What’s it like to teach English online to Chinese students?
If you, like so many others these days, are planning to teach English online to Chinese students, then you’ve come to the right place. This guide offers a quick insight into the world of online teaching in the Far East. It offers a taste of what you can expect from the students themselves, the teaching platforms, and from employers. Let’s begin…
Finding jobs should be easy but isn’t a walk in the park…
You might be stuck at the stage of looking for a job to teach English online to Chinese students. Good luck! Online teaching is an area of the TEFL world that’s really soared in popularity in the last year. It was going that way anyway, but the COVID-19 pandemic only pushed things along. All of a sudden everyone was working from home using Zoom or Skype and those all-important web-based teaching skills were in mega demand.
The situation is still pretty good for would-be online TEFL teachers looking to tap in to the massive (like, seriously, massive!) Chinese market. There are lots of employers and jobs with decent pay. That said, for every great school there are a few bad ones that we’d avoid, and jobs aren’t quite as easy to score as they were back at the start of 2020. Just bear that in mind as you begin your search.
There’s usually a time difference!
One of the most pressing hurdles for first-time teachers jumping into the Chinese market via online teaching is that time difference. If you’re not located somewhere in the Far East or Southeast Asia, it can be a hefty one. You’re talking at least 7 hours between Beijing and London, and a whopping 15 hours between Beijing and LA. This is definitely something you’ll need to consider when you put together your schedule. You won’t want to be starting lessons at 4am local, and there’s little point making your available hours during the middle of the night, right?
Employers vary A LOT!
Someone recently described online English teaching as the Wild West of the EFL world. We probably wouldn’t go that far, but it’s fair to say that there’s way less regulation in this space than in your classic in-person schools. We’ve already mentioned how there are some great teaching companies and lots of not-so-great teaching companies. Well, one way to tell them apart is how much effort they’ve put into their platforms.
Big names like VIPKid, ZebraEnglish, and SayABC have worked to produce accessible and fun platforms that make it a cinch for teachers to deliver pretty immersive lessons. Other places will simply provide a Zoom account and leave the rest up to you. That’s not necessarily bad, but does mean you’ll be spending your own time doing a whole load more planning.
There are different demands from employer to employer, too. Some places only ask for 10 hours a week. Others will say you gotta’ have at least 20 hours available, and even stipulate that a certain percentage of those have to be at peak periods on the weekend or in the evening.
Education and learning styles differ from Europe and the US
Something that often hits teachers who have just moved to China or started to teach English online to Chinese students, is just how logical and scientific the learning methods tend to be. There is a clear cultural shift in the focus of teaching in this part of the world. The holy grail is mathematical problem solving and factual knowledge, which takes precedent over imagination and creative thinking.
Neither is better; it’s just different. You’ll need to bear that in mind when you come to tutor. Why? It’s not uncommon to find that Chinese students don’t particularly like classic EFL learning methods like elicitation (trying to ease the correct answer from the student). They often prefer to simply be told what’s correct and memorize that for next time. The good news is that the best online teaching platforms will try to offer a mix of learning styles so no one is left behind.
Praise is very important
Every English teacher should know the importance of offering positive feedback. But in China it takes on a whole other level of magnitude. There’s a cultural issue of ‘face’ to contend with. Basically, it’s really important that no student or class member is left feeling like they’ve failed. Whereas in Europe it’s usually okay to simply say that someone got something wrong and move on from there, it’s usually better to treat those incidents more delicately in China. Always give praise when it’s due, and sometimes when it’s not, but ensure you leave students’ egos and social standings among their peers intact. That’s the ticket to a productive teaching relationship.
If you’re a veteran of online tutoring and have anything to add to this guide to what it’s like to teach English online to Chinese students, we’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. Alternatively, check out our 140-hour Master course, which has been specifically designed for teachers looking to work remotely over the internet.