Serious Teachers Forum

Have you found it better to teach online for a company, for yourself, or both?

No visa, no work. Visa is being processed, am I permitted to continue employment?

After six years, my company has stopped the English teacher Inner Mongolia government project it was involved with. At the age of 62, let’s put theory into practice and discover if holding triple degrees, plus experience, outweighs age. Residency visa expires in five weeks time. Countdown to actively looking 3.2.1 … go!

China introduced a new 'Foreigners Work Permit' wef 1st April 2017. This applies to all new Contracts after that date. Foreigners will be divided into three categories: A for high level talent, B for professional personnel, and C for foreigners who are nontechnical or service workers hired on a temporary/seasonal basis. The goal is to encourage A level foreigners to come to and work in China, exert control over B level foreigners and restrict/limit the C levels.

Echo English. I'd like to encourage teachers to record their experiences of working for Echo English. Echo English are refusing to release my documents which means I have been unable to transfer my visa and take up a desirable position in Shanghai when my contract ends on June 30. They regularly take 60% of the salary a school is offering. For example if you receive 7k rmb they are taking 11k rmb of an 18k salary. You may also find that when you arrive a school has not been assigned to you. I was promised a school in central Hangzhou but I'm 18km and a 90 minutes bus ride away, there is no subway.

I hear expat teachers who are HIV positive are being deported. How true is this? Is its an employment policy or the China Government policy? if so, what happens to healthy HIV positive teachers?

Decomposition of the Chinese Characters. What is It? Different Chinese language teachers name decomposition of the Chinese characters in different ways. The synonymic names are: Structural analysis of the Chinese characters, Breakdown of the Chinese characters, etc. The essence of these terms is the same: analysis. The Chinese language is a very analytical language and the Chinese characters are learned and memorized only by means of analysis. Try to analyze the Chinese character ? shén ‘what’ and you will see how simple it is for memorizing! Decomposition of the Chinese character ? shén ‘what’ ? rén man ? shí ten ? yi one ? gun line ???? NB. Synonyms: Structural analysis of the Chinese characters, Breakdown of the C

Native and Non-native speakers. I understand the frustration that many of you are going through with this business of being native as compared to non-native. Well, I hope I can add some clarity to the situation. If you were not born and raised in a country where the only medium of speaking is and has always been the English Language then you can not expect to be considered a native speaker. For example, many of my friends from Ghana speak English very well,as well as another native language that they speak also. In America, we only have English no other language is there for us to know or learn. Now some people want to say, "what about the way the Black Americans talk"? Ok is it not still English words just given the meaning that they want

Hi everyone, can anyone help me with the definition of a Native Speaker? Is it geographical or probably accent? In Ghana our medium of instruction right from basic to tertiary level is English Language. Some of us proceeded to study English Language for a BA. Degree; can that qualify us a Native Speakers? Somebody who studied engineering and worked as an engineer for almost 20 years was preferred to me for a English Language Teaching Job because of where he came from.

Hi everyone, For those of you who've worked in China, is there any difference between signing an employment contract with a school directly versus with an educational consulting agency? Any insight you have would be great. Thank you!

Hi there, I was wondering about teaching online. My wife and I are currently living in Saudi Arabia as she has a job here. Whilst I have applied for a job here I have had visa issues so have thought about Online teaching instead. My questions are: How much should I realistically expect to get teaching Online? I understand that depending on the students and locations I may be teaching outside of regular teaching hours. Does anyone else do this and what should I expect in this regard?

Expatriates coming to Saudi Arabia and GCC

You are accountable for the learning of "that child" in your class.Most of us are very compassionate about what we do.As it is said, "' no"steam engine ever ran on luke warm water"...I look forward to going to work every morning. I have lately become even more ecstatic about this job now that I have sent a letter home requesting to sit down with parents and student and have a chat.Yes, at first the parents are a little apprehensive and silenced by the experience. Think about it! How many of you have taken "this extra time that is needed""Yes. I have tests to grade, class plans to make Etc.,..you will find that the b/c ratio is overwhelming. My classes are 35-45...take the top five and the bottom ten..Again! Your ........

Teachers overseas,you have a limited shelf life,and you should be prepared to have a backup second career. Unless you get in with a very good employer who loves you to bits because you excel as a teacher, and is prepared to go to bat for you,that is it.For many between 60 to 65 and after that,goodbye.If you go into business yourself and start your own school or work as a private tutor then awesome, you can teach till your 100 +. Be realistic, have a backup plan, and except that sometimes you may have to concede. I have a plan,and it is what I would like to do. "Don't worry,be happy!"

Anyone considering teaching in China - if you are over the age of 55 your chances of being hired are not good. Visas are no longer being issued for anyone over the age of 60 - no matter how long you have been in the country.

Teaching in Saudi..I feel VERY iffy. I've worked in the UAE and Qatar as far as Gulf countries go, and know that Saudi, esp for a woman wouldn't be nearly as free or as luxourious. I recently lost my job in the UAE after 11 years, it was just like, bye bye, Higher Colleges of Tech is taking over and we don't need you guys anymore. A real slap in the face! So, now am stuck..the only place that seems to pay decently however is Saudi. I have ZERO interest in teaching kids, but wonder how it'd be to work teaching women there? and what about things to do, AND is it easy to get an exit visa to say, go to Abu Dhabi on weekends?

Teaching in the Middle East: A catch-22 scenario I find this "Must have" experience in the Middle East rather silly - How does one initiate experience ? I take the bold assertion that everything has a beginning.It reminds me of my university days when applying for a shop clerk position only to be confronted by "Must have previous experience" BTW neither of my two universities offered Clerking 101

Contracts for the Middle East Teachers applying for jobs in the Middle East should know that they may well be asked to sign a 'contract' in their home country and email it. THIS IS NOT WORTH THE PAPER IT'S WRITTEN ON. The only contract that is valid is one signed in the Middle East and in Arabic. Your contract may well be in both English and Arabic, but without the Arabic, it is not accepted in the courts. Therefore, you have no rights! There are some companies who will ask you to 'sign' BEFORE they interview you. You should not need me to tell you that this is not professional! But for the younger teachers with less experiences of practices in the Middle East, be vigilant!

Last year, I received a DUI, and now that I am applying for jobs overseas, I'm wondering if this will affect my chances of being hired. I accepted the ARD program, and my criminal background check reads that a record exists but there were never any convictions. Does anyone have any experience with this?

I've been teaching here in China since 2011 and as mandated by law, I can't work here for more than five years (continuously). So it's time to move on. The two places that interest me most are Japan and Kazakhstan. Is there anyone in this forum who currently are working in either of these countries who can give me an advice perhaps or some ideas?