public schools

I've not taught in a college, so I can't really comment, but between teaching in a public school and a private school i'd have to say a private school every time. A position in a public school might very easily land you with the responsibility of teaching as many as 60 or more students at a time (i've had 100 on more than one occasion), and unless you are a very experienced teacher with a good knowledge of Chinese, that is harrrrd. Teaching in a private school is generally a matter of teaching a maximum of 16 students, but more often less. Still hard for a new teacher if you actually mean to do a good job, but certainly preferable to a small army that will very quickly have you tearing your hair out.

public schools only 

I've had college and language school experience so far and moving to a public middle/high school in a month. So these are my pros and cons:

College:

- less teaching hours ( I never had more than 16 hours per week and I worked only four days per week, having long weekends.)

- the salary is not that high but most of the time the college will offer you an apartment, free utilities and canteen meals (Therefore, you can almost save the entire salary.)

-the extra work depends on what kind of teacher you are (Most colleges will have some sort of material but usually it is outdated and boring. You should add at least 10 extra hours per week to prepare classes and mark written exams, tests and whatsoever. I did most of it on weekends.)

-holidays (I've had 7 paid weeks off during Spring Festival, not to mention other minor holidays like Mid-Autumn Festival, National Day (11 days) and so on. For those who renew the contract they also pay summer holidays, perhaps with a reduced salary but at least I managed to go back home for more than a month.)

- freedom (I felt very free during my college teaching experience. Had almost 3 hours break for lunch and had free afternoons or mornings. I didn't have to show up in the office. Did everything in my apartment. Had to attend several school events but most of them were shows and little educational trips.)

- colleagues (I had no relationship with my colleagues, because of my choice. Just a polite 'hello' and a smile if I bumped into them around the campus. No one ever bothered me and those who were supposed to answer my questions and help me were super efficient and willing.)

-students (Short attention span. Need to work hard to keep them interested. Most of them are like kids. I used plenty of games to teach them and they always enjoyed it. Need to introduce and implement some rules about behavior, telephone usage etc. Showed some movies from time to time. Anyway some students gave me a lot of satisfaction tough. Many are willing to help with anything and hang out with you.)

Private Language school:

- too many teaching/office hours (I have to be in the school for 40 hours and teach 25 full hours per week. The full hour teaching class is unbelievably heavy especially if you have three or four classes one after another. I often feel drained at the end of the day and I'm in my late twenties and in a good physical and mental health and a particularly optimistic person. This jobs is slowly killing me {Fortunately, I have only one month left!}.

- lunch/dinner break (No food is provided by the school. Therefore, you need to bring your own food or buy around the school. My cooking skills are fine but I have no time considered the fact that the schedule is very particular {I often start at one and finish at nine, or at eleven and finish at seven.}. I often buy outside but sometimes have no time or tired of the same dishes. Reason why my eating habits, since working for a training school, are so messed up. Plus who can have dinner at five?)

- the salary is higher than many colleges and most training centers will give you some extra money to rent an apartment. (That money is often not enough to rent a normal apartment. My apartment is quite big but almost empty and has a lot of problems. Plus you need to pay the utilities, Internet connection and run all the errands connected to it, which is very time consuming. Fortunately, my boyfriend is Chinese otherwise it would be a big trouble if I was on my own. Most of the time you flat is not in the proximity of the school, so you also need to take that into account as well. I bought a bike and it happened to be the best decision ever.)

- the extra work (The material of most training centers is pathetic: old, poor spelling, grammar, boring and kind of obsessed by same topics. So you need to add plenty of extra material during your office hours. And you will have many English Corners. I like them very much but some people don't. So it depends on you but in any case you need to prepare something.)

- holidays (I dare to say that they equal to zero. In other words, when other people have holidays you have to work. I had only five days off for Spring Festival, compared to 7 weeks last year in a college. All the other holidays will last 3 days tops. If you want some days off for a trip or any other reason, it will take them a lot to answer you and will detract a lot of money from your salary.)

- freedom (Again, nil. Cannot leave the school when on duty. Work on weekends and evenings. No regular life anymore. On the teaching level, the school wants you to follow the material, even though you have some freedom and can add something more interesting.)

- colleagues (Most of your colleagues are fresh graduates from Uni whose English is not very good and they even teach mistakes to your students. If you are lucky you can find some nice people among them. Most of them are willing to help if you ask. The sales people are sharks and will use you to sell the service to potential customers.)

- students (You will have a large range of students. From kids to elderly people. Kids are the worse species. I love kids but teaching kids how have no interest in learning and who are tired after a long day spent in school is challenging. The same for many teenagers, who come to school only because they parents want them to do so. The best are adults. Most of them are highly motivated and willing to learn. And those are the reason why I stayed in this school for a year. There is no chance to make friends and have some of them to help you with errands as most of them are super busy)

Oh Gosh, I guess I covered most aspects and gave you a picture of the situation. As for me, I'll never ever teach in a training center. 'Never say never' doesn't work here.

-uni comes out to a far far higher pay per hour, offers you freedom, and none of the hassles of being fired because the kids don't like you.

-Case in point, I worked a uni that had 20 hours per week for 5,500 plus full pay for July August and January. I'm working a private school giving 6k and I get 2 months off, and 24 hours a week.

  Never done college, don't do middle school, private's probably your best option.

Public Uni all the way...you can always get PT work...if you feel like it

I have 12 classes a week (45 min.), work 3 days a week...4 months off

(2 winter, 2 summer), that's not including Golden week etc...

I travel a lot and still save a lot of money...And...don't have to deal with parents!!!