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| Robert with his students |
My name’s Robert Warman and I live and work
in Beijing, China. I have been here for a little over two years. I work for an
English school called “Aihua English” and have worked here since I arrived.
Before I came to China, I was unsure of how
to even begin the process of finding a teaching job abroad. I learned that I
would need a TEFL certificate, so I searched the web for local TEFL courses.
Many offered online options where you could learn and be tested at home. I
wasn’t too keen on this as I wanted to learn real hands-on skills that would
prepare me and help me to do the best possible job.
I came across UK-TEFL and found their
website informative and helpful. I learned that they had courses all over the
UK so I signed up to the nearest one to me at the time, Kingston. The course was over the weekend and was
full of fantastic activities which kept us out of our seats and learning at a
fast yet manageable pace. I made a lot of friends many of whom I still stay in
touch with today. We were all awarded our certificates and went our separate
ways around the world!
The job search was challenging and
stressful because of all of the horror stories on the forums around the internet.
It was hard to know who to trust and every company promised me different
things. During my weekend training with UK-TEFL, I
was shown useful tips on how to find a job abroad including the pitfalls and
things to watch for. They included useful websites which had the best jobs.
This really helped me to get started and soon enough, I had an interview with
Aihua English in Beijing.
I decided to go with this school because
they offered a competitive wage and were very honest and clear to speak with. I
was interviewed by the owner, who is an Irishman. He opened the school around
10 years ago and had built it up from a small school with several classes, to a
busy, thriving school with several centres around the city.
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| The bright lights of Beijing |
Despite the reassuring staff and good
information that the Aihua team gave me, I was still insanely nervous about
getting on the plane and landing in China. To my relief, upon arrival in Beijing, I
was met by the Foreign Affairs Officer and the driver who helped me with my
bags and took me to a hotel.
I remember waking up the next day to loud
bagging outside the window! I peered out of the window suspiciously and
wondered what the hell the racket was. I was still unsure of my surroundings
and was scared a war had started! I called the girl who had collected me from
the airport to ask. I said: "Do you hear the loud banging outside? It sounds
like people are being shot!" She laughed and replied: “They are just fireworks!”
Yes, it turns out that Chinese people like
to shoot fireworks into the sky no matter what time of the day! I felt silly
for my wild paranoia but my mind was soon put to rest when I met my co-workers
and boss later that day.
The surprises never stopped coming for the following 2 years I would work for Aihua and live in the fascinating, historical city of Beijing. In these 2 years, I have had fun teaching some amazing children English. I have managed to learn to speak Chinese to an intermediate level (most of the time), and have enjoyed everything the city has to offer.
I continue to work for Aihua as a Recruitment
/HR manager. I enjoy it because I get to interview and advise applicants just
like I was advised before I came to China. I really enjoy watching new teachers
arrive and have their first experiences of China while learning to be great
teachers and excel at their jobs. I think I was lucky to find this school as
others are not so fortunate. If you are thinking of getting into ESL
teaching, I would recommend UK-TEFL as a good choice to get your certificate
and your first introduction to an exciting future.
There are currently vacancies available at Aihua English School, so book a course and you could be eligible for a position. For more information contact Rob here or here or visit the academy's Facebook Page.
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