I think so. So the locals don’t feel like your a naive foreigner who knows nothing here.
Still illegal…
I used to think those bosses treat (white) foreigners better, but it seems like they just treats everyone like shit. Should I be satisfied that there seems no discrimination here lol
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Sounds like my mom
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The employers used to ask local candidates if they have 經濟壓力 (financial concerns) lol.
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I just found some poor soul online that accidentally replied his job application to a local forum. The guy has taught more then 5 years and has taught in high schools and colleges. I forgot if he’s ever studied abroad.
He is still asking for 1000-1200/hr.
Yes, it is illegal.
I think they do treat foreigners better in some instances. But only because it is normally the foreigner who will fight back/change job and won’t be emotionally blackmailed as easily.
In other ways, they get worse treatment.
Overall, I think the point is that bosses here think that they are the smartest person in the room. Only they are deserving of good treatment. Their aim is to treat everyone like shite and if 9 out of 10 take it, that is a win. They just give that tenth person a special deal as long as they keep quiet and don’t tell the other plebs. The mouthy outlier shuts up and face is saved. The boss gets away with murder with the other nine and they all justify not standing up for themselves because everyone is treated like shite.
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Seems to me that you could use a union.
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This is definitely true in other industries too. I’ve demanded and gotten a lot of raises on the condition that I don’t let the other employees know. No problem as long as I get what I want. 
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@BigDave knows his s…! Listen to that guy. Shut up the outliers and the rest all fall into the bell curve.
If you want to go to the achilles heel of the “Cram” school just follow the money. That goes to the parents. Parents congregate online in.groups. They talk, gossip and compare schools. There is the silver bullet so to speak. Reputation is the golden egg. Lose that and any school folds. And any teachers working there will obviously fold too 
Yeah I’ve been there and done that. Or got half in cash. Problem is that’s also a scam that the bosses use. They only declare the amount that was paid to the bank. Which isn’t so bad if you’re deliberately trying to avoid paying tax but there’s already a lot of ways to minimize your tax.
School collects $300 an hour per student. Has class sizes of 10-15. Pays the teacher $600-650 an hour.
School collects $3000-4500 per hour. Pays out $600-650 to the teacher. The school might have 2 or 3 classes running at the same time.
Say the teach works 5 hours a day. The teacher makes $3000-3250 per day.
The school would make $15000-22500 per day off the classes.
So the best case the school might make $45000-112500 and pay out to the teachers $15000-16250.
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I know the prices for the Taipei branches of a well known chain school in Taiwan.
$47,000 a semester plus $11,000 a month. Students get 12 hours a week with a foreign teacher and 3 hours a day of Chinese homework time. They also get a lunch and snack which is included in the 11,000 a month fee.
$47,000 a semester, students have English class with a foreign teacher for 7.5 hours a week. Nothing else.
$25,000 a semester, students have English class with a foreign teacher for 4.5 hours a week. Nothing else.
The schools really make money on the textbook and technology fees. A set of textbooks costs the school about $1,000 but they charge the parents $10,000. They need new textbooks for every grade. Plus they have a school app that the parents have to pay for every semester.
Awhile ago I calculated that the school’s revenue was 3 million NTD a semester. After taking away foreign and local teacher salaries the school made roughly 1.5 million NTD a semester. You still need to subtract the rent, bills, insurance and franchise fees. I would say the school had a net profit of at least $500,000 a semester. Where the average foreign teacher at the school earned about $273,000 for the semester.
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That’s actually not much at all. I know of a school, major chain, that nets over one million a month just from the homework classes alone, and most of them go to the English classes as well.
How can they fit in 12 hours a week of English plus finish their homework from school?
Man , you just explained Taiwanese work places and society in one paragraph .
I’m going to get you a biandang from.that Japanese place today, also a free bubble tea Friday , 8pm sound good ?
Keep it between me and you 
. Xinku ni!!
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It was a new school in a small building. I know other branches of this school make a lot more money.
That class schedule was only open to kids in kindergarten, grade 1, and grade 2. In their local public schools, grades 1 and 2 finish at 12 four days a week and the other day they finish at 4. They had English classes those 4 days a week that they finished at 12. So, they come to the cram school at 12:15. Eat lunch with the foreign teacher for 30-45 minutes and then nap for 30 minutes. English class was from 1:30-4:00. Afterwards they would get their snack and then do Chinese homework until 6 or 7.
For students in grade 3 and above they were encouraged to join the 7.5 hours a week. That was Monday to Friday from 4:30 to 6 or 6:30 to 8.
Recently I heard of some branches allowing students in grade 3 or above to do the 12 hour class a week, but without the Chinese homework part. I’m not entirely sure how how they do it, but my guess would be Monday to Friday 4:30-6:30.
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Some schools do 10 hours a week for the younger kids and 8 hours for the older kids taking the single longer school day the younger kids have off. The homework and English classes are in the same classroom, so little time is wasted. Besides, until the kids get into high school, an hour is usually enough time to finish homework unless the kids are idiots. Reviewing takes up much more time, but a lot of kids don’t review anyways.
Your times are right. Younger kids usually 2-4:30 and older kids 4:30-6:30.
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If the school’s only making this much, seems like I should be content with 600-800/hour. And maybe I’m old, but when I was a kid it was 30 students per class. If it’s 10-15 then it makes sense. Perhaps the competition is so bad the schools have to resort to a price war. I honestly thought parents would be willing to pay more for a kid now they have less children.
This might be irrelevant, but most big chain store pay less imo. It’s the really good local (chain) schools that cares about their teachers and students.
be happy that you teach english. In Taichung 1:1 chinese classes are 550 NTD/hour for the customer (if you buy a pack of 100 hours to be used up in 6 months)
I just can’t believe anyone would take a loan from their boss or let their company hold on to their passport for anything more than submitting the application for the arc. That was the only time I let my work have my passport.
A passport is not a very good piece of collateral. Besides can’t you just file for a new one from AIT by claiming you lost it/it was stolen?
Someone tried to claim that foreigners are the lowest paid. That’s rediculously untrue. We get taken advantage of, but it’s no where near as bad as how the local staff are treated from what I’ve seen. Their salaries are half or less. Plus local staff get forced into working overtime without pay and have to do all sorts of extra duties they don’t make foreigners do. Locals get it much worse. Only the business owners rake in crazy profits.
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