[quote=“itakitez”]The original question is “are ESL teachers well paid?” Therefore, comparison with other professions is totally acceptable and, in comparison with minimum wage, other teachers in Taiwan and other professionals, ESL teachers come out top or high with very little experience, not much more than an undergrad degree and zero experience.
Also, the top schools here must be better than the shit schools in the west. I work with many engineers and scientists and their subject knowledge is good to excellent. I would much rather hire an NTU science grad than a Manchester Metropolitan grad. Therefore, the fact these guys are making less than the ESL teachers with pitiful grammar and degrees in “photography” is pretty shameful, so yes, ESL teachers are well paid.
Political science I wouldnt know about.
In regard to driving a black BM, well the question was never “are you going to retain a top 2% salary teaching english?” Note that “old money” is different from “new money”, which is again another comparison for which wise investments and lucky inheritance is required. My neighbor works a shit job but rents out a factory that his dad owned, makes over 100k a month from that alone so doesnt need to earn more.[/quote]
Your replies are full of so many fallacious arguments and contradictions, it is almost impossible to respond to any of it.
I am pretty sure no one is saying EFL teachers are getting peanuts, but most would agree that while a single person can live in relative comfort, the pay is far from fantastic.
You talk in generalizations and offer no solid support. I will show some numbers to try and explain the situation.
If you want to look at a one vs. one scenario, I can show you a comparison between a local EFL teacher and a foreign one. This example come from a private elementary school.
Local Teacher: 4-year English Education Degree from a Taiwanese university taught by Taiwanese Profs. A 1-year (insert and random English related course) MA from (insert random British Uni). = 1 year of post high school education in English under the supervision of native speakers.
No job experience (except a PT non-teaching job while in uni)
Salary was 40k/month (+ 2400 pension) = 42400 month.
Bonus was 1 1/2 months salary = 60k (however, the first year you only get half, and you won’t get the full amount until your second year).
other notes 1. could claim “being tired” as an excuse to dodge non-teaching duties 2. more local teachers meant less individual material creation (share with the other 10 teachers who are all teaching the same beginner level class) 3. HW grading consists of checking neatness on writing the alphabet, and checking multiple choice questions 5. unless you spit on the admins and defecate their desks in front of others, your contract renewal is all but guaranteed, thus making it possible to get your full bonus 6. Oh, and “talent show” and “mini-book” is always acceptable when asked for a holiday event
Foreign Teacher: 16 years of education in an all English environment. 4 of those years are spent in a western university that teaches you how to think, not copy.
Every single foreign teacher had EFL teaching experience
Salary was 60k/month (no pension) = 60000 month.
Bonus was 1 1/2 months salary = 90k (however, the first year you only get half, and you won’t get the full amount until your second year [almost impossible]).
other notes 1. could not claim “being tired” as an excuse to dodge non-teaching duties 2. less foreign teachers meant more individual material creation (and higher levels were more spread out, so maybe only 50% of your classes materials could be shared, if you were lucky) 3. HW grading consists of checking essays and Q and A work 5. unless you bend over your desk for the admins in front of others, your contract renewal is all but impossible, thus making it impossible to get your full bonus 6. Oh, and “talent show” and “mini-book” are never acceptable when asked for a holiday even
EDIT: I almost forgot, for those that stayed a second year, regardless of whether local or foreign, they got a 1000NT/month raise. (For a foreigner that would be a 1.7% raise, but for a local that would be a 2.5% raise, and you can see that while they both are not great, inflation is outpacing the foreign teachers’ salary:
in.reuters.com/article/asiaCompa … 8220090105
[I would also like to add that those who studied education in Taiwanese unis almost always gave completely contradictory advice for things like classroom management and language acquisition compared to those who studied education is a western uni]
Now, as you can see, a foreign teacher in a private school was paid more then their local counterpart, but frankly, they were required to do more, and had more relative experience and education.
Buxiban is not entirely different, but there are some differences. One is the fact that while local teachers often get screwed with having to put in more office hours, they also teach maybe 1/3 the amount of time a foreigners. I cannot recount to amount of times I heard “Oh, Lisa can’t cover that class on Friday because that would mean she has to teach 4 hours that day. That is too much.” Um, what?
The biggest screw over to locals in the buxiban setting though is the parents, and that’s where they really get the raw deal. That however, doesn’t suddenly mean that foreign teachers are well-paid.