Job Discussion Forums

[Traveller84]

Cultural experiences aside do you think you can save more money working in Taiwan or Korea?

Obviously it depends a lot on experience, degrees, and lifestyle. But say for someone with a BA in International Business, a CELTA, and a few months experience, with a balanced lifestyle of eating at home and out, having a few nights out, and a bit of travel on the weekends. Do you think they would be better off in Korea or Taiwan?

I'd appreciate to hear people's thoughts on the matter.

cheers

[Mr. Kalgukshi]

Threads on this forum must remain focused on Taiwan. Discussions regarding living and teaching in Korea should take place on the Korean Job Forums. Separate registration is required.

[JZer]

Advantages:

Korea: free housing

Taiwan: Can work privates without worrying about getting busted by the police. I have never heard of anyone getting in trouble for private tutoring in Taiwan.

Negatives:

Korea: Locked into one job. If they don't have the hours you need you are in trouble.

Taiwan: Legally forbidden from teaching children under six years old. In Taiwan you can legally have three jobs.

[Smooth Operator]

[JZer]

No, since teaching pre-school children is the only work you can get from 9 to 12. If you don't teach pre-school then you are only making 40,000NT a month or have to work until 9PM most nights to make 60,000NT a month.

[Rooster_2006]

You'll save more money in Korea.

I would never teach in Korea again, but you asked which place has the most money for EFL teachers, and it's Korea.

In Korea, you'll start off at $2,000 a month (2.3 million won) with free housing.

In Taiwan, you'll start off with about $1,800 a month (60,000 NTD) WITHOUT free housing. And the trouble with Taiwan is that if your employer cuts your hours, your pay will go down, because in Taiwan, pay is hourly, not monthly like in Korea.

That said, I'd still pick Taiwan over Korea any day. I've lived in five different countries, and Korea is the most xenophobic place I've ever lived, and you're reminded of it every five minutes in people's behavior, government policies, etc.

Essentially, if you work in Korea, you're selling your soul for a few hundred extra bucks a month. Trust me. I lived there for five years. I didn't really realize how much I'd been missing out on until I moved to Taiwan.

In Taiwan, you can have up to three jobs, register two of those as your ARC-supporting schools (i.e. you get fired or the school closes and you can stay in Taiwan with the other school and not have to do a visa run), you can apply for permanent residency after five years, it's tropical, the cost of living is extremely low (I rent for $106.45 a month with an ocean view), etc. Not to mention that Chinese is a vastly more useful language to learn.

I'll take those privileges over a few extra bucks every time.

[JZer]

[Rooster_2006]

[JZer]

[Rooster_2006]

[JZer]

[milkweedma]

Yep Korea wins hands down for salary and potential savings due to the salary level, free apartments, airfares etc.
If money is not your agenda, give Korea a miss as its VERY Xenophobic, racist, duplitious and nasty.

[JZer]

[aab7855]

It seems to me (only observing from a distance) that Taiwan would be the best deal for teaching English in Asia. The pay is competitive relative to the cost of living, like people said you can work multiple jobs, and its closer to places like SE Asia where you can party like a rockstar on that relatively high salary. Japan may be more interesting but you'll be throwing your money right back out there just to survive.

[JZer]