Teach English (or German, or French) in Nandaihe

[imron]

The school I'm currently working at is looking for 8 Foreign Language teachers for the start

of the next school semester (March 2006). This includes 6 English teachers, 1 French

teacher, and 1 German teacher. The French and German teachers would need to be

prepared to teach some English classes, as there will not be enough classes to have a

full-time French/German teacher.

The school is called Qinhuangdao Foreign Language Professional College, and is located

in Hebei Province not too far from where the Great Wall goes into the sea. The college

itself is in Nandaihe, and is about 600 metres from the beach. The town is quite small, so

teachers who need a city lifestyle might not find this the most ideal place to work.

That said, a small town can be a much better environment for those looking to learn some

Chinese, and Beijing is also close enough for weekend trips (3-5 hours depending on

mode of transport) when you need to escape.

The school is also reliable when it comes to things like sorting out working visas, paying

salaries, reimbursing airfares etc. and this is now the 3rd year that I've worked here. There

are currently 13 foreign language teachers employed by the school - 9 English teachers, 2

Japanese teachers, a Korean teacher and a Russian teacher. The increased need for new

teachers is the result of an expansion that is currently underway.

Job description/benefits as follows.

Teaching spoken German/French/English. Spoken French/German would be to

beginners, and English would be to Intermediate-Advanced students.

Students are aged 17-24, and classes have between 20-40 students each.

Work schedule is 18 classes per week, with each class lasting for 50

minutes. ie. ~16 hours

Accomodation is shared with one other foreign teacher in a fully

furnished apartment. Each teacher has their own lockable bedroom,

with a shared living room, bathroom, kitchen and dining area. Beds,

bedding, TV, Air-conditioning, DVD player, kitchen utensils etc are

provided, as is an internet connected computer (one per teacher). Electricity,

water and internet bills are paid for by the college, and teachers are responsible

for their own phone bills.

Salary is 3,500-4,000 RMB a month depending on teaching experience and

qualifications, with a bonus of 1,100 RMB provided at the end of each semester. For

those worried about how 'low' this might be, please bear in mind that the cost of living here

is usually around 500-1000 RMB a month (depending of course on the kind of lifestyle you

lead) and you live pretty well for that, plus have plenty left over for travelling during the

semester breaks. Salary is paid during any school or national holidays that fall inside the

contracted period.

A full round-trip air-ticket (up to a max of 8,000RMB) is also paid for if

the teacher signs a 1 year contract. This ticket needs to be bought

by the teacher, and the money will be refunded at the *end* of the

teaching contract. The school will arrange all the necessary

paperwork for the teacher to have a "Z" working visa, residence

permit, and "foreign expert" status.

The teaching contract would preferably be for 2 semesters, beginning

early March 2006 and ending late Dec 2006/early Jan 2007. A 1 semester contract

might not be out of the question if the circumstances are right.

Qualifications required, are that the teacher is a native speaker of the language they

will be teaching, with at least a Bachelor's degree (in any discipline). Preference will be

given to people with qualifications related to teaching, their language of instruction

(English/German/French), or to people with teaching experience or other relevant

qualifications (TESL certification etc).

If you're interested, or have any further questions, send me an email: imronalston at gmail

dot com, or leave a reply below.