I’m a 50-y-o man with dual nationality (Italian and British), who has been living and working in London for 23 years. I have extensive experience in various middle management roles, gained mainly in the translation and localisation industry. I also have a dream: to relocate to Taiwan by 2026 and start a new career as a teacher of English/ELA.
Ideally, I would like to teach in public schools. According to the information available on the TFETP website as well as the direct feedback that they’ve provided in response to my emails, I should be eligible to apply because I already hold a Bachelor’s degree in English and French Literature and a British Passport and, all going well, I will soon be adding to the mix my U.S. teaching certificate in Secondary ELA issued by Washington, D.C. Much to my surprise, the TFETP support team also confirmed that candidates who hold a valid state issued licence are welcome to apply even if they have no experience of teaching in Taiwanese public schools, or no teaching experience whatsoever. Which is exactly my case: I have zero experience of teaching, and I doubt I would be able to gain any substantial experience (even on a volunteering basis) while I reside in the UK, simply because I cannot afford to stop working full time to do that.
I would very much appreciate it if the readers of this post with any recent experience of working for Taiwanese public schools could spare a few minutes to answer the following questions: 1) As far as you know, can someone with my profile genuinely land a job in a public school? 2) Regardless of your answer to question 1, would you recommend I postponed my public school application and did at least one year in cram schools to learn the ropes first? 3) Should you be of the opinion that I would benefit from starting off from cram schools despite my licence, which cram schools would you recommend?
I am pleased that you asked that question. I hope that my answer satisfies your curiosity and makes other people feel less alone.
While my UK salary is not low, I am not a high earner either (sorry if the quick description of my work experience gave that impression - I didn’t mean it). Most importantly, the cost of living in London is infamously very high and ridiculously higher than anywhere in Taiwan, including Taipei. To give you a couple of quick examples: a return metro ride here costs around NTS 250, and that’s despite the fact that the metro network is falling apart because it’s one of the oldest in the world, it’s dirty, noisy, etc. A sad meal deal from one of the most popular supermarkets is at least NTS 400. Not to mention eating out and renting - let’s just not go there. Now, believe it or not, NTS 60000/month before taxes (which I believe is roughly the current minimum monthly salary for public school teachers) would go a much longer way than my twice as high net salary here in London. I visited Taiwan twice this year (in April and in October) and both times when I returned to London cried bitter tears, in GBP.
On a less practical but at least equally important level, there is the fact that I am utterly fed up with the cold and rainy weather here (I am actually a fan of the hot and humid, because I grew up in the south of Italy), the general attitude of the people (polite, yes, but nowhere near as friendly and easy going as in Taiwan), the rat race, the quality of the food (again, I told you where I grew up), and so on.
Last but not least, I love learning and I suspect that giving back/sharing some of my love for learning would finally make me feel good about my job. I have never really loved my jobs so far. They have been just good compromises.
Yes I think you can get a job in a public school at your age. I have met teachers even well into their 60s teaching in schools in Taiwan. I must caution that I have never met anyone teaching in the public schools of any age because they mostly do not teach in Taipei where I live. One reason I think it is possible is because of this promotional video that profiles older folks. Another reason is that I suspect that the program administrators think older people are more stable and less likely to be unhappy about the remote locations where most of the positions are. Promotional Videos - About TFETP - Taiwan Foreign English Teacher Program
I do not think you should teach in a cram school first. Cram schools are a bottom-feeder dying industry run by people who care about money not education. You will probably be disillusioned and will almost certainly not learn anything. Perhaps you might consider being a teacher assistant in a public school before becoming a teacher.
I do not think you would benefit at all from teaching in a cram school. Quite the contrary. It’s also important to be aware that there are also jobs at private schools in Taiwan that usually pay better and are in major urban areas. The Washington schools in Taichung are one example. There many others. I think a public school would be better for many reasons but a private school would be better than a cram school.
See if your current job can qualify you for a gold card. There are important advantages for immigration purposes. You can teach with a gold card. See Official Website | Taiwan Gold Card
You can try at first by teaching English online for a Chinese private school or something and see how you like interacting with kids etc. You could also teach online and live in Italy or Spain or something where the sun is shining, the prices are cheaper than the UK, the politics aren’t as woke and you’ll be more able to go about your day to day.
If I may ask - how come taiwan? There are plenty of options so was curious. Korea or the Middle east come to mind. The UAE for example gives preference to British passport holders.
Have you considered international private schools? I’m sure they’d appreciate someone with a current knowledge of the job market.
Most schools would appreciate that because too many teachers have just been….well…teachers and aren’t as familiar as you with how the real world really works.
Not a diss on teachers - just an angle he can work on and use to his advantage. I respect teachers and hire them for my kids so…just wanted to point that out.
Thank you so much for the encouraging answer and the very useful practical advice. I am familiar with that promotional video (the whole website, to be fair) and it immediately struck me that they chose to “showcase” two mature teachers rather than two young ones. So, it does look like good news for me, indeed. As for having to be sent somewhere remote and far from the big cities, I’m all up for it. Fewer expenses, quieter life, more disposable income for when I want to go to the cities or travel beyond Taiwan. That is such a nice prospect after more than two decades in London! I will check out the school and the other things that you mentioned. Thanks again - best reply so far
This is very sensible advice. I completely agree, and I had already thought about findings ways to try my hand at teaching, in some capacity, before buying my one way flight to Taipei.
Thank you very much for the insightful and thought provoking response. I could answer in many ways your question about my choice of Taiwan but, in a nutshell, I have always wanted to live in a very distant country and experience a very different culture and Taiwan seems to fit that bill perfectly for me (including the “woke” part, considering that I am a gay man of 50 who has been out of the closet for 30 years, therefore I also relate to Taiwan’s foremost role in the Asian LGBTQ+ community). This also explains why I would never want to live in the Middle East (it’s beautiful, I have visited a few ME countries but I could never live there). The same would apply to South Korea or Japan. Way too conservative for my liking. I’d rather move to a city like Chengdu which, despite the wider mainland China context and all that it implies, has got a lot more in common with Taipei than it meets the eye. On a very different note, Taiwan is also convenient to me because of its excellent public health system (they are world leaders in the therapies that the category of patients I belong to require so BINGO).
Italy? Maybe not. Been there, done that. Also too conservative. Spain? I love Spain, and especially Madrid, but I would reserve that for when I’m a bit older.
It’s important to understand that the foreign teachers are not in fact teachers under Taiwan law. A teacher is a kind of civil servant in Taiwan. Maybe Italy is the same.
In any event, my understanding is that the Taiwanese English teacher is in officially in charge of the class and that foreign ‘teacher’ has a supportive role. What actually happens in practice I suspect varies.
Nonetheless, Taiwanese teachers are highly trained professionals and I think most will be happy to help a respectful new teacher out. Obviously a foreign assistant should theoretically have even less responsibility.
Although I very much hope you will choose Taiwan, I think it only fair to point out that your characterization of Japan as highly conservative about LGBTA may be misinformed. It is true that its laws about marriage etc are very conservative and seem unlikely to change soon. But Japan historically has been a very important center of international LGBTA culture because its society is in fact quite tolerant. This is even more true in Thailand where there are also teaching opportunities.
But Taiwan is great too! The legal situation would make things easier if you found a partner here. Also, many (but not all) of the remote schools are in very beautiful places. Taiwan is extremely rugged and a biodiversity hotspot. Mountains especially good and also home to Taiwan’s indigenous communities. Be sure to mention in your materials that you look forward to teaching in one of those places and mention any other indices of stability that may apply. For example, maybe you have lived in the same parent or neighborhood in London for a long time? Stability in employment history?
Gold card income requirement is ridiculously low given it’s easy to meet if you work almost any middle class jobs in a western country. In most eu countries even burger flipping could put you into the income requirement if you put in a lot of hours (not that burger flipping counts).
There’s not a lot of takers and Taiwan do desperately need immigration, so definitely look into it if you can. If you could work remotely then you could live anywhere.
Though I honestly hate hot and humid weather. I rather be cold and wet than hot and wet.
It is true that many Londoners will be able to meet the earned income requirements easily (NT$160k/month) and you should look into it. There are some other requirements though depending on the nature of your employment in the UK that might trip you up.
Very few burger flippers make US60K per annum even in the fabulously wealthy U.S. no matter how many burgers they flip.
Are you a teacher in a public school?
A foreign teacher is a teacher and Taiwanese teacher is a co-teacher, not the other way round like you mentioned.
Taiwanese teacher is in the classroom to make sure students obey and do what they have to do, definitely not sleep as it often happens when Taiwanese teachers teach.
I am not an FET teacher. Nor have I even met one. But I have seen discussions of this issue in the Chinese-language media and reviewed the regulations and some academic literature.
According to the various plans, the Taiwanese teacher and the foreign teachers are co-teachers. There is quite a bit of discussion about how the foreign teacher is supposed to assist and support the Taiwanese teacher but they should develop curriculum etc together.
Now in reality a Taiwanese co-teacher may slack off and let the foreign teacher do the heavy lifting. Or they may agree to divide the work as you describe. Or perhaps the Taiwanese teacher thinks its too much trouble to fight with a foreign teacher about who is in charge.
But it seems to me that despite the polite language about co-teaching, the plans etc envision the Taiwanese teacher as being ultimately in charge.
No, you are wrong. A foreign teacher is in charge, chooses topics to teach, prepares and executes the lesson plan.
I have been teaching in Taiwan for 8 years and co-teacher has never been in charge of the lesson.
It’s supposed to be a co-teaching situation. By that I mean two people are supposed to plan the lessons together and teacher them together, 50-50 split. In some schools, FETs are left to teach completely on their own and alone, without a coteacher, though that’s a violation of the contract (it still happens often). Sometimes, local teachers take over the whole class and the FET is basically just there breathing the same air and not doing much else. Maybe even asked to stay in the office instead of joining the class at all. It depends on the school and the co-teachers. I’ve experienced all of the above as an FET.
It should be noted that local teachers are much more respected than FETs. Local teachers are usually on lifelong contracts while FETs are only ever on one-year renewable contracts. FETs are often seen as disposable. Most students dont remember who their foreign teacher was the last semester, even when the previous one was a different race and gender than the current one…
Thanks @nz. The co-teaching arrangement you describe is what I see in official documents like the 111學年度引進外籍英文教師計畫.
The wide variation in practice is what I would have expected to see.
Also that the Taiwanese teacher is more respected despite actually being theoretically an equal partner/co-teacher.
I suspect that foreign teachers in the program would be wise to keep these parameters in mind and refrain from asserting too much authority if they want their contracts renewed in the future or for routine requests to be approved/cooperated with.
