Do I want this private student?

Anyone who has taken private students knows this question.

In this case, I have been contacted by a local teacher who has been my friend and sometimes colleague for a long time. She has the private student, she has been working with him for over a year now, and she is getting frustrated because she knows she's making minimal progress with him. The parents are rich, he is spoiled, and openly states his belief that he doesn't need school. When he grows up, he will be rich and he will run his daddy's company and make lots of money without learning useless things like a foreign language. He's gone through several foreign teachers already, they have all quit in frustration.

But my friend assures me that the parents have lots of money, they can pay me what I ask, if I can just turn things around, even a little. She should know better, but she seems incredibly invested in the boy. I've agreed to meet the family and try a one hour lesson with him next weekend, when I have some time. We will see.

 

If he's 14 - 16 ... His attitude is key to any success/failure (as I'm sure you know)



Would it help to create scenarios where EvilGreedyForeigner tries to scam HonorableOrientalTycoon? and his grasp of English (carefully concealed) allows him to foil their wicked schemes?

... Just an idea ...

Teaching on the side used to be common, but is a fast way to meet a very bad fate now.

1.  Anyone teaching English (or other core subjects) to a k-12 student outside of normal in-school classes is no longer permitted.

2.  Foreigners working inside of China (except for those with cards of green) must have a work type res permit tied to an employment contract that is registered with the labor bureau.  The contract not only specifies what your job is, but where it is performed.  This means that the old "training school sends FT to factories and schools to teach" model is no longer a legal option.

3.  Even Chinese citizens are getting hit with big penalties for item 1.  There are a lot fewer FTs running around China now, so the chances of getting under the radar while violating both 1 and 2 at the same time are very small.  If you get caught, a VERY fat fine is the bare minimum.  Much more likely is a fine plus an Administrative Penalty, which will (at best) make renewing a residence permit or getting any sort of visa in the future much much harder.  At the highest end of the scale is days to weeks in a lovely little concrete and steel barred room followed by an honor guard escorting you onto a one-way outbound flight.

I've already seen news stories about several deportations and have read about a number of people who had to leave because they couldn't renew res permits after what might previously have been something involving only an apology letter and a modest fine.

Maybe someday in the future, things will relax and side gigs teaching (at least adults if not kids) will be permitted again, but now is not that time.

The only ways I see to do this legally are

1. Wait for the kid to graduate high school and (assuming your current job is as an English teacher somewhere), get the kid to take classes at your place of work via your employer.

2. While you are waiting for the kid to graduate, get a Chinese GC, and then you can offer one-on-one lessons to adults anywhere and anytime you like.