Teaching in Taiwan and Discrimination/Racism

Taiwan Discrimination in Taiwan
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Hello Everyone!

I’d like to share my experience as a teacher in Taiwan. Maybe I can help someone from going through what I went through.

I studied in Taiwan, and later on I applied to teach Math in a tutoring school in Tianmu, Taipei. Its name by that time was TutorME, but I think right now they changed it to TeachME, for some reason.

I’m from Central America, and I was in my home country when I applied for this job. I was interviewed a couple of times through Skype and was asked to give a Demo which the owner liked, and she hired me.
Ok, so great! I got the job, and I’m going back to Taiwan!! So the next thing I did was ask the embassy of Taiwan in my country about the visa procedures and things I needed to do.
They asked me to tell my boss to give me a copy of my work contract, this way I could enter the country with a resident visa, and apply for ARC when I was in Taiwan.
Ok, so I go and ask y boss and she goes like No! I won’t give you a work contract, I’ve had people of your country working for me before and no one ever asked for this, you should apply for a 30 day e-visa, and when you’re here we’ll do the rest. If you don’t do this you may have problems when you go through immigration here in Taiwan.
So I didn’t want any of that to happen or to have problems with my new boss and went ahead and did that.
Just Clarifying that I had to get a loan to cover the high expenses that it takes to get to Taiwan and cover rent, and personal expenses for the first month in Taiwan until I got payed.

When I got there, My boss treated me well, I sensed she had a strong personality but it was fine with me by that time. Until the second week. She completely changed! She treated me horribly, She screamed at me during team meetings, and for several days she asked me to leave my office (assigned by her) and made me work in common areas because she said she didn’t want me “hiding”. I remember my coworkers warning me about her at the beginning and telling me she was racist. (I am not white!!). Once she told me to hide my nationality and to not to tell parents that I graduated in Taiwan because it was bad for her business.
I can’t even describe how horrible this woman is, She works with children, and makes them cry. (I heard a boy crying in the bathroom by himself after she humiliated him in front of his teacher for not remembering his teacher’s name.)
Another thing she did to me is not applying for my work permit on time. All of this was completely convenient to her, She does this with all of his new employees, since we’re foreigners, we don’t know that showing up to work without a work permit in your hand is illegal. So she doesn’t tell you that, makes you show up for work and if she doesn’t like you, she just makes you leave. And you end up without having the option to report her ass to MOL or whatever office you can go to.
I managed to speak with a Lawyer when all this mess was happening, and all I could do was leave, and pray for her to pay me for the days I worked.

This woman, payed me 25% of my salary and a 5000 ntd because she was “sorry things didn’t work out”
And I was in Taiwan with a tourist visa that was about to expire, and a loan that by the end of this mess rised to 7000usd.

As a foreigner, you want to have a great experience in Taiwan. but Yes! there is racism with all people that are not white, even with Taiwanese. Specially in the education field which is completely ignorant and contradictory.

This Tutoring center teaches children from Taipei American School, and Taipei European School. It’s supposed to be preparing them to be competitive in foreign countries. This type of people are ignorant, materialistic, and mean. They shouldn’t be allowed to work with children.

When I left, around 6 of her teacher’s were leaving. They were lovely, but were completely Sad to work there. All she cares for is Money.

So Fellas, Don’t let this happen to you, be careful. There’s several ads online and she offers a lot of money and other stuff but it’s a trap. :confused: I wish I’d never did, My family and I ended up with serious money problems after this.

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2

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Will definitely keep an eye out for this institution

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Yup! that one

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Horrible!!!
OMG… I can’t believe that she works with children!!!
I really hope that you can find a better job! Don’t lose hope!
There are some good institutes in Taiwan!

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Sounds awful. I hope you will get another decent teaching job so you can forget about this experience asap.

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6

That is a typical story in Taiwan, unfortunately.

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It’s hard not to sound rude here, and I may fail, but however you want to react to this, my intentions are good.

How in the hell did not being offered a work visa not set off alarm bells for you? You’re presumably a grown ass adult. You already have experience living in Taiwan. What in the high hell made you think it was a good idea to take up employment in a foreign country without a work visa!?

You’re focusing on the racism in Taiwan. I’m not saying that isn’t an issue. What I am saying is the real issue is you being naive. Don’t knowingly work illegally in a country or do any work at all, anywhere, unless the ink is dry. You were completely duped and she probably saw you from a mile away.

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From the perspective of knowing the system, that view makes perfect sense. It’s quite common that people don’t know the system, because why would they? It’s not like the government rubs it in your face the way they do in some countries.

Also, it’s (arguably) not part of the culture to know the system. Everyone in his own box. Law stuff? That’s for people in law boxes. Problems? Guanxi omnia vincit. And so on…

But yes, people in general should be cynical and not trust the system to take care of them by telling them what they need to know.

Btw it’s work permit, not visa. :slight_smile:

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I wouldn’t even work in my own home country without a work contract. The guy didn’t even have that. This is not me being worldly and cynical - I knew that when I was a teenager.

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Is it even possible to process a work permit overseas?

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I did have a work contract. I would’ve never moved to the other side of the world to do something illegal. And the whole time I was there my work permit was “in process”. My contract was given to me after I had the e-visa. But it was denied when I intended to apply for resident visa at first. I knew that showing up for work without a work permit in my hand was illegal until I contacted a lawyer. As a foreigner this things aren’t obvious! Another thing, I did live in Taiwan before, so if I was naive it was because maybe in my mind Taiwanese are good and honest people. :confused:

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Fair enough. If you’re a guest, a tourist, a customer or a friend, they certainly are. Top notch people. But as employers? Scum of the earth. I’d have to be really desperate to ever have a Taiwanese boss.

Could have been worse though…

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That’s a bit strong. I’ve had some scummy Taiwanese bosses and I’ve had some good ones. Same in other countries.

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I think it’s worse here than most developed countries…Ive seen way too many bad bosses and the subject of bad bosses and work conditions comes up WAY too much amongst Taiwanese too…
I’ve worked in about 10 enterprises and governnent organizations. I’ve had a few good managers, but bosses, principals. Dept heads, professors, chairmen and their families and relations…jeez! Most of them treat their staff like shit (even in academia) as well as their suppliers and often the other shareholders too!

Not only bosses…but business partners along with their famikies…seen way too many nightmares…have been warned as such many times over the years by experienced foreigners when I was starting out and I still got worked over because the odds are against you in this society. Not saying it won’t work…but the odds are poor. I don’t think I could stomach working for a Taiwanese company again…really…would need megabucks or to meet some really special people to consider it. Maybe I’ll change my mind in future if I need the money but otherwise think I’m done with em.

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There are different levels and forms of cynicism and worldliness. What’s taken for granted in one society is shocking in another.

Do Central Americans believe strongly in honor? (If so, @finley should love the place!)

Some countries have more flexibility with this kind of thing. For example in Canada you need a social insurance number to work (even if you’re a citizen), but once you’ve applied, you don’t need to wait for it to be processed before you start working. And so on…

And for better or worse, the jurisprudence in Taiwan is clear: an oral contract is as good as a written one, as long as neither side denies it. :rolling_eyes:

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TeachMe is by far the worst run place I have ever come across in my two decades here. I teach at a local elementary school in the Tianmu area and thought I’d work at TutorMe part-time after school for extra cash…

I knew something was up when the Foreign “manager” who conducted the interview with me had said he had been in Taiwan 2.5 years fresh out of college and at TeachMe for a year. But I thought, “F-It. I am just here to make some cash on the side.” That, and the guy was actually really nice and trying to make something out of that hellhole.

A few days later during the “orientation” I observed first- hand what the OP said about the Taiwanese female owner berating students and also saw her get in the face of a front desk clerk with students also present. When I was informed during the orientation that teachers were paid on the 5th of each month but it usually took the owner, “a few days or a week” to actually send the money to the bank is when I headed for the bathroom…and never came back.

Also, like OP said, I was told that there was massive turnover, like 5 or 6 teachers a month because the of owner. The students I was assigned to teach were on their 3rd teacher in three months.

Stay away from TeachMe at all costs.

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My work permit was issued before I arrived in Taiwan with the start date as my first day of work.

So yes, your employer can process your work permit before you ever arrive in Taiwan.

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In wondering if it’s possible in every country? A lot of countries don’t have Taiwan offices…just a thought.

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It’s a Central American country, so they may have a “real” embassy! :astonished:

On the other hand, it’s a Central American country, so how a citizen would expect to get a work permit teaching English is a good question. (I’m not condoning the system btw.)

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I was hired to teach Math not English. Although, in my opinion, your capacity to teach any subject has to do with qualifications to teach, not with passports.