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Tancred
Joined: 11 Sep 2007
Posts: 4
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 Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 2:49 pm Post subject: More questions... |
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Hi,
I have a couple of other questions which have probably been posed a few times on this board already in some form or another. Please bear with me if these have been asked before.
1. I'm curious why this board is so sparse with postings when compared to the Korean board. Is there just that much more volume of ESL teachers in Korea than in Taiwan?
2. The main reason I'm considering coming to Taiwan is learning Mandarin and checking out a new country. So whether I'm teaching or doing something else, it doesn't really matter to me. I've seen a few postings about jobs other than teaching on here, but I'm curious how realistic it would be to expect to slip into the work community there with no knowledge of the language/culture, etc.
3. Due to what I perceive to be a somewhat underpopulated ESL community in Taiwan (of course, I could easily be mistaken here), I'm wondering what the best way to go about getting a job there would be. Is it beneficial to fly over there without one and then go job hunting once I get there, or is it better to job search from Canada and then fly over once a job is secured?
Anyway, thanks for any responses, and apologies for the possible redundancy of some of these questions.
T. |
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BigWally
Joined: 07 Jun 2006
Posts: 765
Location: Ottawa, CAN (prev. Kaohsiung "the Dirty South")
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| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2007 5:20 pm Post subject: Re: More questions... |
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| Tancred wrote: |
1. I'm curious why this board is so sparse with postings when compared to the Korean board. Is there just that much more volume of ESL teachers in Korea than in Taiwan? |
Too many people are having too much fun here to come online and post about it, whereas in Korea....um....
Just kidding, but this is more of a "newbie" to Taiwan forum, where there are other forums on different sites for ex-pats and such that are living in Taiwan full time.
| Tancred wrote: |
| 2. The main reason I'm considering coming to Taiwan is learning Mandarin and checking out a new country. So whether I'm teaching or doing something else, it doesn't really matter to me. I've seen a few postings about jobs other than teaching on here, but I'm curious how realistic it would be to expect to slip into the work community there with no knowledge of the language/culture, etc. |
Learning Chinese is challenging but opportunities are everywhere, some good and some bad. If you're a university grad (B.A. or better), your white, and have a North American accent, then you'll be a teacher if you come here. Sure there are other jobs available, but once you get here, unless you're a professional you'll want to live the teacher lifestyle, its hard to beat.
If you're ignorant to the language/culture, then do some reading/research and find out if its the right fit for you. You don't want to fly half way around the world to find out that you want to get right back on the plane to go home. (Which does happen.)
| Tancred wrote: |
| 3. Due to what I perceive to be a somewhat underpopulated ESL community in Taiwan (of course, I could easily be mistaken here), I'm wondering what the best way to go about getting a job there would be. Is it beneficial to fly over there without one and then go job hunting once I get there, or is it better to job search from Canada and then fly over once a job is secured? |
There are 2 schools of thought on this:
1) Secure a job with a well known chain, which provides security, reliability (unless you're NOVA in Japan), and a consistent paycheck. Chains also provide better social opportunities (if you like your co-workers). Yes, hours can be less appealing, and wages may be lower, but at least you know what you're getting into (mostly) before you leave.
2) Come over 1st and then find a job. A harder and riskier route, although the benefits are that you could secure the job you want (rather than settling for a chain), you could talk your way into more money, and you may be able to find something that has great hours. The downside to this route is that you have no "helping hand" to get through the Visa process, and you land in Taiwan and you're on your own. No Chinese makes it more difficult, but if you go to Taipei, then English is spoken more than you'd expect
Either way its challenging but rewarding, and totally worth it in the end. But I cant stress enough, that you MUST do reading about the country as much as you can, I found it helped a lot with the culture shock. |
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TaoyuanSteve
Joined: 05 Feb 2003
Posts: 1028
Location: Taoyuan
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 12:21 am Post subject: Re: More questions... |
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| Tancred wrote: |
Hi,
1. I'm curious why this board is so sparse with postings when compared to the Korean board. Is there just that much more volume of ESL teachers in Korea than in Taiwan? |
Korea almost certainly has a larger number of teachers than Taiwan. However, as mentioned, the lack of activity here is not related to that. Dave's seems to have evolved into the life and living forums for Korea and,so are much more active. The presence of other forums for Taiwan has prevented the same from happening here.
| Tancred wrote: |
2. The main reason I'm considering coming to Taiwan is learning Mandarin and checking out a new country. So whether I'm teaching or doing something else, it doesn't really matter to me. I've seen a few postings about jobs other than teaching on here, but I'm curious how realistic it would be to expect to slip into the work community there with no knowledge of the language/culture, etc. |
If you really want to learn mandarin, you are going to want a very flexible work schedule and not a 9 to 5 job. It is possible to find other work such as editing, technical writing , international sales and others. These jobs, though, are more full time and aren't for the language student. As for slipping into the work community, your issues are visa ones.
| Tancred wrote: |
3. Due to what I perceive to be a somewhat underpopulated ESL community in Taiwan (of course, I could easily be mistaken here), I'm wondering what the best way to go about getting a job there would be. Is it beneficial to fly over there without one and then go job hunting once I get there, or is it better to job search from Canada and then fly over once a job is secured? |
Your perceptions are not fully correct. The EFL community is not especially underpopulated-- at least not to the degree you think it is. That said, if you are willing to go where the work is (ie be open to work outside of the best areas of downtown Taipei), you should be working within a week of arriving here. |
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Tancred
Joined: 11 Sep 2007
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Thu Sep 27, 2007 7:26 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks very much for the thorough advice! I think I'll get a teaching gig before I head over there just to be on the safe side.
T. |
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