Job Discussion Forums

[englishmaster]

I am in contact with the Language Teaching and Training Center of National Taiwan U. I am considering flying to Taiwan for an interview, but would like to hear from anyone who knows about the place to help me make my decision.

I have the usual questions: what are the students, classes, treatment, etc., like?

Any information would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[romanworld]

LTTC are NOT part of NTU, although their Training Center is located on their grounds. In Taiwan, LTTC are responsible for creating the GRE test, a highly secretive test designed for Taiwan and Taiwanese English teachers.(Taiwan score so low on the IELTS and TOEFL tests, they got around this embarrassment by creating their own, which is of course much easier.) Anyway, I called LTTC a few months back and asked them how much they paid an hour and they quoted me a ridiculously low rate of around NT$575. They said that it increases to around NT$600 if you teach unsocial hours or special writing classes. Apparently they would have offered me convenient hours, but I wasn't interested because the hourly rate was awful.(I'm well-qualified.) Unfortunately, like so many schools in Taiwan, the pay hasn't kept pace with inflation. LTTC were offering $NT575 an hour a decade ago, so you'd be worse off in real terms working for them now. If you have a good job elsewhere, DO NOT give it up to work for LTTC. They're a bunch of cheapskates!

[romanworld]

A friend of mine recently applied for a job at LTTC and this is what he was sent:

Dear Candidate:

Thank you for showing interest in the LTTC. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our school and the position to you in more detail.

The LTTC is a non-profit organization which is conveniently located on the campus of National Taiwan University but is, in fact, separate in operation from the university. We also have a �downtown campus�, the LTTC-LI (Language Institute) on Zhong-xiao East Road, near Shandao Temple MRT Station. Currently, our NTU campus offers classes in English, Japanese, German, Spanish and French, and LTTC-LI offers classes in English, Japanese, and Spanish.

Teachers who have permanent residency status or spousal visas are assigned to work at our NTU school, whereas teachers who require a resident visa and a work permit are assigned to work at our Shandao school. We begin the process of applying for a resident visa and work permit as soon as a candidate is hired.

All of our students are at least 18 years of age, and they have different professional backgrounds and motivations. Our classes run from 8.00 AM � 9.10 PM Monday to Friday, and from 9:30 AM � 4:20 PM on Saturdays. Our school conducts four ten-week terms per year with a break of approximately two and a half weeks between terms. The summer term runs from 7 July to 12 September. Please check our website for the beginning dates of other terms in 2008.

We offer ESP classes and General English classes in all 4 skills at 10 different levels. Our base pay per 50-minute hour is $570NT. However, we offer a number of allowances depending upon the time and the type of course taught. These include, but are not limited to the following:

-$40 extra per hour for evening classes (from 5:30 PM to 9:10 PM)

-$100 per hour for business English

-$100 per hour for ESP classes

-$200 per hour for Saturday classes

-$280 per hour for writing classes

**an additional $100 for levels 4 and 5 writing with 11 or more students

**an additional $100 for levels 4 and 5 writing with 15 or more students

Our full-time teachers normally teach four to five hours a day. We provide text books and resource materials for teachers and offer a fairly large library of additional materials for teachers� and students� use. In addition to providing health insurance for our teachers, we also provide a group health insurance package.

Generally speaking, we require that our teachers have a minimum of a Bachelor�s Degree and 1 year of teaching experience, preferably to students in Taiwan. A commitment to teach at this centre for at least one year is also required. Interested applicants should fill out a standard application form at our Shandao Temple location (4th floor, No. 31, Sec. 1, Zhong-xiao East Road, Taipei) between 9 AM and 9 PM, Monday to Friday. One of our coordinators will contact qualified candidates to schedule an interview. After the initial interview, candidates will be asked to prepare a 20-minute teaching demonstration based on the material given. The teaching demonstration is done at our NTU location (4th Fl., #170, Sec 2, Xinhai Rd., Taipei) and is conducted in front of a coordinator along with a group of observers, who will act as students

So, it seems that I was right: NT$570 is the going rate there . . . and has been since time immemorial! What a rip-off.

[englishmaster]

Thanks for the replies. I have been in contact with LTTC, and that's pretty much what they wrote me, although the letter was more personally tailored.

To tell the truth, I am still interested in LTTC despite the pay, since I really want to return to Taiwan. Of all the countries I have taught in in east Asia, it was the best.

At the same time, I don't want to be overworked and go without money to save home. Heck, the way the dollar's set to fall, the exchange rate might not be so bad in a few months.

I am considering risking some of my savings on a flight to Taiwan this June to visit various institutes, including LTTC, and see if I can land a job.
What I read on this board isn't too encouraging, though.

[matchstick_man]

That pay doesn't look too bad to me. Base English teacher wages seldom change.

[ESL Hobo]

Hi
I did the math on that job.
If you work 25 hours a week, even with the various pay scales, it comes out to about $20,000 USD a year. If you have lived here before you can do the math on the cost of living, etc.
The good things are:
1) You will be teaching adults.
2) I had an interview with the course director today. He's Canadian, has been there for 11 years, nice fellow, easy to get along with.
3) You will work for ten weeks and get 2.5 weeks off. Believe me this is a wonderful thing in Taiwan, other schools grind you into the dust.


Teaching would be a good basic job if you are good at getting private students elsewhere that might make up for the rest.
The downside;
1) Less pay than other jobs.
2)Lots of unpaid vacation (ten weeks) per year. Might be difficult keeping your apartment bills paid on time.
3)If you are coming from overseas, your will work at the downtown branch, which is not on a beautiful campus, its in a huge office building on the 4th floor, a little dingy and the classrooms are small about 10ft square.

Hope this helps

[Miyazaki]

Most of your classes, if you're hired, won't be on the NTU campus. Most of your classes will in fact be at the corner of Lin Sen Bei Lu and Zhong Xiao Dong Lu. Just a few doors down from the Chinese Culture University Language Institute and across the street from MacDonalds.

Not a bad location and just one stop from Taipei Main Station, which you could walk to within 10 minutes or so if you wanted to. Lots of buses also go past the school making it a good location.

[ESL Hobo]

The San Dao temple is right next to the school and has an MRT station, so you won't need to walk more than a minute to the school. I like the Taipei main station on the weekend. There are a lot of Indonesian, Thai and Philipino people you could hang out with because they all go there to send money home and shop in the underground mall.

One more thing about working for LTTC-NTU, they do things BY THE BOOK, no shoddy BS because it is a government job. You will have to get Labor Insurance, which is called workman's comp in the states. There contract is worth the paper it is written upon and will be held to strict standards, unlike a lot of mom and pop cram schools.

For someone with a BA degree,TEFL certificate and experience, LTTC is a pretty good option.

[Miyazaki]

Heard lots of bad about the way the place is run too.

Not great, from what I've been told by former teachers at the Shandao Temple location.

Still, location is great even if management is not so good.

[ESL Hobo]

That sounds a bit disheartening for anyone planning to work there, but I agree that management makes a lot of difference even if it is a government job. Most Taiwanese view government jobs as long term and stable. For a foreign teacher traveling through and moving on after a couple of years I suppose this wouldn't make much difference.

By the way, I would be interested to hear what you know about LTTC at the NTU campus.