Hi everyone, I’m sorta a newbie here… I’ve been lurking around on this forum researching for the possibility of living in Taiwan. It sure seems to me that most people end up teaching English there… but are there any other subjects to teach? especially in emerging fields in Taiwan such as Industrial Design?
At least before I’m even landed in Taiwan, I’m not too sure if I’ll be that good of an English teacher. I just can’t imagine myself doing it… lol I mean I use so many slangs in my daily vocabulary and I don’t even realize it… not to mention I’m like the most horrible spaller in the whole wide world! oh, and I’m the type of person who always waits for the movie to come out…!! :roflmao: I think I’ll definitely be more passionate in art and design subjects which is my profession anyway.
Thanks in advance for your input. I appreciate all your thoughts and suggestions.
Perhaps if you had a PhD (or perhaps a Masters) in such things, you could teach them at a university, though you’d probably need to have exceptional Chinese. To be honest though, I think it’s unlikely even under such circumstances. There have been threads here before about academics in non-EFL areas.
As for the public school system, I can’t say for sure, but you’d probably need to have a Taiwanese education degree.
In the private sector, you could perhaps get a job teaching art at an international school, or you might be able to do art at a language school (but you would still essentially be there as an EFL teacher).
The point in all of this is that the demand (dwindling as it is) is for EFL teachers. There are more than enough qualified Taiwanese people in other areas – most education graduates (as in more than 90%) can’t get jobs in public schools because there aren’t enough jobs – so there would be no need to get a foreigner to do such jobs.
You might find a class or two where you can teach artsy stuff in English but to support yourself you’ll probably have to teach English to 6-12 yr olds. Yes there will be exceptions but those exceptions will require a network of contacts to even be possible. And even then I would imagine that you would be a struggling artist that is considered poor compared to your typical English teacher (definitely not rich).
If you are teaching in an international / bilingual school there are positions for teaching subjects other than English, such as Maths, the sciences, social studies, PE, etc. However you would require a teaching degree/license from your home country to be eligible. This would not be the case if you are married to a local and do not require the school to apply for a visa for you. However, if you’re doing it on your own, qualifications are essential.
interesting… so please allow me to clarify this if i may. would that mean if i were already the resident there, then i could just teach at an international bilingual school without a teaching degree or license…? and would that also kinda mean that i’ll sorta be teaching in… um “under the table” kinda situation…? but hey, if that works then why not…? and yes, i could bust in both madarian and local taiwanese dialect rather fluently… lol
oh, and I’m the type of person who always waits for the movie to come out…!! :roflmao: I think I’ll definitely be more passionate in art and design subjects which is my profession anyway.
but hey, if that works then why not…? and yes, i could bust in both madarian and local taiwanese dialect rather fluently… 
lol