Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jackmckenzie]

Hello all

Have been planning to come out to teach in Seoul in October for a couple of years now (just waiting to finish my degree...) but have recently heard that maybe Taiwan could be a good alternative.

I've heard you can get better holidays (4 weeks as opposed to 2?), the climate is better and that the wages/accommodation benefits remain largely the same as would be offered by Korean schools.

Would be interested to hear anyone's thoughts who has taught in Taiwan or has heard anything similar to me about what it's like there as an alternative to Korea.

Many thanks
Jack

[DeMayonnaise]

I have a buddy who lived in Korea last year and lives in Taiwan this year. Says he doesn't save as much money in Taiwan. Likes it better because he has a gf there. (shruggs)

As to vacation, I get 5 weeks vacation at a public school written in my contract, and my principle has been throwing more my way. Most public school jobs are 20 days (4 weeks) or 25 if you live in the boonies. Only suckers who work at shitty hagwons get 2 weeks.

[young_clinton]

[mellow-d]

I just moved back to Korea after trying to make it work in Taiwan for 6 months. I don't have a TEFL or teaching certificate, but I have teaching experience, so I thought I'd eventually find work in a hagwon.

I applied for dozens of jobs while I was there and got no interest (except from Hess 5 1/2 months in- which only pays about $13/hour after tax). The only work I ever found was part-time gigs through friends and they were all illegal in some way.

Taiwan is a friendly country to live in and the cost of living is low. However, the summers are disgustingly hot and the winters are gray and rainy-sometimes for weeks on end.

That's just my two cents, but you might have better luck depending on your contacts or your credentials. Good luck

[Drew345]

Taiwan you can learn Chinese (Mandarin) which is fun to speak and possibly useful in the future.
But Taiwan has a longer, hotter, stickier summer than Korea. I think it is "sub-tropical". Korea has 4 seasons, (you'll hear that a lot, but it's true).

[persephone]

I lived in Taiwan for four years and now I'm planning to move to Korea.

Why?

1. Free round-trip plane ticket.
2. Free housing.
3. Higher salary.
4. The job market in Taiwan is really tight right now as a result of major surplus of teachers combined with economic crisis driving down wages and a declining birthrate that's reducing demand. In short, it can be hard to find a job that offers you enough hours to do more than just survive.

Unless you work for a public school, you're not going to get offered accomodation or more than two weeks vacation. And, unless you have a Teaching Certificate (M.A. TESOL preferred) you can't legally work in a public school. But, in all honesty, there's no good reason you should want to. If you add up all the time a public school expects you to physically be present (greeting parents at 7:30am in some cases, staying after school for meetings, and doing shows every 6 weeks or so on a Saturday--all without extra pay) your total hourly wage will be less than if you were working at a private language school.

Public schools require more work, more of a time committment, and they saddle you with huge classes of anywhere between 30 and 50 students. The only reason people teach there is because it gets them more respect with locals. Basically, it's a job for people who have married a local and plan to stay in Taiwan for a long time.

If you are uber-qualified and lucky, you might be able to get a prime job teaching at an international school. Then you will get relocation expenses paid for, housing, and a high salary with smaller class sizes. If you are qualified and very lucky.

Most foreigners in Taiwan work in buxibans/cram schools--Taiwan's equivalent of a hagwon. Some are good. Some are bad. Pay is pretty much 600nt/hr for a newbie. Less if you start off at a big chain like Hess or Kojen; but they offer the benefit of experience, so they're more prepared to help you get your visa stuff taken care of quickly and give you lots of training and teaching resources to work with. Smaller schools may give you more freedom to teach what you want--which could be a bad thing if you don't know what you're doing. They may offer a slightly higher hourly wage, but chances are, they may not be able to offer you as many hours as a bigger chain. And right now, in this economy, even the bigger chains are suffering. You will have to work Saturdays in most private schools.

Another thing, teaching kindergarten in Taiwan is illegal. If the idea of hiding in a closet or bathroom when the police raid the school is unappealing to you, then don't do it! If caught, you will face deportation and banishment from Taiwan for 5 years. However, if you don't work kindergarten, you won't be able to make much money as you will have fewer possible teaching hours; you will have to compete for the 5-9pm after school hours. It's almost impossible to get adult classes now with so many companies moving to China or forcing their employees to work longer hours.

Now, as far as vacation, by law, schools must give you four weeks vacation. However, at private schools it's usually not paid, and it can be very difficult to take a vacation when you want to. That's because private schools require you to find someone to sub for you. Bigger chains, like Hess and Kojen, will demand that you find someone who works in the same school to sub for you (smaller schools don't, but it's illegal to teach in a school that's not on your visa). That means that it's nearly impossible to take a vacation during the peak winter and summer vacations. And, if you teach at the same school with your best friend/spouse, then you won't be able to take any vacations together.

Now, to be clear, there is one way to get a plane ticket, housing, and paid vacations by working at a private school: sign the contract for the monthly salary. However, doing so puts you in an extremely precarious position: if, when you arrive, you find out that your school is terrible, you will be locked in without the option of getting out. You can choose to break your contract, but then you will have to PAY THEM back the cost of the plane ticket, the airport pick up, and something else I can't remember right now, IN ADDITION TO THE FINE for breaking your contract. And, of course, you will lose your apartment, putting added stress on you to find both a new job and an apartment at the same time.

The worse part for me, however, is that by working for a monthly salary instead of an hourly salary, you actually MAKE LESS MONEY PER YEAR than someone who is on the hourly wage and you have less freedom to choose your hours. The "free accommodation" is usually terrible--in an old, run-down building, with a tiny fridge, and roommates you may or may not get along with. If you stay out of Taipei, you will find housing to be very cheap, about $200 US for a studio. Even cheaper in some places--I paid that for a two bedroom apartment in an older building right in the middle of downtown.

If you're going to go to Taiwan, you are better off not accepting the offer of free housing and paid holidays. You will make more money, enjoy yourself more, and have an easier time getting out of a bad position if you don't.

Also, regardless of where you live, your rate of pay will be the same, so if you want to save money in Taiwan, don't live in Taipei. The rent is 2-3 times more expensive than it is in the south, the clubs are more expensive, and you will probably spend more time eating at Western restaurants because there are so many great ones to choose from there. Your money will go farther in the south: Taichung or Kaohsiung. (I'd suggest Kaohsiung because they have a subway system there, so you could get by without a scooter, but Taichung is closer to Taipei, not as hot, and has better museums.) Also, the winter is a lot longer, grayer, and colder in Taipei. The earthquakes tend to be a bit stronger and more frequent there as well.

So after all that, what is good about Taiwan?

1. The weather. The winter is short and there's no snow.
2. The food. It's good and cheap. If you love seafood, you'll be in paradise!
3. The people. They are very friendly and will often invite you to dinner, or KTV and have their children give you gifts.
4. The language. It's a good place to learn (if you're not busy working yourself into an early grave. )
5. The lifestyle. You can live very comfortably on just 15 hours of work a week and you don't have to work more than that if you don't want to. If you do work more, you will save a lot of mony--but not as much as if you were working those same hours in Korea. And keep in mind, it will be very difficult for you to get more than 25 teaching hours legally.

So, Korea or Taiwan?

If you want to make a lot of money and have the security of free plane tickets and housing, then go to Korea.

If you want to make a decent amount of money, learn some Chinese, and have an easy life, then go to Taiwan.

For more information on Taiwan, visit http://www.forumosa.com

[alphakennyone]

I about died in Kaohsiung in October. The October heat there beats anything in Seoul, hands down.

All in all, I didn't find Taiwan different enough to want to make the move to although the people did seem a lot friendlier.