Reach to Teach - Teaching Jobs in China

My review must be taken as a dual review of the program (Reach to Teach) and the school (Anji Shangshu Private High School). Reach to Teach and their staff were and have been nothing but helpful during the process of applying for the job and getting over here. They are in no way related to the conditions of my every day life here in Anji.

As far as the school is concerned, I'm really incredibly disappointed: the school has provided no help in the way of determining student level and required materials; finding and procuring teaching materials; developing a syllabus; enforcing student discipline, etc... In fact, I asked what methods for disciplining students there are and was told that there are none: this even extends to the point of other teachers having told me about students attempting to physically assault them last year! (an offense for which there is no punishment: the students are kept at the school to keep their parents' money flowing in. Additionally, the students are incredibly unmotivated, poorly behaved and disrespectful, including such behaviour as talking over the teacher at normal, conversational volume during class and unplugging the teacher's aids (e.g. dvd player) to plug in and charge their cellphones. After just 2 months of trying to teach them, I've really reached the end of my rope.

In short: my reviews are as follows: Reach to Teach: 9 out of 10, Anji Shangshu Private High School: 2 out of 10

For anyone interested in moving abroad, I highly recommend Reach to Teach. I have worked with other recruiting agencies in the past, and from my experience, Reach to Teach has offered me the most assistance. I mostly worked with the China Recruitment Department, and was very impressed with the updates and callbacks post-interview. Reach to Teach matched me with the best job through Kid Castle. Kid Castle is an after school academy that relies on the Total Physical Response teaching method. I find this school a very effective program for teaching English, and am so happy with my job situation. From both sides, Reach to Teach and Kid Castle made a great effort to help me, up until I arrived in China. If I had questions, I continued to ask both sides for answers, and both provided the best solutions. I have heard stories of people never hearing from their recruiters after they take a job offer, but I never experienced this with Reach to Teach. I felt they were honest, listened to what I wanted in a job (rather than trying to fill the next available spot in any school), and gave immediate response to e-mails. I know that anyone going through Reach to Teach will find what they need.

My experience in China has been unforgettable. There were times throughout my time here that I wanted to pack my bags and run back home. Then one of my students would speak a perfect sentence to me in English and the world became right again.

What can I say about China. The food was delicious and sometimes questionable. All in all, every bite was an experience waiting to happen. I remember once a month taking a trip to the bank and how a 20 minute transaction always ran for an hour and a half.

Walking out of my apartment, I can hear my neighbor gasping at the sight of me, hauling in a long breath and letting out a piercing scream...after the second time, it wasn't funny anymore. However, she taught me to be aware that I was different, an as an African-American, whenever I stepped out of my apartment, I was a lesson to be learned for some people.

I enjoyed my time here immensely. I made life-long friends and will leave with the satisfaction that I had somehow touched someone's life clear across this vast world.

Reach to Teach did a great job during recruitment, and really made us feel comfortable about picking up and moving to China. They did pick a great location based on the preferences we had communicated. However, we did end up in a very isolated location, at a school that basically left us to our own devices and offered very little support. We didn't rely on Reach to Teach as much as we should have, but it seemed that their presence was really much greater in Taiwan. All the Reach to Teach events happened in Taiwan, which, at least as of '08-'09, wasn't the easiest place to get to from the mainland. Anyway, I think Reach to Teach as an organization was great, but our experience was tainted by our (naive) preconceived notions of what we thought we would like (small town, away from big cities and pollution). And while that would have been great for someone who knew a bit of mandarin and enjoys isolation, we knew no mandorin, and there was really nobody around who spoke English, thus, no social life whatsoever. It was also very difficult to leave our town for the nearest city with any kind of expat presence. I would definitely recommend Reach to Teach, especially if you have interest in Taiwan, but otherwise, stick to the big cities (we loved Hangzhou, and visited as often as possible).

I taught in Taiwan for just over a year after I graduated. It was an amazing experience that I would not change for anything! Taiwan is a great country with friendly people and is great to live in. It is so easy to travel around the island and to other countries.

RTT ( Mitch Gordon) was very helpful in accommodating our needs.My husband and I both needed a job and had lots of requests ;-) But RTT made it happen and placed us at a school (Uncle Sam American School) in Sanxia, just outside Taipei. RTT was very efficient and before we knew it we were on a plane. RTT also helps you to meet other people by hosting social events and we have made lifelong friends over there.

We had about 7 foreign teachers at our school.I taught the little ones ( 2-3 year)and just LOVED it. It is great to see them grow and learn. It is not always easy, but you learn how to deal with the issues and our Chinese teachers were very helpful. After kinder garden we taught the elementary school kids. This was a bit more challenging because I did not study to be a teacher and you need to know how to handle some kids, but like I said you learn quickly and there are lots of ways to get nice tips;-) For me it was important to keep it highly energized, the kids love to learn via games. You get training for the first week or two and then you are on your own with lesson plans and the actual teaching, but luckily you always have a Chinese teacher in the class to help you out.

Living in Taiwan is a great experience. You can earn a lot and the living costs are really not high.

I would recommend teaching in Taiwan and using RTT to anyone.

Enjoy

Alida