As far as foreign professionals and not contract workers which is what I was posting about. Those that can go on to get APRC or citizenship after 5 years of working here.
if you limit to foreign professionals, each of japanese and malaysian may be about equal to collective westerners.
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For what it’s worth, I came to Taiwan at age 45, fulfilling a lifelong dream to try living in another country. Although it was my first time living in a foreign country, I feel my own life experience at that age was helpful in adapting to life here.
But yes, as mentioned above, be sure to think about what will happen when you decide to retire. Since I’m American and contributed to Social Security for almost 30 years, I’m fortunate in that I will receive a retirement income that will stretch much further in Taiwan than it would in the United States.
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You said “most foreigners in Taiwan” and “largest foreign groups in Taiwan”. Whatever shitty policies the Taiwanese government has with respect to migrant workers, there’s no reason for us to exclude them from these two descriptions here.
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ok my point stands most foreigners are not English teachers 
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Do it with few expectations and you’ll be alright.
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Some people just decide they will make a life in Taiwan. Some have moved here keeping their employment from overseas and some just come regardless. There are many pros to living in Taiwan. Medical coverage here something the average American can only dream of. On the other hand pensions are not very good so saving is important. I was a late saver and investor of stocks. I will also like some others get a pension from overseas to help out.
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From my perspective, as someone who moved here in my early 30s the most important thing by far is to learn Chinese, and to do that you need to study it seriously, an every day commitment. Because if you don’t you won’t just ‘pick it up’ or gradually learn it over time. I thought that would happen, it didn’t, its only improved after a strong commitment to it - in recent years - the majority of my time here I had very minimal chinese and that is absolutely not the way to go here.
Its made a big improvement to my life, possibly because I never felt much of a connection speaking English with most Taiwanese people, and my humour went over their heads 99% of the time.
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my humor goes over my wife’s head 99% of the time and she’s known me 20+ years, ha
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Some people can, I do. I don’t learn as fast as if I studied, but for daily needs or patient dates Google translate fills in the gaps. OP did say they have a foundation already, and immersion and practice for some people is enough for their needs.
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Yes, I studied 20 hours a week at a university course. 8am - 12pm.
Made my life here a whole lot easier.
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tbh covering your daily needs doesn’t require a lot of Chinese. I was getting by for years. Although it was really just getting by, it wasn’t a great way to live.
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If you have the time and the money and find a decent teacher, classes can be worthwhile. Some people need it and benefit a lot. If you already have some speaking ability and some experience as a language teacher, you probably already know if classes would be worth it for you. Everyone is different.
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I started off as an English teacher before transitioning into technical writing, which is a common move for English teachers wanting to get out of teaching in Taiwan. The thing is, technical writing in Taiwan is pretty much the bottom of the barrel for tech jobs and is essentially “English editing”. When I moved back to London, I realised that technical writing is taken a lot more seriously in the West and, if you’re technically proficient enough to write developer documentation, you can make a six-figure salary. Going back to Taiwan as a technical writer (unless you’re a manager) means sacrificing a fairly good salary in a city with an unlimited supply of good companies and opportunities for career progression to get an English-teacher salary while putting in more hours than an English teacher.
But this is one of many sacrifices that those crazy older people like myself have chosen to make to live in Taiwan. It’s definitely not for everyone, but I could write pages and pages about why it’s worth it for me.
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touche!
Unless you can get a uni job teaching English I wouldn’t do it. You’ll be ok in your 30s at private Cram schools but the older you get the less positions open.
Then factor in the falling birth rates. It ain’t what it used to be. Plus many cram school managers and owners are lunatics.
If you are diligent, open minded, logical and capable of accomplishing tasks that might it even be known at the onset…Taiwan is your oyster.
Learning Mandarin is also a huge bonus, if anything.it allows you gear the behind scenes and get a sense if what is happening without being invited. crucial for business.
If you want to do cram school teaching, hit or miss. some love it, many quit and move on. But that isnt so much about Taiwan so much as about that industry 
Same goes for labor jobs. there are numerous opportunities here for those interesting in doing the work At least in my opinion
To be fair,if you meet all those requirements above, any country is probably possible Seems to depend more on you rather than the country. The laws are already established and set out. up to us to navigate them And, over time, perhaps try to influence them. this last part is really the best part about Taiwan in my opinion, aside from the nature and geography.
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I’ve just come out of hospital after a 5 days stay. I have a bacterial infection in my leg. I saw two specialists and our whole conversations except for a few special terms which a lot of people would not even know in their own language my whole conversations were in Chinese.
Fortunately on one of the diving forums I am in one of the US members is a retired infectious disease specialist who shared some information with me for my specialists here in Taiwan.
Yes my specialists know the English terms for the things we were discussing. Those terms I did not know the Chinese words for. I really do appreciate the NHI system here.
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Some people would consider us folks hardcore. I know when I wrote on this forum in a citizenship thread that I had no intention of ever living in Australia again I was called a troll. Some people just cannot accept that some immigrants will make a life in Taiwan come what may.
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There are parts of Taiwan that are utterly beautiful, such as where Sat lives up in the mountains, and he runs a business. That sounds bliss.
But I remember drinking with Comrade Stalin at the PostHome back in the early 2000s and watching some of the foreign clientele in urban settings. It could have been a scene from One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (not the Comrade and I of course 
).
It taught me a very valuable lesson–have your exit strategy if you live in an urban area. Whether it is rural Taiwan, another Asian country, home country, Europe etc. Taiwan is not a country for a foreigner to grow old in within urban landscapes unless you are a good saver, are an entrepreneur or are professionally certified in something etc.
The experience I obtained in tech and government diplomacy was pretty cool in my 20s, but I also realized, Taiwan is a country of migrant workers. They come and go. Watching newcomers have those same experiences I did in my 20s would be really cool, but also reiterates that as a 50 something, you will lose your marketability in many areas—there will always be a new and well educated Johnny Backpacker willing to undercut and ingratiate and most Taiwanese are unable to differentiate quality…I was very lucky in that I worked for mostly US Taiwanese joint nationals that could differentiate, at least in the private sector.