a welfare system so there's absolutely no need for it. I also have a very poor social life, as most of my friends from school have either moved away or morphed into cliquish college fags. So I've decided to get motivated and take any option I have to get out of here. My best option seems to be teaching English in China.

I have a few questions:


- I'm thinking of taking this 120 hour online TEFL course for €200: https://store.onlinetefl.com/online-cou ... ckage.html. Does this one look OK, or does anyone have any other recommendations?

- Is having an online TEFL cert really sufficient enough to get an English teaching job in China?

- I left school in 2009 and have been doing absolutely nothing since. I can pretend on my CV that I left school in 2010, but that will still leave me with a gap of nearly 2 years. Will this greatly put off potential employers in China?

- I have a good knowledge of the English language, I just don't know the technical terms for teaching it (such as verbs, proverbs, tenses etc.) but I can learn them from the course. The only issue is, I'm not the most charismatic person and teaching would not be one of my strong points, how much will this hinder me?

- I have a strong accent. I find it hard to pronounce the "th" sound and to not roll my "r"s, will this matter much?


Any help or advice will be greatly appreciated.

[ph_visitor]

University degree?

Any TEFL cert will do for China.

Get it, scan it, and then send it and your CV to schools.

Lie about the gap 2-years. Put anything in there. They won't check.

[lavezzi]

University degree?

Any TEFL cert will do for China.

Get it, scan it, and then send it and your CV to schools.

Lie about the gap 2-years. Put anything in there. They won't check.

Thank you.

Is it really just so easy to get an English teaching job in China due to high demands, that all the factors I mentioned in my original post really don't matter so much?

How easy is it to meet women in China? Is it as simple as going onto a dating site, picking whomever you want and going out with her later that day/week?

[Mr S]

Dude, if you're white, got any kind of degree and have a TEFL you can pretty much get a job there. They got African blacks from the English speaking African countries teaching over there, that's how desperate they are.

Your better off though taking the TEFL with a TEFL int school that's already based in China, that way when you get your certification they can hook you up with a job right away. Just put all your things in order before you go to China. Your guaranteed a job, just a matter of how much you make, bennies and location.

http://www.teflinternational.com/index.php/locations

[lavezzi]

Dude, if you're white, got any kind of degree and have a TEFL you can pretty much get a job there. They got African blacks from the English speaking African countries teaching over there, that's how desperate they are.

Your better off though taking the TEFL with a TEFL int school that's already based in China, that way when you get your certification they can hook you up with a job right away. Just put all your things in order before you go to China. Your guaranteed a job, just a matter of how much you make, bennies and location.

http://www.teflinternational.com/index.php/locations

I have no degree. Is this a big issue? Do you think I could get away with lying about having one? What is I said I had completed a degree in a shitty college of further education?

[Mr S]

They probably won't check references so you could get a fake one made up somewhere online, that should do the trick.

[Winston]

I didn't know you could get mugged in Ireland?

Anyway, here is some advice about teaching English in China by a guy there.

[Mr S]

If you don't have a degree and want to teach in China I would do the CELTA course rather than TEFL. It will better prepare you and is credentialed by Cambridge I think rather than TEFL'S usually aren't by any universities. If you like teaching you can always do an online education degree from a regular Western uni later.

[xiongmao]

A strong accent is a problem - you might need too work on that. I knew a guy who couldn't find a teaching job because of it.

Take a look at getting a CELTA, get one from a local provider or try one of those 4 week intensive courses they run in Thailand or China.

By the way, China has a rough underbelly, no matter what the government says. My gf's moped nearly got stolen - while she was riding it. And I got followed in Guangzhou - foreigners are pretty obvious in China so you need to be careful.

I'm off to Asia myself at some point though - see you there!

[lookin4happiness]

Why do you want to go to China? They have one of the most evil governments in the world... I have heard that Vietnamese girls are some of the most feminine in the world. Maybe check out there...

[Renata]

They are all right ... CELTA or a Trinity TEFL Certificate is the best TEFL qualification out there ..... but there are countries where you don't need a degree to teach in like Chile & Venezuela. There are others but that's the only 2 I'm certain of. I have a heavy accent too because I'm from the Caribbean, but I developed a mixed accent of american/british due to living in the UK for 2 yrs. I teach English in Turkey, it's great, go for it

They taylor a great online TEFL course > http://www.intesoltesoltraining.com/ & offer Teaching Practice, so you get 2 certificates. 1 is your TEFL cert. & the other a Teaching Practice cert. with hours & a grade. They also have a great network, internships etc & a recruitment agency. On their certificates there's no mention of 'online' course it's just a standard certificate with your grade.
Good luck

[xiongmao]

> They have one of the most evil governments in the world

Yeah right, and the USA doesn't torture people or detain them without trial.

What do I care about government? I have no interest in politics. I stay under the radar.

Of course you can do teaching without qualifications, but if you have a CELTA in China, Japan or South Korea then you can teach in a private school and make the sort of money you could make in Western Europe!

[ph_visitor]

Take a look at getting a CELTA, get one from a local provider or try one of those 4 week intensive courses they run in Thailand or China.

By the way, China has a rough underbelly, no matter what the government says. My gf's moped nearly got stolen - while she was riding it. And I got followed in Guangzhou - foreigners are pretty obvious in China so you need to be careful.

I'm off to Asia myself at some point though - see you there!

Agree about the CELTA. It's expensive, $2,000 including the month's home stay and food, but it has legs and it cannot be taken away. You do not need to re-qualify with it. Once you have it, it is yours.

It doesn't matter in China, but any other country it is good enough to get you a job, with or without a degree (sometimes).

It will also give you a basis for teaching that you will need to do a decent job.

foreigners are pretty obvious in China so you need to be careful.

No more than in any European city. It's much safer than the USA. If you go out at night all the time, club, drink and flash cash, then you set yourself up as a target. But most foreigners are not victims of crime.

Since I am older, I realise the stupidity of going out at night to a bar. It's an act that simply raises your chances of trouble, and that's all it does. You left a bar at 2 am after drinking a lot, and you got in trouble?

Yeah - no one could have predicted that. /sarc

[lavezzi]

A strong accent is a problem - you might need too work on that. I knew a guy who couldn't find a teaching job because of it.

Americans are the best off in terms of their accent as they speak English almost perfectly, just as it is written, albeit in a funny sounding tone. Scottish and Irish are probably the worst off, but mine could be a lot worse; do you think any of these guys would be able to get an English teaching job in China? lol: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeNq73F6jHI

Agree about the CELTA. It's expensive, $2,000 including the month's home stay and food, but it has legs and it cannot be taken away. You do not need to re-qualify with it. Once you have it, it is yours.

I've been saving for almost a year and I still only have €1,500, which is just under $2,000. So it doesn't look like a viable option seeing as I'd need money for flights and to get set up over there. I only get €60 a week from job's seekers allowance and it's near impossible to get a job here without any previous work experience.

Of course you can do teaching without qualifications, but if you have a CELTA in China, Japan or South Korea then you can teach in a private school and make the sort of money you could make in Western Europe!

I really don't care about making money. All I want is: to have a room, doesn't matter the quality, and somewhere to sleep, preferably a bed; to be able to eat 2/3 times a day, what it is doesn't matter; and of course to be able to meet a nice Asian women eventually, hopefully within a few months of arriving. If I can have that I'll be happy, even if I have to work 9-5 with difficult kids. I just really want to experience a new environment as I'm tired of all aspects of this one. I have a very comfortable life here with everything I need. My parents support me and I could go to college, get a degree and then emigrate, but then I'd have to wait at least 4-6 years. The social life here in general is appalling, women here have been taught superiority over men and I've no interest in them whatsoever now that I know what else is out there. Chinese women might not be as good as Filipinas or other SE Asians in some ways, but at least they don't generally think those with vaginas are a higher form of life than those with penises. I'd also bet they're far less cliquish, much more approachable and willing to stay with you, among other positive qualities in comparison to WW.

I didn't know you could get mugged in Ireland?

It should be surprising, seeing as the scum are comfortably housed and given everything they need by the social welfare scheme. But the under-class here seem to fetishize harming and terrorizing others for no reason.


Thanks for all the responses.

[Jester]

Last night I was sitting on a bench in a busy street minding my own business when a little scum rat came out of nowhere and mugged me using a knife - he took my phone and wallet (with €40 in it). This kind of occurrence is far too common here,

Good luck with the move.

If you don't mind my asking, did the mugger look and sound Irish?

I've seen video of white gangsters and muggers in northern England, really quite astounding to me as an American, as here there are essentially none.

Wondering how far the social cancer is spreading.