Teaching Chinese Kids English: What You Need to Know

Teaching Chinese kids English can be challenging, however, there’s nothing better than seeing a kid in your class flourish under your guidance.

With your helpful advice and specialized skills, you can teach Chinese kids and teens English without them feeling frustrated or confused. You will also be able to boost their confidence and help them to see just how far they can go.

Responsibilities of Teaching Kids and Teens

You will be responsible for helping kids aged 3-18 learn English in a way that is going to be engaging for them. One of your responsibilities will be making sure of pre-planned lessons that are provided for you. You will be able to determine what lessons are appropriate for not only the age group of your class, but also their English level. You will also be responsible for taking your training that is provided and putting it to use to help make the most out of English lessons for kids and teens.

Requirements

• Have obtained a Bachelor degree (no specific field required);
• A 120-hour TEFL certificate (can be obtained after contract)
• Able to obtain a clean police check
• Able to work and live in China for at least one year
• Passion for education

More details about the requirements of teaching English in China.

Salary and Benefits

 monthly salary ranging from 8,000 ~ 24,000 RMB. Bonuses include housing allowances, airfare reimbursement, visa support, as well as insurances. Cost of living in China is comparatively low meaning expats can easily enjoy a comfortable lifestyle.

How much can you make as an ESL teacher in China?

Techniques in Teaching Chinese Kids English

There are a lot of techniques that you can employ when teaching English. Here are just a few small options that you can use to help make the most out of the teaching sessions.

• Try activity-based lessons:

Kids love to move. Whether they’re hyper or shy, activity-based lesson plans are a great way to encourage a truly engaging lessons and help your kids or teens to interact with each other as well as you and, of course, English.

• Don’t be afraid to customize the plans per class:

While you do get pre-planned lessons, you may find that certain lessons work well for one class, or perhaps don’t work as well as they could. You have the freedom to really customize the plan into whatever you need it to be in order to provide the best service for the kids and teens that you’re teaching.

• Make use of multi-media options:

Since technology is fun for students and teachers, you can make it work with the implemented multi-media options out there that are going to be available for you. It’s a great way to really keep young minds focused, and help them to grasp what you’re teaching long-term.

Check out the 10 ESL tips for teaching ESL to Chinese kids.

Frequently Asked Questions:

• I don’t have prior teaching experiences, can I teach in China?

Though teaching experience is highly valued for this position, it’s not a must-have requirement. Most schools will provide teachers will training before their work to make sure they comply with their teaching curriculum and specific methods.

•  I can’t speak Chinese, is that a problem?

Although it’ll definitely make your life easier while living and teaching in China. You don’t have to be fluent in Mandarin in order to teach English in China.

• What are my teaching hours?

The total work hours are maximum 40, this include teaching hours as well as office hours (applied to some positions depending on school structure). 

Schedules are slightly different depending on the school type and the area. If teaching at public schools, the schedule will be Monday – Friday whereas in institutions, you’ll be working over the weekends and nighttime during weekdays, and have two week days off.

• What are the class sizes?

This really depends on the school type. For public schools, it ranges from 40 to 60, whereas for institutions and kindergartens it ranges from 15 to 35 depending on whether it’s designed as a small class of a medium class.

Different class sizes might bring you different experiences and challenges, and most schools will provide training and support to make sure you’ll able to handle it.

• What’s the visa process like?

Teachers need to have a work z visa in order to teach in China legally. Generally, the whole process takes up to 2 months.

The school will provide assistance throughout your visa application process. The costs for processing the work permit documents inside China will be covered by your employer. Teachers need to pay the fees for getting documents notarized/authenticated, passport photos, and the fee charged by the Chinese visa processing office in their country.

• How long is my contract?

The standard contract is 12 months for most schools (some public schools offer a 10-month contract). The average length of a teacher’s stay is about 2 ~3 years.