I’ve been very obsessed with Taiwan for a couple years. I don’t know why this country is of great interest to me, but since I’m almost 23 and have nothing going for me, I feel like relocating is possible. The only reason why I haven’t jumped the gun is because I’m scared of being broke living on a TEFL salary.
I’m from the US, have a BA in linguistics from a top school. Work history is quite short; I’ve been working for 6 months at a pretty big university as an administrator in the East Asian Studies Department (how fitting). My degree had me focused on Japanese and Mandarin language (mostly 北京话儿) so I can speak a bit of both. I went to Asia for the first time in 2024 in Seoul and didn’t have time to visit Taiwan (I regret not going). needless to say, East Asia is my bailiwick.
My idea is to spend 3 months at a mandarin training center (maybe with a scholarship but I will plan for no financial support). Then, I’d love to work in international sales or work in a university. Universities here are a sinking ship and I’d love to go overboard.
When i was younger, I wanted to go to high school abroad, not realizing how insanely unrealistic that was for my poor, lower class parents.
I’d like to know if this is just another unrealistic dream. I feel too optimistic. Things dont work out for me often, so I’d like a slap in the face before I end up saving tons of money for a stupid fantasy. My parents moved to the US with nothing, and are now living their American dream. But that was back in 2001 and they were somewhat refugees. I feel like things are harder now.
If you’re scared of going broke, go to China first. The salaries are 2-3x higher than in Taiwan and most offer free housing, so there are minimal setup costs beyond the flight (which is reimbursed after 1 year). Since most people there don’t speak any English you’ll get an intensive 24/7 Mandarin course for free. The downside is that you’ll have to put up with living in China for a year, but after that you’ll easily have enough money to take the plunge into Taiwan. It’ll be a bit of a sacrifice (China isn’t for everyone) but you can save without even trying there, so plenty of startup money for sunnier Taiwan.
a free intensive mandarin course would be nice tbh. trying to find a good job in china kinda intimidates me because of how big the country is, meaning there are more scams
You can work for a public university. The pay is lower than the private institutions but the hours are low (15-20 a week) and it’s easygoing, low stress. Downsides are working in the middle of nowhere, as most are located on the outskirts of the cities and China’s cities are HUGE, meaning it may take an hour bus ride to get to a supermarket with cheese.
If you just want to go for maximum RMB, training centers and kindergartens abound. Much more stress, though, and if you work for a training center you’ll have to work a 1-9 schedule + weekends (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursdays off) which makes it hard to squeeze in much of a life. Also at a lot of places you’ll be teaching behind glass windows so that potential customers can see the foreign monkey in action. Also, the deal breaker - NO HOLIDAYS! Except for the two weeks of Chinese New Year, that is. With unis and high schools you get standard summer & winter breaks. Another downside: do not offer housing. Universities and high schools provide you with on campus apartment or housing subsidy. On the plus side, they are usually located closer to the center of cities.
A good middle ground would be a high school. Try to aim for one with an “International School”(see note below) with a relatively small group of elite students who are prepping for college overseas. But even then you still may have to teach some regular public school classes - 50 noisy kids with barely any English, impossible nightmare to teach. Usually 20-30 hours a week + maybe a few office hours. Better pay than universities and less hours/stress than buxibans.
There are just as many scams in Taiwan, too. It’s a sleazy industry. One piece of advice: do not under any circumstances start work at a school until they have sorted out your working visa. Don’t trust any school that tells you to just come over on a tourist visa and we’ll work it out while you’re here. It is a scam! It’s a very common scam in China. More often than not, the school will NOT obtain you a Z-Visa, you will be working illegally and forced to make expensive visa runs to Hong Kong every 60 days.
Oh, and for my note about International schools - REAL international schools are the creme de la creme of jobs in teaching overseas, but you don’t have the credentials or experience yet to nab one of those. However in China all a school needs to do is slap International on its name and it can market itself as such. Plenty of high schools have programs labeled as International for wealthy & upper middle class kids who intend to take the IELTS/TOEFL and study abroad. You can find one of those with a little luck.
Best advice for China I think is find the city you want to work in then look for a job there. Chengdu, Chongqing, Guiyang and Wuhan are all big but manageable, and as long as you are near a subway station it’s all good. Taiwan is a great option too, but its undeniable that they pay peanuts here in comparison.
Guiyang has a subway station now? I didn’t care for it, too rainy and the internet connection was horrible because it’s isolated in the mountains, and southwest cuisine is bland when unspiced & inedibly hot when covered up in all those red peppers they sprinkle over everything. I would add Changsha (Hunan), Xiamen (Fujian), Suzhou (Jiangsu), and Nanjing to that list as most livable Chinese cities. Both Nanjing and Changsha are college towns - lots of major universities there, you’ll meet a lot of students your age. I would pick Nanjing over Changsha, though - Hunan is scorching hot in food & weather! Suzhou is a small city short bullet train ride from Shanghai and hailed as China’s best city to live, which may make it difficult to find work because so many other people want to live there. Xiamen is a ferry ride away from Kinmen - hey, if you want to go to Taiwan so bad, that’s by far your best choice! Best seafood in China, too, a big tourist industry town with nice beaches and a mountain next to the main university for hiking in the center of town.
Why? There’s no Taiwanese equivalent of the “Korean Wave” happening right now, unless you’re really into boba tea and scooters.
Wait, you don’t even know yourself?
Who cares? You’re 23. Your 20s are meant for being perpetually broke and impulsive. I’m sure some scold will tell me this is wrong and you should save, but your 20s are for having fun and living off instant ramen noodles in an apartment the size of a shoebox is part of that experience!
Um, yeah, I have news for you… universities here are shutting all the time so don’t expect things will be better on that front, especially if you only have a Bachelor’s.
People come here to work all the time. Didn’t seem that unrealistic for them. You’re in your early 20s. Come and try. But you’ll most likely end up at a buxiban and not a uni. But worst case scenario it doesn’t work and you go home after a year.
I checked and I’d only qualify if i worked in education administration for 5 years AND make 160k/month; i make about haalf of that and I only have a few months of work experience in this field I dont know of any higher education job in the US that pays that much per month besides a Dean
probably stems from my mandarin teacher in high school being from taipei. Why does one like a specific flavor of ice cream? or like a certain genre of entertainment? not super easy to explain right? its that kind of thing.
I do unfortunately. i did the broke-young-adult thing in college, i feel like im too “old” to be okay with being perpetually broke. I know im not old though. like i have only $1000USD in retirement, I’m lagging behind bit.
I suppose youre right. I think with my degree i can work in public schools since linguistics falls under the “or other related degrees” when it comes to “English or other related degrees” requirement for most recruiters, and I can get a sub license and TEFL cert if needed. I dont expect to work in a uni without an MA or work experience. I was thinking more administration with international programs in unis but that might just be wishful thinking. I think im overthinking this a bit. A year abroad feels like a lifetime.
Because you’re 23. A year for me flies by. Like, I look at pics from a year ago and it feels like last week. I’m in my early 40s. I worked in Korea for 6 years, and Taiwan almost a decade. I wouldn’t change anything.
I dont know of any higher education job in the US that pays that much per month besides a Dean