After spending a lot of time thinking on moving to another country, I decided to try Taiwan, the chinese/taiwanese culture is amazing, I was doubting between China and Taiwan, but I decided to pick Taiwan (mostly because it’s a democratic country and I don’t want to end up having problems).
I’m 26 atm, Im studying the Special Education career on a country I moved 5 years ago, but for many reasons, I don’t want to stay here when I’ll finish my career.
I’d like to know if there’s any city in Taiwan with just a few or no at all expats, I want to join their culture and learn everything about living there, and I think it’s the best way to do it
I’m thinking on studying Chinese Language and Literature in Taiwan, and I’d like to get a job there related to this career or Special Education.
Hopefully I have some money saved, so I dont need to worry about money, let’s say that I just want to start a paceful and relaxed life in there .
Do you think that I’ll be able to find this things in Taiwan?
Thanks!
P.S: sorry for the bad english, it’s not my main language x)
The market is saturated. Most everyone speaks Chinese so you will have to spend many hours studying the language to become fluent enough to sound natural. I’m not sure about the special education jobs, those too you would need to speak Chinese probably. Not much work for non native English speakers although some get hired to teach English anyway.
I don’t know much on the situation of Taiwan’s job market, but my guess is opportunity that a foreigner gets a job related to Chinese Language and Literature or special education is small at any city with just a few or no at all expats.
I’m just curious. A job related to Chinese Language and Literature, what kind of jobs do you think of?
And you wtote city, so town/village is not your option?
To hire a foreigner, an employee should show to the government that locals cannot do the job. But it may be hard to tell a usual job related to Chinese Language and Literature needs a foreigner. It should have a special reason to be done by a foreigner.
It may be harder to get that kind of job, but surely be less foreigners there.
@JustARandomGuy I will point out just a few questions you should answer yourself as it will be helpful for you to understand yourself.
Is a peaceful and relaxed life all you seek? You can become a trial monk, live on one of the hills here, be integrated in the community, learn the language and have quite a slower life. Relaxed & peaceful part is there too, but that is something you generate in your mind. No one or place grants you that. In other words, just like you generate happiness you also generate unhappiness.
You mentioned staying away from expats, but at the same time you are an expat asking for advice on an expat forum. The question is, do you not trust yourself that you will be able to stay away from expats if there are expats around? Do you really need to force yourself into the culture to learn as fast as possible? Have trust that you are capable, that you are strong enough. You can always immerse yourself in a culture and avoid expats even in an expat dense place.
You were sorry for your “bad” English, notice that thought and where it originates. It’s based on your fear of how people see you and what they think of you. That’s where doubt originates. That’s where the feeling of self-worth is dampened. Basically, find peace with your imperfections and don’t apologize to anyone for them. Love yourself and you will find peace no matter where you are.
You say that you hope to have some money saved up. Why is there uncertainty in that department? Create certainty, create meaningful goals now! This is a good way to keep yourself accountable, to not just flail around in the world hoping something good will happen to you. Start rebuilding self-confidence by creating achievable goals. Achieve them and move on to the next. How much money exactly will you have saved by the time you move? Will it be enough to live on while you look for a job?
General suggestions:
You can try a website called workaway as you can find a place where locals needs some help in exchange for lodging, food & language. This may be a start for you to get acquainted with the locals & maybe start some kind of connections in a smaller city.
You may need to sacrifice the comforts of your previous job and get whatever you can just to start the work visa program/relationship. I believe visa’s are usually the biggest hurdle for expats; there are many posts about that here.
Good luck with finding peace, we are all rooting for your success
I moved a few years ago for some job things to one country (I’m not going to give names) where there is allways a neighbour with loud “music” until 2-3 a.m., on a residential area, and people here are really disrespectful
So anything better than that will work for me.
That’s true, at least after living here
I’m married, so I can’t do that o.o, my wife and I are looking for a place that at least isnt full of people with alpha male complex, and that it’s not as noisy as here (it won’t be too hard to find that I guess )
I’m going to travel to Taiwan again, and check how it is atm, you are right on that point.
3&4) Did you study psychology? o.o
I have enough money saved and invested to keep living for ever with 1.500 usd/month, and as far as I know, it’s more than enough to live there, right?
@augsteyer Thanks for your tips, I’m going to check everything and I’ll try my best
good luck with that… taiwan is noisy. it is noise. pure noise and chaos. the people are not antagonistic though. they are very chill people. thats one of the things i like about it here.
i mean its going to depend on where you live and your apartment /neighbours / roads but i wouldn’t expect peace and quiet.
Not many here on the forums studying Chinese Literature and aim to be a teacher in that field. I assume that someone who has been living in the culture will have more experience, but not saying you can’t be more passionate about the subject, but you will be falling behind in the language department. So, finding a job in that field may not be easy, but I can’t say it’s impossible.
I assume the areas in which you are studying are studied at a university level, we do have some university professors here that could give you an idea. @DrewC could help?
I’d be happy to help to the extent I’m able (which may not be much). I’m not quite a professor. I’m a full-time lecturer employed by the English Department at my university (you can PM me for the name of it) in Kaohsiung, which is in southern Taiwan. It’s well known as a very international school. We have a Chinese department, a French department, a German department, a Japanese one, and probably a lot I’m forgetting. Ergo, we have French professors, Dutch professors, Germans and so on. We also get a ton of exchange students who come every semester. This past semester I was teaching students from Germany, France, Russia, India, South Korea, mainland China and the Czech Republic, as well as the usual students from Taiwan. So both our faculty and our student body are pretty diverse.
I’m not sure I fully understand whether you want to study at a uni, or teach at a uni (or both!). If you’re looking for a position teaching Chinese, you of course need at least a Masters (and possibly a PhD, although I secured my position with only a Masters) and you need to start applying now as deadlines are already happening for the fall semester. If you’re looking to study here… the application process for students is not something I’m very familiar with. But just as with teaching positions, the deadlines would be very tight for applying as a student for the Fall. So I’d call the Chinese department at the universities you’re interested in and find out what you’re required to submit and do so as soon as possible.
Kaohsiung is not as chaotic and bustling as Taipei, but I wouldn’t call it quiet and it’s VERY humid in the summer.
Like I said, I’m not sure how much I can help, but if you have more specific questions I’d be happy to answer them.
Some fields I thought of are, translation, media, culture exchange, and academics.
If your plan is to study Chinese language and literature at a university with less foreigners, you may need first to study Chinese at a language school/course with other foreigners. If you plan to study at a kind of international course, there will be more foreign students.
So, if expats mean foreigners, at least for your first few years, “any city in Taiwan with just a few or no at all expats” may be not a realistic setting. After a few years in Taiwan, you will know where is that kind of city by yourself.
)
