I am an ESL student who is currently studying Chinese. I want to be an ESL teacher, possibly in America, but I don't know if there are currently any important positions for ESL teachers with a Chinese focus rather than a working knowledge of Spanish. Will I be able to use Chinese, or should I focus on another language or look at teaching outside the United States? I have taken two years of Chinese at the University level and will be taking Chinese III and IV in China. The 2000 US Census listed Chinese as the most spoken Asian language, but will there be ESL jobs for this?
At my high school we had an ESL program with several students from China involved. We actually only had one Spanish speaking student. The teacher that taught this class could not speak one word of Chinese, so she probably shouldn't have been teaching it....but it shows there is opportunities out there for ESL jobs with Chinese as a primary language. So i would think that you would not have to go out of the States to teach. I pray that God opens a door for you whether in China or in the States!
This website has some really good tips for ESL teachers attempting to help the Chinese integrate into American society! Good luck to you!