[natasham]

So here's my situation:

I've applied to a hong kong company called Learning Habitat to be an english teacher on a 1year contract this July. They have said that I could be working in hong kong, but most likely for their newest centre in Shanghai.

Salary: 18,000-22,000 hong kong dollars monthly

Visa, flight there from Ontario, Canada, 2 weeks hotel accomodation and assistance in finding housing/security deposit are being offered to me...although I will have to pay this back to the company during my 1 year working period.

Here's what I need to know before I sign my life away:

1. Has anyone heard of or worked for this company? Type in learning habitat shanghai for their website...

2. Is 18,000-22,000 monthly enough to live on comfortably in either hong kong or shanghai?

3. How much is a one-way flight to hong kong or shanghai from ontario canada? and what about general costs of living per month for a year(budget)? (housing, transportation, food, personal expenses)

Feedback is highly appreciated and urgently needed!...I would love the opportunity to teach overseas...but not if it's gunna put me in debt or be some sorta scam.

[adahc]

Did theysay anything about if they sack you, will you have to pay back in one go?
Personally I don't think 18-22k is enough for your rent (if you want to liveon your own) plus pay back each month plus cost of living in HK. If you don't have to pay back then you should be able to survive..But I wouldn't getting too excitdabout it unless you desparately wants to leave your country.
That's my opinion anyway.

[sunniefaith]

18 - 22K with or without housing?

[Hamton]

$18-22k is more than enough to live on in Shanghai.

You can easily survive in Hong Kong on that amount too, if you're young. You can find a cheap apartment for $6-10k and you've got most of the remaining salary left over with negligible tax and transport costs.

Typical salaries for EFL teachers in Hong Kong are around $20-25k without a teaching degree (but with an unrelated degree, and a TEFL cert). No way that would include housing unless it was in some kind of school dorm in China.


If you're looking at it as a kind of gap year teaching experience, you should have no trouble living reasonably on $20k a month. You just have to sidestep the market that's aimed at all the investment bankers here earning six figure monthly salaries.

[fatmat]

>> 2. Is 18,000-22,000 monthly enough to live on comfortably in either hong kong or shanghai?

Yes, you will be able to live comfortably in HK with that amount. Most people in HK earn alot less than that (less than 10k).

>> 3. How much is a one-way flight to hong kong or shanghai from ontario canada? and what about general costs of living per month for a year(budget)? (housing, transportation, food, personal expenses)

A one way trip is around HKD6500 (aerohkg.com by Aero International Ltd, special deals on flights - online)

Housing - As mentioned by Hamton, you can find apartments (or village houses) for 6k-10k or even less if you are prepared to commute or share with someone. You can use GOHOME for reference

Transportation - Public transport is very cheap in HK. HKD15 or less can get you to most places depending on where you live / work. A tram ride is HKD2.

Food - is also inexpensive in HK. HKD35 can get you a Lunch set at Cafe De Coral (Rice / Noodles + drink). A McDonalds meal is around HKD25.

Groceries - You can use Wellcome Delivers for reference - its probably cheaper at the actual store.

Tax - HK has a very low income tax rate. If you earn 22k p.m using 07/08 tax rates you will be paying around 15k tax p.a (Salaries Tax Computation).

Hope this helps.

[natasham]

thanks so much for everyone's replies...they have been helpful so far....

I'm still trying to calculate hong kong prices in canadian funds just to make sure that I will be comfortable in my stay. As for housing, they will assist my my finding a place but all costs incurred (flight, rent, teacher registration) will have to be paid back...they didn't mention if it would be lump sum should i be let go.

Has anyone heard of this company tho...i mean they seem legit, but kinda weird they're website hasn't been updated in a year and not much to find on search engines either...

Based on much number crunching and currency conversions it looks like i'll have approx. 89836 HKD left after factoring my flight there, rent based on 8000HKD a month, and an old student loan owing 1634 HKD a month) Do you think this will be enuf to cover the costs of food and transportation for the year? Anything I may be forgetting or missed?

[Lammarite]

I think you're punting a bit high for rent- especially if you are happy sharing in HK. You could halve it if you wanted to.
Don't sweat it- just do it.
There are a brazillion English schools in HK and China and it isn't surprising that they don't update their website etc. I friend of mine runs a school but doesn't even have a website because he has capped the number of students he has and has no problem getting more if he needs them. This school may be similar in that they have a captive enrollment.

[sunniefaith]

There's a Learning Habitat in Tsingyi, kinda near where I live. I've seen kids in their uniform going to school. I've met a lady who was going to put her kid to that school but didn't in the end as they went back to States.

[mattymcmatt]

Hey man,

I hope I can offer you some good advice. I'm from Canada too and while I haven't taught English, I have a good friend who taught this past year in Beijing and I have previously lived in HK and am now here visiting.

The salary should be more than enough if you still live like a student. You budgetted more than enough for rent and taxes are almost non-existant compared to Canada.

I don't know the company but if you are signing a contract they should at least pay your plane ticket. Personally, you could get a much better deal. I don't remember the exact benefits my friend got but I know he got at least his flight covered.

You might be able to negotiate with them. But if not, at the very least you should look around with other companies. Don't just take the first one that is offered. There are tons of places looking for English teachers in Asia. You could even search out other countries as well unless you have a desire to go to China.

If they don't offer a free plane ticket, then try to reduce your contract to 6 months. If it doesn't turn out to be that great then you won't have to put up with it for too long.

[aloc]

um...do u know how many days u have to stay in China? as the tax is 30% and higher after certain amount if you stay more than a number of days in china.