Hey,
I’m currently in Taiwan trying to find a job that can give me a Work Permit, which I find extremely hard to find! I have understood that to become an English teacher you need to be a native speaker no matter how good your English really are,… Is it really that bad? From my point of view a good teacher has nothing to do with your nationality.
What I wish to know is what do I need, as a non-native, to teach in Taiwan?
Would it be enough to have a Teacher Certification from Sweden?
I really could use some help, so I’m very grateful for any insights!
I believe you have to have an ESL certificate and/or TESOL. This is possible for non-native speakers but I read it’s quite hard, even if you English is advanced. However you’ll likely not find a job even if you have all those certificates cause Taiwanese want native speakers only. Try to find a job in sales, there are plenty jobs available and they like to hire europeans.
I don’t think Milkalex is right. To get a teaching work permit you’ll have to have a passport from a nation recognized by the government as being native English speaking. Are you here on a Swedish passport?
It’s all about the passport for working in public or private schools: SA, Aus, NZ, British Isles, US, Canada. Post grad. qualifications can land an English teaching position in a university without one of these passports. Yes I know it’s nuts, but it’s the way it is.
There are some loopholes. Some organisations are able to bypass the MOE (Ministry of Education) and employ people on a kind of consultancy basis. I have no idea how this is done and it is very much the exception to the rule.
It depends on what you mean by “can.” Plenty of non-English natives teach English in Taiwan. They’re called Taiwanese people. Many Taiwanese English teachers can’t teach English, though.
It is also true that many native speackers of English who act as English teachers here also cannot teach and are quite poor at being teachers.
But they are called English teachers.
Just read many of the threads on this forum about how people who are teaching English who have no clue as to what they are doing.
I knew a Dutchman that taught English in Taiwan for years. He was married to a local so didn’t need to worry about an ARC. His English was excellent and knew grammar better than the majority of teachers here from native English speaking countries. There was also a German guy that taught English for Kojen in Khh that I knew, his accent was barely noticeable. Another guy i knew was friends with a Dutchman that taught English in Korea half the year and spent the other half spending his money partying in Thailand. So yeah, there are Europeans that teach English in Asia and do just fine. I don’t know about any of the differences in visa details though.
It is also true that many native speackers of English who act as English teachers here also cannot teach and are quite poor at being teachers.
But they are called English teachers.
Just read many of the threads on this forum about how people who are teaching English who have no clue as to what they are doing.[/quote]
That’s a slightly garbled, but fair point. Many people take expatriate ESL gigs because they offer a means to something better. They often don’t intend to stay in the country where they work, so they’re not highly motivated to perform well.
Other workers who are motivated to perform well and have long-term commitments to stay in the country are steadily demotivated by ethically dubious managerial practices.
Other workers simply revel in their lax lifestyles as ESL teachers.
I think if you are a student you can do about 15 hours a week. However it is hard to get an ARC for just teaching without a degree and passport from a country that has English as a first language.