Basic Qualifications for Chinese Teachers?

Hi Everyone,

1. I know that for us English teachers, all we need is a bachelor's degree and a CELTA.

2. My wife is native Chinese and wants to teach Chinese for extra money.

3. Is there an equivalent of a CELTA?

I just want her to get basic training in teaching methods and will pay the tuition.

I know nothing about becoming a Chinese teacher.

4. Any other places she could look for work, such as an equivalent of VIPKids?

Has she tried contacting the Education Bureau?  If anyone knows what the requirements are for teaching Chinese, it would be them.

I'll talk with my wife about that. She has been teaching English helping kids with their homework at an after-school club.  She has a BA (or equivalent) in English, and years and years of experience. But that's not the same as teaching Monday to Friday in a regular school, where exam scores are everything.

What she said pretty much matched my expectations. For private jiao-yu, the standards are set by the business itself. Usual is a BA, and experience preferred, but as long as the teacher can pass the interview (fluttering eyelashes) she/he can get a job. My experience (back in the day) is that the quality of these teachers varied greatly, but the better schools invested in good teachers and profited by that.

In state schools of course the standards are a teaching degree and successful completion of a competitive English language exam. (I have forgotten the names of the exams and levels) Please note that passing Chinese competitive exams has little or nothing to do with linguistic competence. But getting a degree from a teaching university pretty much guarantees competent classroom management.

Keep in mind that extracuricular teaching of core subjects (including English) to children is somewhere between absolutely BANNED and Very Tightly Restricted.  For any job involving core subjects for children outside of a school itself, I recommend having a chat with a lawyer before proceeding.