TEFL Certification: A minimum of Online 150 Hours Foundation TESOL is required to teach English
Peak Hiring Months: Year-round
Types of Jobs: Private language schools, Public Schools, Corporate Training
Citizenship Requirements: Both natives and non -native fluent English speakers can apply for jobs
Typical Hiring Process: Interview by phone & Skype in advance (preferred); Some schools hire locally in China
Average teaching hours per week: 20-30 hours of classroom & extra prep time
Types of Students/Audience: Business professionals, school children, private students
Cost of Living per month: $650 -1,100 USD plus housing
Visas: A Z Visa is the legal work visa to teach in China, however teachers may work on other visas depending on their qualifications.
Potential to save: Typical monthly savings range from $ 600 - 1,750 USD/Mo
Average Monthly Pay: $1500 - 3500 USD plus free housing. Also depends upon the experience
Start –up cost: $1,000 - 1,500 USD
Accommodation Benefits: Some schools provide housing or stipend
Fight Reimbursements: In some cases
Vacation: Paid 2 weeks & sick days, national holidays, including Chinese New Year
Teach English in China
China has the largest job market in the world for foreign English teacher. The demand is at such high levels that schools have their hiring process going on all through the year with interviews being conducted mostly in advance via email or over the phone. Most of those who teach English in China are eligible for an airfare reimbursement with free housing also being provided to the teachers. An estimated 400 million English learners in a population of over 1.3 billion has put the country in a position where it seems unlikely to relinquish its title of being the top job market for English teachers anytime in the short term.
English training from the age of five has become mandatory in most of the public schools across China with the training persisting through the end of secondary school years. Home to the largest number of middle-class households anywhere in the world, the rate at which parents are sending their children to private language schools is unprecedented. The country also has an enormous adult learner market. It is among the largest export markets in the world, making it necessary for the white-collar workforce to use English as a language for communicating with potential buyers.
Those teaching English in China get along on a very low cost of living while a generous salary enables the English teachers the change at leading a comfortable lifestyle while still managing to save anywhere between $400-$1000 USD every month. This is almost three times the local purchasing power that it would fetch in the USA. A typical work week in an English language school comprises approximately 20 to 25 hours of work, leaving the English teachers plenty of time to explore the many endless national treasures.
Well over 50 Chinese cities house a population higher than 1 million each. Some of the top English teaching destinations include Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Beijing, and Shanghai among others.
