Teach Abroad Blog
Teaching abroad
Teach in China and let the adventures begin!
I came to Shanghai, China in 2011 to teach English and since then, there hasn’t been a dull moment. From all of my experiences, my trip to Guilin is one of my favorite experiences. While in this area, I went with some friends to visit Dragon’s Backbone rice terraces. We had a hotel reserved in the Dazhai area of the terraces, so we took a bus to Dazhai from Guilin. On the way up, there was so much rainfall that it caused a mud slide, which caused the road to become completely blocked by all the dirt. It was a little difficult to figure out what was happening since the bus driver only spoke Chinese, but it turned out that we needed to walk over the land side where another bus driver would come and pick us up. When we finally arrived at the terraces, we were completely lost. From the point where the bus dropped off to our hotel, it ended up being about a 2 ½ hour trek up and down the terraces to get there. I guess it was just lucky that two of us were carrying backpacks. Our friend without a backpack had one of the Chinese sherpas take her bag to our hotel for only 40 RMB.
Teaching Writing
Among the four language skills (Reading, Listening, Speaking, Writing), teaching—as well as teaching—writing is the most difficult. This is because when students write, they are asked to express their own ideas. Rather than relying on their memory, they now have to tap into their creativity. This can be especially problematic if you teach in a country like China, where public education focuses primarily on memorization and regurgitation. Try to use the following two activities to give kids the confidence to write.
How to Not Get Stuck in a Crappy Job
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and to teach abroad but don’t know where to begin. In the four years I’ve spent in Asia, I’ve had a variety of jobs in and out of teaching. I’ve had some great teaching jobs, as well as some not-so-great ones. I write this to help every newbie who is thinking of getting a teaching job overseas, to make the best of their experience and get a position that will make them happy and enjoy their time in a foreign country. I wish someone gave me this advice when I was looking for a teaching position; it would have saved me a lot of time, effort, and headaches along the way.
Living Abroad
How to get out of the foreigner bubble
Written by our friends at The Dragon Trip
When in Rome, do as the Romans do. China may be a far cry from the hometown of wine and pizza, but the saying still applies – if you want to make the most out of being in an exciting new environment, make sure you immerse yourself fully in the local way of life. If you’re already in China, it’s likely that you’ve met two very different types of foreigners; there are the ones who move around the city with ease, can act as your translator whenever you are together, and generally seem to be getting more out of their time in China; and then there are those who very rarely leave their expat-friendly complex, unless they are heading to Element Fresh or Wagas. Without a doubt, any person who can muster up the courage to begin a brand new life in China deserves two gigantic thumbs up, but if you’re finding it a little difficult to fully immerse yourself in this very foreign culture, we may just have a few tips to help you along.
15 Things You Can Do In China But Not In The U.S.
Buy Beer in a bag. In many parts of China, you can buy beer by the kilogram. You walk to the store, take a plastic bag off of the beer tap, pour the beer in the plastic bag, weigh the bag and pay accordingly. Then you head down to neighborhoods that are Centuries old, or ancient imperial parks just sipping on your beer. Try doing that next time you’re visiting Liberty Bell.
5 things you didn’t know about WeChat
For those of you already teaching in China, you will know exactly what WeChat is, and chances are you will have used it dozens of times today. For those of you who are soon going to be joining us over here, I recommend that you download the app now… and get ready to transform the way you communicate to your friends, family, colleagues and manage your social media.
