Nin Hao!
I have recently been offered a job at Wenzao Ursuline College of Languages, in Kaohsiung and would like to know about the reputation of this college.
I will appreciate any infor you can get me .
Thanks
Madame
I don’t know how it’s rated now but a decade ago it was already a school with good reputation on its language courses.
When I was in the 3rd year of junior high, my teacher said that if I’m so keenly interested in English, I could consider studying in this Wenzao College. (However my dream was to study in Taipei First Girl’s Senior High so I didn’t think about it.) I think it is still a very good school because I’ve seen some buxibans using Wenzao for their names.
Sorry that I can’t help much. 
This is all I know about the school.
I interviewed down there (quite a few years ago now, like about 10 ) but they seemed well-organized and serious at that time. I had the impression that it wouldn’t be a bad place to work – apart from the fact that I really wanted to stay in Taipei and they are in Kaohsiung, that is.
Just be sure to determine whether "exceptions’ to your contract need to be written down or whether it would be better, for that particular institution’s culture, to simply “fail to do things” or to “take longer vacations”, etc. etc. and then do whatever seems appropriate.
Their reputation, past and present is…Excellent.
In the old (30 years ago old) days the school was staffed with Spanish speaking Jesuit priests…Don’t know if that is still the case, but the school enjoys a solid reputation to this day.
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This is an excellent school. It is famous for it’s foreign language teaching.
My wife’s two cousins studied there and loved it.
I’d jump in with both feet.
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Ironlady,
Thanks so much for the comments about the contract. It is actually one concern I have since I am used to American contracts that carry a lot more value. I am not sure how to approach it first because it is a different culture and the people might not like the fact I don’t “trust” them and second I don’t know how protected I will be if it is not written down. There is no section for instance that talks about housing and travel expenses that were promised in the ad.
Hi,
Money issues might have to be written down formally…other things like precisely how many days off you have, or precisely how many hours you have to be physically present in your office, could be sort of informally or even tacitly negotiated. The best thing to do is (if you can!) consult a Taiwanese person – hopefully one who has spent time in the West and understands about the Western academic environment and expectations – and pick his or her brain on the specific culture of THAT school and THAT department.
I had a truly horrible time adjusting to the culture in one particular university I taught at while in Taiwan. Eventually everything turned out okay, but it turned out that they expected things to be “not said” – i.e, the janitor would say vaguely that he thought I was likely in the library, when he knew perfectly well i was in the States for three weeks. Stuff like that. Everyone was happy if they officially didn’t know quite what was going on. 
But every school and every department is different.
Good luck.
Good schoo, but they work their teachers to the bone, I’ve heard.
that is what is seems. I have talked to a student and she said that the classes have an average of 50 students! and they pay like 55000 for 16 hours a week, which I think is ok, but for the number of students…
PS I am very scared to sign a contract with them because several items that are crucial like housing stipend and airfare are not in the contract.
I would not expect to receive either a housing stipend or airfare from a university as a faculty member based in Taiwan. Were you going to live in Taipei and commute to Kaohsiung, or are you talking about moving to Taiwan from overseas? If so you might have a shot at it, but if you’re already in Taiwan I think it would be very unusual to be offered anything that an ordinary Taiwanese teacher with the same credentials would be offered.
I taught at Taipei Medical University, NTU and NTNU and never heard a word about either housing or airfare.
As for 50 in a class – be glad it’s not 60. Lots of universities have that many. One tack is to demand that your classes be taught in the language lab – that way you can effectively “eavesdrop” without anyone knowing whom you’re listening to at any given time (lots of fun esp. if you learn a few words of Taiwanese to scare 'em with.)
Just a quick update on Wenzao –
they do pay NT$5,000 a month during the first year as a contract teacher for housing
the base pay is still NT$55,000 a month for 16 hours teaching and 2 service hours
they only offer those without a PhD a contract teaching job – most of which are not renewed after the first year
the college’s reputation exceeds the current reality of the situation (e.g. quite a few English graduates can not pass the exit English examination 
)