Yes you also wish death to people on here look how well you turned out.
There’s some good things about schooling in Taiwan.
More rigorous maths and of course Chinese language skills. Lots of after school and pre school clubs and activities in big schools.
Less violence and no jock culture so swots are even admired here. No religion in public schools.
Overall though the schools need a BIG shakeup they are set up for industrial economy not a post industrial rapidly changing global society.
Also many of the public schools have bars on their windows and look like prisons. How that was allowed to happen and continue is a disgrace.
I put global in there on purpose because Taiwan has dropped a bit off the map in terms of many of these changes. Some might like that Taiwan isn’t changing so rapidly but it means the kids may get a shock later on.
I speak Mandarin, English and French, I went to NTU, I passed the bar the year I graduated (btw the admission rate is only 10%), and I’m doing my master’s at a golden triangle uni. I’d say that’s pretty ok.
Emmm…You seen to have missed my point.
BTW are you picking up a degree in opium production from General Khun Sa? How is he doing these days ?
I don’t think Taipei will be what you think.
You are currently paying 2500 CAD, or 56k NT for rent. There is no chance you will get something as nice as you probably have now in Canada for 56k NT in Taipei. You can either take a big cut to living space, quality, or live far away from Taipei. If you want to live in Taipei and keep the same standard of living you have now, expect to pay much more than 2500 CAD.
Same goes for buying a house. The website you looked at is showing tiny, run-down, 50 year old apartments in the bad part of town for 300k. There is no decent apartment for a family of 4 in Taipei, especially in an English speaking neighborhood, for less than $600k, plain and simple.
Also your salary is currently 150k NT per month. That’s probably double what you’ll make here teaching English, and you unfortunately aren’t really eligible for an engineering job here without Mandarin. Or at least, it would be quite tough. Even if you could get an engineering job here, there is almost no chance it would start at $150k or more per month.
I recommend you reconsider Taipei and take a look at the Hsinchu Science Park instead. If you work at a company in the HSP, your kids can attend the English-language, American curriculum school there for free. Rent and house prices are around 30-50% lower than Taipei prices, and the median salary is higher.
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You make it sound like rent is more expensive in Taipei than in Toronto which cannot be further from the reality. It’s like half the price in Taipei. Unless you mean a big house with garden then that’s probably more expensive since there are no gardens in Taipei, then again I doubt 2500 CAD would get you a house with a garden in Tonroto since the rent of a 2 bedroom on average over there is 2500. In Taipei City it’s like 30k, which is less than 1500 CAD.
He’s killing Irishmen for a living now.
That’s great advice from Greves. I would heed that if insistent on coming to Taiwan.
The only thing I would say is that New Taipei City is pretty cheap to rent and easy to commute.
The real problem he will have moving to Taiwan is getting a well paid job straight off the bat. Hsinchu has less competition and more well financed employers. Broaden the scope of a job search to Intl sales/marketing/distribution for medical related industry and there are quite a few opportunities as many electronics companies have recently invested in medical device area.
Hsinchu also has pharma and biopharmaceutical companies and quite a few govt orgs such as ITRI that may well have positions available. A few years back ITRI was offering around 90k NTD per month for experienced professionals which is pretty decent in Taiwan but the benefits and vacation time sucked (although if schooling was included in Hsinchu Exp. School that would be pretty great). Still it would be a nice way to get started if they were hiring. There are some biopharna govt backed ventures which are in Hsinchu, do a Google search e.g.
There are WAY more pharma companies in China and also more investment but competition is fierce in China.
I think you could definitely get a job here of one sort or other in the industry it could just take some time and the pay may or may not meet your expectations.
I don’t really like Hsinchu too much but it’s where the money is usually. There are next to no opportunities in Taichung and Kaohsiung. Almost everything will be in Hsinchu and North of Hsinchu.
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Gain is correct about the rent, it’s really pretty reasonable especially if you step outside of Taipei City.
Then it’s anything from 30mins to 1 hour commute by MRT, bus , car, train or scooter. Loads and loads of options for accommodation and neighbourhood of choice . You can get a metro city travel pass for just 1280 NTD per month.
Even Taipei City has relatively cheap rents for a capital city but remember well paid jobs are harder to come by in Taipei than in many other Asian capitals.
This is true. I was mixing up my local with my bilingual, oops
Yeah but in third grade they go from 8am to 4pm three days a week and two half days, a lot of kids are doing after school programs as well.
If the kids wanted to study Chinese now it’s going to be serious hours.
Edited: corrected to three days a week full day
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Uh no, in third and fourth grade it’s 8am to 4pm for 3 days a week, in fifth and sixth grade it’s 4 days. And cram school is up to parents.
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It’s probably going to be cram school for any kids who want to catch up on very heavy Chinese loading…And written Chinese is really really heavy.
There’s no perfect situation . In public school their English will degrade. In private bilingual or truly intl school their Chinese probably won’t be great. If they don’t want to study in university here or work in Taiwan it’s not a big deal I guess.
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How much interior living space, and what quality of furnishings and so on?
You can indeed get a 30k 2br in Taipei. I just very much doubt it would be comparable to a 2500CAD 2br in Toronto. My guess is that you would need to spend equal or more to get a similar apartment, where “similar” extends beyond the number of bedrooms.
And yes, you can get a really nice 2 or 3br for 30k that will match or beat whatever OP has in Canada, but outside of Taipei, and probably with at least a 45min to 1hr commute.
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Wouldn’t a 45min or 1 hour commute be the norm in any big Western city ?
But it’s not the norm in Taiwan, where most people don’t have cars and most places are not car-friendly.
I have done a 1 hour commute by car in the US, and by car in Taipei. Its not comparable. Driving is multiple times more stressful and tiring here. Living within a short walk to any MRT station, even one an hour away from work, will be expensive.
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Trying to give you the facts you need.
We pay about what you pay in Canada to rent our place in Taipei. Similar family situation to you, 2 kids. Grocery prices are actually probably marginally more expensive than Sydney, but the quality of meat and veg is much worse (polluted water table). It’s really quite expensive here, dunno how locals survive. Some people are really good at penny-pinching, there was one dude on here who lives at the end of the metro line with some crazy low monthly budget, but for the average person it is a struggle here. Don’t take my word, make sure you check out those expat cost of living comparison websites as part of your research.
Good luck.
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Thank you all for the advice. I will look into Hsinchu and also into the possibility of getting a teaching licence. From what I remember, it takes at least 2 years to get into teaching in my province, and its a pretty rigid requirement. I am willing to take the time to make the move properly, but ideally would like to be ready in under 1 year.
Right now I take the subway to work, and my morning commute is 1hr here. I rent a very old house, but in a good neighborhood.
Usually 70-80 m2 and furnished.
That is completely untrue. The 30k is near a metro station and the commute won’t be 45 mins to 1hr. Just take a look at this 台北市租屋 | 房屋出租 - 591租屋網. There are plenty of options between 20 to 30k and they look ok.
The apartment building in which I used to live cost like 18k (so like 800 CAD), was in Banqiao, approximately 40 ping (which would be close to 140 m2), had 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchen, a dining room, and a living room, and the commute is less than 45 mins by public transportation. The quality and the area were quite shit though, but you get what you pay for.
I didn’t necessarily mean by car although to be honest I also think commuting by car is quite feasible due to relatively low cost of parking, tolls, maintenance, fuel, tax. But public transport options are myriad a car is not necessary. I live near end of green line and pay 26k ntd per month for apt with parking, elevator and security. It’s a 30 to 45 min commute by MRT it’s pretty easy living. I think the going rate is around 30k per month for a decent apartment with elevator on the MRT. You can get much cheaper and bigger apartments if just on a bus route.