Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Do You Need to Speak Chinese to be Able to Teach English in China?
So to the million dollar question: Do you need to be able to speak Chinese to be able to teach English in China? The simple answer is NO. Having said that, knowing some Chinese will make your life in China much easier. You might also find that it gives you the edge in job interviews. […]
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The Perks and Benefits of Teaching English at a Chinese University
In this post I’ll run through the perks and financial benefits of teaching English in a Chinese university. Chinese university jobs aren’t the highest paid teaching positions in China. For better salaries you need to teach young kids, or teach at international schools. However, University jobs offer lower teaching workloads, less stress and more vacation […]
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Where to Find University Teaching Jobs in China
If you’re interested in teaching at a Chinese university, then bear in mind that the peak period for job applications is in April – July. This is so that all the formalities can be completed for a September start. There is also a certain amount of recruitment for the 2nd semester that begins in early […]
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A Trip to a Small Chinese Shopping Mall – What Did I Find?
Here’s a photo blog from my trip out to Ningbo’s Grand Mall. Geographically speaking, it’s quite near my school. The catch is that it involves a bus ride which is always an adventure in itself in China. The bus has to cross under the river to get to the mall. Ningbo has too much traffic […]
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Man Goes To Carl’s Jr And Is Denied Burger Combo Meal
I’m currently teaching English in a Tier 2 Chinese city. What’s a Tier 2 city? Well basically China organises their many megacities into Tiers. Tier 1 are cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. In other words the international cities that are household names to most citizens of the world. Well I guess Shanghai is […]
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It’s So Freaking Hard to Send Money Out of China!!!
I work as an English teacher in China. Since my job comes with a free apartment + utilities + subsidised canteen, I don’t really spend a lot of my salary. There’s really not that much to buy here either. And I can’t accumulate possessions because I only have a 23 Kg luggage allowance when I […]
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Cast Adrift in the Classroom – What The CELTA Course Doesn’t Teach You
So I did my CELTA back in 2015, and 2 years later I got my first ever teaching job. Coincidentally (or maybe not) I started my first teaching job the same month as my sister stated her PGCE training*. However, while on the first day she was learning about teaching, I was being thrown in […]
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Do You Actually Need a CELTA To Teach English Overseas?
If you want to teach English overseas then you sometimes need a teaching qualification. Generally the best thing to do if you want to teach English in another country is to find out what is required, then work backwards from that. I’ll give you one specific example of a country. If you want to teach […]
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Do IT Geeks and Introvert Types Make Good Teachers?
I did my CELTA English teacher training at International House in Barcelona. One of our more memorable input sessions was taken by a teacher who ran the IT department there. One of his activities was to get all us trainee teachers to line up into the order of how technically inclined we were. We all […]
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15 Ways to Boost Your Income While Teaching English in China
I’ve been teaching English in a Chinese University for one semester so far. My current salary is 9,750 RMB a month, which is roughly equal to £1168 or $1500 a month. I also get a free apartment, flight allowance and access to the subsidised canteen. My salary affords me a good standard of living here […]
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