Job Discussion Forums

[durks]

Hello

I wondered whether anyone could give me any advice on living in Taiwan?

I have been all set to go to Korea for the past three months, I feel I know a lot about Korea having thoroughly researched it and have been offered a really good contract with 4 weeks paid holiday and $2048 USD a month for 24 hours teaching with lots of overtime available, however I keep receiving offers from Taiwan and I wondered what the quality of life/living is like over there??

Korean schools are very demanding! Is it the same in Taiwan or more of a relaxed atmosphere? Are the children willing/keen to learn English?

Can I save enough money in Taiwan to send home and pay off my whacking student debt?

Are privates legal in Taiwan??

What is an average wage for a BA / Tefl holder with limited experience of teaching?

Is there anyone here who has been employed as a teacher in both Korea & Taiwan that can offer any advice??

[ghost]

Ghost taught and lived in Taiwan, and studied Mandarin for 8.5 months. Ghost did not like Taiwan, from day one, and only stayed on because it was interested in learning Mandarin.

With a B.A. and a Certificate in T.E.S.L. most Teflers in Taiwan make about $18 U.S. per hour in Language schools and Buxibans, and depending on the hours worked can make reasonable money and save. Many people make about $2000 per month and save about $1000 per month. Do the math....

Taiwan is cheaper than Korea for rent, food, Internet cafe use (about $1 U.S. per hour). You can eat a set lunch in Taiwan for about 50NT (about $1.50 U.S.). In Korea the set lunch cheapie is more expensive. You can save big time dollars with food in Taiwan, and everyone (including Taiwanese) eat out, because it is just as cheap or cheaper than eating at home. Ghost met quite a few Taiwanese females (adults) who confessed to not really knowing how to cook, because all the meals consumed were bought in the local places.....!

Hours are more flexible in Taiwan. In Korea most Hagwons make you work about 8 hours a day, so there is more stress. In many Taiwan places you can work from about 4-9pm, and devote your mornings to learning Chinese or doing other stuff. Ghost, for example, attended Providence University Chinese Language Education Centre.

In Taiwan it is a different kind of stress. Many of the kids you teach (especially in High School gigs) are asleep and apathetic, and they are passive aggressive in the sense that they have absolutely no enthusiasm for learning English or for you (the teacher). This can really wear you down after a while. They (the adolescent students) just sit there, and complain if they have to open the book and read something. Ghost witnessed real laziness there. The students are not 'in your face aggressive' but they are very 'passive aggressive.'

Ghost found that the best places to teach in Taiwan were Language schools which concentrate on the adult sector. The students there are normal workers who go to English class in the evening as a hobby or to improve their job prospects. They are usually pretty keen to learn English. But be careful of a few students (usually middle aged ladies) who will smile at you in class but run to the Director with a complaint about you, behind your back. That is a common thing in Taiwan. The students will fool you with their smiles and gentle demeanour. You never really know where you stand with the Taiwanese, who do not express feelings.

Ghost hated working in High schools, and Buxibans were also not for ghost, because the system in Buxibans emphasizes rote learning and shouting out vocab. lists in quick succession. You literally have to shout, because that is the way children learn there (at least that was the case for ghost).

The advantage with Korea is that the accommodation is usually provided, and that is seldom the case in Taiwan. Rents in Taiwan go for about $120-$300 a month. Ghost had a nice 3 bedroom apartment for about $270 U.S. per month - in the U.S. the same standard would have cost about $1500-$2000 U.S. per month.

Korean people are more varied. You can have very nice ones, or terrible ones. In Taiwan, most people behave the same - nice, polite.....but (sorry to say) oh so boring.....and even the people who do not like you will smile at you, which can be confusing and frustrating. In Korea people are more honest in the sense that if there is a problem, you will know it sooner than you would in Taiwan. In that sense, Koreans are more honest and true to their intrinsic nature. Ghost prefers that.

In summation ghost found Taiwan to be a boring, frustrating place to teach, and will not go back. You really have to go there to find out. Ghost was told (during the recruitment process from McGill University) that Taiwan was a 'great place' with 'great people' - and it (ghost) fell for those lines. But it will not be fooled in the future.



Ghost

[Northwood]

First off, I have never taught in Korea, so I have limited perspective.

[SanChong]

Northwood... that was perhaps the best summary of the challgenges of teaching in Taiwan I have yet seen. Well done!

[durks]

[durks]

Thanks Northwood

It's good to know that the children are willing to learn!!!

Stock broker is out of the question!!!! Saving $1000 a month and having a good quality of life sounds good enough to avoid that route in life! I currently earn $3300 a month in the UK but can't even afford to eat some days because of the cost of living!!!

As for the privates! Yes I was referring to teaching, and thought that laws were more relaxed in this area than in Korea but obviously not!!!

Thanks again

[Northwood]

[durks]

[TaoyuanSteve]

[chopstix]

i have lived in Seoul for a year and a half and am looking for a job for my second year in Taiwan. It is MUCH better here! I only make half what I was making in Korea ( $4000 US ) there. I am a cetified teacher with TESL etc etc- the Hagwan money and private rate is HIGH in Seoul, the food is better, the girls hotter but.........quality of life is WAY better here, and the weather is better and Taipei girls are a close but friendlier second.

Just my opinion....

[shyarra]

I'm glad for this topic thread, because it's the major question I am currently asking myself: Korea or Taiwan? I have serious student debt (US $20,000), and I heard that these were the two best countries to save money - or send it home to the debt collector, as the case may be. My big issues, outside of the fact that I have to repay Direct Loans, is that I haven't been outside of the U.S. since I was a baby. As a first time traveler, which would be easier? Or am I completely barking up the wrong tree - should I be considering a different country?

[unclealex]

Ghost, considering your nature of existence, why didn't you spook the
passive-agressive and lazy students into participating in class. A simple
'Boo!' may have done the trick if it were loud enough.

Seriously, I taught at a high school in Taiwan for one year after having
spent several years in South Korea. I found the long, hot summers there
extremely unbearable and the oily food repulsive. The worst thing was the
opressive air pollution courtesy thousands upon thousands of scooters whose
exhaust pipes were in dire need of cleansing. I find the climate and air in
Korea much more tolerable, although the air in Korea seems much worse
when one arrives there from Canada. Yes, the Taiwanese are dull people
and not as sociable and outgoing as Koreans, but they are gentler and far
more polite and considerate. Koreans tend to be very boorish and rude,
having little regard for the stranger. The food in Korea isn't oily but still
cheap. The Korean BBQ is relatively inexpensive, healthier, and more
delicious than the stuff I generally subsisted on in Taiwan. Indeed, most
Korean employers provide free housing (excepting utlities), but one has
to be wary about the size and quality of the units, normally little studios
for single people inadequately furnished. In Taiwan I received a monthly
living allowance that helped me get a beautiful partially furnished 3 bed-
room apartment with a balcony and fans on the ceiling. The cheap rent
and no key money requirement allows foreign teachers to get their own
nice place, unlike in Korea. Finally, I could save just as much in either
country, but I have more fun spending some in Korea than in Taiwan. I
find restaurants, entertainment, and shopping superior in Korea. I'm back
in the Land of the Morning Calm (the afternoons are always windy) where
I prefer to teach rather than in Taiwan.

[Aristotle]

I don't think many could argue any longer that the salaries in Korea and Taiwan are comparable. The money is by far better in Korea for teachers but the Korean winters are in my opinion, unbearably cold and damp. I'll take the cancer causing smog of Taiwan over that anyday.
Please read this,
10 Steps to Success on Taiwan!
Good luck!
A.

[stumpy]

First of all, I�ve lived and taught ESL in both S Korea and Taiwan.( 8 years)
I don�t have enough information about your Korean job to say what it would be like, but I hope you�re not stuck out the middle of nowhere there. I�ve found Taiwanese schools to be more demanding than the Korean ones-simply because they are more business orientated. Yes, you can save money.
No, privates are illegal but common.
B/A + TEFL you�ll typically get a contract for NT$60 000 / month
For a more detailed discussion on Taiwan, click back and look for my comments under the discussion � Extra Teaching WOrk Possible? Info on IACC? � listed on this website.

By the way, I prefer Taiwan.

stumpy