Coming back to teaching ESL/EFL

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
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I am curious. Have many people here done ESL/EFL teaching (overseas/Asia) for a significant period (5+ years), left for a different career, and then come back to it? If yes, why? If you did it for a long time, and are currently in a different career, and are thinking of going back to teaching ESL, why?

In my assumptions, this includes people who left Asia (or Taiwan) for their home country to start the “other” career, and then we’re considering moving back to Asia to start teaching again. However, it also would include those who stayed in Taiwan (or wherever in Asia), switched careers, and then came back.

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If someone went back, found a job as software engineer for example, why would they come and teach again ? I think it is better to find job in your own field once you switch a career.

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@moniesz That is exactly what I was asking. The thing is, some people want to move back to Asia, and maybe: a) are in a field/career that is very specialized (law, medicine, etc.) that doesn’t transfer easily to an Asian country, or b) are in a field/career that is very high stress and time consuming, and they don’t want to do it anymore.

IMHO, one major advantage that ESL teaching in Asia (at least the buxiban route) has over other jobs (in Taiwan and other Asian countries), is that it pays an ok living wage, while not being a massive time suck. It is not unusual to work 2-7pm at a buxiban for 50-60K NT$ per month, if not a bit more. I know this is not a ton of money, but in Taiwan and the rest of most of Asia, it is not bad, and if your retirement finances are already in order, it does give you a living wage with mornings, evenings, and weekends free.

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I had gotten bored after 10 years of ESL and wanted something different, so I went back to uni in my country for a PhD (7 years). I’m going back to Asia because I miss the expat lifestyle, I miss the teaching (and Asian students are generally very pleasant to work with, turns out research isn’t my passion), and COVID has made non-ESL university jobs very difficult to get. I like(d) being an English teacher, and with my qualifications and experience can live fairly well without finding the work stressful. Since my income as a doctoral student has been a patchwork of contracts, my annual income will actually be higher by teaching full time, paying lower taxes, and having a lower cost of living. For me, going back to ESL in Asia (first time in Taiwan, but never in a cram school) is an easy decision.

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‘Serial’ is like episodic TV, published in parts (Dickens and Tolstoy, for example, published novels in pieces); I think @noWhiners is having trouble following the discussion in the three above and not sure how your two posts are connected by the one in the middle by @moniesz

I’m quite confident that I answered the significant question as written by you in your first post, in part because you wrote it so clearly and correctly. On second glance it is true your second post has some academically non-standard written English (as does mine), but as you mentioned this is an Internet forum (so what’s the big deal?).

Something about people in glass houses throwing stones. @noWhiners seems to have missed the point, cannot follow the discussion, and is criticizing your communications rather unclearly. Alcohol, involved may be.

Anyways, @Noel, I wouldn’t worry about it too much :slight_smile: , or your request for information might get derailed by pedants!

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Don’t just think about it…do it, do it, do it.

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@flatlandr Truly awesome - I remember those ads on TV when I was a kid; thank you.

Sadly, it is not that simple. I am married, with a 9 year old son (homeschooled mind you, so that makes it a touch easier), and a mortgage, etc.; all of the trappings of a modern western life. If any of you have followed my threads before, the biggest issue for me is that my job is a well paid ($100K+ CAN), high stress position.

The biggest issue of all is my pension. If I can hold off 3 years, I can retire with a pension of around $30K CAN a year. If I can handle 10 more years, my pensions jumps to almost $50K a year. On a side note, in 3 years I will be 50, and in 10 years, I will be 57. This situation is often called, “golden handcuffs” for good reasons: I make good money, have a great defined benefits pension (which is unheard of these days), and just need to work long hours, in a high stress position, in a city I hate.

One of the only other options is moving back to Taiwan and teaching (among other things) on the Gold card visa (initially until APRC) for 13 years. At 60, I could collect my pension (if I retire before 50, I don’t lose my pension, I just can’t take it until 60). To be honest, that seems a long time to teach full-time at buxibans, but I did it for 10 years before, so I could probably do it again.

As it looks right now, we will probably tough it out for the 3 years, and then decide. That way we could move to Taiwan, I can get a pension of around $50K NT a month, and just work for some extra spending money, and focus on the things I love. With this thread, I just wanted to see other people’s experiences with such a large decision.

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Thanks @TT. Your response was exactly the sort of experience I was curious to hear. I have taught at universities, both in Taiwan and Canada, but I think these days the requirements are a fair bit more stringent - I doubt I would qualify. As I said in another post, we will likely wait it out for 3 years, when we will be in a very good financial position, and then make a decision.

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I’ve done pretty much what you’re asking about. I had a previous career that paid well before I came to Taiwan. I was an avid traveller and stumbled upon Taiwan in the late 90’s. I stayed here 15 years teaching ESL and saved no money. I stayed because of friends and I enjoyed the quality of life and easy access to nature, hiking and biking. I also liked the social stability, low crime rate and friendliness of the Taiwanese people (although I wouldn’t describe them as friendly any more). My career is not transferable but fortunately I really liked teaching and was good at it even though I can’t write and have poor understanding of grammar. I had held off returning to my home country as long as I could but the writing was on the wall. ESL pay in Taiwan was stagnant. Finding decent teaching jobs was becoming very difficult and my mom was getting old. I’m single with no kids so it is easier for me to move about. After returning to my home country, I worked for five years in my career. I went into full miser mode. I saved as much as I could fully knowing that I’d most likely never be returning. Spent a couple of years in China and now in Taiwan probably until the end.

I very much can relate to your situation. Minus the wife and child, I’ve pretty much done what you’re planning to do. I do highly recommend trying to get that last three years in if you can as the market for older teachers is small now and getting ever smaller in Taiwan. By older I mean anyone over the age of 35. If you have a lot of connections with friends and schools you should be alright. If not, could be tough getting a job in Taipei. That’s where a monthly pension of 50k would make a huge difference.

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@ralphert Thanks for the advice. It is good to know the teaching environment for older teachers these days. I do have some connections that likely will be of help though.

If we take the leap in 3 years, I will likely just work a couple of hours a day, either through a buxiban teaching older kids, or teaching adults in the evening. This would primarily be for some spending money, as well as for NHI. My mornings I would be homeschooling my son, and my other time would be for side-gigs and our family business (which are possible on a gold card), exercise and music. Thanks for letting me know your experience.

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As someone in mid 50s I suggest that you find hobby(ies) and project(s) to help you to pass the time in a city that you dislike and concentrate on the end game of your CPP. Three years will fly if you stay busy.

The only serious concern is what happens to Taiwan after the present pandemic. Unfortunately the emperor has his plan for the island. Look at HK now.

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That is the plan. The thing is, a big part of the plan was to travel to other (warm) countries during the very long (minimum 4 months, often closer to 6), very cold (average temperature -20C, often closer to -40C) winters in Winnipeg. This has become impossible with Covid, and has an impact that people living in warmer climates can’t understand.

I used to play music as well, to the point that I taught a fair bit, and performed as well. After several injuries to my left arm, that has become close to impossible.

So I have resorted to running 3-4 times a week as my major respite for now. Running seems to fit me just fine, and I have been feeling better overall, and lost some weight as a side effect. It has helped a lot, and as you have said, it is just a matter of time.

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And by the way, do you know anyone who works at LTTC?

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When I’ve seen ads in a Chinese newspaper it seems all the ads say 25 or younger

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To answer the original question, I would if I could, but I can’t. After teaching in kids’ buxibans ≫full time for several years, I know I could not go back to it for more than a brief stretch. Don’t love it enough and don’t have the energy these days to do something I don’t love. And being in my mid-50s, it is not like the buxibans would be out there trying to drag me back from retirement. If my vague and currently derailed plans to return to Taiwan come to fruition, I will probably open a consultancy specific to my profession and might include English instruction as a part of that.

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Good idea. That is something I have considered as well. It would definitely take some time to develop the relevant contacts/guanxi to make inroads into whatever field you have experience in, but I think it would be worth it.

I would likely just need to pick up about 8-10 hours a week at first, maybe less once our family business gets fully transferred from Canada to Taiwan. This could be teaching adults or kids or whatever. I could do pretty much anything for 8-10 hours a week, so whatever comes my way.

I suppose my biggest concern would be if my Canadian pension income is considered for eventual APRC financial requirements. I will declare it to the Taiwanese tax bureau every year as overseas income, so we will see I suppose.

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Wow…that’s pretty surprising but not really when you think about it.

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IMHO, that is likely for Chinese teaching assistants. Very few foreign English teachers are reading Chinese language papers looking for jobs.

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Long time no see all!

I taught ESL for about four years and then found myself in business and then back to my hole country. I’ve saved nothing and pension is pittance, like maybe 500NT a month!

However I do have about 11 years of state pension contributions in Taiwan so I’m thinking it might be best to return to finish that off and enjoy teaching again.

But I’m also 40!!!

Is that realistic or do I gotta suck it up and get used to being cold!

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That had a grammar rock air to it.