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
Chinese Proverbs
Chinese and English are two radically different languages, each with a long and rich history. Both languages evolved independently from each other, which makes any similarities all the more interesting. Today we will discuss some Chinese proverbs (諺語 yànyŭ) and idioms (成語 chéngyŭ) that have—almost exact—English equivalents. Does this mean that these expressions are universal truths; identical ideas that have developed on opposite ends of the world? Maybe, let us know what you think.
Teaching and Travelling
Teaching abroad is a great option for those who want to see different parts of the world, while still having a career and a steady paycheck. Full time teaching work in China on average will pay between CNY9,000 – 20,000/month. Given the cost of living in China, this is enough to cover day to day living expenses, including accommodation, eating out etc., as well as allowing you to save money each month to spend travelling. You can use this money to go on several short breaks around the country throughout your time in China, or else save your money and go on a longer trip around China and other parts of Asia during summer vacation.
8 Things I Miss About China
I’ve recently returned from a year of living abroad in China and oh how I miss it! For someone who went to China kicking and screaming, my homecoming has been bittersweet.
At the behest of my employers (actually no, I think this is great because all I’ve been doing since returning home is complaining to friends and family about how I want to be back in China so they probably appreciate that I’m letting it all out) I’ve been asked to write about what I miss about China. I have eight things here, but keep in mind; I could go on for DAYS about what I miss, so eight seemed like a good cap.
