Hi guys, I’m new here and this is my first post. If this is not the right place to post this then please let me know and I’ll remove it.
I was born in Taiwan but raised in South Africa and have dual citizenship. I have an MSc in Botany and I’m thinking about teaching English in Taiwan at a buxiban (cram school) for a year or two just to experience my homeland. I’m busy finishing a TESOL course. I’m fluent in Chinese and Taiwanese.
So I want to find out from other Taiwanese nationals who grew up overseas, what was your experience finding an English teaching job in Taiwan? I’ve heard that if you’re white and you’re from American, you’ll basically be hired on the spot but buxibans are more reluctant to hire people who look local. I guess the best way to promote a buxiban would be to have a lot of white faces, so it makes sense. So any experiences or tips on getting an English teaching job? Have you faced discrimination based on being Taiwanese?
You will still get a job but your pay, hours and extra responsibilities will be that of a local Taiwanese teacher. that means lower pay/hr, fewer paid hours and more grading.
Thanks for the reply. Just lower or significantly lower?
Also, what’s the English teaching job market looking like at the moment. I read a couple of posts from 2008-2010 in which people were complaining about the oversupply of teachers and the dearth of classes. Has the situation improved?
With all respect to Abacus, that is not always the case, nor should the OP accept it as such.
It’s perfectly possible to get a job, but your choices will not be as varied as a non-Asian foreigner. First off, yes, you will be discriminated against for the simple fact that you look Taiwanese. You want to get it out in the open from the beginning that you are not white and see if the school has a problem with that so you won’t waste any of your time. Some schools will flat out tell you that they want a white foreigner. No big deal, just move on. Other schools are open towards non-white foreign teachers but will try to scam you by offering you only a Chinese teacher’s salary and making you do more work. Others give you a salary above a Chinese teacher’s but below a foreign teacher’s. Don’t accept this. Demand to be treated as a “real” foreign teacher or you’ll regret it further down the road.
Obviously, this cuts down on your choices quite a bit, so it won’t be as easy for you to find a good job compared to white foreigners, but it’s definitely possible. So don’t settle for less. Just respect yourself and you will find a cram school that respects you.
Thanks, the situation just seems hopeless at the moment with so many people reporting bad experiences. Or maybe it’s just that people with good experiences don’t talk about it.
The issue of Taiwanese vs. foreign salary is confusing. I do hold a Taiwanese passport, so shouldn’t I by default earn a Taiwanese salary? But it’d be great if I could get a foreign teacher’s salary, I just don’t see why a school would offer me one?
I know you’ve talked about considering teaching English (just to get an idea of what life in Taiwan is like), but have you considered doing anything with your MSc in Botany? From what I’ve heard English teachers don’t really make all that much. Besides, having Taiwanese citizenship already gives you a large advantage over non-nationals. It would be a lot easier for any Taiwanese company to employ you for a job, say relating to botany (if that’s what you still want to do) than a non-national. If a Taiwanese company wants to employ a non-national, there’s a lot more paper work involved and they’d need to prove how only the non-national involved could do the job and why a local Taiwanese could not.
But as you’ve you said you want to see what Taiwan is like first, so perhaps that’s a bridge to cross later on? Here’s another idea - why not skip the cram schools and start with the universities? Some universities hold regular business English classes and can’t employ non-nationals unless they have PhDs or similar qualifications. With your background and nationality you could be an ideal candidate and would be a lot easier to employ. I remember that Chinese Culture University runs some kind of business English classes etc. in it’s building next to Shan Dao Temple MRT station. You could also try the language centres of other universities.
Thanks mate, that actually sounds like a good idea.
English teaching is simply what came up first. But as long as I can support myself and learn Chinese and travel, I don’t really mind what job I get. I’ll pack shelves at 7/11 if I have to. University teaching would be good though. I’ve tutored undergrads at my university so I have experience in that regard. But seeing as there are a million masters students in Taiwan that are unemployed (my cousin being one), I don’t know if my prospects of getting a university job teaching Botany would be any better than getting an buxiban teaching job.
Also, if I were to teach English (at uni) wouldn’t I need at least an M.Ed in English/Linguistics. Even though my English is quite good, I might have a tough time convincing the university that my MSc has many transferable English skills. Anyone with experience teaching at uni, please share!
[quote=“Amasashi”]With all respect to Abacus, that is not always the case, nor should the OP accept it as such.
It’s perfectly possible to get a job, but your choices will not be as varied as a non-Asian foreigner. First off, yes, you will be discriminated against for the simple fact that you look Taiwanese. You want to get it out in the open from the beginning that you are not white and see if the school has a problem with that so you won’t waste any of your time. Some schools will flat out tell you that they want a white foreigner. No big deal, just move on. Other schools are open towards non-white foreign teachers but will try to scam you by offering you only a Chinese teacher’s salary and making you do more work. Others give you a salary above a Chinese teacher’s but below a foreign teacher’s. Don’t accept this. Demand to be treated as a “real” foreign teacher or you’ll regret it further down the road.
Obviously, this cuts down on your choices quite a bit, so it won’t be as easy for you to find a good job compared to white foreigners, but it’s definitely possible. So don’t settle for less. Just respect yourself and you will find a cram school that respects you.
Best of luck.[/quote]
You’re setting the OP up to be looking for a job for a long time when he comes here. The facts are that this isn’t a great job market for ideal candidates. The OP is Taiwanese, born in Taiwan and from South Africa (not a preferred accent). Most if not all are going to consider him for non-foreign teacher positions/pay. Reality.
OP - The difference in pay might be around 200NT/hr. A native speaking English teacher should expect 600 NT/hr although that number isn’t even guaranteed nowadays. A local teacher probably makes 400+ NT/hr.
My wife (Taiwanese) has never had a problem getting a teaching job with the same pay and work conditions as foreign teachers. I don’t think it’s ever taken her longer than a week or two to find one.
Does your wife have some sort of education degree or teaching certificate? Looking at your signature, I’m guessing you’re based in Taipei. From what I’ve read, the place is saturated with teachers looking for jobs.
No, just a BA in English Lit from a Canadian university.
I’m not sure what the market is like, not being a teacher myself, but she’s changed jobs a few times in the past 5 years and never had any difficulty finding work.
[quote=“DieSuidAfrikaner”]Thanks, the situation just seems hopeless at the moment with so many people reporting bad experiences. Or maybe it’s just that people with good experiences don’t talk about it.
The issue of Taiwanese vs. foreign salary is confusing. I do hold a Taiwanese passport, so shouldn’t I by default earn a Taiwanese salary? But it’d be great if I could get a foreign teacher’s salary, I just don’t see why a school would offer me one?[/quote]
Your nationality doesn’t necessarily determine what kind of salary you get. You should demand a foreign teacher’s salary because you’re doing a foreign teacher’s work. Typically, that’s 600 an hour, 550 at the bare minimum if you have no experience. Chinese teachers get about 400 an hour, sometimes dipping into the 300s. Yes, demanding a foreign teacher’s salary will cut down on your job options, but I think it’s worth it in the long run because schools that hire you on a Chinese teacher’s pay to do a foreign teacher’s work will soon throw Chinese teacher responsibilities your way because they see you as a Chinese teacher, not a foreign teacher. You’ll also have a hard time fitting in with either side, so don’t get yourself into that situation.
You say you just don’t see why a school would offer you a foreign teacher’s salary. Well, if you don’t believe you deserve it then you’ll never get it. It’s all about how you present yourself. Sometimes ABCs and the like who come back purposefully tone down the foreignness and ramp up the Taiwanese to better fit in. Don’t do that. Be exactly as you would be back home. Never speak Chinese at the cram school no matter how convenient it may be. That will just kill you. You need to go in there with the confidence to show them that ethnicity and nationality are two different things, and if they’re worth working for then they will hire you based on your merits and not your skin color.
That said, I will admit that it’s not easy to find jobs now and your Taiwanese nationality and South African accent will be working against you. If you don’t have the luxury of shopping around, then you can take a job with a Chinese teacher’s salary to hold you over while you look for something better. The contract’s only a year. Just watch out for them trying to dump Chinese teacher responsibilities on you and nip it at the bud.
Also, jobs become much easier to find once you leave Taipei. Fewer foreigners and even fewer ABCs. Pay is the same but living expenses are significantly cheaper, so it’s a win on both sides. Something to consider.
I’m half Taiwanese and half “white”. I grew up in the US and finished college there. It will be a bit more difficult to find a job, as others are saying, especially if you don’t have much experience. I had zero experience and was able to land a temporary job at a Happy Marian. It felt a bit under the table most of the time, but I was just glad to have something. That was in 2009. I left teaching and then returned last year, where I was able to find a job at Columbia English Language Program. They LOOK for Taiwanese to work in their Kindergarten programs so you could always check them out. They are often looking for teachers. They will train you, and although I haven’t been here for a full year yet, I’m pretty happy with it. You’re not a “local teacher”; you’re an English teacher status, but the pay probably isn’t quite as good as the foreign grade school teachers. I think they start at 500/hr, but doesn’t include any extra work you have to do like PTA meetings, writing reports about the kids, etc.
I don’t know what they would say about the SA accent though. It’s specifically a Phonics program, so they may or may not be picky. (We do have a few teachers with slight Chinese accents, VERY slight)