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Q: Would you say China is the easiest place for a non-native teacher of English to get employed?
Just curious about this seeing that someone made a question about employment. Some people have more knowledge and experience in world travels than others. For me personally I've taught here and Korea. I have visited Thailand, but never worked there before. What would say is the easiest country for a non-native speaker to get an English teaching job?
Probably, yes, because the market is so huge and there's a limited supply of native speakers. It was definitely possible, without too much hassle, in Thailand as well.
I worked with some very talented non-native speakers in Vietnam as well, but they were a definite cut above the "my English so good, why you natives take all the job" type that post on eChina occasionally, so maybe it's not an easy market there.
GuilinRaf:
May I ask? Without going into specifics, h\how is the salary in Vietnam compared to China? And the cost of living? i have heard conflicting stories on this point.
MissA:
It's hard to give one straight answer GR, but I can share my experience.
The ESL industry in Vietnam (at least in my experience of it) is set up very differently from here. When a company signs you on a full-time contract, you sign up for a set hourly rate. The company undertakes to provide you with a minimum of paid class hours each month, and there's also an enforceable ceiling number of hours built into the contract. Housing is not provided, but the hourly remuneration was (in my company at least) very generous for the cost of living and allowed a very, very high standard of living. A lot of the long-termers don't have one full-time employer, but a rotating series of part-time jobs; this maximizes flexibility and allows overall for higher income per hours worked.
Here I work a standard 40-hour week, for a salary and apartment, I have a guaranteed stable income. The two countries' industries are apples and oranges, essentially, although the general cost of food/alcohol/travel is similar.
If I were working the minimum number of hours on my old contract in Vietnam (without taking on another part time which is very easy to do), China probably works to higher savings; if I were working the maximum number of hours in the Vietnam contract then I'd save more compared to my current situation.
I was living in London at the time..and wanted to get away. I had no idea I could contact schools and the whole thing was a bit rushed. So for my first job I came here through an agency. The whole thing was a hassle, the Chinese agency was taking a lot of money from our pay every month, visa issues etc. etc. But I actually stayed and finished my contract. I found my current job online (here actually). I like it and I already signed for next year as well. I don't get discriminated in any way. I do have a Bachelors in English Philology (as they call it in my country, which is basically 4 years of grammar and literature), so I don't know if that makes a difference or not.
the easiest country for a non-native speaker to get an English teaching job? well da! the country he is from and living in ! .another really dumb well thought out question. how long do you have to think to come up with these questions?
i'm not so sure it's easy for a non-native to teach english- i've seen many ads in the echinacities job site requiring native english speakers - even if you speak perfect english, a lot of schools won't hire you unless you're from the u.s, canada, or u.k
Bona:
hey, you better be sure because there are a lot of non native English speakers doing a good job in some schools.
