Teach English in Hainan Island

Hainan is an island province at the southernmost part of China. It is a tropical island with abundant charming scenery, just across the Gulf of Tonkin from Vietnam. “Hainan” literally means “South of the Ocean” and is the second largest of China’s islands, second only to Taiwan. Although it is China’s smallest province, it is also the largest island under the jurisdiction of the People’s Republic of China. Its capital city is Haikou and it has a population of about 8.6 million living in a land area of 35,354 square kilometres.

Hainan Island is often referred to as “China’s Hawaii.”

Teach English in Hainan Island

The level of primary and secondary education has improved since 1949, and provides a lot of teaching opportunities in the numerous kindergartens, public and private schools and universities as well. There are a lot of large institutions and international schools where teachers are in demand. School days are between Monday and Fridays in Hainan island.

In 2012, Hainan has existing schools at all levels of 3961 with students altogether up to 189.49 million. Among them, 1323 are kindergartens, 388 Junior high schools, Senior high schools are 103 in number, with about 17.55 million students. There are 93 vocational secondary schools too, with 16.50 million students. Universities/Colleges are 18, with about 19.45 million students.

In recent years, the provincial government has unswerving implemented the strategy of “develop Hainan by technology and Education, make it stronger by talented people” , which gives priority to education. This was the reason in 2012 the province’s total education investment came up to 21.834 billion yuan, an increase of 24.53% to the 2011 budget. It maintains a consecutive double-digit growth seven years in a roll after this.

Requirements for Teaching English in Hainan

• Ages of about 24 years and above
• A Bachelor’s degree from a recognised institution
• A TEFL certificate (120+hr TEFL)
• Have formal teaching experience of two years
• A full-time teaching experience of about 12 months
• A valid “Z” work visa

Teaching Opportunities in Hainan

Foreign teachers on Hainan Island are not there for the money and benefits. They are there for the climate and a relaxed stress-free lifestyle. Teachers are well appreciated and well treated.

The basic major tasks faced by a teacher includes planning lesion, teaching classes, assessing students with tests, marking tests and examining them in general to determine their level of progress.

In addition to the universities, there are numerous public kindergartens as well as many primary and secondary schools that hire foreign English teachers. However, they rarely advertise meaning you have to already be there to find out about them.

Most of the foreign teachers who live on the island have been there for quite a while as they love living there. Universities and other employers are well aware of the attractiveness of their jobs and consequently, well-paying jobs at the universities can be hard to find.  Moreover, many employers are known to extract more work for less pay each year from the foreign teachers who don’t want to leave. It may be that Hainan Island is ideal for foreigners who are looking to slow down or retire, but not for foreign teachers looking to build a career.

Teaching English in Hainan to Young Students

English language has been long identified as a vital and essential knowledge to be mastered by young children, both to communicate but also in reading and writing. Children, many times as young as 3 years old are enrolled in English language schools as their parents have the believe that English enables their children to possess a competitive advantage in the country.

Teachers normally use interactive and play-based instructional methods to teach the children pronunciation, listening and communication skills. It has been known as the language of commerce in China as a whole. The post of an English teacher, because of how sought after it is, is a well-paid job. They pick the best they can find to handle this. Its an added advantage if you possess some years of experience in teaching young children.

Teaching English in Hainan to Adult Students

Chinese people accord a lot of respect to teachers. Not just the young have the need for this education. Older persons of about 24 to 35 also sit for classes on English, as a second foreign language, in order to improve their business and communication. They use the English language as a means of career development. Teaching in the universities here could be the best thing that ever happened to you. The teaching is done in small sizes and groups in order to make it easily to manage. Teaching this group could take place in the evening of weekdays and on weekends.

Haikou

The capitol city of Hainan Island is Haikou on the Northern coast. Haikou means “Mouth of the Sea” derived from its location at the mouth of the Nandu River, which separates the main part of the city from its Northern district of Haidian Island. Haikou has the largest population on Hainian with over 2 million residents.

More than half of the island’s trade passes through Haikou’s two ports. 

Haikou setup the Haikou Convention and Exhibition Bureau in 2012 to promote the MICE Industry (Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions).

The city has numerous parks and green areas containing thousands of ornamental plants and over 10,000 coconut trees. Hainan Friendship Park is under construction on the west bank of the Nandu River and will occupy 45 acres.

Hainan University is located on Haiden Island. The university boasts a high-level team of full-time faculty and staff with a total number of over 1,400 full-time faculties, including over 760 full professors and associate professors. Hainan University warmly welcomes international students wishing to study in China.

Business & Industry

Over 25 million tourists visit Hainan each year making it a large part of the provincial economy. While most visitors come from mainland China and large numbers of others also come from Japan, Russia and South Korea.

Hainan exports large amounts of agricultural and livestock products.Industries include textiles, canning and automotive.

The Chinese government is building the huge Wenchang Satellite Launch Center in Northeastern Hainan Island. This new 3,000 acre spaceport will have three launch pads. This former sub-orbital test center is being dramatically upgraded as its location near the equator will allow for greater payloads and its blue water ports will free the space program from the limits of China’s railroads. Launch vehicles will not longer be limited by the size of railway tunnels and curves.

Supporting infrastructure of roads and utilities are being built to accommodate space professionals who will be living and working China’s equivalent of the Kennedy Space Center, and tourists to the planned space theme park for nearby Dongiago.

Language

The lingua franca of Hainan, Hainanese, is a variant of the Southern Min language (Minnan). Han Chinese of Hainan speak a variant of the Min Nan Chinese language though generally Mandarin is also widely spoken, as is Cantonese.

Climate

Hainan Island is entitled “Oriental Hawaii”. As Hainan island is Located in the tropical area at the southern end of China, It is mostly warm all year round and has no winter. Hainan’s climate is tropical and monsoonal (i.e., wet-dry). Temperatures average about 64 °F (18 °C) in January and 82 °F (28 °C) in July. With an average annual Rainfall of about 1,500 millimetres rainfall is heavy, especially in summer during the wet monsoon. It boasts soft beaches and beautiful tropical scenery, which make it a famous holiday resort in China.

Parts of Hainan lie in the path of typhoons, and 70% of the annual precipitation is derived from typhoons and the summer rainy season. Major flooding occurs due to typhoons, which can cause many problems for local residents. Because of the uneven distribution of rainfall in different seasons and in different areas, droughts can occur from time to time. Several large and medium-sized reservoirs have been built.

Sanya on the Southern coast enjoys the best air quality in all of China, while Haikou, on the Northern coast, received the highest air quality rating of the 74 large cities monitored by the China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection.

Travel

Before 1950 there were practically no transportation links with the interior of the island. The Japanese built a railroad from the iron mines in the south-western mountains to the coast.

The first roads on the island were built in the early 20th century, but no major road construction was undertaken in the mountains until the 1950s. Parallel north-south roads along the east and west coasts and through the interior of the island constituted most of Hainan’s road network until the early 21st century. Since 2000, express highways circling the island and linking the major cities have been completed.

Virtually every street in Haikou has a separate bike lane making bicycle travel one of the most popular means of getting around. Convenient travel between any two points in Haikou by bus is available for just one or two yuan and taxis start at 10 yuan with fares based on both distance and time. Bargaining with taxi drivers is customary and expected for distances above the basic fare.

The Guangdong–Hainan Ferry that carries rail cars and vehicles links the city to the mainland across the Qiongzhou Strait (also called the Hainan Strait), which is approximately 19 miles wide. A $21 billion bridge to carry trains and cars is under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2020.

Haikou Meilan International Airport, which opened a new International Terminal in 2013, handles in excess of 12 million travelers annually. A 30 minute taxi ride will get you to the airport for a cost of about RMB 60 or about $10 US.

Hainan has four major port facilities. The two largest are at Haikou and Sanya, the others being at Dongfang (Basuo Harbour) and Yangpu Harbour on the northwest coast. The freight-handling facilities of all four have been greatly improved. Both Haikou and Sanya airports provide air service for domestic and international destinations.

Accommodations in Haikou run the full gamut from small unrated Chinese hotels to luxurious beach resorts that can run in excess of 1,000 yuan per night.

Culture

Though the island was traditionally a place where disgraced and officials were sent to exile. The Temple of Five Lords (Wugongsi) commemorates five disgraced high-ranking government officials, is also popular among tourists.

Other enticing attractions of Haikou includes the Hainan Provincial Museum and the Hainan Biodiversity Museum, both completed in the early 21st century. Dozens of cultural centres and public libraries are found in the outlying towns and cities.

The town is still very alive with culture, most remarkably shown by the Li peoples, who still practice many of their cultural traditions and activities, including ancestor worship and a form of dancing using bamboo poles called tiaocai. In the 1980s, when thousands more mainlanders arrived to take advantage of the economic opportunities offered—a frontier atmosphere has prevailed on the island. Even so, the rapid economic development since the 1980s has brought high-rise residential and business buildings and increased traffic bustle and urban nightlife to the major cities, disturbing to some extent the traditional relatively calm and peaceful lifestyle of the island.

Expatriate Life

Hainan Island has a welcoming and engaging atmosphere for expats from all over the world. It boasts a lot of attractions, comfort and opportunities that makes it worth while. The cost of living is reduced, only slightly for goods imported into the island. Because Hainan province is an island, anything that isn’t produced or grown on the Island will cost a little bit more than it might on the mainland. With its security and freedom, it’s a natural charm to expats.

Hainan cuisine is not surprisingly predominated by seafood. While mostly Han Chinese in style, Hainan Island is home to transplants from literally every other province in China and, as a result, food from each of China’s eight different cuisines are widely available.

The local food is lighter and less oily than most Chinese food. Seasoning is also milder than that of the Chinese mainland. Noodle dishes of fine, vermicelli-type noodles with various toppings and gravy are popular.

Shopping in Haikou, as is true for all second-tier cities in China, is abundant and cheap. You will find just about anything you may want or need, unless you are larger than a 40-inch waist! There is a popular Carrefour, the French hypermarket, a local favorite.

Sport fishing is is becoming popular all over China and especially so in Hainan Island. The Annual Hanian International Fishing Tournament is held each December. Yachting is encouraged by the new government policy allowing foreign yachts to stay 183 days each year.

Unlike other second-tier cities in China, Haikou has a very active night life. A typical tourist town, Haikou morphs into an lively carnival atmosphere after dark. Street vendors and numerous food pits line the streets and “working girls” roam the streets.  Many vendors and convenience stores remain open util 2:00 AM or later. Kiosks selling newspapers, magazines and convenience items—such as milk, soda, and cigarettes—generally remain open until two o’clock in the morning. Night owls will love living in Haikou.

There is an absence of western bars and restaurants and it is not uncommon to find yourself the only Westerner in the place.

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Hainan Island will definitely give you what you might never obtain in any other part of the world, or even China. It’s a real thrill to teach in this paradise southern china.