Teach Abroad Blog
Teaching abroad
Teaching Nomad’s Top 5 Education Technology Tools
While the profession of teaching, one person imparting their knowledge on another, has remained fundamentally unchanged for a very long time, the digital revolution is bestowing on teachers some very cool new tools to multiply their efforts and maximize their efficiency. Below Teaching Nomad goes through 5 of our favorite classroom technology tools.
How to find a better teaching job in China.
New Academic Year, New school, New life!
You came to China to teach ESL, with so much hope, and thoughts of immersing yourself in the culture, learning a new language, traveling all over Asia on your vacation time, making friends from around the world, paying off some student loans, and going home a better person for it.
Yet, you found the opposite, the school doesn’t give you enough time off, they NEVER pay on time, you find yourself chasing down your boss for a pay stub or wondering why your check was short this month. You feel isolated, overworked, underpaid. Everyone hates working there. Turnover is high with stories of ‘midnight runs’ abundant, and you spend your free time browsing the classified ads or travel sites for the cheapest flight home. Your social circle is made up of other disgruntled co-workers, and you spend the little free time you have complaining to each other about the job and the boss. Throw in a bench press, some orange uniforms and it could easily be a scene from a bad prison movie.
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.
Living Abroad
9 Things Not To Do (That You’ve Probably Already Done) In China
It is the bane of the business traveler in an unfamiliar culture: making a comment or gesture that is meant to be friendly but instead offends or embarrasses the hosts. Happily, such cross-cultural faux pas are no longer deal killers. Globalization has narrowed the cultural divide, and these days the Chinese are experienced enough in dealing with foreigners to shrug off such indiscretions. Even stabbing chopsticks into a bowl of rice and leaving them there (an act of hostility among Chinese because it signifies death) would be laughed off (albeit nervously) by locals. What truly matters is a friendly attitude and a patient manner. Below is a list of 9 things to avoid.
About the National Holiday
By now you’re probably well aware of the pending holiday. A glorious 7 day period free from obligation, alarm clocks and forced hangover management. In case you’re wondering just why this glorious opportunity has fallen into your lap, continue reading to learn more about this particular Golden Week.
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.
