Ever wondered what it would be like to teach English in Shanghai? Curious about their experiences? A current English teacher in Shanghai was interviewed for this article. The answers shown below are his responses to our questions. Let’s get into it!

Q: Introduce yourself quickly!

Thijs: Hi everyone! My name is Thijs, 24. I come from the UK originally but moved to Shanghai to teach English 3 years ago. So far I absolutely love it! Given there are days where I really miss home. I’m currently teaching primary English at a local Chinese school.

Q: What drew you towards teaching English in Shanghai?

Thijs: It was more the city than anything else. I’ve had friends living in Shanghai for a while, and they eventually managed to convince me. Given this is after years of them trying. But so far it’s been a great choice and I really do love it here.

Q: What were your first impressions when you started to teach?

Thijs: At first, it was super difficult to acclimate. I’d taught before, in Europe, and the culture difference came as a really big shock. I came to Shanghai with the intention of teaching the same way I have always, but I quickly realized that just wasn’t going to work here. Even though this was really difficult, I quickly managed to find my place and so far it’s been great!

Q: What specifically did you find difficult with trying to teach English in Shanghai?

Thijs: The most difficult thing would probably be the fact that I had to change my teaching approach. Before, when I was teaching in Europe, interaction with the students came far more easily. Practically everyone in the classroom was eager to participate. It was really different here, students seemed to more interested in simply listening and taking notes, instead of having a conversation with me.  Oh, and also, at first the language barrier was quite difficult to overcome. But I’d like to think my Chinese has gotten better haha.

Q: What is the biggest problem you’re experiencing now?

Thijs: The biggest problem I’m currently experiencing is what seems like a lack of sincerity for my class. It seems like students are far more interested in the importance of other classes like Mathematics or the Sciences. I think this is something many new teachers will come across. This was really difficult to get used to, and I really had to shift to more fun and inclusive approach to teaching. I started including more games in my lessons, to make sure that the students were able to learn while also taking a break from their usual rigorous study patterns.

Q: What advice would you give someone who is looking to move to Shanghai to teach English?

Thijs: Definitely be ready for change. Both to your teaching approaches but also to your usual experiences in a classroom. Be careful not to be too bothered but some students lack apparent interest; In a way, it’s a really fun challenge for you to try to tackle. This is probably the most important piece of advice I can give you. That, and, make sure you integrate some sort of extrinsic reward in your lesson plans, like stickers. This has helped me tons.

Q: What is your favorite memory so far?

Thijs: My favorite memory has to be at the end of the last teaching semester, where all my students ended up giving me hand-drawn cards. It was adorable and really made me feel like all my effort to make class fun for them had paid off. It’s really been a big motivating moment for me moving forward. Hopefully, you manage to experience something like this here, it really is something special.

Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions!

We hope this has shed a little bit of light on how teaching in Shanghai really is. If you’re interested in reading on about the requirements you need to teach here, check the link below!

https://www.thatsmandarin.com/blog/teach-english-in-shanghai-the-need-to-knows/