Teach Abroad Blog
Teaching abroad
A normal weekday of a Chinese high school student (Jessica)
Many of you who are teaching in China might wonder what an average day in the life of one of the students you’re teaching looks like. Well, here is your answer:
6:00 Get up & Have breakfast
Jessica sets her alarm at 5:50 so that she can hit the snooze button to sleep another 10 minutes. Jessica’s mom has prepared Baozi and milk for breakfast.
Applying through a Recruiter or Finding a School yourself
We sometimes encounter resistance from prospective teachers once they discover the position they applied to was posted by a recruiting agency. Why is that? Why do some teachers choose to find a job through a recruiter, while others shun agencies and avoid them to the fullest extent? And perhaps most importantly, what is the right choice; apply directly to a school or through an agency?
Honestly, there is no right answer. People who hate recruiters usually have had a negative experience with one in the past and believe all recruiters are a bunch of callous, opportunistic jerks who don’t care about the teacher’s well-being. Every recruiter is different, and you should treat them like you treat any potential employer: interview a couple of different ones until you find the right fit. Every recruiter has a different work ethic, so it is in your best interest to find one you completely trust. Personally, I believe all teachers should also interview the recruiters when they are being interviewed by them. Even though their services are free to you, recruiters do get paid when they find you a job. It is up to you to decide who really deserves the “finder’s fee.” Use common sense and personal judgment and you’ll be able to winnow the recruiters who are honest and committed.
Qualifications for Teaching English Language
TEFL – Teaching English as a Foreign Language / TESOL – Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages A basic first job will usually require a degree and a TEFL or TESOL certificate. There is quite a range in the types of TEFL/TESOL certificates that are available. Teaching Nomad has a partnership with a reputable […]
Living Abroad
The Nomad’s Guide to Taobao Part 2 – Searching and Checking Out
Now that you have successfully created both your Taobao and Alipay accounts, it’s time to reap the rewards.
The first thing you will want to do is search for the item(s) you are after. While you can do this in Chinese and English, I have personally found that learning the correct characters and doing it in Chinese yields far greater results. So, here we go – the perfect opportunity to work on your Chinese. In the beginning if you’re in a pinch, Google Translate will do the trick. Because one can never have too many, I’ve gone ahead and decided to search for a dress. This will bring up pages of results. Scour the options and select the one you think you like – don’t fret, it will open in a tab of its own.
How to Handle Your Hong Kong Visa Run
A ‘visa-run’ to Hong Kong is a trip which many teachers face during their time in China. With the exception of the time spent in the Chinese consulate with the visa application process, these days can prove to be a welcome holiday, and Hong Kong has a lot to offer for travelers on both a tight schedule and a tight budget. Recently I spent 3 days in Hong Kong, but in reality after time spent in the embassy and travelling to and from the airport, I had 1 and a half days of free time, and here is a taste of what I did, and hopefully you can find something which appeals to you for when you next visit…
Five Mind Blowing Facts About China
1. Fortune Cookies are not Chinese Imagine my surprise when I discovered that restaurants in China don’t serve fortune cookies with every meal. Worse, they’re nowhere to be found, and I have yet to meet a waiter who understands exactly what it is that I am looking forr. That’s because fortune cookies originated in California, […]
