This is the view from just inside the east side entrance to Sunshine Gardens, the housing and apartment gated community in which we lived last time we taught at C.I.T. and where we will return in late August. The apartment complex lines the northern side of the complex and is about four stories high. C.I.T. maintains two apartments here for married couples who teach at the XinBei campus. The rest of the FTs live on the main campus in apartments. This is typical of most housing for FTs working for a university.
Now that I have the documents we need to get a number of passport photos for those documents. While waiting for the paper work to clear, we are busy collecting things that we think we need. Maureen has been using her contacts to gather a number of magazines for use in the classroom. Since we both work with students from 19 to 25 years old, magazines such as People and Entertainer, and a collection of calendars. Students love working with materials featuring people they are familiar with from their contact with media, and with pictures of our home country. We build interactive lessons using these materials and try our best to “fit” into the themes and topics that arise from their texts for oral English. We are also preparing a collection of photos (on full 8×10 paper) of family and places that we fill with our lives here in Canada. All this is good stuff that helps students engage with their teacher.
While Maureen is busy gathering materials, I am busy trying to again learn some more Chinese (Mandarin Chinese). Naturally, it is a good idea to get some of the basics in place before going as life somehow has a way of filling in the hours once one is in China. Of course, it is a good idea to take advantage of the free Chinese lessons offered to FTs at C.I.T.
Since I am not as dedicated as I should be, I recommend taking as many of the free on-line lessons as can be managed. Why free? Well, it doesn’t feel as bad when I miss a lesson I have to pay for. Since I have done some work in locating free on-line Chinese lessons, I can share that with you here. I don’t make any recommendations as I have learned that different people need different things and different approaches for learning. So, wander through these links and see what, if anything, works for you. I will be coming here regularly with language topics while waiting for the next stage of paper trail to appear. Now, the list:
http://www.chinese-tools.com/learn/chinese
http://www.freechineselessons.com/
http://www.chineselearner.com/
http://www.learnchineseeveryday.com/
http://freelanguage.org/learn-mandarin-chinese
http://www.transparent.com/learn-mandarin-chinese/
http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php
http://www.clearchinese.com/learn-chinese/
http://www.echineselearning.com/free-trial/index.html
http://www.mychineselessons.com/
http://www.euroasiasoftware.com/english/chinese/software/index.html
Is it possible for an entry level TEFL teacher to find a job at a university, with no experience, a bachelors degree, and standard TEFL certification? If not, how many years of experience do universities normally require, and what are the best ways to get that experience? I have heard mixed reviews of English First and other similar enterprises.
Yes it is possible to obtain a position at a university. Just a note that may help you here, universities are likely the lowest paid teaching jobs for ESL/TEFL in China with salaries ranging from 3,500 to 4,500 on the average. Some pay more but expect more in return. All it takes in any degree, native language of English and a desire to try it out. Language schools such as WEB pay much better but the work hours are different (evenings and weekends) and the workplace is more about business than about education. I hope this helps.
Yes, thank you.