Job Discussion Forums

[bohinj]

I hate to sound like I'm only in for the money, but at this point in my life, it's important. I taught in Japan for two years and had a great experience--also saved about $15,000 per year. I was hired in the U.S. so my out-of pocket was extremely small. I would go back to Japan again but I'd like to have a new experience. Can I expect to find a job in Taiwan from the U.S. that will also arrange/subsidize my accommodations? Also, is it possible to save at least $1,000/month just from your regular job? (In order to save that much in Japan I travelled only within the country on vacations, cooked a lot of my meals and didn't go out drinking much.)

[jason_seeburn]

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[Aristotle]

Taiwan is by far the best paying country for unqualified teachers. If you are qualified you will be paid the same or even less than your unqualified and unpapered coworkers.
If you have real qualifications and experience, Japan or the Middle East are at the top of the market. People in Korea can make more money but it takes a lot of experience in that country.

[chi-chi]

[jason_seeburn]

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[EOD]

Korea for several reasons.
Pay rates in Taiwan have been steadily decreasing, as have labor standards for foreign teachers. The local government has recently begun to offer blacklisting services to local schools for ARC and work permits of foreign teachers. They also started to enlist overseas Chinese to teach in public schools as native speakers.
Korea has managed to escape the SARS epidemic. Many people believe that Korea�s social dysfunction is similar to that of Taiwan. I think SARS is evidence to the contrary.
I am thinking of heading up there myself if the situation does not improve.

[jason_seeburn]

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[EOD]

[taiwan boy]

[chi-chi]

[Stephen]

Taiwan is not good for the experienced and/or the qualified. If this is your position and your new to Taiwan expect to get the same or less than the unqualified. This was mentioned previously, but it bears repetition. Once you know the ropes and have the contacts, it is possible to make good money. However, straight of the plane that would be lucky. So if your qualifed and/or experienced, then think carefully about it. Afterall with say 4 or 5 years experience and a teaching qualification would you be happy working for the same as an unqualified newbie with no experience.

Stephen

PS. I understand that the average wage here has remained virtually unchanged for the last ten years. (In fact it has fallen in terms of hard currency, eg. 3 years ago NT$45=1 British Pound; now NT$57= 1 British Pound)

[unclealex]

I've taught English in all three countries. In my experience I've made more money
in South Korea: meaning I've saved more while having more spending power.
In Korea teachers are hit with only 5% income tax deduction and don't have to pay rent.
If you're deciding among these three countries concerned with your savings and spending power,
Korea's the place to work in.

[Wonder]

Be careful...be very, very careful when you say teachers don't have to pay rent in Korea - they DO!

Some teachers don't have to pay rent, but they are usually paid less and work more, and are supremely anchored to the school. When it comes time to renew a contract or go to another school, said teachers' lives are disrupted if they have to move on.

In many cases, teachers are given Key Money by the school in Korea and they find their own place (sometimes with assistance from the school), and are then allowed to keep the apartment after they end their contract and move on, just as long as the new school agrees to the key money etc. However, in most cases they have to pay monthly rent and utilities.

Then there are the real smart rich teachers who rent their own place in Seoul or where ever and are never owned by (or anchored to), the school. This is tricky because normally, key money in the area of 5 million or 10 million won or more must be deposited before you move in. In most cases, employers do not recommend renting your own place with your own key money becuase of unscrupulous owners.

[Gordon]

To add to that, you don't always have to pay key money in Korea. There are short term hotels or love hotels where you pay by the month. I lived in a love hotel for 6 months. It was great, had air con, a TV a couch, bed, desk, shower and bathroom. The old lady downstairs even let us use the washing machine for free. It wasn't that expensive either or noisy as we lived in the corner of the top floor.

[Frankie Knuckles]

I have previously lived and worked in Japan and while I was able to save a fair amount of money I think Taiwan may be the better option if you want to save while at the same time living a balanced life. What I mean by this is that I think it may be easier to save in Taiwan while still doing things like eating out, going to the movies and having the occasional beer. Although I haven't taught in Taiwan yet I did spend around four weeks there last July and I found that living costs were considerably lower than Japan. Considering the relatively low cost of living in Taiwan the salaries for teaching there seem very good. I spoke to a few teachers there that had saved considerable amounts of money without living like hermits like I had to whilst living in Japan to save anything worthwhile. When I was living in Kyoto my very small shared apartment cost about $800 Australian dollars a month. My Taiwanese girlfriend pays about $250 a month for a better shared apartment in Taichung. You can eat dinner in a restaurant in Taiwan for about $3 or $4 Aus dollars. Eating out in Japan is a much more expensive affair. I am not trying to criticise Japan because I had an amazing time there. I love the country and its people, they were so nice to me. I just think for what you get in Japan it is so ridiculously expensive. You can live a very similar lifestyle in Taiwan and in the end save money more easily without having to make as many sacrifices.