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Breezy
Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 22
Location: Amsterdam
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 Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 5:44 am Post subject: Some teaching English questions... |
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Hi! I'm new to all of this and I [hopefully] will be getting my CELTA at the end of July, I am starting to look for jobs in Asia.
I had my heart set on South Korea because I really need to save money, but I doubt that will work out.
So now I have decided my best bet is to do Taiwan for a year...if I don't like it I can leave after my first year and go to Hong Kong, Japan or try South Korea again.
I also have some questions if you have time to answer them?
Ok so my main question is, am I able to save money in Taiwan and still have enough to live on?
also, http://www.iacc.com.tw have any of you gone through them? Are they reputable? Do you know of any other reputable places?
Do you have a teaching certificate? If so, what is it?
Did you go to university? What is your degree?
Where have you taught English?
Did you teach children or adults?
Did you have any problems if you taught children? How did they behave?
How and where did you find the job(s)?
Did/Do you live in an apartment? Did/Do the school cover it or help you?
Did/Do you live alone? Was it furnished?
Did the recruiter/school cover your airfare TO Taiwan?
If you do have a certificate such as TEFL, CELTA, TESOL, why did you choose that one?
Did you have any teaching experience before-hand
If you are not a teacher anymore, what do you do now?
Is it safe for women who travel/live alone?
How do you do your laundry? Do you have a washing machine?
Do your apartments have fridges, stoves and the like?
Can you buy monthly metro/subway and/or bus passes? Do they use tokens on the subway or what?
What is the best bank for a foreigner to open up an account?
What are the national holidays and what are the days that teachers usually have off?
How many paid working days do we get off and how many national holidays?
What recruiter did you go through and were they good to you? Did you get what you wanted?
What school have you taught at? What problems did you run into there?
Have any of you learned Mandarinthrough immersion? Was it hard to teach English and learn Mandarin your first year? (note: I will not take official classes unless I plan to stay longer�I tend to learn languages through immersion anyway)
Have any of you shipped stuff over (more clothes, etc)? How much did it cost? How about those of you from Europe (since I am in Amsterdam right now)?
Do you like teaching kids better or adults? Why?
What are average work hours per day, per week and per month?
How many classes are average per day, per week per month?
Ok thanks and talk to you soon!
Bre  |
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Toe Save
Joined: 04 Oct 2004
Posts: 202
Location: 'tween the pipes.........
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 6:19 am Post subject: |
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Man, that's a lot of questions. Are you vetting us for some high security position? I don't think I've ever been asked so many questions.
I will say this: Avoid IACC like the plague. |
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Breezy
Joined: 11 Mar 2007
Posts: 22
Location: Amsterdam
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 10:21 am Post subject: |
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| Toe Save wrote: |
Man, that's a lot of questions. Are you vetting us for some high security position? I don't think I've ever been asked so many questions.
I will say this: Avoid IACC like the plague. |
Haha! Noooo....I am just starting my research and I just want to make sure I don't get screwed over in the process!
As for IACC...thanks for the advice...I just had a bad feeling about them, but haven't been able to place it...I don't need a reason why to avoid them, I just think I will.
As for my questions, if anyone has time to answer them that would help a lot...thanks  |
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BigWally
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 765
Location: Ottawa, CAN (prev. Kaohsiung "the Dirty South")
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| Posted: Tue Apr 17, 2007 2:15 pm Post subject: |
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| You will find answers to probably 75% of your questions by reading posts on the board. You have to do the leg work, people aren't just going to hand out all the answers too you! Good luck with the job hunt! |
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Dr_Zoidberg
Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Posts: 406
Location: Not posting on Forumosa.
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| Posted: Wed Apr 18, 2007 4:31 am Post subject: Re: Some teaching English questions... |
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| Breezy wrote: |
Am I able to save money in Taiwan and still have enough to live on?
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That depends on your lifestyle. If you blow it all on drugs, booze, and beetlenut, then don't expect to save much.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Did you teach children or adults? |
Both
| Breezy wrote: |
| Did you have any problems if you taught children? How did they behave? |
Behaviour differs from class to class, child to child. I've had classes where the kids were murdering each other the moment my back was turned, I've had classes where the kids paid attention and worked very hard, and I've had everything in between.
| Breezy wrote: |
| How and where did you find the job(s)? |
Seek and ye shall find.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Did/Do you live in an apartment? Did/Do the school cover it or help you? Did/Do you live alone? Was it furnished? |
Yes, yes, yes, and yes; in that order.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Did the recruiter/school cover your airfare TO Taiwan? |
BWAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Oh, wait. You were being serious.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Did you have any teaching experience before-hand? |
Nope.
| Breezy wrote: |
| How do you do your laundry? Do you have a washing machine? |
No, we just take our clothes down to the creek and beat them against a rock.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Do your apartments have fridges, stoves and the like? |
Kitchen appliances are the work of the Devil. C*ckroaches and lizards running around my apartment provide enough sustenance.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Can you buy monthly metro/subway and/or bus passes? Do they use tokens on the subway or what? |
I usually just jump on the first ox cart that passes by. The driver never asks for money.
| Breezy wrote: |
| What is the best bank for a foreigner to open up an account? |
My bank is the best, of course. PM me, and I'll give you all the info you need to wire the money.
| Breezy wrote: |
| What are the national holidays and what are the days that teachers usually have off? |
The Taiwnese haven't quite grasped the idea of "holiday", so when you do get a day off your boss will require you to make it up by working your (in most cases) one day off in the week.
| Breezy wrote: |
| How many paid working days do we get off and how many national holidays? |
See previous answer.
| Breezy wrote: |
| What recruiter did you go through and were they good to you? Did you get what you wanted? |
I used Dewey. Yes, I got what I wanted, but it took a few tries.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Have any of you learned Mandarinthrough immersion? Was it hard to teach English and learn Mandarin your first year? (note: I will not take official classes unless I plan to stay longer�I tend to learn languages through immersion anyway) |
If you want to learn real Mandarin, go to the mainland. The locals speak a mix of Mandarin and Taiwanese. The further south you go, the more mixed it is.
| Breezy wrote: |
| Do you like teaching kids better or adults? |
I loathe them equally.
| Breezy wrote: |
| What are average work hours per day, per week and per month? |
It can differ from one situation to the next, but full-time is usually 25 - 30 teaching hours per week. Don't confuse working hours and teaching hours, they are not the same. You get paid for the hours you teach, but most schools also require you to do some office hours. Watch out for the schools that offer 25 teaching hours (for which you are paid), but demand another 25 office hours (for which you are NOT paid). |
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123Loto
Joined: 14 Aug 2006
Posts: 160
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| Posted: Thu Apr 19, 2007 6:02 am Post subject: Re: Some teaching English questions... |
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| Breezy wrote: |
Ok so my main question is, am I able to save money in Taiwan and still have enough to live on?
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Yes.
| Breezy wrote: |
Where have you taught English?
Did you teach children or adults?
Did you have any problems if you taught children? How did they behave?
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I've taught children and older students - no adults. I have never found it difficult to teach young children, the youngest I have taught are 4 year olds. I've probably focussed the most on this age group (4-6) with average experience for students from 7-14. I've been teaching for 6 years.
| Breezy wrote: |
How and where did you find the job(s)?
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I found my job over the internet, before I came to Taiwan.
| Breezy wrote: |
Did/Do you live in an apartment? Did/Do the school cover it or help you?
Did/Do you live alone? Was it furnished?
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I live in an apartment. My school provided me assistance in finding accomodation but doesn't provide a housing stipend. It wasn't furnished so the house looked a little threadbare for many months as i worked to get my feet on the ground.
| Breezy wrote: |
Did the recruiter/school cover your airfare TO Taiwan?
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No they didn't, but the I felt the airfare was a small investment compared to the potential income I would receive.
| Breezy wrote: |
Did you have any teaching experience before-hand
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Absolutely zilch.
| Breezy wrote: |
Is it safe for women who travel/live alone?
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Safer than where I come from.
Whoops sorry, I have to leave it at that!!! Maybe find time to answer more questions another time!
Good luck and all the best! |
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