To the editor:
My trek into the world of teaching in China began with a simple piece of junk e-mail. While waiting for a response to a graduate school application I received an e-mail from a small company out of Chicago. In what was a moment of “why not see what this is”, I opened it and was greeted by a listing of amenities given to teachers. Furnished apartment, washer, dryer, microwave, travel reimbursement, and tax free income. At the very end of the list was the job description: Teach English.
Having prepared documents for Graduate school I quickly e-mailed a message to the site and within days received a response. After so many false starts in looking for a new job this was too good to be true.
I checked the site and realized that this field is wide open. For those who want adventure there is some here. There are also your charlatans and frauds. The response that I received was in the form of a phone call. That was my first interview. Success! Continuing to check out the field I decided that the safest thing to do was to go with a program that had a proven track record and offered something more than finding just a job.
The demand for native speakers of English is immense in this country. With the Olympics, a world exposition, and intense competition for world trade outlets the Chinese are rapidly embracing the learning of English. Here in Shanghai most of the schools have a comprehensive English Education program for students from kindergarten through to high school. Colleges strive to have native speakers in the subject areas. And the national policy to increase the number of English speakers over the next five years is fueling growth in this job area.
I finally decided to sign with a program hosted through Marshall University in West Virginia. Appalachians Abroad (www.marshall.edu/gochina/) offered a certificate program for learning some basic techniques about teaching a foreign language. It also was very clear that it screened the schools and applicants before trying to match them.
Deciding to leave the U.S and go halfway around the world was not easy. But consistently the Marshall program provided clear answers to the many questions I had. The most important was reassurance that the school had the proper licenses and would deliver on the accommodations that were indicated. Dubious offers abound in the field. Marshall’s efforts are designed to weed out the less then acceptable schools. There are many other programs, CIEE is one that is good. But Marshall’s looked to be the best and it is also designed to help build business ties with China in the Appalachian Region.
Aroostook County is the northern terminus for the Appalachians and this appealed to me. Anyone who can claim a tie to the County wants to see it succeed. It would be nice to see some of the money going to China come back and help the County grow. With the support of the Marshall program I took the first steps.
March and April are the prime recruiting months for new employees. This is because of the needs to get the proper certificates and forms together for the Foreign Expert Visa. Thanks to a change in the laws of China, holding one of these visa’s allows you to enter and leave the country as often as you would like. It also is a ticket to an excellent experience that makes all your fellow job applicants envious. The Marshall Program has a deadline of March 31st for September 1st work. But it also allows for you to apply to teach for the spring semester of the following year. It is a good first beginning.
Next week, a little more about the issues of teaching here and how to carry a clutch of eggs. You can not say that you have lived until you have bagged some eggs!
Orpheus Allison
orpheusallison@mac.com
