 What
if I can't Speak Chinese?
Can I still get hired to
teach English?
You
won't be required to know the local language.
What!?
Most English
teachers don't know the local language when they first
arrive. Typically, native speaker English teachers are
not given true beginners. Your students will already
have some English basics. Often not much, but enough
for you to take them to higher levels and for you to be
able to do basic instruction in English.
How can
I do that?
Your students
will usually know enough English - often about that of a
two- or three-year-old native speaker. Really quite a
lot, though they don't usually feel very confident about
their skills.
Your
Native Speaker Language Skills . . .
are why you are
hired: Your accent, Your native ability to know what
grammar is wrong or right, your ability to know what
sounds right or wrong in common usage. Time and
experience (or a good TEFL certification course) will
give you the ability to explain these things. But
in the beginning, even if you can't explain it - you
will still know what is wrong and what is right.
Should
I use the Chinese when I teach English?
No! Your native
ability with English is why you are hired. If you start
teaching in the local language - you will not be much
different from the Chinese teachers of English, who are
often paid MUCH less than you will be. It is your native
talent with English that makes you valuable.
Okay,
no teaching in Chinese, but how will I find my way around
and/or buy the things I need?
No problem.
Most schools will assign another teacher or an assistant
to you, to help you do the things you need to do until
you learn the basics. After you live and work in
China
a while, you will find yourself quite skilled at finding
what you need, using either very basic language or even
just gestures. After all, you will most likely NOT be
your school's first foreign teacher and they will
probably be familiar with most of your wants and needs -
from finding food you are familiar with, to cold
remedies, Internet cafes, or even good restaurants.
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"Twenty
years from now you will be more disappointed
by the things that you didn't do than by the
ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines.
Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the
trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream.
Discover." -- Mark Twain |
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