Hi loulu6,

Yes you should come to China, it's an amazing place, the culture, the food, the people, the list just goes on and on. I'm on a year contract, mine started from August last year to August this year, but I'm sure plenty of schools offer contracts year round, depends when teachers are leaving and new terms start. You shouldn't have any problem though finding a job in China, they are so desperate for teachers here and so many Chinese people want to learn english you will be fine.

I hope you find a great job and have a great adventure here in China, you'll love it.

Haha, good luck! Just remember- China's full of so many people, you're bound to meet someone who can offer you something. I don't know anyone who's ended up doing in China -exactly- what they thought they would (they usually end up doing something better!) It's a ton of fun and you meet such great people, you'll love it!

It depends on which city you're going to be in. In Dalian I taught with Aston Future English, who were pretty handy- they had curriculum already set out in workbooks, so all you had to do was come in and teach it (my students ranged from 3-18). Aston has a lot of schools all over China...except Shanghai. Shanghai's my favorite city to be in (my family's from there), so I have friends there who teach all over the place, from private tutoring to proper boarding schools. I can ask them where they teach, but all I can say is do not go to Shane English-they'll screw you over. However, if I were to teach in Shanghai, I'd probably apply to Disney English- it's actually a legit Disney corp, and it seems like a pretty fun place to work.

Fair enough! I can understand wanting to be prepared =) When you find a company you want to work with, you could call them up and explain you might not enter the country til a bit later. China is not like the US (or the UK I'm assuming) in terms of rigidity; I mean that everything is pretty lax there. I taught for months on end, never having a contract. I've had friends come into the city late, and it's been no problem (again because of supply and demand) ...I had one friend teaching in the north, had a horrible breakup with her boyfriend, moved to Sichuan Province halfway through the contract, and still ended up teaching at a different school fine and just signing a month-to-month contract. As long as you're flexible, China's just as flexible back. (except when it comes to visas.)

Hi Lou! I noticed you were having some questions about teaching in China- I just wanted to drop a line and let you know that you needn't worry at all- even if you arrive without a contract, demand for foreign faces (teaching, business, PR, etc) is so high you're bound to run into something, especially in larger cities. I convinced one of my best friends to come to China on a tourist visa last August, and four months later he's head of Asia for a giant Chilean wine company! Obviously that's a rare case (the lucky jerk), but I'm just saying the supply for jobs is high. As long as you have a proper visa sorted, the contract will come for sure.

Hi Lou, I am heading to China independently of the internship as I secured a position with another group. They seems to want people to arrive late August for orientation before commencing teaching on 1 September which i am gathering is day 1 of the semester. I have a 5 month contract which is what I wanted  as I am not sure how I will go - this is my first placement as a TESOL teacher. The additional support and assistance that goes with working in China is what sold me on going for this. Initially I thought I'd go to Vietnam but you have to organise so much by yourself that I thought that would be a bit daunting for my first placement!!!

You seem to have a similar outlook on life as myself so I would say "go for it"...... Best of luck

Kate.

Definitely don't talk yourself out of going to China - it's amazing! I'd pick it over the US any day of the week ;) Good luck with all the deciding - and if you want to chat more about it just drop me a line.

I would look around independently and see if you can find something now. If you don't find something in a couple of months or so, I'd then look at cutting your trip to the US short and applying through i-to-i's job placement service, as it makes life a lot easier!

It's obviously up to you, but I wouldn't take the risk of landing in China without a job, but then I am a bit of a wimp!

Hi Lou,

Hmm - generally contracts in China do start at the beginning of September, January, March and July, however demand for English teachers in china is so massive that you should be OK to find contracts. My advice is chat to these people who are already teaching in China to see what they reckon:

http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/travelingkayte and http://www.tefl-chalkboard.com/littlegems

Bottom line is that you'll find it much easier to find a job if you cut your time in the US a bit short, but you should still be OK if you leave it until the start of Oct.

Hope that helps - any other questions let me know!

In terms of cost of living it just depends where you are - for example Shanghai will be much, much more expensive to live in than a smaller regional city. Generally speaking though the cost of basics like food is very cheap. There's a good city cost guide on http://www.tefl.com/ that might come in handy (you'll find it in the left-hand tool bar).

There's also plenty of scope for picking up work doing private tutoring - especially if you're there for any length of time, and this can be a good way to supplement your income.

Good luck with your application - keep me posted with how you get on!