Job Discussion Forums

shamash · Joined: 31 May 2012 Posts: 2

My parents are moving to Taichung for work, and I'm currently teaching English in Korea and was planning on moving there with them.

I was wondering if it's pretty similar in Korea to paperwork I'll need to get? I assume I need a new apostilled criminal background check/degree apostille.

Also, wondering where to begin looking for jobs. Is it the same kind of thing as Korea, where you find a recruiter? I don't think I should have too much trouble getting a job, or at least I hope I won't. I've got a degree in Secondary English Education and will have a year of teaching in Korea as experience.

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

You do not need a criminal background check to teach in Taiwan.

shamash · Joined: 31 May 2012 Posts: 2

So what paperwork is required for a working visa?

teacher4life · Joined: 22 Apr 2012 Posts: 121

For immigration purposes, a copy of your degree will be fine.

For whatever else, it depends on your employer's needs.

Sadebugo · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 524

Hey! I just left Taichung! Taiwan is a great place to live and work. I regret that I didn't discover it sooner in my EFL career.

Sadebugo

Sadebugo · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 524

Jared · Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 319 Location: Canada

BritishDefector2 · Joined: 24 Jan 2013 Posts: 6

love this place so far. Taipei kicks Seoul's xenophobic boring little arse. Quality of life is so much higher here (in my opinion)

I'm teaching CELTA- style English lessons again! no more jumping around like a monkey (OK there are a LOT of crappy Buxibans here but if you look around you can find a similar school)

And of course a big factor: Taiwanese girls are actually open to the possibility of being with a foreigner. I remember Korean clubs had girls on one side and boys on the other like a school disco. Not the case here!

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Taiwan is a lot better than Korea unless you need to earn more.

In Taiwan, you should only expect to earn 60,000NT a month.

Jared · Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 319 Location: Canada

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Jared · Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 319 Location: Canada

JZer · Joined: 16 Jan 2005 Posts: 3898 Location: Pittsburgh

Ilan is a nice small town. However there are not many English teaching jobs there.

However, you want to avoid industrial cities/towns like Taoyuan.

Ilan and Taichung are both decent places to live. However Taichung is the third largest city in Taiwan.

starlalin · Joined: 14 Apr 2013 Posts: 2

Just throwing my experience in here, because I always hear people complain about Korea, but I lived and worked there for 8 years and loved it.

I never had any bad experiences - Korean people were always kind to me, and it seemed that it was BECAUSE I was a foreigner that I got more special attention. Any time I asked for help, people were always willing. Most of them also speak English. I had a lot of Korean friends, especially when I learned Korean and was able to just talk to people on buses or subways. They are literally the warmest people I've met out of the 14 countries I've lived in/visited.

Also, I know of two cases where the courts sided with foreigners, so I don't believe you can't win a case there.

I've only visited (not lived in) Taiwan, and only for a few days, so I can't really comment, except for the fact that where I visited, no one spoke English, and I had a hard time getting around. From what I saw, though, people were very polite. I've heard great things from people who lived there, especially in Kaoshiung. I'm very interested in working there, and I think that if I lived there for awhile, I could love it as well. I really make the best of a place I live in, rather than complaining and doing nothing.

Jared · Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 319 Location: Canada

One good thing about Taiwan is that when one foreigner reportedly does something wrong, that doesn't compel huge numbers of Taiwanese to judge the foreign community for what one foreigner did.

Among the chinese however, when incidents like the luka magnotta case in montreal happens, or when that british guy in 2012 supposively assaulted a chinese girl, or even this year when a british national was found in beijing who happened to be a pedophile. Many chinese people look down upon the entire foreign community. That is wrong. But when a chinese person does something wrong like that, the chinese people don't see themselves as an entire people responsible.

They say that when a foreigner does something wrong to a chinese person, it's considered a crime against all chinese. Really? What about the incident where a chinese beheaded a Canadian on a greyhound bus headed for Manitoba? A crime by a chinese against a non chinese. If a foreigner hurting a chinese person is a crime against all chinese, that means all chinese people are responsible for the Manitoba 2008 beheading incident. The chinese people who feel that a crime against a chinese is considered to be a crime against all chinese are the same chinese people who should feel deeply responsible for the beheading incident.

But the Taiwanese are much smarter than that. They realise that regardless of skin color, we are all one human race. Taiwanese are more welcoming towards foreigners and most people in Taiwan usually have nothing but good things to say about Taiwan. I remember being there in 2004 for just two months. Less than 7 days left of my trip I stood on top of a roof looking over Taoyuan and I came to realise I respected Taiwan more than even my own country. Are there some negative things about Taiwan? Certainly. But, The positive things about Taiwan seem to outnumber the negative things by far.