My point is that they’re all fake. This has been discussed to death all over this forum though. You can buy citizenship for your child to any number of countries so that they are “foreign” and can go to an international school. But all that means is that “international” schools are made up almost entirely of Taiwanese kids raised by Taiwanese parents in Taiwan who just happen to own a foreign passport. This means the international diversity is pretty much non existent in those schools. Chinese is the main language for the vast majority of students, which means students from non Chinese backgrounds will struggle more socially by not knowing the language, despite being at a school that’s supposed to accommodate them.
2 Likes
I worked at an international school. The majority of the students are dual citizens (whether purchased or otherwise) who are fluently bilingual. Chinese is preferred among those who speak it at home, and English is preferred by those who don’t speak Chinese at home.
There are plenty of English-speaking students who don’t speak much Chinese. They have no problem finding each other and hanging out with each other. Many are the children of expat faculty and foreign consular staff.
I’d say the school is 50% fluently bilingual Taiwanese who prefer Chinese, 25% fluently bilingual “ABC” who prefer English, and 25% non-Taiwanese from Asian and Western countries with varying Chinese level depending on how young they moved here.
3 Likes
My experience is consistent with HongKonger’s. I’m finding them to be one of a very small number of people in these American/International school threads who knows what they’re talking about.
Him. But thanks! 
1 Like
Misgendered even after putting it in your bio.
2 Likes
Ha. I use they when I’m not sure precisely to avoid misgendering, after accidentally doing that more than once here. It didn’t occur to me to look at the profile. I’ll do that next time.
1 Like
There is a very wide range of international schools all over the island. The majority are not at all like @user86 describes. For example, one prestigious international school in central Taiwan has a student body that is exclusively Taiwanese. The language of instruction in English and the curriculum is international. But the students speak Mandarin among themselves exclusively and one imagines also at home.
1 Like
The one I described is in Kaohsiung. I’d imagine the others around the island can’t be too different.
The only prestigious English-speaking international school in central Taiwan that I know of is the American School in Taichung (AIT). Okay, maybe some also consider Morrison Academy “prestigious”.
I know there are not as many foreign consulates in Taichung as Taipei and Kaohsiung, so those schools might not have the diplomat kids. What about the children of the expat faculty? I’m sure they speak English with each other.
Oh there are others…This is not the one I mentioned above.
Prestigious is another question.
And more down south like this one.
The one you linked looks like a tiny school that only recently opened, which hasn’t even received IB accredidation yet. I would not consider this a typical international school.
Still, judging from the pictures on their home page, they have white faculty members. I’d imagine their children are also white, and probably attend the school too.
There is also a group photo of the (tiny) student body on the website. I can’t make out the faces too clearly but I see at least a couple of white kids. I also see a few biracial kids, and maybe Indian?
Kanqiao has at least five campuses in Xindian, Linkou, and Hsinchu…
This one is not an international school. It literally says on their home page that they are a local bilingual school.
2 Likes
牛津國際學院
Perhaps some venn diagramatic conflict resolution could sort this one out?
1 Like
Knock yourself out.
When I go on my afternoon walk today, I’ll take a photo of every public elementary, Junior, and senior high school that I pass.
Without exception, all 12 of them have giant banners outside that say “international bilingual school” on them.
I have contacted a few of them (looking for work) and they all told me they don’t hire foreign teachers and their students are local, with household registration in the neighborhood. Cuz they’re literally Taipei City public schools that slapped a label on themselves to sound prestigious. This is what the vast, vast majority of “international” schools do too, only private ones might give local families the extra hurdle of buying their child citizenship to a developing nation. Oh, and hiring literally any white person with open work rights so they have a white face. What the parents either don’t know or care is that Mr. White Man has no teaching experience and is happy to take 60k/month to literally just be a white guy babysitter.
1 Like
Kangchaio is well known for being a place that rich Taiwanese send their children and not a real international school. They finally have standards for hiring (at least in the upper grades they require a minimum of a substitute teaching license😂), so parents can rest assured there isn’t just some rando teaching their child, but it’s hardly a real international school.
The campus in Linkou is really impressive.