Hi there,
I have been working at a private school in Taipei for the last 13 years. I enjoy teaching the students (Grade 1) but have becoming jaded with some of the demands being placed on teachers by management.
Has anyone here or someone you know been able to creat a portfolio of 1-1 tutoring or group classes? I’d love to here about some of the success stories.
Thanks
E
I’m interested in starting an online school. I’ve got some experience and a plan if you are interested.
Great side game, but only side game. I liked doing it on my Sundays. Best is to have elementary for consistency. Working adults change hours before but 10yr olds can’t.
While we’re on the subject, to supplement my dwindling finances (two children aren’t cheap) I need to pick up some tutoring hours but haven’t dabbled much in it before (despite living here for 8 years). Is there a good FB group for tutoring in Taiwan, either online or in person? Thanks in advance.
You might want to consider online IELTS examining. It wasn’t right for me, but I know a few guys who make reasonable money.
Thanks. @TT mentioned that as well. Should I just google IELTS or is there a local institute in Taiwan I should seek out?
I believe the way is to start your own business as a teacher. Surely with 13 years at the same school you should be in good standing with parents. Moving to another school not an option?
There are those who do very well with teaching as a business. Gives you the flexibility to teach to your own standards.
British Council or IDP.
I have thought about doing that. Are there any Forumosans who have have managed to create and sustain their own teaching business? I would imagine there is a lot of tips they could give in regards to what and what not to do. If you are one of those, I’d love to hear from you.
Like you, I worked at the same school for awhile, 12 years. The decision to “start my own business” (basically just private tutoring) kind of fell into my lap when the school suddenly closed. I had developed many relationships over those 12 years, so in my case the students came to me and I had to turn some away. The past three years have been the best of my working career here.
As @Satellite_TV said, your 13 years at the same school should be a good advantage, but avoid the appearance of “stealing” their students.
Advantages: All the money I earn is mine, I teach the way I want, half of my students are adults, I set my own schedule, and taking time off is easy.
Disadvantages: Some students can be flakey, as in missing classes, but I haven’t found that to be much of a problem at all. Ha, maybe I’m just lazy.
It can’t always be avoided. Business is business, and people free to do what they want in the end.
I know someone who started online group classes during the quasi-lockdown and is still doing it now as a sideline in the evenings. He has over 50 students too so does very well.
Ditto.
I concur.
I made the mistake of not keeping in contact with adult students out of respect for the school. I don’t miss having to take whatever walks through the door though.
Great point!
I thought JD Smith owned his own schools here before? Maybe I am mistaken. I have a couple of friends who own language schools. One worked for his school for more than a decade then when the owner wanted to retire he bought the business. Comes in as a teacher one month as the owner the next. He kept all his local and foreign teachers as well.
Another has been here since 1984. He studied Chinese at Shihfan uni for two years. We both did immigration and education consulting until around 1997. After that I moved south he is in Taoyuan where he is and his wife teach. They own their own school and they do all the teaching. They work Thursday Friday Saturday & Sunday. They have around 20 plus students per class. It is a business so it brings in around 9k an hour. They do pay 100k a month in rent but do very well. They have one admin staff.
My wife and I ran a small school in Alishan called Mind Your Language. Not licensed just taught from the property we owned and a rented place in another town. We made a decent living but there were others business that were better for me. I did get government contracts up in Alishan at 2k an hour. Thing is the selection criteria specified a native speaker of English with household registration in a local Alishan aboriginal village. Can’t say there are too many of those around lol.
One should not worry that if you left a school students would leave the school and follow the teacher. Chinese teachers also do this all the time. They work for a long time, leave, parents and their kids want to be with that teacher. That’s life.
Thing is you take 5 students in a class at 300 an hour each and get 20 hours a week teaching hours then you would be doing well yes? 10 students a class and doing very well. One of my Taiwanese friends left the school she was teaching at, and now teaches all the students at her home. She does smaller numbers of students but pulls in decent money. She teaches Math and English
If you want to be a one person show it can get overwhelming. Having a great manager that can “sell” your class is important. It’s also important to involve the parents to build and maintain relationships. Parents love to brag about awesome teachers so word of mouth is a huge part of advertising.
I’ve looked at online class as a way to escape back home to the US. It would be odd hours but, at the very least, there would be no interruption from working in Taiwan. It would even be possible to become a digital nomad. Making money on vacation does seem like an attractive proposition.
Like I say, I’ve been seriously looking at this business model for a while so HMU if you are ready to join the team.
For those that did work by just tutoring or opening up your own classes, how did you go about paying taxes on that income? For reasons related to a pension scheme in my home country, I would need to have proof of paying taxes next year.
I just keep track of my income, and in May I go to the tax office and show them the figure I’ve written down on a piece of paper. They’ve never asked for any official type of document, and they fill out everything for me. Of course, they issue the tax return/payment documents for your records. This is in Taoyuan.
But you could write any number down no?
They’re probably so shocked that anyone declares that they’ll accept anything they get.