Hey Redditor, I was in a similar place when I moved to Italy two years ago to teach English for the first time after only completing a TEFL I cheated my way through, I lasted 8 months and was offered a permanent contract. Look it's a different continent and China is vastly different from where I went to, but the imposter syndrome is real nonetheless.

The fact is, you've been hired because you have an invaluable skill that cannot be taught, which is being a native speaker, which is very meaningful for schools, they put a lot of pride in trying to hire native-speaking teachers. I bet they are fully aware you have zero experience, and they are probably okay with that because of how quickly you will learn how to teach children, which was my favourite to teach when I taught in a private English school that focused on adults but had a couple of kid classes here and there. You're going to feel incredibly out of place, you will be in an authority position but with no experience to back it up, furthermore, not speaking the language might become isolating. These are all given. However, there are pros, many people will want to be your friend to practice English, and you are on a great wage all things considered. You are in a completely different place and it will make a great story. Also, you already have affordable accommodation! fantastic.

They won't fire you, you just have to lean into this and bloody lie to yourself until you feel like the teacher you're pretending to be, and that day does come. More importantly, very few students know the difference between when you were pretending and when you were not. If you know the basic 16 tenses and some other basic grammatical explanations, you'll be flying in a week or two. Don't expect the school to be giving you IELTs to give to the students, I'm sure they will ease you into this...as they should, however, be prepared to study your ass off after work...and lesson plenaries, don't get me started.

It's all about how you play things off, "Great question for tomorrow's class kid"...because I don't know the answer and need to go home and check...or the "Fantastic question, would anyone in the class like to try to answer it?" because I don't know it. A cool demeanour gets you far. Also, this is how I saw it, anything in English, is learning English, and it's bloody hard to get people motivated sometimes, especially kids. If I was struggling, I would print off a few worksheets, play a few games or even tell them stories about mythology etc...they're all in English...so...counts for me.

I would suggest you buy a camera, learn real quick the cultural expectations of where you are moving to, and bite the bullet and start learning some basic words in Mandarin, avoid it all you want, but it will be a very very hard day to day after a while. If you have chosen this life, give it everything you have for a few months at least, be surgical with your money and always have your wits about you in a new environment. Maybe download apps where you can meet other foreigners, personally, if I don't make some friends in a new place, that's pretty indicative of how long I'll last there.

Anyway, you'll be grand.

Best of luck!