Are there jobs for PGCE Mandarin graduates?

Original post by THEGAMECRUSHER

just be a transerlator or something for some visitors.

No money in translation. Interpretation requires a qualification of its own.

Reply 3

Original post by laowaiphil

I'm a non native Mandarin PGCE trainee and I have found a couple of jobs advertised although I'm not going into teaching after I graduate. Teaching has destroyed any confidence I ever had, so I'm super looking forward to getting out of the world of education. I'm looking to working for either the civil service or in market research.

Reply 4

Original post by super_kawaii

Yikes, sorry to hear that. Have any of your non native classmates found jobs? Or is everyone desperate to get out? :|

Reply 5

Original post by laowaiphil

Yikes, sorry to hear that. Have any of your non native classmates found jobs? Or is everyone desperate to get out? :|

I'm the only Mandarin trainee. Everyone else is doing French and Spanish so having a much easier time. Quite a few people are looking strictly for non teaching jobs though due to having a rough time in schools, like myself

Reply 6

Original post by super_kawaii

Everyone else is doing French and Spanish so having a much easier time.

An easier time doing the course or finding work? I was under the impression Chinese might be less stressful than French etc because it would only attract the brighter, more motivated students. Perhaps not...

Reply 7

Original post by laowaiphil

Easier time finding work. We're all struggling equally as the workload is intense and equally unmotivated regardless of the subject. The system in the UK sees languages as a waste of time, and peddle the belief that English is the only language needed, so they're unmotivated in all languaged

Reply 8

Hi there, which university do you go for your training if you don’t mind me asking?I am a native Mandarin teacher, but I don’t teach in mainstream school as I ‘ve yet obtained a QTS. I was looking for a provider, here at Birmingham; I can’t find a university that provides Mandarin. The below link shows there are short of Mandarin teachers in the country:https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-k-shortage-occupation-listHave you looked at TES, they advertise Mandarin teacher jobs all the times, sometimes for a short window of a couple of weeks, you need to keep looking. By the way, is there really lots of qualified (QTS) native speaking Mandarin teachers saturate the market? UCL is the main provider, I have no idea how many teachers they train each year, but it won’t be over 100, and there are thousands of schools require Mandarin teachers. Out of all the Chinese people I know, I only met one qualified teacher, and she was trained teaching English. Maybe I just don’t know enough……This news is a few years old, but I don’t think things changed much: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/schools/why-mandarin-teachers-have-the-remote-control-8157371.htmlGood Luck!

Reply 9

Original post by studentagainn

is there really lots of qualified (QTS) native speaking Mandarin teachers saturate the market? UCL is the main provider, I have no idea how many teachers they train each year, but it won’t be over 100, and there are thousands of schools require Mandarin teachers.

I don't know if native speakers are saturating the market, I just doubt the market is big enough to accomodate non-natives. The fact that some universities (UCL excluded) only offer Mandarin alongside another subject (French, German, Spanish) suggests the demand for Mandarin teachers is too low to justify a Mandarin-exclusive PGCE. Are you really sure there are "thousands" of schools looking for Mandarin teachers?

I spoke to UCL who advised me they are training 15 Mandarin teachers this year, 5 of whom are non-natives. Naturally, they didn't comment on whether the 5 were at a disadvantage in the job market.

Reply 10

Original post by laowaiphil

HI Laowaiphil, (laowai, lol) I think there is a high demand, have you looked at the links I shared? there is definetly a shortage of Mandarin teachers, and there are jobs.

How is your Mandarin level? some jobs askes near-native level, NQTs welcome.that's a sign of shortage to me. so you don't have to be native to teach.

in fact, there is a primary school down my load hired a French and Spanish teacher and send her to training in China for 6 months to learn Mandarin, she is now the subject leader and she doesn't speak Mandarin. I guess the qualification is important.

all the Chinese teachers I know who teach in secondary and grammar schools, some in independent schools all work on part-time bases. Full-time positions are reserved for qualified teachers only.

15 trainees are nothing. hardly fill up London market let along elsewhere.

Reply 11

Original post by studentagainn

Hi, your first link seems to be broken. I am going to sit HSK 6 next month so my level is good enough to teach GCSE/A Level, but obviously I can't compete with a native. Do you know any non-native teachers?

Reply 12

here is the link:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/immigration-rules/immigration-rules-appendix-k-shortage-occupation-list

Reply 13

laowaiphil: I don't personally know any non native teachers. you should be fine.

Reply 14

dharmatown

I graduated in 2015, so I've been working for a couple of years. I've applied to General Primary PGCE's (although I studied Mandarin & German, so languages could be an option). I'm still not 100% sure if it is what I'll do this year, but the number of opportunities it could open internationally is a real draw for me (international schools/HK NET scheme). Does any Mandarin grads do Primary here?

Reply 15

Original post by dharmatown

Hi, International schools could have large discrepancy among them, depends on which country you want to go in the future. as far as I know, there are plenty of native speaking Mandarin teachers in International schools across Asia. these schools often pay a local salary to these Chinese teachers and they don't demand a PGCE or QTS.

Have you applied for your PGCE yet?

Reply 16

SarcAndSpark

Original post by laowaiphil

I think it's very common for language teachers to be asked to offer at least 2 languages. I think this is partly due to teacher shortages in languages and partly to help with gaining employment. If you can offer two languages it probably helps the school with timetabling etc- if you offer a minority subject, it may be hard to provide a full time job for a Mandarin teacher who can't offer another language even if it's just to KS3.

If you can offer another language that will probably make you more employable in general.

BTW I just had a quick look on TES and saw 13 jobs for teachers of mandarin (or MFL teachers with Mandarin) advertised, although some were part time. I think 1000s is probably an exaggeration!

Reply 17

Amethyst_CN

I am a native mandarin speaker and I just finished my PGCE secondary maths. Regarding teaching jobs of Mandarin, I believe it is better to look at the independent schools now as there are really not many state schools teaching Mandarin. Although non-native Mandarin teachers may have disadvantages in terms of language itself, native English speakers do have advantages in teaching mandarin to English speakers, so please don't lose your hope on your teaching as it will take time for the job market to grow.

Reply 18