Employment & Professional Development

This guide is incredibly informative. I spent a year in China (10 years ago) as an engineer. I really enjoyed that experience.

I have a daughter who may be interested in teaching English in China when she graduates from college. I have two questions.

1. How can she get the necessary training for teaching English? There are a number of organizations on the web which advertises some kind of training program leading to a certificate. I am wary because of some bad experiences I have read online. How can I tell which ones are legitimate? Are there some reputable ones?

2. We are Chinese-Americans. How much of a hinderance will this be for my daughter when she begins applying for teaching positions? I understand that the private language schools really want a “white face” to impress potential customers. Are the public universities and schools less sensitive to this issue?

Thank you.

Thank you for your feedback; we are glad you found the guide to be so informative. The following is our response to your questions.

1). In China, the TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) certificate is considered sufficient for preparing new teachers for their position. Although there is no official body that monitors TEFL, industry standards state that internationally recognized TEFL courses should meet the following criteria:

a. 4 weeks in duration

b. Over 120 hours of training

c. Minimum 6 hrs of practice teaching

d. Input sessions on Teaching Methodology and Grammar

e. Continuous assessment throughout the TEFL course

It would also be a good idea to check whether the course is registered with the Ministry of Education or simply licensed to run as a local business. The principal instructor should have a minimum of six to eight years of experience. A very safe bet would be to check for TEFL and TESOL (teaching English to speakers of other languages) programs that are offered by local universities.

2) Although American-born Chinese do have a much harder time finding EFL positions in China (for the reasons we and you stated), the consensus is that many do eventually succeed especially if they focus on smaller cities and public schools (primary, secondary, as well as university). As you suggest, the greatest bias against Chinese-Americans will come from private English language schools, where concerns for the preferences of the parents will be the strongest.

Best of luck to your daughter.