Job Discussion Forums

[linzbc]

I have a potential job lead right now. It's for a small school teaching 8 and 9 year olds, they said full time is probably 18-22 hours per week. We haven't discussed salary yet, but a friend said that they will probably pay me 650 nt/hr.

1) if I want to study chinese on the side, do you think I'd have enough time to do this? Even though it's 22 teaching hours, I really don't see how that will turn into 40 working hours per week, I feel like I would have plenty of time to learn Chinese... but I have no idea.

2) I'm in Taipei, and the only school I know of is Taiwan normal university Mandarin training center. Are there better schools? The summer session is 10 class hours a week.

3) Is there a more informal way of learning chinese than mandarin training center? I really need to learn some basic things so I have an idea of how to survive here, but I don't want to stress myself out at first with too much school and a full time job. Has anyone had success with language exchange?

4) Do you think 650 NT is a good salary for someone with teaching experience (but not ESL teaching) in Taipei? Do you think I can survive here if I only work part time? I've heard 650 is a normal rate in Taiwan, but Taipei is much more expensive than the rest of Taiwan.

[Mr. White]

I have a potential job lead right now. It's for a small school teaching 8 and 9 year olds, they said full time is probably 18-22 hours per week. We haven't discussed salary yet, but a friend said that they will probably pay me 650 nt/hr.

Better find out the pay and hours as otherwise you are pissing in the wind.

1) if I want to study chinese on the side, do you think I'd have enough time to do this? Even though it's 22 teaching hours, I really don't see how that will turn into 40 working hours per week, I feel like I would have plenty of time to learn Chinese... but I have no idea.

It depends what time of day you are teaching and whether you can get to Chinese class when they are being run.

2) I'm in Taipei, and the only school I know of is Taiwan normal university Mandarin training center. Are there better schools? The summer session is 10 class hours a week.

There are lots of places to study. What are you looking for?


3) Is there a more informal way of learning chinese than mandarin training center? I really need to learn some basic things so I have an idea of how to survive here, but I don't want to stress myself out at first with too much school and a full time job. Has anyone had success with language exchange?

Formal classes keep you on the right track.

4) Do you think 650 NT is a good salary for someone with teaching experience (but not ESL teaching) in Taipei? Do you think I can survive here if I only work part time? I've heard 650 is a normal rate in Taiwan, but Taipei is much more expensive than the rest of Taiwan.

That is a good hourly rate (assuming your boss is not crazy and you don't get shafted every which way). Finding a stable boss is FAR more important than finding a higher hourly rate.

[linzbc]

[Mr. White]

[englishmaster]

You could look at the ads in the expat magazines for Mandarin tutoring. That way would be more flexible. If you want or need the structure of formal uni classes, then go for it, but I think one-on-one lessons with a private tutor (a professional one, of course) might be best if you are teaching so many hours.

When I lived in Taiwan, I saw a professional tutor only two hours a week (not counting homework time, of course) and learned quite a bit from her.

Good luck.

[Ki]

I may be in the minority but I would prefer the frank advice over any subtlety. Wages offered vary greatly. But feel free to accept the 350 an hour job over the 650 one.

[Wide eyed wanderer]

This is coming from a newbie that hasn't gone overseas yet.

From what I understand NT is the same as TWD- New Taiwan Dollar. And from my research the average pay scale it between 50,000-70,000 TWD/month. So you may want to double check on that or tell them to give you the pay rate in TWD. Also I was talking to several people teaching overseas and they said to never accept a job that expects you to work more then 20-25 hours per week because you actually spend all most just as much as the class or more preparing lesson plans, at least at first. Once you get used to teaching or have learned some tricks of the trade you don't spend nearly as much time on lesson plans as you used to. So you may want to hold off on language classes till you are settled in your job and can get all your work done.

[linzbc]

First of all, thank you, to all, who were kind enough to answer my questions.

[timmyjames1976]

I give you 3-4 months here. If you are getting all fired up about someone's tone on the net, your prospective laoban will chew you up and spit you out.

Secondly, you keep asking the same questions and aren't happy until you get the answer you want. Yes, you will work more than 20-25 hours if you get 20-25 classroom hours. NOt all schedules are block hours, sometimes there is homework to grade, sometimes there is planning (especially if you are new). Add in meetings, extra nonsense (which buxibans love) and a generally inefficient Taiwanese scheduling habits (sorry, your boss doesn't give a crap about your free time), you will at least spend 30 hours at the school.

Thirdly, learn to prioritize. If you plan to stay here on a work visa, find a job first. Then shedule your Chinese classes around that schedule.

[forest1979]

As a new teacher I can remember spending plenty of time for each hour of classes I had. At the start for each hour of class I was probably spending an hour on planning and creating materials to supplement the book. So 20 hours of classes meant a 40+ hour working week.

In addition, say you are teaching 20 hours when will these be? I, like every other teacher, had timetables all over the place! And, as has already been noted, I was expected to stay in the school between classes. That sometimes meant a wait of over 3 hours! Therefore, if you think you can come in at your leisure think again. If you think you will be free in the evenings, or even free on Saturday mornings think again. You are at the whim of the buxiban owner and I think you have made two serious mistakes in this regard:

1. You should have clarified what the salary per hour of teaching would be. This would have immediately allowed you to budget because for the first 183 days after you arrive in Taiwan you will have to pay 20% tax.

2. You should have asked for a potential timetable, or a rough idea of when classes will be? "Will I teach evenings? Will I teach Saturdays?"

I would have also asked when the school is open. Is it one that takes in day-students or just one that opens at certain times of the day? This too would have given an indication of potential times.

I'm sorry OP, like other people who have posted on here, it appears to me that you have not done your research.

I know you have created many other threads but it is YOU that needs to find out what the situation is like, not to post on here with a list of questions which you could easily find the answers to on this site.

If you wonder why some people are terse to your questions then look therein. You may think that you require advice but at times it comes across as 'feed me the answer, please'. The best person to find whatever info you need is YOU, and wasn't the original advice weeks ago not to come given the economic context on the island?

Like another poster on here, I think at the moment you're there to be used by the system. You appear to not have genuinely thought through the possibilities which should have been done before you came. You're in for a long, hot summer one way or another having just arrived now as a newbie. Good luck necause you really need it.

[forest1979]

OP - you ask about how much time to plan lessons.

Any teacher will reply that its like asking how long is a piece of string! However, YOU could have found this out by asking at Buxiban boss what kind of book he uses, what type of activities do they do, what type of teaching does he prefer, etc.

By thinking just a little beyond the box you'll save yourself a lot of time and bother.

I have the feeling that you' ll take the job in part because you will realise you have no other choice. And as one person on this thread mentioned, you need to prioritise.

Either find a job or get a student visa. Don't come with romantic notions of teaching and learning mandarin. As you will find, it will be a struggle in the coming weeks/months. Get your feet on the ground and be practical otherwise you'll be back on the plane with nothing but frustration and a debt on your Visa card.

[KHS08]

Hey Linz,

Don't let all these negative and snippy people make you feel upset. Why they come on here to be jerks and not helpful is beyond me. If you don't have anything nice to say, then why waste your breath? Get a life and go be unhelpful somewhere else. Hello! we were all once naive and unknowing before we got here.

After I moved to Taipei I learned so much that I couldn't have found out by asking my company or doing internet research. I did tons and tons of research on my school and other schools in Taipei, but until I got here and saw the inner workings and talked to other teachers did I really get a grasp on my new life and schedule. Yes, 20 hrs can equal 40 if you're not lucky or you need a lot of time to prepare. No one ever told me I'd work til 10 on Fridays and then Saturday morning too. Ask all you want, but your school will probably tell you before hand, they can't tell you what hours you'll be working until you get here. Also the general disorganization of the buxiban system is overwhelming at first. Often times I may not be told until an hour before what class I'm teaching or that I have to work all day Saturday to make up for a holiday. Its chaotic at first but you get used to it.

As for finding a school to learn Chinese, I'd wait until you got here. Get settled, get used to your schedule and see how tired/busy you are. Once you feel like you have enough time to really put forth the effort to study Chinese look into classes. Some schools like Shida offer Chinese classes every 3 hours from 9 until 6 (or so I'm told). So you can find something that fits with your schedule. Also there are many private tutors that can work with you to fit your schedule. You can find them on Tealit or through a company like Pioneer. Usually you can haggle a price with a private tutor, and it can be as low as $300 NT an hr.

Please feel free to message me privately if you have any other questions. I'll take the time to answer and not judge you on what you may or may not know cuz we all been there!

Good luck!!!

[globalgourmand]

[Mojoski]

A pertinent point which hasn't been addressed here is whether or not the lessons are pre-programmed. Some schools have lessions preplanned, and all you have to do is make copies and go over the lesson plan. Some places may only give you a list of what needs to be covered over the term and say 'you on you own, kid.' Some may have a text book but require supplemental material to be generated by the teacher. This is one thing I look carefully for in the job description: 'we provide all lesson plans' is like gold. My last job was like that, so teaching 25 hours a week usually meant 33-35 hours on site (we had a little side work, as well).

And yes, you have to filter the information you get here through your judgment of the source. A certain (small) number of people on here enjoy playing the veteran and may overemphasize some difficulties because it shows how savvy they are, or it simply makes for clever irony. This doesn't mean they don't give good information--they usually do. Then, there's another small segment who have a big grudge (sometimes justified, perhaps) against a certain school, cultural tendency or perhaps the entire culture. Then, there are the feuders. Two long-time posters who have a personality conflict and hijack thread after thread just to criticize each other.

There is plenty of good information here--just be aware that there is a certain amount of noise, too. And yes, the search process on this site is a pain in the bleep. You get a long list of threads, at least 90% of which are no help, and most of them you have to click on them to find it out, then you have to go through the three step refresh process to get back to the previous page. If a person can take the time to post a 'use the search function' message, why not take another minute to answer a question or two and save someone the aggravation and time of doing a search?

[steve_c]

@mojoski: Well said.