anyone taught English in China ??

When a friend was considering this last year, she did Google searches, and was led to a great many sites full of horror stories, like this one: China English Teaching Horror Stories There are many hundreds of thousands of foreigners teaching English in China, undoubtedly some happy ones. Another friend took a job teaching English in Bangaluru, India. The teaching part was borderline OK, but the level of air pollution was dreadful; he was back in a year, and his lungs are still suffering months later.

 

One friend thought seriously about it, did appropriate Google searches, and found so many sites full of horror stories (like this one: China English Teaching Horror Stories) that she decided not to. Another friend took a comparable job teaching English in Bangaluru (formerly Bangalore) India. While the job was tolerable, the level of air pollution was so devastating, his lungs suffered badly and he came home within a year. Now he's teaching English in Romania and quite enjoying it.

 

You can find plenty of information out there on this career field. A lot of it is negative, but I did run into a couple of absolutely hilarious blogs by US expats teaching abroad. Keep in mind I was a Marine so my intelligence level and maturity level are that of a 12 year old boy. If you are offended by debauchery, stories of cheap alcohol and cheaper women, please don't read these blogs. But, if you want the other side of the story there are perhaps some nuggets of wisdom amongst the filth. This might be the only one that is SFW. Funny stories!

English Teacher X

 

My daughter has taught English in China, Korea, and Japan. I think China was the least favorite if the three. She is in Japan now, for nine months. But this work is somehow all tied to her Ph.D. work. Her field is Asian Cultures.

She speaks Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. She translated a book from Japanese to English for her final project at Princeton. I am sure that she does not plan to make a career of teaching English in any of these countries. I think she hopes to teach Japanese at an American University.

 

While China, Japan, and Korea may be the "Big 3" of Asia, I would hope that our well-educated group would not forget about other options like Thailand, Vietnam, etc. These countries may not always have all of the Western amenities that we feel we need (depending on where you end up teaching), but you may still have a lot of fun. Also, I have to say that the local food in Southeast Asia is absolutely delicious. Sure, the pay isn't as spectacular as in Korea or Japan, but you have to consider why you're going.