This as-told-to essay is based on conversations and emails with Tatiana Smith, 36, who spent five years teaching English as a second language (ESL) in China. The following has been edited for length ...

Over the past four decades China has developed one of the world’s largest systems of English language education, driven by economic reform, globalisation and national policy imperatives. English was ...

For a country of 1.4 billion people, there is no way to accurately generalize schooling in China — just as a public school educator in the rural Midwest may have a vastly different experience than ...

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Aidan Fairhall, a 34-year-old international school chemistry teacher based in Shanghai. This essay has been edited for length and clarity.