I am a sophomore in college (no degree yet) I want to spend the summer in Taiwan. I intend to teach English or whatever that will take me in order to pay for my expenses there. I am ABC (american born chinese), which i know is a big problem, along with others. Is it at all feasible for me to get work? Will I be able to find a place in a hostel? How quickly do they get filled up in the summertime? I know my questions might be very stupid, but I really have no other resource. So, PLEASE GIVE ME SOME ADVICES!
Anything is greatly appreciated!
'F’n ya wanna be an English teacher ya gotta getta betta grippa the language.
I don’t think you’ll be able to get legal teaching work, but that doesn’t mean you won’t get work. You’ll just have to pound the pavement (and make sure you have a thick skin or the racism will drive you crazy).
Take no notice of the taunting taiwantaiwan. It’s not necessary to know much about English to get a teaching job, so don’t worry. Come on over and join the fun. You’ll be able to find enough work to cover expenses, but it’d be better if you could arrange something before you get here so you can hit the ground running. Don’t tell people you’ll only be here for the summer.
There might be a lot of sub work during the summer. If you advertise now, you might be able to work out a nice schedule of just subbing for folks who want to go on vacation.
Give the guy a fucking break.
TaiwanTaiwan, read through old threads about teaching here. These guys have given some pretty good advice in the past, though you might not think it to read the advice some gave you.
You’re best bet might be to leave your details as an available sub in the jobs forum otherwise you’ll probably struggle. Taiwan isn’t really an EO country quite yet.
TaiwanTaiwan,
Can you speak Chinese?
Are you good-looking?
If yes, your chances of finding work are much higher. Your aim - of just covering the expenses of a summer spent in Taiwan - is rather modest, and you will be able to find some work. However, I don’t think you’ll be able to save much; by the time you get the hang of things in Taiwan, it will be time for you to head back to the States. During the summer there is a lot ot tutoring work and extra classes at schools. There are also some English summer camps.
How do I do that? Should I contact schools from US? But, they state clearly in their requirement that applicant needs to have a BA/BS. Please help! Thanks so much.
[quote=“almas john”]TaiwanTaiwan,
Can you speak Chinese?
Your aim - of just covering the expenses of a summer spent in Taiwan - is rather modest, and you will be able to find some work. During the summer there is a lot ot tutoring work and extra classes at schools. [/quote]
Thanks so much for replying. I do speak fluent Chinese, but not taiwan accent, which could be a problem. And I am a girl. Will that be a big problem as well? What’s your estimate for 1 month in Taipei, assuming that I live very frugally, ND$25,000 or so? What’s the best way to go about finding work? I have read that I should look at newspaper ed, look online, and hit the schools door to door. I know that I have a lot of questions. Thanks so much for helping me.
Really, if you’re here for the Sumemr only, then your best bet is a Summer Camp, that way you don’t have to worry about accommodation either. Check here, tealit and eslcafe.com for jobs, put your own details up and appl-y for all. Just be prepared for something a lot more shoddy and cowboy than you’re led to believe by the organisers. Summer ‘Camp’ might be a rented buliding in the middle of a city where kids go to cram English from untrained non-teachers for their entire vacation.
I’m kind of missing precisely why you want to do this.
If it’s for financial reasons, then consider that you’ll need to pay plane fare, deposit on a room if you rent a room (you will get that back at the end if you’re lucky) or hostel rent (higher and more obnoxious living conditions), and you are by no means certain of getting a job. You’ll probably want to set yourself up with some kind of cell phone, too. Plus you’ll lose nearly a week’s time being jet-lagged coming over and getting oriented and figuring out what to do and where to do it.
You are already aware that having a BA degree is the minimum requirement to be hired legally. You don’t have one yet. Why not do something else until you graduate, then come over and do the teaching thing properly, with more chance of making money and having an overall less-frustrating experience?
As a person with an Asian appearance and who speaks “non-Taiwanese” type Chinese, you’ll have a strike against you. I would guess the appearance will hit harder than the accent, but then again that depends on how fluent your Chinese is, too.
I am also assuming that you have no teaching experience (unless I missed something - I read the thread yesterday and don’t remember precisely). That won’t help, either.
If you happen to get caught working on this trip, you’ll be deported, and it will go on your record. This may or may not matter to you depending on what your future plans are, but every single time you fill out a visa application for the rest of your days, you’ll have to give the details.
Just some things to think about. Overall, I’d say it doesn’t make sense economically or logistically, but that’s just me.
