Gold Star TEFL Recruitment has been assisting teachers secure the very best teaching jobs in China since 2009 and has close connections with China’s leading schools. For details on teaching jobs with major language schools have a look through our website and submit an application today.
Read more interviews with teachers in China here.
An Interview with Jake at his language school in Zhenjiang, China
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GS: So, can you tell us a bit about how you first got into English teaching?
J: My mother travelled to China to teach English some years ago. She used to come back each year with stories of all the interesting people she had met and amazing places she had visited. It made me feel this urge to experience this great unknown. For a while I thought about going but didn’t have the nerve to take action. One day I had a serious accident at work and was taken to the hospital. I was unable to work for what felt like forever. I was in pain with thoughts of my future when I suddenly decided; it’s time for an adventure!
GS: What advice do you have for people about the recruitment and interview process when looking for jobs teaching in China?
J: My advice with finding work and getting recruited is to shop around. Have at least three or four options at hand and choose the one that feels right for you. Also when having an interview, make sure it is via Skype and you can talk with one of the foreigners there so as to get a good insight into living in that particular school and city.
GS: You are teaching in Zhenjiang at the moment, can you tell us about your impressions of the city? What do you like most about living there?
J: Zhenjiang has been really good to me. I opted for a smaller city because I wanted to avoid the craziness of a massive city like Shanghai. Living here is a little slower and relaxed but enjoyable. It’s a 1-hour train ride away from one of the bustling metropolises, Shanghai so it’s close enough to the action. Also, living expenses in Zhenjiang are very low so it’s an easy place to save money. It’s one of the places that I’ve seen so many foreign expats get together to do stuff and its quite fun meeting people with different backgrounds and stories. Zhenjiang is in Jiangsu Province, the best province in China so I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
GS: What do you like most about teaching English?
J: My favorite part of teaching is the growth you see in your students and how they can open up more and more to you each week. The journey they take from speaking little to no English, to talking to you about their lives. It feels very rewarding.
GS: Can you tell us about your favourite class at the moment?
J: My favorite class right now is a new one. They are a bit older than my usual class and their English is a little more advanced. It’s been very interesting seeing them share more and more about themselves. Hearing them become more and more confident speaking with a foreigner and seeing in their eyes that they are understanding more and more of the English I am ‘machine gunning’ out of my mouth.
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GS: Talk us through a typical day teaching English in China.
J: Well there are two types of typical days a teacher experiences here. There is a typical weekday and a typical day during the weekend. A typical day during the week consists of a few classes and a little bit of lesson planning. It’s quite easy going. A weekend day is quite busy with lots of classes and no lesson planning. The weekend day sounds a little hectic but I like to think that it frees up a lot of time so we can have a more relaxed week.
GS: What are the teaching resources like there?
J: The teaching resources are great. We have a well thought out curriculum and interactive white boards which cuts the lesson planning process down a lot. If there is anything we need for a class, our assistants really put in the effort to make it available.
GS: How many teachers are there in your school?
J: The popularity of our school has grown over the past year. We have reached an exciting stage of growth here at Kaibo. We have 5 teachers and had 2 part-time last year, teaching 3 languages. This year we’re employing more full-time teachers and staff so I really can’t comment on the number of teachers we will have this year.
GS: China is full of surprises and unexpected adventures, tell us about one you have had recently.
J: The last adventure I had was to the city of Nanjing. I was invited to go to a Chinese wedding. In the afternoon, I took the bullet train with my friends there. We managed to maneuver through the throng of commuters at the train station to get a taxi. We arrived at our destination which was this large hall filled with tables which each had dishes of food and various forms of beverages. The wedding was a spectacle. With various forms of entertainment such as drummers, smoke machines, laser shows. It was all being conducted by what could only be described as a game show host on his 8th coffee.
After the event, we went downtown to a Mexican restaurant where we knew the owner (you meet so many people here) and had some really good western food. Afterwards, we explored a little. I really like that city. It feels like home when you want it to and if you go down the right road, it can feel like the ancient capital of china it used to be.
This school is holding interviews now, apply today!
Read more interviews with teachers in China here.
Gold Star TEFL Recruitment has been assisting teachers secure the very best teaching jobs in China since 2009 and has close connections with China’s leading schools. For details on teaching jobs with major language schools have a look through our website and submit an application today.
Apply now
Realise your dreams of living and teaching English worldwide with INTESOL.