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 Richard Longmire-Bowns at Wall Street English Guangzhou
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GS: So, can you tell us a bit about how you first got into English teaching?
RL: As many people do, I wanted to travel and see the world. My life wasn’t going great in the UK and I was getting very depressed, so I decided to do something about it. I tried traveling without a TEFL but it wasn’t easy finding work.
Now that I am a qualified ESL teacher, I’m having the time of my life!
GS: Could you give some details about your dealings with Gold Star TEFL Recruitment?
RL: However, the wonderful people at Gold Star TEFL Recruitment saw my potential and got me an amazing opportunity with a great company.
Another, nameless recruitment company was only willing to recommend me to a very bad company, but not Gold Star. They helped me every step of the way with help, support, advice and most of all encouragement.
GS: What advice do you have for people about the recruitment and interview process when looking for jobs teaching in China?
RL: China needs ESL teachers, so it’s a big market with lots of opportunities. Do your research and find a good recruitment company, like Gold Star.
GS: You are teaching in Guangzhou at the moment, can you tell us about your impressions of the city? What do you like most about living there?
RL: I live in Guangzhou which is China’s third largest city. It has everything you’d expect from a city: bars, food, entertainment, shopping etc. But what really struck me about Guangzhou was the scale of the city. You will definitely need someone to show you around. I’ve been to all of China’s biggest cities but I like Guangzhou the most. It’s hot, the people are friendly, the food is delicious and I can live in modern luxury while still saving money. Oh, and Hong Kong is two hours away by train.
GS: What do you like most about teaching English?
RL: It’s fun. I teach adults, which I think is quite rare in the ESL industry. When I meet my young learner teaching friends on the “weekend” (not Saturday and Sunday, but our two midweek days off) they have nothing but complaining to do. On the other hand, I tell them about all the crazy things I do with people (my students) old enough to be my friends.
GS: Can you tell us about your favourite class at the moment?
RL: I have different classes every day, with a completely different schedule so my classes can be very different. Yesterday I had two amazing classes. My job in the first class was to get the students talking in the English. The second class was an English Corner about a subject I felt very passionate about. At the end of the class one of the students thanked me for talking about an interesting subject, and the students continued the conversation in the corridor. I felt like I was doing something positive that people appreciated.
GS: Talk us through a typical day teaching English in China.
RL: Every company is different. My day will be completely different from my friend who works somewhere else. Truthfully, I don’t have a typical day; and that’s what I love. Even though I am have a routine, I get to work at 1pm, eat dinner at 5pm and go home at 9pm, the classes I teach and the people I meet with very different. In my opinion, if you have a typical day, you are doing something wrong.
GS: What are the teaching resources like there?
RL: Like I said, every company is different. I’ve worked for one which had a room of toys. I work for one now where lessons are planned for you. But all this is not as important as your own imagination. It doesn’t matter if you have all the resources in the world, if you don’t have an idea of how to use them, you might as well not have them. My point is, YOU are your greatest resource!
GS: How many teachers are there in your school?
RL: 8 or 9 Foreign Trainers (not including Chinese Teachers) and about the same number of local teachers. Each company works differently, but the demand for native English teachers is high so you can be picky. I know people who are the only native English speaker in a school and they are worked to death.
GS: China is full of surprises and unexpected adventures, tell us about one you have had recently.
RL: When something bad happens and China gets too much for us, we say we are having a ‘China Day.’ Everyone gets them and you can’t avoid them. I avoid surprises for this reason. Unexpected adventures happen all the time and they all start the same way. I met a stranger on the metro one day and we become good friends until she left town. I befriended a guy in a shop and now he takes me shopping in places I would not have found alone. But remember, there are a billion people here. Adventure won’t come looking for you, you gotta find them.
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
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