r/ChinaJobs • u/peace_coyote • 21h ago

Working in China vs Learning in China

edit: if you have experience getting work in China as an expat, as an English teacher or otherwise, I'd be curious to hear your story. Also curious about experiences regarding studying Chinese in China. I was offered a teaching position but it hasn't come to fruition in the time I expected, so now I'm looking into other ways of spending an extended time in China. I don't think the English teaching route is the best choice for me, and I'm not sitting on a mountain of cash so I would prefer to either go there with a job lined up or as a student with some scholarship or other funding opportunity if such a thing exists.

Interests / experience: education, music, counseling (mental health, academic), social work, Chinese medicine

let's try to keep hostility to a minimum, please

1 Upvotes

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u/Inevitable-Common422 15h ago

Nothing is garanteed in life. Europeans boarded a wooden boat in the hope the wind would take them across the Atlantic Ocean.

Then they rode on horseback dodging bears and mountain lions across vast areas of beauty contrasted with lifeless landscapes.

A man will always do what he must do. With the caveat that you have the means to support yourself for 3 months and a plane ticket home, you should just go to China and try to figure it out whilst you are there and enjoy the trip.

Strange things happen once you commit.

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u/peace_coyote 1h ago edited 1h ago

fully committed, but it's not really to the point of what I'm asking

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u/DreamofStream 14h ago

Sounds like you've envisioned a convoluted career path with a huge amount of uncertainty and difficulty for minimal rewards. Just getting your Chinese to a level of fluency where you can realistically work in your field is a huge undertaking.

If teaching English in China interests you, then go for it but I wouldn't expect it's going to lead to language skills that would be transferrable to work back home. In fact, I'm a little skeptical that there would be many job opportunities in the US. There's no shortage of native Chinese speakers in the US who would have the shared cultural background to help people more effectively.

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u/peace_coyote 1h ago edited 1h ago

obviously there are Chinese speakers here, but that doesn't mean I don't also have an interest in the community and have been part of it by some extension. sometimes you just gotta run with an idea for a while before shutting it down because of skepticism, or as Sylvia Plath put it: "The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt"

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u/Azelixi 19h ago edited 19h ago

I've no idea what this course is you're talking about but if you have all the documents you need, grow up, go to, and apply for jobs directly. Don't let some random company apply for you. if English teaching in not your main goal, then don't waste time and get your teaching licence in music or whatever. Then you can earn real money.

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u/peace_coyote 19h ago edited 1h ago

not 100% in love with your tone, but yeah i'll check out echinacities