What is the workweek like for an American or British ESL teacher in Beijing, China?
TTC #1 for 2 1/2 years asked:
Like how many hours do you normally work, how much is the pay, do you recieve any benefits from the school you are working in, etc. I may go there to teach once I get my B.A. in Elementary Education (K-8) and my Teaching English As A Forgien Language Certificate in 2 1/2 years if my husband doesn’t get accepted for his Ph D in USA. My husband is thinking of applying to universities in China for his Ph. D.
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Like how many hours do you normally work, how much is the pay, do you recieve any benefits from the school you are working in, etc. I may go there to teach once I get my B.A. in Elementary Education (K-8) and my Teaching English As A Forgien Language Certificate in 2 1/2 years if my husband doesn’t get accepted for his Ph D in USA. My husband is thinking of applying to universities in China for his Ph. D.
May 19th, 2009 at 8:56 pm
Incomes and work hours vary greatly from one company to another. It depends entirely on who you work for.
May 20th, 2009 at 3:55 am
It depends upon the school/university.
Most universities require a bachelor’s degree as a minimum requirement to teach English. Many of them desire a TESL/TEFL certification and a few of them require experience.
Many private schools offer jobs to strangers on the street without any knowledge of their abilities or experience.
A university is more likely to have a workweek of no more than 18 - 20 hours to week. A private school can have a teacher work 35 - 40 hours per week.
Pay ranges from 3200 yuan on up. There are those who can make 12,000 - 15,000 yuan a month, but that is usually working two or three different jobs at a time and doing a lot of tutoring on the side.
Many universities provide housing or a housing stipend. Roundtrip airfare back to your home country is often provided with a year-long contract.
Personally? I made 8700 yuan a month in Beijing, but I had no benefits of any kind. I did not receive a housing allowance, nor did I have any medical coverage (also usually standard with a contract . . . good for Chinese hospitals only), nor did I get any airfare. I taught at a Beijing-based university 18 hours a week. 16 hours were at their Langfang campus (about 1.5 hours away by school-provided bus) and 2 hours were at their local campus, not far from my home. I was treated well, paid on time, and had a good relationship with my foreign affairs office.
Currently, I work in the northwest and my pay is much, much less! However, I have housing, airfare, insurance, etc. and the cost of living is much cheaper here. In other words, I actually have more take-home pay after incidentals!
The US Embassy has put together a page of helpful information on the topic. You can find it here:
Good luck!
May 20th, 2009 at 11:36 pm
oh, just wonderful! Someone using China as a back-up plan if things don’t go well!
It varies, lady, and, if you don’t want to be here, don’t come