Job Discussion Forums

[chi-chi]

Are most of you doing the "Cambridge Prep" thing....you know, working at a bushiban, teaching 90% reading and writing, for 2 to 2 1/2 hour blocks? Just wondering if this is typical or atypical for Taiwan...chi-chi

[Aristotle]

Most foreign teachers working in Bushi Bans don't teach reading and writing. Usually they are asked to teach conversation classes. Often a badly written and inappropriate book is what the class is based on. Usually they will be mixed level classes, so half of them will not even be able to read the material. If it is a children's class they are moved up to the next level even if they can't speak, read or write a word of English. Add to this the fact that if you strongly recommend a student be placed in a lower level class, you will probably lose your job.
Needless to say, it is quite challenging. This is where experience talks and BS walks. To be successful at teaching students in this kind of environment, it talks a little forethought and a lot of experience.
Reading comprehension has been all but abandoned in most bushi bans, even though it is one of the first things they should master. Learning a language without learning to read and write it, is like trying to tie a shoe with one hand. It may be possible in an English speaking environment, but in Taiwan, not possible. Most schools tell the parents and teachers that the students will be taught reading and writing much better in public schools. The fact is that they are forced to memorize all the reading and most students in the public schools, can not read, write or comprehend but 2 or 3 words or phrases in English, upon graduation.
Most bushi bans are only interested in getting students into the class, other than that it is the teacher's responsibility. A good tip is to only give a negative feedback about a student, when it is absolutely necessary.
A.

[jdkrone]

thanks for the insight. sounds like an interesting dynamic.

[JZer]

The most important thing is making students happy and that they don't complain to their parents.

[Dr_Zoidberg]

[steve_c]

Wow, thread resurrection. It's interesting, though, that the buxiban conditions from 7 years ago haven't changed much (at least in my experience).

[creztor]

You know this section doesn't get much action when 7 year old threads are brought back to life

[Rooster_2006]

Oh man, LOL, what people are saying about buxibans is so right.

Classes are completely divided by age, not by ability; one kid in your class will be fluent, but most will be unable to string together phrases of two words. Meanwhile, you're expected to give them a complex reading lesson on Ibn Batuta from Way Ahead 5. Of course the fluent kid can understand 98% of the story (and will be bored to tears), and the remainder of the class hovers somewhere around 20% and feels overwhelmed. It's a lose-lose situation.

Teachers are expected to do EVERYTHING, and failing to meet an extremely lofty set of expectations to some degree, and you're fired -- we are responsible for the motivation of the kids, retaining every single kid, teaching them, entertaining them -- but the kids aren't even required to do ten minutes of homework, bring pens and pencils to class, or sit down. They are not expected to memorize four or five words at home. To see what I mean, give your kids five words, and tell them there will be a quiz next week, which will be sent to Mom and Dad. Then actually give the quiz on only those five words -- half the class will score less than a 2/5.

When I taught at Hess (briefly), they told us to never give a student less than 87% under any circumstances. Like, if a kid goes in for an intermediate oral exam and just says "Hello." and then is completely silent, poof, automatic 87%. I wish my school had been that easy!

Seriously, I wonder what it would be like if the expectations on us teachers were as low as the expectations on the kids. Maybe I could just come to class one week forgetting to put on a shirt. Or spend the whole class running around in a figure-8 singing "Yankee Doodle." Or defecating on my cell phone. Or hiding under my desk and eating an eraser.

I've been teaching at various buxiban here for a little over a year, and I'm actually contemplating going back to Korea so I can get out of this "teaching" altogether... I speak nearly fluent Korean and lived there for five years, and am fairly certain I can find something more dignifying and gratifying than the job I'm doing right now. Sure it's more xenophobic, but I am just sick of being an EFL teacher. I think if I move back to Korea, I might be able to land a position as an interpreter or translator. Heck, even a janitor on a Working Holiday visa would give me more of a sense of "job well done" at the end of the workday...

[JZer]

[creztor]

Fuff it, I'll keep this thread alive. It is funny how poorly most schools are run. No wonder teacher turnover rates are 1 to 2 years. The place I "left" has also lost about 70% of their teachers and only the hardcore people stayed on. There's very little, if any, job satisfaction working in most cram schools in Taiwan. I am sure a few good ones are out there, but most are just shiess.

[Rooster_2006]

JZer and creztor,

You have my agreement on everything you posted.

I'm going to do my darnedest to stick it out until late March, my end-of-contract date. If she wants me gone before then, she's going to have to fire me. Either that, or slash my pay below 20,000 NTD.

However, after that, I'm really not sure what I'm going to do. Here are some ideas I've been bouncing around in my head. Keep in mind that at that point, I'll have just finished my bachelor's degree:

1. I could go on working holiday to another country and just take whatever job I can find. Americans like myself can get working holiday visas to Ireland (one year or four months), France (three months), Canada (six months), Australia (four months or one year), New Zealand (one year, extendable to two years), Singapore (six months), and South Korea (1.5 years).

2. I could return to the US and try to lead a "normal" life for a couple of years, until I go totally stark raving mad and disappear in the middle of the night! Expect to see a haggard, gaunt 26-year-old in the middle of winter carrying a suitcase and babbling incessantly just outside of Incheon Airport in 2012...

3. I could go straight to Korea and do grad school. Maybe get one of those fancy Korean government scholarships that gives you a stipend.

I'm really up-in-the-air on this. I guess for now, my priority is saving/repaying loans because I racked up some fairly substantial debts finishing my BS. However, I'd also like to try making money by developing apps for mobile platforms like the Apple iPhone, the Blackberry, and Android.

What are you guys doing post-EFL? JZer, you said you wanted to go into the medical field, right?

And creztor, what are you planning to do?

[JZer]

I might to an M.A. in Translation in Taiwan.

[JZer]

I will add to how bad working in a buxiban is. I often do not even get my own book and then am told that I should have looked over the lesson before teaching. How am I suppose to do that when I do not even have my own textbook?

I mean, yes I could come in early but if I am going to look over the lesson I want to do it in piece and not in my classroom before class with noise kids.

[creztor]

You've asked the million dollar question, Rooster. As I see it, anyone in ESL has three basic choices. First, give up and move back home and get a "real" job. Second, just put up with ESL and make the most of it. Third, try and find something else to do other than ESL. The problem with the third is that there simply are not as many opportunities as there are for foreigners back home in our respective countries. I am not saying it isn't possible for someone to get out of teaching, but it is difficult and you really need to know what you want to do or you just need a lot of luck. I am personally going to "try" and continue with ESL as it provides me with time to focus on other projects, which, when I get my shiess together one day, can prove to be much more profitable, albeit unreliable, than teaching. I run a website that is related to ESL in Taiwan and it scares me to see a daily steady stream of people looking at teaching in Taiwan. Most of them are from the USA, UK and Canada, in that order. Obviously the vast majority of them won't come to Taiwan, but there are only so many jobs on this little island. I guess high teacher turn over rates are a good thing Imagine if people never left their jobs or stayed for a minimum of five years... There'd hardly ever be any vacancies...

[Rooster_2006]