Below we collected some questions that previous applicants and teachers have asked about teaching with David Hawk English School and living in China . Feel free to email us if you have more questions.

1.How do I apply to David Hawk English School and Hangzhou Sesame Street Foreign Language Education Consultant Co., Ltd.?
David Hawk English School has an on-line application form Simply complete the form with the required details. Get more details from application process.

2.What happens when teachers first arrive?
An English speaking representative from HZSSFLECC will meet you at the airport. You will be taken to HZSSFLECC ESL Hostel as our guest and live in a standard room for free, here you will enjoy 2 days or so of orientation, training, sightseeing and overcoming the jet lag before you start to teach. During this session, new teachers are introduced to the program and the schools.

3. Does HZSSFLECC train its teachers?
During all teachers' first several days at HZSSFLECC, they participate in an orientation course, where they learn techniques for conducting a lesson and managing a Chinese class, and a chance for practising teaching Chinese students. They even get the opportunity to observe classes. After they begin teaching, the training continues by email. The teachers are always helped and led by senior, experienced teachers.

4. How to go to school after training?
HZSSFLECC will arrange your travel to your school by plane, train or bus, and the trip will be paid by our partnered school.

5. What age of children would I be teaching?
Most of our students are teenagers (13-18years old) with in Middle schools, and we also have some primary schools with 7-12 years old children. You can choose the age group to teach.

6. Will I teach in one school or transfer from different schools?
You will teach in one of our partnered schools, meet the same students every week, do not need to transfer from different schools during the contract period.

7. How many hours of work are teachers guaranteed? What will my teaching schedule look like?
It all depends on our different schools. 45 minutes each lesson. Regardless, teachers at HZSSFLECC are paid on a salary basis, not an hourly one. if over the 20 lessons per week, the teachers will be paid extra money

8. What are the apartments like in our partnered schools ? Are apartments individual or shared?
All single teachers have their own individual apartment with necessary working and living conditions: air conditioning, TV, video player, telephone. internet access , kitchen, bed and desks, sofa, washing machine, refrigerator, hot shower, microwave, computer, etc.). The larger( with at least two bedrooms) apartments are provided to Couples.

9. How close to the school will I be living?
Most of the apartments are in the campus, only a few schools have their apartments outside of campus, 5-10 minuets by walking.

10. Are the utilities covered? If not, how much a month would electricity, water, gas cost?
David Hawk English school will pay 200Yuan for electricity, water, gas fee for all our western teachers per month. Usually the Chinese family spends about 100 Yuan for electricity, gas and water per month.

11. What is needed to open a local bank account? Is it easy to transfer money to my home?
Your assistant in the school will go to the bank with you to open an account. You need your passport to do this. It is not easy for you to transfer money to your home, but we-HZSSFLECC will help you to send it.

12. What are RMB and yuan? What is the exchange rate?
RMB( Renminbi) and "yuan" are the Chinese names for the currency in use. At this writing 8.2-8.3 Chinese RMB (yuan) are worth 1 US dollar. The economy is very stable so this shouldn't change much over the course of a year.

13. Does David Hawk English School help teachers acquire work visas?
David Hawk English School is responsible for all your visa and residence requirements once the teacher has arrived in China . Normally, teachers arrive in China with a short term work visa with our invitation paper, which they obtain by their own means in their home country. Upon their arrival, David Hawk English School commences the process of extending their work visa.

14.What immunization shots should a teacher who is going to China get?
Teachers should contact a health unit in their home country for current requirements. Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus, Typhoid, are usually recommended. There are also several hospitals and clinics with English speaking doctors who can administer the shots for them, but they will not administer vaccination serums brought from outside of China .

15.What should a teacher, who has just been hired, plan to bring to China ?
It is necessary for each teacher to bring two copies of their university diploma, resume, teaching certificate, and 6-8 passport sized photos to be submitted for the work visa and medical exam. Though not absolutely necessary, it is a good idea to bring along photos of friends and family, English magazines, and holiday paraphernalia, all of which make good teaching aids. A phrasebook and a guide book are not bad ideas either. As for clothing, one pair of formal shoes is recommended for special events. For the snowy Hangzhou winters, a jacket, a coat, some sweaters, and long underwear are a good idea, and for the rainy season, a waterproof jacket is handy. Used or new stamps, coins, postcard etc. is always good for the future student.

16.How many students are in each class?
Classes have an average of 40 students. There are around 50 students per class in Public schools and 30 students in Private schools.

17.Are there any extra-curricular activities for David Hawk English School students?
During the summer breaks, David Hawk English School holds an English camp for students to attend, if they wish. These camps include games, crafts, sports, field trips, music, video and a variety of other themes and activities where students and teachers use English to interact.

18.How many teachers work for Buckland?
There used to be 80 foreign teachers working for David Hawk English School since the year 1997 in Guangdong province.

19.What is the difference between a tourist visa and a work visa?
A tourist visa allows a foreigner to travel in China , but it does not permit a foreigner to work in China . To obtain a work visa, a foreigner has to be sponsored by a Chinese organization. Buckland does this for all of its foreign teachers. This is standard practise in China and all applicants are processed by the People's Security Bureau.

20.Does HZSSFLECC have a dress code?
HZSSFLECC requires its teachers to dress in a professional manner. This does not mean that they have to wear suits, but they should not wear tank tops, tongs, cut-offs or any other casual wear.

21. Do teachers require a physical examination ?
A medical exam is required in order to obtain a work visa, send a recent full medical certificate that includes HIV/AIDS and Hepatitis A & B clearance.
( If you do not have time to do health check in your country or you are confident about your perfect health condition, we can help you to do medical examination after you arrive here).

22. What resources does the schools of Hangzhou Sesame Street Foreign Language Education Consultant Co.,Ltd have available for teachers to use?
Our schools supply every teacher with the following teaching materials: textbooks, teacher's manuals, DVD/VCD player or cassettes, cassette player, and other teaching guides such as how to do lesson plans, classroom management, teaching activities. The office also has computers, with internet access.

23. Do teachers have a Chinese teaching assistant?
Every teacher is provided with a local teaching assistant. They all speak English and help the teacher with conducting the lesson in the first week. They also help out through general administrative support, translate and assist to solve all the problems you may meet.

24. What is a teacher's monthly budget like?
Utilities, on average, cost 200 RMB a month, but can be more in the very hot summer and very cold winter because of the cost of air-conditioning. Travel within the city can be done by several means. Taxis are 1.6--2.5RMB per kilometer, buses are 1 or 2 RMB depending on where you want to go. the school will provide a free use of a bike,
Since most of our schools are in small towns and cities, 500 Yuan is enough for the basic living. In big cities( such as Beijing , shanghai, Guangzhou ), 1500-2000 Yuan is needed.

25.How do teachers arrange their tax payments?
Teachers ought to make their own tax arrangements with their home country, but Hangzhou Sesame Street Foreign Language Education Consultant Co.,Ltd. will assist every teacher in filing local income taxes in accordance with tax laws in China .

26. Does HZSSFLECC provide medical coverage?
Private health insurance is rare in China .HZSSFLECC recommends that employees purchase their own health care before leaving for China . The teachers can receive free medical care at the school's clinic for small problems such as cold, and pay the fee of the medical care outside the school.HZSSFLECC provides all teachers with Chinese standard accident insurance covering up to 80,000 RMB,

27.Dose HZSSFLECC provide Chinese language lessons and arrange any cultural events for its teachers?
HZSSFLECC provides teachers with free weekly Mandarin Chinese lessons and arrange cultural events such as food sampling, day trips to neighboring towns and visits to Chinese temples, parks and gardens.HZSSFLECC also holds parties to celebrate Chinese holidays such as Autumn Festival and Chinese New Year.

29.How much preparation is required for each lesson?
That depends on the lesson and on the individual teacher's experience and initiative. Because of' HZSSFLECC catalogue of lesson plans and other reference materials, it can take as little as fifteen minutes to prepare a lesson. In addition, a single lesson plan, which is designed for one particular class, is also usually adaptable for any other class at the same level.

30.We are believing Christians. What does this mean for us in China ? Would there be any churches to go to? Would we be able to bring Christian resources into China for ourselves?
It is no problem for you go to church and bring your Christian books, but it is illegal if you spread your religion and Christian books to Chinese according to Chines laws.

31. When we arrive in China for our probation period is there a possibility of not getting a job afterwards? Will you guarantee us a job after the probation period?
It is impossible, because we always have more positions available.

32.Where can teachers go with their problems?

HZSSFLECC has several senior teachers and administrative staff members who serve as program coordinators and help out teachers with any problems they may have. Teachers can always call the head office for any assistance they may need throughout their stay in China .

We hope these answers have satisfied most of your questions, but if you have any more questions, feel free to contact us. If you would like to apply, simply refer to our application form