does anybody have any experience with any of the following schools?
-Todd’s English School
-Ivy Language School
-Jump Start
-Kelly
-Shane (also, anybody know what’s up with the course you have to take if you don’t have EFL qualifications? website says…“A qualified EFL teacher (or willing to take a recommended training course in consultation with SES Taiwan”)
we’re both newbies so training is a must, and have accepted the fact that we’re going to have to take a pay cut for it…a chain school seems the obvious choice.
any other advice for finding jobs, especially in tainan would be much appreciated.
I used to live in Tainan, so maybe I can offer a few tips.
First of all, I would recommend going to The Green House, the big foreigner hangout. They have a big bulletin board with job ads. It’s also a good place to meet other foreign teachers and exchange information. Here’s the address: Fu Chien Road, #21, Sec. 1. It’s located near the Confucius Temple. You might also go over to the Chinese Language Center at Chengkung University:
From what I remember, there is a glut of teachers in Tainan, so don’t expect to find a great job right away. Learn a lot of games and activities for teaching kids so you can impress the language school bosses. You should definitely have a sample lesson up your sleeve, just in case you are asked to do an impromptu teaching demo (it happens!)
Sorry I don’t know anything about those schools, but I would definitely recommend that you ask around about a school before you sign a contract with them.
This page has some info about Tainan, but it’s in need of an update:
Don’t forget that if a school asks you to do a demo before you have a work permit from that particular school in your hand, this is illegal. People CAN and DO get caught and deported for this. DO NOT be fooled by their “don’t worry, everything will be fine” crap. If the cops photograph you in a room with children, you’ll be done and kicked out of the country. If you get photographed teaching in a classroom that is at an address different to the one on your ARC card, you’ll be deported. These are two of the commonest things foreign teachers get busted for here.
Be smart. Read these boards. Protect yourself.
[quote=“bradandjack”]does anybody have any experience with any of the following schools?
-Todd’s English School
-Ivy Language School
-Jump Start
-Kelly
-Shane (also, anybody know what’s up with the course you have to take if you don’t have EFL qualifications? website says…“A qualified EFL teacher (or willing to take a recommended training course in consultation with SES Taiwan”)
we’re both newbies so training is a must, and have accepted the fact that we’re going to have to take a pay cut for it…a chain school seems the obvious choice.
any other advice for finding jobs, especially in Tainan would be much appreciated.[/quote]
“Qualified” in Taiwan just means that you are a native English speaker with a degree and a pulse. Sometimes you don’t even need two out of those three to get a job. Nothing at all to worry about, my friend.
True in most cases, but it seems that Shane School does in fact require their teachers to have an EFL qualification (although I’m not sure which one). Check their website. Nice to see that some mainstream chain companies are looking for more than a native degree holder with a evidence of a pulse.
Jump Start has all of its positions filled, or at least that’s what they told me after they saw that I was black. If you’re white, however, I’m sure there are plenty of job openings.