Job Discussion Forums

[McMurphy]

Could someone please give me an idea of the average hourly rate for a new teacher in Taiwan with twelve months EFL/ESL teaching experience?
(Working in a private school with mainly Elementary students)

And/or the average monthly salary. I know it's a broad question so any info will be appreciated.

[matchstick_man]

I'd say if you are new to Taiwan it will be between 500-600 NT an hour. The length of time you stay at a school counts for far more bonus-wise financially than qualifications and outside teaching experience. If you are salaried the average Taiwan starting wage is $50,000 NT some places may offer free accomodation and others may not. (don't expect it all as a Taiwanese rarity). In Taiwan the higher wages tend to be offered to those who speak fluent Mandarin rather than those who have actual English teaching credentials. So you will most likely find yourself making no more than someone with just a university degree.

[jason_seeburn]

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[jason_seeburn]

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[McMurphy]

Thanks a lot JS. I am looking at going to either Tai Chung or Tainan, both places sounding good. Only problem is I have to organise a job from home before I leave as I have very little money.

[jason_seeburn]

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[brian]

Sorry Jason but cant agree that your advice is necessarily good advice for a newcomer. I think that matchstick_mans comments are more on the mark.

[jason_seeburn]

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[McMurphy]

Thanks for your input Brian, but I won't be signing anything until I see the conditions first hand. I have read a lot of Jason Seeburn's posts and he's proven to be the most insightful sharer of information. True, I haven't been to Taiwan before, but I'm familiar with the recruiting game from Korea. Therefore I will be heading to Taiwan with little money (believe me I don't have a choice) and hope it works out. It may be a bit of a gamble but so what. Worse things happen at sea. (Please people, don't reply to this with your horror stories, I've heard most of them before).

[brian]

McMurphy, no problem. Good luck with whatever you choose. Taiwan's a great place and you shouldnt expect to run into too many troubles if you keep your nose clean, but you would certainly find your initial weeks in Taiwan more relaxing if you had a bit of cash, but nevertheless! Here's a list of schools that you might find useful if you havent already got one. It is a bit old and may be a bit outdated but I know that most of the information is still current:

http://www.geocities.com/allhou/schoo.htm

Everything else being equal you should be able to start a job within a week or so of arriving. See how you go with pay - you never know but you might just get lucky and be able to get an advance on your pay as Jason suggests. Be careful about the accuracy of Jasons posts as I have noticed a number of errors in his posts before, but until now I havent said anything. I understand that he is well meaning but it worries me that he would give the advice that he has to a newcomer, but as you seem to have lived in Asia before I am sure that you know what you are doing. Just because he is the most active poster on this board doesnt mean that he is always right, but then neither am I always right. As you seem to have recognized, taking from this forum what you believe to be the most reasonable advice is the best thing to do.

Jason you're a nut! It might have been an idea to actually read my post before you got all up in arms about it, as you are way off with your criticisms and brash comments. This is a board to provide information. Grow up and respect that other people have opinions that differ to yours, no matter how knowledgable you may think that you are!

[matchstick_man]

In the Taichung surrounding area and based my knowledge on what my friends were mostly getting and also the China post. Yes some had scooters provided by their schools if they had to get from branch of the school to another. Look closely at those advertisements and you'll see the ones offering $60,000 NT plus are for 25 hours of work a week....the average full-time teacher works 80 hours a week and will usually receive bonuses that are over the hourly age for doing more so it's still around $50,000 for 80 hours work a month. I once received 70,000 in one month and wouldn't recommend anyone do the type of hours I was doing for that one month for an entire year. Often salaried hours include telephone teaching and listening to cassete tape which will often include no extra money if you're doing 25 hours a week teaching time this is a lot of work.

[matchstick_man]

80 hours a week should be a month in my previous post.

[McMurphy]

Does it make a difference if you don't teach kindergarten? I'm keen to only teach elementary age and up. Would this usually affect a monthly salary?

[jason_seeburn]

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[jason_seeburn]

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