Teach English in China blog
Welcome to the Teach English in China blog!
Here you will find real stories, practical advice and opinion pieces about teaching English in China - all written by past or present teachers.
If you would like to contribute to the blog, please contact us and we'll be in touch.
So make yourself a cup of coffee, sit back and enjoy reading. You may even decide to teach in China!
Makeup, dresses and bras: just another day in China with your cross-dressing Chinese teacher
Interview
March 22, 2018 by Mike Cairnduff
A new book called China In Drag, by BBC editor Michael Bristow, provides an insightful glimpse into China’s colourful history and current way of life, woven together by the adventures he shared with his cross-dressing Chinese teacher. I inte...
How to set exams in China
Teaching strategies
March 05, 2018 by Kim Ooi
China’s education system is exam-focused and even foreign teachers can’t escape having to set exams. Yet, no TEFL course to my knowledge teaches their trainees how to set and grade exams. There are many ways to set exams and hopeful...
Teaching subjects in China
Teaching strategies
March 01, 2018 by Kim Ooi
You’ve passed your TEFL course. After a period of job hunting, you get offered a job as an English teacher at a university in China. Full of excitement and enthusiasm, you fly off to the Middle Kingdom. As you wander around your new surr...
It’s the Year of the Dog in 2018
Festivals
February 08, 2018 by Mike Cairnduff
In 2018, over a billion people in China and around the world will celebrate Year of the Dog. What is the Year of the Dog? According to the Chinese Zodiac, each new year is represented by 1 of 12 animals. This year it’s the dog. People...
Student life in China – through the eyes of a university student
Students
February 05, 2018 by Kim Ooi
Have you ever wondered what life in China is like from a student perspective? I taught writing last semester and offered as a prize to the best student in my class, the chance to get their essays published. I have reproduced below, with permiss...
What Chinese university students really want from their oral English class
Opinion
January 31, 2018 by Kim Ooi
What do Chinese university students really want from their oral English class with a foreign teacher? First, let me ask you a question. As an oral English teacher, if you had a group of students who are used to being lectured and who have difficul...
Spending Christmas alone in China? Here are 7 ways to beat the yuletide blues
Festivals
December 23, 2017 by Mike Cairnduff
While the concept of Christmas has become mainstream in China, spending it alone can be a difficult time. You won’t be surrounded by family and friends you grew up with, and the cultural traditions of Christmas in China are different from w...
How I embraced the digital classroom in China
Teaching strategies
December 09, 2017 by Sarah Bucknall
For many of us, we can remember the sound of chalk scraping along the blackboard. The teacher, almost a dictator, would rarely venture more than an arm’s length away from their main teaching aid. In an ESL classroom in China, the environment...
Teaching English in Sichuan: Scott’s story
Interview
October 26, 2017 by Mike Cairnduff
Australian teacher Scott Mitchell has been teaching English in Sichuan province on and off for six years. I took the opportunity to interview him in his final semester. Scott, can you tell us about your experience teaching English in Sichuan? I...
How to take the stress out of teaching
Advice
October 22, 2017 by Nicholas McKay
When taught how to become a teacher, you learn many things except how not to let the job get the best of you. A few evenings ago, I was playing Mahjong with my wife. This was our seventh round, and I had won all but one of them. For those of yo...
