Start teaching abroad right away!
Teaching English in China
Teaching demand in Hong Kong is especially high for ESP teachers. They are needed for medical staff, tourism operators and of course all areas of business. Eastern and Western culture differ in many ways. Native speakers are especially revered for authentic western cultural knowledge. Certified teachers will be offered fair salaries and also those with higher university qualifications better salaries. Currency is approximately 8.27 Yuan Renminbi for $1 US dollar. Salary ranges from approximately 2,500 RMB to 3,000 RMB per month and accommodations are almost always provided by the employer. Work papers are possible to negotiate from the home country as well as after landing in China.
Cost of living is very reasonable but especially in the north. Hong Kong has its own system within China with its own currency which is approximately 7.80 HK dollars to $1 US dollar and although pay may be from $12 000 HK to 50 000 HK the cost of living is very high. Class sizes are considerably larger than what the teacher is used to which must be taken into account. There should be some pre education done in terms of cultural clues. Discussion of politics is not received well and various other not so obvious things which the foreigner must learn as they go along.
Traveling to China
Historically, it is one of the world’s oldest, intricate, and fascinating dynasties. China is for the most part a mountainous country. It borders several countries Afghanistan, Bhutan, Burma, India, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan, and Vietnam. The estimated population is approximately 1.3 billion people. Until 1978, the government was strictly communist giving way economically to many insufficiencies. The market based modernization of the country has been responsible for a great shift in productivity. The greatest gains have been made in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Shanghai. China is referred to as the “sleeping giant” by monetary speculators for quite some time as more and more it awakens to its strength economically. It is now only second to the U.S. for investment output. The tide is slowly turning because strong government controls on population control measures do not exist anymore. This can be both a good point and a negative point of departure for China as population growth has consequences on the environment.
Climatically the country is extremely diverse with regions of subtropical weather in the south and areas of sub arctic weather in the north. Temperatures range from below zero F in winter to 85 F in summer. Monsoon season regularly threatens coastal areas starting in April and lasting until October. One official dialect does exist in language however every region has its own style which other areas do not understand, on the other hand written language is such that all are universally understood in written form.
Many of the world’s most advanced inventions came from China, notably paper, printing, silk, the abacus, and the compass. Places to see and things to do in the nation vary as much as the climate therefore depending on what one is most interested in. The best times of year to visit are in spring and fall. Hong Kong offers a whole spectrum of everything for the visitor from big city shopping, sight seeing, deep relaxation, historical exploration and in many places one finds the comfort of western civilization influence. Getting around the city is very easy.
Beijing shows all the signs of modernization, so there are many restaurants and shopping centers with something to interest everyone, but clearly even more interesting one can visit the historically significant places namely, the Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven Park and the Lama Temple. Shanghai is known as a very stylish city that has thoroughly embraced a freer state of culture. The Yuyuan Gardens and bazaar is the place to go to buy souvenirs, witness the classic Ming design and represents the best in local fast food. Night time in the city is the best in all the country having jazz clubs, bars and dance clubs. Shanghai is developing a reputation of being a shopping paradise.
