Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I toy with the idea of returning to Taiwan in the event that things didn’t work out here. With an MA and TESL certification, what could I expect as a typical monthly wage there?
60000NT?
600nt/HR
20hrs/wk - 48,000NT/mo
25hrs/wk - 60,000NT/mo
[quote=“Abacus”]600nt/HR
20hrs/wk - 48,000NT/mo
25hrs/wk - 60,000NT/mo[/quote]
600/hr is on the high-end of average, unless you can leverage your MA and TESL to get into a better establishment.
[quote=“CraigTPE”][quote=“Abacus”]600nt/HR
20hrs/wk - 48,000NT/mo
25hrs/wk - 60,000NT/mo[/quote]
600/hr is on the high-end of average, unless you can leverage your MA and TESL to get into a better establishment.[/quote]
Salaries don’t seem to have gone up in years. Thanks to you all for the information.
I thought they were actually going down as well?
[quote=“Tert Card”]
Salaries don’t seem to have gone up in years. Thanks to you all for the information.[/quote]
There is no reason for salaries to go up since there is less money to spend on English tutoring and there are more applicants. I haven’t been here long but I would say that the difficult part isn’t getting a 600-ish/hr job but getting the desired hours.
The same, possibly less, than you could make with a BA and no TESL certification.
Getting into a “better establishment” isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds, and universities aren’t impressed with an MA anymore neither. You could fork out the money and time for a PhD if you want to go that route, but once you get it done, in Taiwan it might not help much anyway as Taiwanese and/or foreigners with JFRVs and PARCS available to do those jobs are a dime a dozen.
Still, there are other places where these qualifications may go further, and who knows? Anyway, better to have an MA and TESL qualifications and not need it than to have an opportunity where you need them and not have them. There have been countless times in the last seven years where I’ve had an opportunity that required an MA and wanted to kick myself for not finishing mine before coming over here. 
Best advice: Expect 45 - 60 000, but who knows? Perhaps you find a nice position at one of the better places and get 75 000/mnth with a month off in winter (CNY) and two (or three) in summer with full or half pay. It’s not unheard of, just not always easy to find…
The same, possibly less, than you could make with a BA and no TESL certification.
Getting into a “better establishment” isn’t nearly as easy as it sounds, and universities aren’t impressed with an MA anymore neither. You could fork out the money and time for a PhD if you want to go that route, but once you get it done, in Taiwan it might not help much anyway as Taiwanese and/or foreigners with JFRVs and PARCS available to do those jobs are a dime a dozen.
Still, there are other places where these qualifications may go further, and who knows? Anyway, better to have an MA and TESL qualifications and not need it than to have an opportunity where you need them and not have them. There have been countless times in the last seven years where I’ve had an opportunity that required an MA and wanted to kick myself for not finishing mine before coming over here.
Best advice: Expect 45 - 60 000, but who knows? Perhaps you find a nice position at one of the better places and get 75 000/mnth with a month off in winter (CNY) and two (or three) in summer with full or half pay. It’s not unheard of, just not always easy to find…[/quote]
You’re right, an MA and TESL certification aren’t worth as much in Taiwan as things like being funny, having blue eyes or big boobs are. After I left Taiwan, I taught at a college in the Gulf and you had to have an MA. Here in Canada, you must have TESL certification, and I mean real TESL certification, not one of those learn to scuba and teach English TESL courses in Thailand. It wouldn’t hurt you to get both because if you plan to return to a large city in an English speaking country, there’s money to be made in ESL.
For sure. 
Although, not much opportunity for ESL where I come from (SA), although I doubt I’ll ever be heading back anyway.
But you should do just fine here, even though things are a bit tough right now.
What about SAT/English teacher? I been paying 1000nt + for teacher that is able to teach SAT
Honestly, having an MA and coming to Taiwan would be a shocking decision. It’s such a poor return on your investment. Why not teach more in the Gulf? Or maybe Brunei instead? Or how about Europe? Much better benefits for the first two, not sure about Europe.
I know, it was just a passing fancy. As much as I enjoyed Taiwan, I wouldn’t return. With an MA, you can do much better in the Gulf. Free housing, no taxes, paid return airfare. It’s just not as much fun as Taiwan, cleaner and better organized though.
Tert Card: Another option, if you would like to return to Taiwan would be to work in the Gulf for a few years and be pretty disciplined about saving and investing as much as possible. The contracts are usually two years at a time, right? Probably if you spent about six years there you’d have more than enough money to set yourself up nicely. You could certainly buy an apartment (though I don’t know that I’d buy real estate in Taiwan) outside of Taipei, or you could basically just sit on the money and watch your investments grow over the next couple of decades. Provided you didn’t intend to retire in the West, in the meantime, you could basically do what you liked in Taiwan. You could look for a job that would give you an ARC with the least hassle. You could do a lower number of contact hours. There are lots of things you could do, but you could semi-retire and actually quite enjoy Taiwan without the pressure of putting up with a lot of crap for not such great money here.
I’m actually seriously considering doing a similar thing if things don’t work out trying to work for myself over the next year. I’d like to be out of teaching, or at least only doing it on my terms, within the next decade.
Actually, I’m going to send you a pm with a whole bunch of questions.
It seems only yesterday (or the day before) that I left Taiwan. 2003. In general, wages certainly haven’t increased in the past seven years and I think that the most probable reason has already been given by other posters. Namely, a shrinking market and a surplus of teachers.
It took me five years to get up to 750 an hour, and I was working six days a week. Anyways, I knew even then that as a regular buxiban teacher, I was pretty well at the top of the pack. So the 75 - 80,000 I made each month was pretty good; especially with my frugal lifestyle.
Not going off on a tangent, I would offer the following advice: If you have a better than average (or even average) paying job in Taiwan, don’t get in a hissy and decide to jump ship.
The current economic scene in the States, and, I perceive, in Canada and Europe really sucks. If you are not aware of this, you need to get out of the cave more often.
Unless you have super credentials and a fantastic job waiting for you back home, I doubt that you will be able to save what you are capable of doing in Taiwan.
So, If you can pay your rent, eat, save, maintain a minimum level of sanity, and like Taiwan (even though you might have to eat a little caca along the way) stay put. 
[quote=“Ramblin Rube”]It seems only yesterday (or the day before) that I left Taiwan. 2003. In general, wages certainly haven’t increased in the past seven years and I think that the most probable reason has already been given by other posters. Namely, a shrinking market and a surplus of teachers.
It took me five years to get up to 750 an hour, and I was working six days a week. Anyways, I knew even then that as a regular buxiban teacher, I was pretty well at the top of the pack. So the 75 - 80,000 I made each month was pretty good; especially with my frugal lifestyle.
Not going off on a tangent, I would offer the following advice: If you have a better than average (or even average) paying job in Taiwan, don’t get in a hissy and decide to jump ship.
The current economic scene in the States, and, I perceive, in Canada and Europe really sucks. If you are not aware of this, you need to get out of the cave more often.
Unless you have super credentials and a fantastic job waiting for you back home, I doubt that you will be able to save what you are capable of doing in Taiwan.
So, If you can pay your rent, eat, save, maintain a minimum level of sanity, and like Taiwan (even though you might have to eat a little caca along the way) stay put. [/quote]
This is good advice. If you’re teaching in Taiwan, you’re probably doing better than you would be elsewhere…except the Gulf. Give old Taiwan credit for what it’s worth.
I know the job market seems to be down in Taiwan compared to a few years ago
How much can I expect to making teaching there?
My credentials are pretty good: Undergrad degree in Biology, California Teaching Credential, Master’s in Education, 6 years teaching experience in America, and more than one year teaching English abroad
Currently in Shanghai teaching English and am not thrilled with my current job
How in the world do I get the hookup to a decent paying job?
Also, will i have a difficult time finding a job being an American Born Chinese? I know this has been the case in Shanghai
You can probably expect to make at least 60k a month. If you’re making less than that, you’re probably not trying very hard, or you’re being picky. It’s possible to make more than that, depending on your personality, circumstances, and plain old luck.
Some truth in that, especially if you’re willing to dodge the coppers and risk deportation teaching kindy (although, I reckon it’s easier in Taipei without the kindy).
Here are two recent ESL job ads in Tainan:
This first one is a common type you see these days.
[quote]Looking for teachers
We are looking for people who are genuinely interested in teaching young
students English ?Experience is not necessary.
Teachers must possess a valid degree! Be native English speakers. North
American accents are preferred but not necessary.
There are one positions coming available:
[color=#FF0000]Wed.2-5pm[/color].At Yongkang.the pay is [color=#FF0000]500NT/hour[/color].
If interested in any of the following positions please contact or by email for
more information.[/quote]
This one is the highest hourly rate I’ve seen on the Tainan_Bulletin in many a month with the most hours offered by far.
Start with ten hours a week (NT$6000/wk = NT$24 000/month), with the possibility of an extra ten by summer (for a possible total of NT$12 000/wk = NT$48 000/month).
Problem being, you’ll need to do something regarding an ARC, NHI etc, and more money until summer. And if the extra ten hours materializes you may have a problem with the other place/places you teach if this schools extra 10 clash…
In the south it’s also still possible to get enough work to reach around NT$60k/month, but it’s going to be from two or possibly more schools. The very rare schools that are going to allow you to reach that with one job are very hard to come by and usually only when someone leaves and lets the opening go to a friend (word of mouth). And even those places (down south, at least) are getting less and less these days.
As a result I’ve noticed a new trend down here. More and more schools are only willing to employ APRC or JFRV holders as they don’t have enough hours to get a work permit and ARC for their teachers.
Awesome if you have an APRC or JFRV, not so good if you don’t. And the better the gig, the more common this practice. If you want to teach at an elementary, junior or senior high down here (probably the best jobs going, including uni jobs in many ways), practically the only way to get in is if you have a JFRV or APRC.
I know of three guys at one elementary school down here on ARCs, but if they get caught they’ll be deported quicker than you can say “snap”. In their case the school (and the teachers) are taking a risk in that their ARCs (and work permits) are held by a buxiban loosley "affiliated with the school… Why do they risk it? Well, the get NT$70 000/month and they work M-F 8am - 4:15pm with one month in winter and three in summer (with the option of summer camp for six weeks) on half pay.
Depends where you are, really.