Where to teach English: China

Teaching ESL in China

We continue on with the series on ESL teaching destinations around the world. I've previously talked about plenty of other places, but to name just a few:

Teaching English as a foreign language in Peru
Teaching ESL in Hong Kong
Teaching English as a Second Language in Malaysia

Today, it's all about teaching English in China- what follows is an excerpt from the book, The Wealthy English Teacher: Teach, Travel, and Secure Your Financial Future, where I rank China as an "okay" destination because while it does have plenty of good things going for it, there are some significant negatives as well.

China is very similar to Vietnam in that it is an up and coming country with a growing economy and rising salaries for ESL teachers but has a very low cost of living, especially outside Beijing and Shanghai. It also has the huge advantage of having an in-demand language that could benefit you greatly in your future career if you use your time there to become fluent. China is not in the top-rated group for a few reasons including: while salaries for the private institute jobs are reasonably high (but you will have to work hard for it--around 30 teaching hours/week), they are very low for university jobs, and it is quite difficult to find a quality job in China simply because it is such a big place and there is not that much information.

Perhaps the biggest drawbacks and the main reasons why I would not go there are the pollution and lack of safety standards for things like food, manufactured items and infrastructure, police unwillingness to get involved in any disputes involving a foreigner, difficulty in getting money out of the country, a very poor quality of health care as well as lack of freedom as it relates to the Internet. I depend on things like Facebook to keep me connected with my friends and family around the world and do not want to have to deal with trying to get around this with proxy servers and other such annoying things.

   

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Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Peru

TEFL in Peru

This is a guest post from Sharon over at TEFL-Tips. Her site is an excellent resource for anyone teaching ESL Abroad, or for those considering it as a career. Teaching ESL in Peru is something that I really have no idea about, so I was happy for her to write this post and offer us some helpful information and resources. Thanks Sharon and without further ado, here's all the goodness:

I started TEFLing in early 2003 in China. At that time, Dave's ESL Cafe was the end-all for TEFL information, especially  the forums which were particularly helpful. About a year and a half later, in the summer of 2004 I moved to Peru to teach at a university there. While many people had taught in China, few people had taught in Peru and I quickly became the go-to person for information about teaching English there.  I also joined the forum at Expat Peru and helped people to learn about Teaching English as a Foreign Language in Peru, as well as visa information.

I kept telling people the same information over and over and decided that the best thing to do would be to start a blog and then I could just link to it when people had questions. In early 2008, I started the Ultimate Peru List. Although I left Peru in early 2010, I still have ties there and I actually became a Peruvian citizen in 2009.

Here are some posts I recommend about teaching English in Peru:

FAQ about teaching in Latin America

Finding Teaching Jobs in Peru

The Ultimate Guide to Teaching in Peru

The Best TEFL Institutes in Peru

Top 10 Institutes in Lima

Education in Peru

(It's Jackie here again- Peru, it seems like an interesting place to teach ESL!)