Hello everybody. I am French and I am looking for language teaching job.
I have a master degree from UK but not related to education.
There are not many french teaching jobs in Taipei and Most of the English teacher ads are for native speaker ( and I personally had no luck with these ads )
So my question is : can a non native english speaker get an english teaching job in Taiwan, and from a government point of view , can he still get an ARC ?
I hope that will hope others non native english speaker in the same situation than me.
Doesn’t matter if you’re a native speaker or not. There are Polish, Dutch, Belgian, Russian, French, Italian and Spanish native speakers teaching here that I know of personally.
The one thing they all have in common, though, is a British, US, Canadian, South African, Australian, New Zealand or Australian passport.
Even if all you can do is grunt in Congolese, you can get an ARC for teaching English here. As long as your passport is from one of those countries.
Sandman is correct, but what he fails to mention is that even though a British passport, etc can get you a job, if your accent sounds non native, people are less likely to hire you.
So ask yourself, do you have a near native speaking accent?
Cause in Taiwan, it MATTERS!
you almost for sure won’t be able to get a legal teaching job but there are teaching jobs for non-native speakers out there. I’ve known several non native speakers with jobs but they also had their ARC’s thru Chinese classes. Not really an ideal situation.
I used to teach in a bushi ban near Ba da road. The boss was french, and hired french teachers to teach primarily french, but also other languages. Basically, if the school and the parents/students like the look of you, anything goes.
I know a guy from the Czech republic who is here on a marriage visa, and who teaches corporate. He has a Czech passport, and a slight Czech accent. However, he is not short of work. Among other companies, he has trained staff at Acer and is shortly to start training at ASUS.
I agree. In many cases accent is of little importance. I have seen people on marriage visas who got 700 or 800NT an hour who had worse accents than some Taiwanese teachers that I know.
[/quote]I agree. In many cases accent is of little importance. I have seen people on marriage visas who got 700 or 800NT an hour who had worse accents than some Taiwanese teachers that I know.[/quote]
I disagree with your opinion that accent is of little importance.
To OP, others may say it is not a problem, but perhaps they are the lucky ones.
[quote=“emerihsoetihw”]I disagree with your opinion that accent is of little importance.
To OP, others may say it is not a problem, but perhaps they are the lucky ones.[/quote]
I think it depends on what kind of work you’re talking about. Certainly buxibans are very choosy. But corporate is different. The Czech guy I know has excellent qualifications and experience, worked for Tatung in the Czech republic (including translating Chinese/English/Czech), and doesn’t encounter any problems about his accent.
[quote=“sandman”]Doesn’t matter if you’re a native speaker or not. There are Polish, Dutch, Belgian, Russian, French, Italian and Spanish native speakers teaching here that I know of personally.
The one thing they all have in common, though, is a British, US, Canadian, South African, Australian, New Zealand or Australian passport.
Even if all you can do is grunt in Congolese, you can get an ARC for teaching English here. As long as your passport is from one of those countries.[/quote]
Having a face that looks like it came from one of those countries is just as important, if not more so, IMHO.
Try TLI (Taipei Language Institute). They have teachers of a variety of languages, but I don’t know what the documentation arrangements are. You may also try asking at the Alliance Francaise, they may have some contacts.
A non-native speaker of English can teach English in Taiwan. We all know lots who do. If you want a legal teaching job, you need one of the passports mentioned. Illegal teaching work is easy to get, and pays as much or more. The bosses and parents cannot usually tell if you have an accent or not. In any case, they generally think that if you’re white, you are American and a native speaker of English.
You could get some other kind of job, legally, of course.
I personally know of two Nigerians and one man from Ghana who passed themselves off as African-Americans and were teaching English. One of them is illiterate in English, but the boss and the students’ parents never seemed to notice the fact that he couldn’t read the textbook.
Thanks for all the answers.
Legally , I guess there can always be some arrangement if the school is willing to help ( Maybe they can declare you re french teacher and let you teach english ). I didn t know , less legal jobs pay more.
There are many reasons I would prefer a legal teaching job. One of those is the ARC that would allow me to stay more permanently and get an national healthcare insurance ( I don t have any form of healthcare insurance at the moment ). Do you think without ARC I can have some health insurance ?
I really wish I was Native speaker, teaching job in other languages are more rare and of course pay less.
Just yesterday I have been proposed a job as a french translator : 15h / week , 15000 NT$ and no ARC. With an ARC , I might have accept even the low pay. I guess networks and contacts are everything when you are looking for a job in Taiwan.
Question: The wife is Chinese from Malaysia, but is a naturalized American and holds an American passport. She holds a bachelors degree in business from an American University, but has been out of work for near two decades … a dedicated housekeeper.
She’s always rejected the notion of looking for teaching work on the assumption that nobody would hire someone that is 100% Chinese by blood, and is assumed to be Taiwanese on sight. Have I been taken for a ride? Should I give her a swift kick in the rear and tell her, uhhh, strongly suggest she get a job? Where are the best places to look, and how does she sell around her lack of experience?
(Spare us the marriage counseling please- I post in veiled jest.)
[quote=“bababa”]A non-native speaker of English can teach English in Taiwan. We all know lots who do. If you want a legal teaching job, you need one of the passports mentioned. Illegal teaching work is easy to get, and pays as much or more. The bosses and parents cannot usually tell if you have an accent or not. In any case, they generally think that if you’re white, you are American and a native speaker of English.
You could get some other kind of job, legally, of course.
I personally know of two Nigerians and one man from Ghana who passed themselves off as African-Americans and were teaching English. One of them is illiterate in English, but the boss and the students’ parents never seemed to notice the fact that he couldn’t read the textbook.[/quote]
Back in the days when I dabbled in the classroom…I met a Nigerian from good ole Ohio! Never knew there was an Ohio in Nigeria…there you go.
Eh… I’m from Illinois but I was born in Taiwan and I’m having a hell of a time finding a job here simply because I’m not white. The profession seems like a bit of a joke so far at least in this country.
There is where you are wrong. Teaching English in Taiwan is not a profession. It pays more but sometimes I feel it is like working in a fast food chain. The turnover is high like a fast food chain.
We’d like to think it’s teaching, but in fact it’s more about customer service. It may be the unspoken truth, but the truth nonetheless.
If we are working for private cram schools, or even private primary and secondary schools, we are hired to generate profit. ABC’s often have a harder time finding jobs because for some (many? most?) it’s the foreign-looking face that draws the customers.
It’s not our ability to teach language that the bosses really want, but our ability to keep the customers happy. We would like to think that if our customers language ability improved that it would generate more business, more profit and higher pay, but in many (most?) cases, that doesn’t happen. Parents still shop cram schools largely on price. Also, if the kids are happy, the parents are happy. No one seems to want to admit it, but language learning is secondary to happy customers.
High turnover is the nature of the business. First, many (most?) people doing the job only come here for a short time. They teach English to cover their costs, not because it’s their life-long dream to teach English. Second, there is generally no financial incentive to stay with one company for very long. Business owners don’t like to give longevity or performance raises because 1) they can’t charge their customers more for it and 2) there is always a FOB who can be hired at entry-level pay.
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