Taiwan seems too difficult to teach

Work Teaching English in Taiwan
1

Been in Taiwan about 8 months. Worked at a large chain school and found the situation not good. Now moving on to some of the smaller schools, doing demos and interviews, with not so much panning out.

I’m really thinking of calling it quits. The society as a whole is fairly nice and friendly, but in the schools it seems overwhelming. The office staff seem bent on making things hard for you. The children in the 8-9 range are cute, but otherwise and especially older than that, they often look for ways to misbehave beyond control. Any misbehavior by the students reflects back directly on you, resulting in criticism from co-teachers and staff, and parents too. On top of having to (1) keep good control and (2) induce learning, you have to also keep the children fairly happy so they don’t complain or get irritated and say they don’t want to go to your school – rather contradicting the other. This paradigm seems to present itself frequently, not to include cultural, language, and personality difficulties and sometimes prejudism that enter the picture at times too. It also seems that ironically, when you keep the children under control you also put yourself at risk of being criticized by office staff for being anything more than an easy-going guy.

I’m worried a bit more because I am running low on money, and if things don’t work out at the next school it could get real close. Also, projecting out just a bit, you have 2 months rent in the hands of your landlord that may never come back to you because the contract clearly states you should give a 2 month notice if you plan to leave – you also will lose all that months rent if you decide to leave before the end of the month. I don’t know but in Taiwan the schools just seem overwhelming and the rent situation leaves too much money at risk. Not only am I having difficulties with understanding the local ways, but my money situation is coming closer and closer to jeopardy. But probably my ultimate concern is that the teaching environment is really difficult because you have to do everything beyond just “adequate”, are almost always subject to criticism, and still have to keep good relations at all times. Any pointers or feedback appreciated.

2

Nothing specific, but just hang in there. Taiwan sucks at first, but after a while you don’t notice it so much. Or don’t care so much that it sucks. Or something like that. It gets easier. It gets better. You’ve toughed out the hardest part. It would be a shame to quit now.

Go to the happy hour tonight and you can bitch and moan to a bunch of people who have all been through the same crap.

Cheers. :beer:

3

Yeah, change the title to something more closely resembling English.

As MT says, hang in there. It will get easier. And, when you are just about to throw in the towel, you’ll probably hook up with some lovely local lass.

Where in Taiwan are you?

4

Yeah, change the title to something more closely resembling English.

[/quote]

I’d also add this: You sound like you are crap at your job. Take it personally and do something about it. It’s not that hard to make the kids behave.

Do a search. Look for: Positive praise. Reward systems. Behaviour management.

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You might also try working in an adult school, like Global Village. MANY a teaching career has been saved by GV.

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I’ve been thinking about making the switch to adults lately.
One of my friends works at David’s and he keeps telling me how great it is.

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I’ve been thinking about making the switch to adults lately.
One of my friends works at David’s and he keeps telling me how great it is.[/quote]

But adults need lots of motivating.
And how many of them ever go and use their new skills in a foreign country?

Adults choose to learn English because they fear the gym. It’s just a lazy mans hobby.

I heard that adults learn English in Japan only after they fail at Ikebana. (Flower arranging.)

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to echo other people. If you can’t teach kids try adults and if you can’t teach adults do something else.

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I’ve been thinking about making the switch to adults lately.
One of my friends works at David’s and he keeps telling me how great it is.[/quote]

I worked at Global twice, for a total of about 2 years. It was simple and easy, and it wasn’t ard to motivate the students at all. They don’t have to show up. They make their own schedule.

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This is a classic cautionary tale and many before and yet to come have been or will be in this situation. Taiwan is not for everyone. Teaching is not for everyone. The combination can drive you mad, just look at how many nutters are wandering around here. If you tough it out it might get better, or not, or you’ll become numb and start binge drinking. I’d figure out what will make you the happiest and focus on that, whether its finding a decent school or whether it’s saving enough money to go home.

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terrorise the little shits by rubbing chalk in their mouth. that goes down well. oh, and then tell them to Fuck Off.

it’s all about attitude. theirs and yours. if they do not share your attitude then treat them to a lesson in dismemberment. that helps.

oh, and carrying mace helps too.

:laughing:

no, i don’t have kids, nor want to. can you tell?

PS what’s wrong with binge drinking?

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I’ve believed for quite a while now that Taiwanese have a habit of what I call “preemptive complaining.” I honestly believe that a lot of people, as soon as they meet you, try to find something to complain about, even if they’re not actually unhappy about it. Maybe they think they’re being helpful; maybe it’s so that if they have to let you go (either the buxiban people or the parents) they can say “I’ve been unhappy ever since…” Am I just making this up, or has anybody else made the same observation?

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dzhefri wrote: [quote]I’ve believed for quite a while now that Taiwanese have a habit of what I call “preemptive complaining.” I honestly believe that a lot of people, as soon as they meet you, try to find something to complain about, even if they’re not actually unhappy about it. Maybe they think they’re being helpful; maybe it’s so that if they have to let you go (either the buxiban people or the parents) they can say “I’ve been unhappy ever since…” Am I just making this up, or has anybody else made the same observation?[/quote]

I think you are wrong. Why would you think this: Were you a crap teacher? Most of us, despite our TEFL qualifications and English abilities, are pretty shitty when we start teaching here (especially the kids)/ It’s a learning process. I’m not surprised that the local bosses and teachers get pissed off when (often arrogant) western teachers turn up, do a crap job, but get paid more than the dedicated locals who are doing a better job. Not directed at you dzhefri, I’m talking in general terms.

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[quote=“almas john”]

I think you are wrong. Why would you think this: Were you a crap teacher? Most of us, despite our TEFL qualifications and English abilities, are pretty shitty when we start teaching here (especially the kids)/ It’s a learning process. I’m not surprised that the local bosses and teachers get pissed off when (often arrogant) western teachers turn up, do a crap job, but get paid more than the dedicated locals who are doing a better job. Not directed at you dzhefri, I’m talking in general terms.[/quote]

I think that because I would hear really weird complaints, like “I don’t like the teacher’s facial expressions.” If I had heard that said about me by several different people, I guess I would look into it, but instead it was more like a bunch of unrelated, mutually contradictory, weird complaints without any pattern. (It did go away after a year or so, though.)

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Sounds like you had a crap job in a crap chain school with a bunch of lazy, unsupportive, underpaid co-workers coupled with bad management, overstuffed mixed level classrooms and you’re showing up unprepared to keep the kids busy enough to stop being monkeys.

I think most of us have gone through this phase in the first year or so of Taiwan. You have some time now to reflect on the situation and figure out where you can make some changes.

This isn’t the best time of year to find a good job, but there is always something that can get you through these tough times. Privates, subbing, short term work, and even just taking a crap part time job for a few months until you find something better are options.
Personally, I learned a lot after quitting a horrid chain school job where the kids were out of control and the staff were talking about me. I subbed for some guy for a couple of weeks and got to know his kids, his lesson plans, and his relationship with management by trying to fill his shoes. By using his plans, I saw how a classroom could be run without a minimum of silly games and frustration with keeping the kids in line. With a little knowledge about how good things could be, I made a commitment to myself to learn more about teaching and preparing for effective classes. I bought books, scanned the internet, and put a lot of effort into putting things to practice. Of course, the kids will still act like monkeys sometimes (because they’re kids) but I find that I usually come out on top of things. Also, I save worksheets, lesson plans, and keep a diary about how my work day went. I don’t think I’ll ever really be good at teaching, but I feel OK about it and It works for me now.

Privates can be lucrative and rewarding. Same thing as above. You have to prepare in advance, and have a plan discussed with the parent or individual (if they’re old enough to know what they want) that gives you an idea of the goals you want to achieve together. Get paid in advance, or at the very least, have a deal with them about missed classes and make-ups, etc. Don’t short yourself! One of my solo students (11 year old girl) is moving to a prestigious Canadian Private school soon, and I worked with her in in order to pass the entrance exams and improve her English to a degree that will definitely make her future Canadian teachers happy. Lucrative, yes. This one girl pays my rent and most of my expenses. Never misses a class. Rewarding? Yes. I get a sense of accomplishment from her abilities. She earned them. Rewarding? As soon as I get an opening, I’ll be teaching her cousin as well. A little job security goes a long way, especially if you like what you are doing.

Short term shit jobs? Well, you need cash, they need a teacher. Make the best of it. Probably the school is small, disorganized, and has a lot of problems with the students and previous bad teachers. Sign up knowing what the problems are, make a quick plan for what you hope to achieve, and discuss with the manager BEFORE you take the gig. They will be so happy to have a teacher that takes the inititave that they will give you the 750 an hour that you ask for. Make your own contract in your mind. Say to yourself “I’m going to only work here until the good hiring season comes along and then quit, but I’m going to do good job while I’m here”. Tell the boss that you’ll be there forever of course. Chances are, if you put your foot down and put those kids in line and put them to work, it won’t be so painful after a month or so and you will stay long term. Ask for top dollar and be worth it.

Taiwan is weird in that they consistently hire people with little or no training and skills to do jobs that actually require training and skills. That doesn’t mean we have to stoop to that level!

Good luck, whatever you figure out. Be happy; work hard and save your money! If you keep trying something that doesn’t work for you, then try something different or change the way you approach it.

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Complaining about money?

I can’t think of too many places on the planet where it’s cheaper to get started than in Taiwan…

You should be able to make your rent and eat reasonably well if you work 10 hours a week.

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Hi thanks for the replies, even the tough ones. Yah I understand about always keeping yourself on top of your work, but in general I’m fine with kids and I don’t think it’s that I need to switch to adults only. But thanks for the idea.

Ummm actually what is concerning me the most is the schools’ environments. In sync with the seriousness of teaching in Taiwan’s cram schools is that the teachers and school directors almost routinely behave frantically and speak in an unclear, coarse way, and I really can’t understand – and am routinely disturbed by – the communication from school staff, owners, co-teachers. It really throws me off and messes me up, fouls up my relations and affects my sense of being, in particular, any concentration I already had. I am finding this sort of insulting and abrasive way of instant criticism against the foreign teacher to be perhaps uncalled for, but really frustrating. I also believe I’ve seen some instances when it was not only completely a lie but was done solely as a personal attack of sorts by a co-teacher that wanted to take a stab at me. Seems to me the Taiwanese are real quick at letting out the slightest bit of steam, but that isn’t what bothers me in as much as it seems we foreigners are still expected to hold a sense of dignity and guanxi or good personal relations. In turn, all of this difficulty really impacts ones ability to concentrate and have a successful classroom and relations with the kids.

In any event all I’m trying to say is not only are the highest grammar and conversation teaching standards held here but the teacher must also come across as personable and easy going while regularly held under criticism by local native staff, gossip and all it leads to, often done right in front of him, and the foreign teacher isn’t expected to stand his ground. Not only are the highest standards of work performance held, but you are at risk of insult, essentially. I therefore have to say Taiwan seems the most difficult ESL environment.

With my budget situation getting “close” I think it seems too much to risk to continue paying monthly rents and hoping future schools will pan out with adequate hours and decent, doable work environments.

Thanks again for your feedback and thanks again for the discourse.

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Hi Robert - Is this the first school that you have worked at here? It sounds absolutely awful…

I have only worked at two different places, both with very different positives and negatives. My first job was part time at an after school chain buxiban (Shane). The best aspect of that job was they provided a teaching assistant for every class. I never had any trouble with discipline problems and she would chime in when the students looked confused after I tried to explain something. The negatives there were the lack of hours, and no training or support. I was replacing a teacher that had to go home for a month for an emergency - so this is kind of understandable.

My current job has a fantastic boss, mostly friendly colleagues and pays well. The downsides however are numerous and starting to really get to me. The school is in a fairly poor area of Taichung county, and the majority of the students are really badly behaved. The difference from my first job is amazing…

A lot of them are on medication, many of them come from broken homes etc etc… I really feel for them but day after day they make my life a misery. Im starting to lose patience lately and I can feel my attitude changing.

Maybe this just isnt the job for me? Im not afraid to admit I am wrong sometimes. Although the work I was doing before was brilliant. I went home after each day feeling like I was making a difference and the kids seemed to genuinely like me.

I believe that the difference was having a native Chinese speaker in the room with me. Things tend to go pear shaped when the kids cant understand me, and they get bored…

It could also be the curriculum that we are forced to use. Does anyone here use the ‘Way Ahead’ series of books? Its impossible to teach some of the concepts in this curriculum to kids that can barely form a sentence. I found the Shane school materials a lot better.

Sorry for my rant… But I really feel for you Rob… Send me a pm if you want to swap experiences or chat to a sympathetic person :wink:

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[quote=“pubba”]My first job was part time at an after school chain buxiban (Shane). The best aspect of that job was they provided a teaching assistant for every class. I never had any trouble with discipline problems and she would chime in when the students looked confused after I tried to explain something. The negatives there were the lack of hours, and no training or support. I was replacing a teacher that had to go home for a month for an emergency - so this is kind of understandable.[/quote]Just a quick point about Shane. As you say, that was a special case. Normally with Shane you do a week’s training at the start, and have regular observations from academic managers after that. Whatever one’s views on the specific methods espoused, this kind of framework is still very useful.

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what part of the industry?