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I'm currently looking at future opportunities for me in the future and I really love the Chinese language and have a talent and passion for it. I was unable to get my BA in Chinese due to financial problems (the college I was at did not have it as a major, and the other colleges nearby were either too far for me to drive to everyday or the tuition was just too high). The program I happen to be looking at looks like it'll accept me without a BA in Chinese as long as I pass the required tests and interviews. At this point I've been debating getting my MA in the subject and toying with the idea of teaching it which I would be open too. There's one program in NYC which looks very interesting, I would get my MA in Teaching Chinese which would lead to an Initial Licensing (grades 7-12) in NYC I'm guessing (I'm out of state but would be totally willing to move to the city).
Does anyone know if there is a demand for Chinese teachers or is it still very difficult to get a job in that area? I've heard it's almost impossible to get a teaching job in NYC in general but I'm unsure about languages. Any help or suggestions would be great, thanks.
There is a demand for Chinese teachers in the NYC public schools, but not so much to teach Chinese, rather to work in a bilingual school. There seems to be a greater demand for Mandarin, but Cantonese is also in demand. Are you are a native speaker? Every teacher or principal that I ever met who teaches Chinese is Chinese and of course the students and parents would also be Chinese. Not only would you have to be familiar with the language, but also the culture, as in the Chinese approach to learning. I have a very good friend who was born in the US, but her parents hail from Hong Kong. She spent 7 years in a bilingual school on the lower east side teaching kindergarten. She taught English in the morning and Chinese in the afternoon. She hated it and couldn't wait for the opportunity to get out. Why? Because she is Chinese-American and fairly Americanized. She found that she did not fit in with the other teachers and she did not like the rigidity that was required to use in the school. Also the other teachers and the principal claimed that her accent or tones were not 100 percent perfect. The Chinese population in NYC is huge and it keeps growing. They can easily find native speakers. You would need to get a master's in education in your subject and take the classes and tests for the bilingual extension.
While starting salaries in NYC may seem high, few beginning teachers can handle the col without living with 2-3 roommates and getting a little help from family. As a beginning teacher, you really won't have time to get a second job.
Thank you for answering! I'm actually not a native speaker (I'm white and Portuguese by blood) but began taking Mandarin in high school which was something I really enjoyed, and then took several courses of it during college and just 'kept at it'. I guess that's kind of a bummer then, I read about another program that was a MA to teaching at college level (but you needed a whole separate MA before even applying to it). Just out of curiosity, what other languages are 'available/good' to teach (besides Spanish of course)?
Most Mandarin postings I've seen have been for immersion classrooms, but there are openings. A few districts in Southern California regularly have openings for it.
With Spanish, it really depends on the area. In the area I come from, they'll only hire native speakers since there are so many there.
Most Mandarin postings I've seen have been for immersion classrooms, but there are openings. A few districts in southern California regularly have openings for it.
With Spanish, it really depends on the area. In the area I come from, they'll only hire native speakers since there are so many there.
Good to know thanks! I would be willing to work anywhere really (whether it's a high school or some sort of language center). I adore southern California, only problem is I live all the way on the other side of the country and I know my move would be hugely expensive and difficult, and I doubt any employer would cover it. Unless I somehow manage to get into a MA program in CA so at least I would have some footing in place.
The Lee's Summit, MO school district was hiring for a Chinese teacher. I got an email a few weeks ago. I'm sure it's hard to find qualified Chinese teachers in Missouri. The district is part of the Kansas City area and one of the best districts in the state.
Thank you for answering! I'm actually not a native speaker (I'm white and Portuguese by blood) but began taking Mandarin in high school which was something I really enjoyed, and then took several courses of it during college and just 'kept at it'. I guess that's kind of a bummer then, I read about another program that was a MA to teaching at college level (but you needed a whole separate MA before even applying to it). Just out of curiosity, what other languages are 'available/good' to teach (besides Spanish of course)?
The demand to teach Chinese as a foreign language to English speakers is fairly low. Usually, only the "better" elementary, middle schools, and high schools offer it. There are some openings for it in the NY suburban schools. But again, it's very easy to find native speakers here. To get any type of job teaching a world language in high school is rather tough and competitive. At the high school level, you would need familiarity with the NYS foreign language regents exams, and I think there is one in Chinese. In the local suburbs, the languages taught, depending on the district are French, German, Russian, Spanish, Italian (still popular), Japanese, Hebrew, Arabic, and Spanish. Do you speak Portugese? There is one district that may still be offering a bilingual program in Portugese.
Unlike most other parts of the country, in NYC, Spanish is not the defacto second language. There are public schools with bilingual programs to help immigrants in Spanish, Arabic, Hebrew, French, and Chinese. There are also more opportunities for jobs in various capacities, such as P/T, O/T, and teaching various subjects such as science, Social Studies, etc. for people who can speak Bengali, Urdu, Korean, almost all of the East European languages, especially Russian, the Scandinavian languages, Greek . . . I could list probably a hundred languages that are used by NYC public school teachers in their jobs.
Were you considering the TNTP or NYC teaching fellows program? It's horrible. Many dropout. They are slowly discontinuing it.
BTW, many Chinese students attend Chinese after-school programs, generally known as Chinese school. If they are fluent in English and attend a monolingual school during the day, it is extremely common for Chinese parents to send their children to "Chinese School." Having a background in Chinese would be a useful tool for you to teach or work in another area, but to teach Chinese as an "expert" in the language, you would need native fluency.
Also, certain districts in Southern California are looking for elementary teachers who are bilingual in English and Mandarin. You wouldn't be teaching the language, though. (For that one, you'd have to be in a district with a lot of Mandarin speakers. Rowland Unified School District (Rowland Heights) has that posting.) I'm also seeing lots of charter schools and some Catholic schools. Also, Arlington County (Virginia) has an opening.
There ARE openings, but it's one of the certifications where you'd have to be pretty open geographically for your first job.
I understand the biggest problem for districts is finding teachers that can pass the Chinese language certification test. And if it's like our Spanish teachers, they may also prefer native speakers. That's something I would investigate before going through a masters program.
Spanish and Mandarin are the two I most often see requesting native speakers. With Spanish it's because of the huge number of native speakers in the U.S., and I suspect with Mandarin it's because of the difficulty of pronouncing the language properly when learning the language as an adult. Mandarin must be hard to fill, though, because I see fewer and fewer postings specifically stating native speakers.
By the way, NYC says that World Languages is a hard to fill position, but it doesn't specify which languages.
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and I know my move would be hugely expensive and difficult, and I doubt any employer would cover it. Unless I somehow manage to get into a MA program in CA so at least I would have some footing in place.
