Alumni Interview with Carl Franklin

What inspired you to travel abroad?

I wanted to have the opportunity to teach a range of students: children, teenagers and adults. I also wanted to do something worthwhile and fulfilling with my time. I looked at a lot of countries, and China seemed to provide a really good balance of quality of life, good teaching and professional development opportunities, free accommodation and lots of culture to explore and fun things to do in my spare time. I actually started in another school and then later moved to Qingdao to take up a job with Premier English.

Why did you choose Premier English?

They seemed reputable, provided free accommodation but, most importantly, seemed to care a lot about the students and their education. I had been teaching for an agent for nearly a year before finding a job with Premier English. The agent had been very unreliable and had refused to pay (unfortunately an all-too-common story with agents in China) so I was keen to get a job with a school which had a good track record of employing lots of foreigners, which didn't have a reputation for cheating teachers. I heard a lot of people talking about being offered very high wages, but then not getting paid or being asked to work 6 days or even 7 days per week. Premier English seemed like a good choice, because it was reputable and safe.

What was your favorite part about Qingdao, China?

I was already familiar with the province, Shandong, before moving to Premier English, but I was not familiar with Qingdao. It was good because it's by the sea so there's lots to do. Also it has really good rail connections to the whole country. I had made some other friends in other parts of China in my previous work, and it was really easy to get on a train in Qingdao to go and see them. Qingdao is definitely a good “selling point” for this school and it’s very popular with Chinese tourists.

What made your experience abroad extraordinary?

Premier English is a good place to teach because a teacher can tutor young kids, teenagers, and adults. This is a priceless experience which will hold you in good stead whether you find yourself teaching as a foreign English teacher in China or elsewhere, later on in your teaching career. Teaching from a set book is very helpful especially when teaching grammar to teenagers.The younger kids were mostly well behaved and the teens and adults were a delight to work with. One of my younger students had impressive reading abilities and I hope that in some way I helped develop these abilities. I had high level students in the adult classes who were keen, ambitious, and motivated to learn. One of my adults appreciated me tutoring her in English literature. We even read a poem by the romantic poet William Wordsworth. You have the scope as a teacher to shape the adult curriculum of your students, at Premier.

How did the local program staff support you throughout your program?

The local staff were great and we became good friends. I was already familiar with China, so I didn't really need that much help myself, but there were lots of young teachers and young graduates, and I saw they got lots of support from local staff sorting out phones, bank cards, and visas during their first couple of weeks. We had some really good team-building events going out for dinner, singing karaoke TV, and going to the beach and mountains, and got to know the local staff and foreign staff from all the Premier English schools really well.

What's one thing you wish you would have done differently during your time abroad?

I wish I had come to a school like Premier English first. I was cheated by my first employer before coming to Premier English and almost had to go back to the UK when my visa nearly ran out and he didn't pay me, and would have had to do so if I hadn't got a job with Premier. At Premier English we always got paid on time and we never had to worry about accommodation. For people who have never taught abroad before, or even those who have never taught in China before, you should always choose a reputable school and not take the risk of working for somewhere without a long track record of employing foreigners just because they are offering slightly higher wages.

Describe what a typical day in your life abroad looked like.

We worked Tuesday to Saturday. Saturday was an earlier start, and I started teaching at 9:10, had an hour for lunch, and then finished at 6pm. That was the busiest day because I usually had about 5 hours or 6 hours of teaching in one day. Tuesday to Friday was different because I had adult classes early afternoon, and then children and teens from 4 o'clock onward. It was a 40-hour working week, including office time, and I had an average of 22.5 teaching hours per week. We had a team meeting once a week where we did training and talked about how we could improve the classes and general running of the school.

What did you enjoy doing in your free time abroad?

On my days off I would go to the beach in summer or walk around town. I also sometimes went by train to see friends in other cities. I am not much of a night-owl so I didn't go out to the bars in the evening, but there is plenty to do during the day in Qingdao. There are lots of parks nearby the school and I would go there to read books. Because we mostly started work at 1pm, we always had the mornings free so that's when I would usually go for walks. We also had some good times with the local Chinese staff who took me to some good local markets and taught me some useful Chinese phrases.

What type of accommodation did you have? What did you like best about it?

I was in a three-bedroom apartment. It was technically shared but most of the time I was on my own so I was quite lucky like that. It was fairly standard, and a short walk to the school, maybe 4 minutes or 5 minutes. I had a double bed, kitchen, bathroom, living room and balcony for hanging clothes. It was simple but comfortable, and everything I needed (washing machine, sofas, and more) was already there so I just moved in and didn't really have to do anything. The best thing about it was it was really convenient to get to work and it was in a good location to do other things too such as go to restaurants. Because there's lots to do I didn't really spend much time there apart from sleeping most days.

What is one thing every future participant should know about your program before their program begins?

It's a good program but it's a full-time job. It's good for those people who want to get some real work experience, get paid well, and you have lots of time off where you can do whatever you want, but the school expects you to be professional like a school in the UK would. They provide training so it's not difficult if you haven't taught before, but at the same time although there are a lot of recent graduates who come for a 'gap year' kind of thing, this program isn't just a vacation. It was good for teachers like me who want something good on their CV, and the staff take their teaching responsibilities seriously. If you just want a holiday, you won't get accepted.

Would you recommend your program/provider to others? Why?

Yes, I would. It was pretty much what it said on the tin. There weren't really any nasty 'surprises' at Premier, they did what they said, and I got to teach a range of different levels and ages, which was what I wanted. There are also a range of ages of teachers - lots of schools in China only employ people in their twenties so they don't have much experience in the teaching staff. At Premier English there were lots of people I could learn from to improve my own teaching skills.

What do you feel is the biggest benefit of traveling abroad?

There weren't really many great job opportunities when I left the UK, and I got a good standard of living. Lots of people talk about learning about different cultures, which of course you do when living somewhere as different as China, but for me the most important thing was that I could have a nice lifestyle, better than I would have done in my own country, whilst doing something which I enjoyed. I'm actually still in China teaching in another city, and I only left the school to live elsewhere because I met someone and recommend Premier English to those keen to improve on their teaching.

Now that you're home, how has your time abroad impacted your life?

I'm not home, as I mentioned in the previous section, I'm still in China. Maybe that's actually the point - that I have decided I have a better quality of life abroad than I do at home. I know most people will stay for just one, two or three years, and many people go on to do something different to teaching back in their own country, but I want to continue teaching for the foreseeable future in China. I have family back in the UK but they support my decision and know that I'm happy here and having a good life. I'm grateful to Premier English for giving me a stable and enjoyable job.

What does meaningful travel mean to you?

For me, it was less about just 'travel' and more about building a new life and enjoying my work. That being said, I have now traveled all over China and met lots of interesting and wonderful people. I definitely couldn't have afforded to do as much travel if I had stayed in the UK, even if I had traveled within Europe. China has lots of famous things which everyone knows about, but the best thing is the people who have always been really friendly and welcoming and are always patient even with my bad Chinese.