Teaching children in Tongren, Guizhou
Tongren has approximately 250,000 people. Tongren is a rural city in the Karst Mountains with little Western influence. The countryside is a 10-minute bike ride out of town. The city is pedestrian friendly and inexpensive. Foreigners are not a common sight for local people. Older people will often stare, and children will point and giggle.
Foreigners are low in numbers.
Most people do not speak English but are generally very friendly and want to help you. Many people speak the local dialect that is different from the standard Mandarin Chinese.
This position is very rewarding for someone who wants to experience the real China. Unlike Shanghai, Chengdu, or Beijing, Tongren has few places that will seem just like your home country. The language and cultural situation provides many benefits, but it also poses many challenges. An open mind and willingness to try new things go along way. Please note these things when considering this position.
Job Description
We would love to hear from anyone interested in teaching English in a small, well-resourced school located in Tongren, a prefecture in eastern Guizhou Province, located in southwest China. If you are an outgoing person and would like to teach children, please join our school as a foreign teacher. We offer
full-time teaching positions. Foreign teachers should have between 15 and 20 teaching hours per week, Foreign teachers are paid 100 RMB per class.
Your students are between five and seventeen years old. English skills range from non-existent to advanced,
depending on each student’s age and ability. Classes consist of a maximum of 26 children within three years age of each other.
Students regularly have Qihang English classes twice a week with their Chinese English teachers.
Other requirements of you upon arrival:
• Medical Exam – Upon your arrival in Tongren, you are required to complete a medical exam. Per Chinese government guidelines, any medical exam from your home country is not valid once you arrive in China. The school assists with the arrangements, but you are required to pay the medical cost, about 300 RMB. This cost is deducted from your first salary payment.
• Insurance – The Chinese government now requires medical and emergency insurance of all foreigners. The school handles all paperwork for the policy, but you are required to pay the policy cost, approximately 600 RMB. This is cost is deducted from your first salary payment.
Qihang provides the following to its foreign teachers:
• Accommodation – You live in an apartment provided by the school in Tongren. You are about 25 minutes away from the school on foot, about 10 by bus and 5 by taxi. Your apartment includes basics like atelevision, DVD player, refrigerator, basic furniture,shower, kitchen tools, etc. The school pays your monthly rent.
• Utilities – the school pays 100 RMB per month for phone, electricity and water. The foreign teacher pays for costs over 100 RMB. This balance is generally taken out of your
monthly salary.
• Travel – The school arranges an optional two- or three-day trip around the local province every six months, all expenses paid.
• Holiday – During your holiday breaks (winter and summer, depending on when you arrive), you are paid 1,000 RMB.
• Return Flight – At the end of your contract, the school provides a subsidy of 6,000 RMB for your return flight ticket. You are responsible for your flight to China and travel
to Tongren at the beginning of your contract.
• Salary/Teaching Hours – You are paid on a monthly basis,
at the end of each month. Foreign teachers should have between 15 and 20 teaching hours per week, Foreign teachers are paid 140-200 RMB per class.
• Other – Qihang can help you find activities in your new home. You can be provided with a Chinese tutor to learn Mandarin Chinese for four hours a week in a learning partnership where the foreign teacher also helps the Chinese teacher improve his or her English.
