Teach English in China blog
Welcome to the Teach English in China blog!
Here you’ll find real stories, practical advice and opinion pieces about teaching English in China – all written by past or present teachers.
Want to to contribute to the blog? Just 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!
How to set exams in China
Teaching strategies
March 04, 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
February 28, 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...
Student life in China – through the eyes of a university student
Students
February 04, 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 30, 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 22, 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 08, 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 25, 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...
5 most unexpected things you will encounter in China
Daily life
October 08, 2017 by David Smith
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to visit a new place? Maybe even a new country? Oftentimes, it is easy to forget that not every other place looks just like, or works just like, how things do at home. Even something as simple as McDona...
Why teaching English in China is better than working in the UK
Opinion
September 29, 2017 by Kim Ooi
As an expat in China, I suffered from a lot of culture shock initially so I’m really surprised to find myself writing this blog today. But, like many people have said, it all depends on the perspective you take. After doing some reflectio...
4 student homework habits to help kick off your teaching career
Teaching strategies
September 28, 2017 by Alex Moore
This blog consists of tips, experience and wisdom – some of it my own, some of it second-hand – that I wish I had put into action in my first year of teaching. I am a hypocrite though. I didn’t do a single one of these things in...
