Working in Taiwan without a degree?

the phrase “legal in Taiwan” is a paradox.

[quote=“Rubicon Bojador”]Great, just what Taiwan needs, yet ANOTHER backpacker hippy bum from Canada who wants to “do Asia” and thinks that scamming himself a job “teaching” toddlers the Hokey Pokey a few hours a week will pay for a vacation in Thailand.

Times have changed. The market is tighter and your kind are no longer welcome in Taiwan.[/quote]

First off, I am not a “backpacker hippy bum”. There are several reasons I need to travel to Asia and none of them have to do with partying in Thailand. They in fact have to do with my long term family and career plans. I am a hard working ambitious person and there are certain goals I need to meet. One of which is learning Mandarin BEFORE I go to China to stay with family. From what I understand Taiwan is one of the best places to do so outside of China. Given my budget and other travel plans I will be able to stay in Taiwan learning for at most 2 months unless I can get work there, in which case I can stay as long as it takes. I am not convinced I can get my Mandarin to the level I want in just two months so I was hoping for some working oppertunity.

Second I am not heart-set on teaching. I am willing to do any work that I can get and am able to do well.

And “my kind”??? You know nothing about me and have assumed I am some sort of worthless drifter just because Taiwan is one of my destinations.

I apologize for offending your elitist sensibilities.

:bravo:

There is certainly space for one more person on that lovely island. Good luck with the job hunty and the challenge of studying Mandarin.

Well, so maybe you are not backpacker hippy bum fresh out of Tim Horton’s. Maybe I pegged you wrong. 99 out of 100 people who come to Taiwan without degrees to only stay for a few months are exactly that, however. So you are the 1 out of 100 exception.

You are a friendly, welcoming sort, aren’t ya?! Not at all judgemental or elitist, eh? Really, there are plenty of loser expats in Taiwan and many have degrees. Judge not lest ye be judged.

Heed the words of ImaniOU, posted today in another thread:

The day we need you speaking for the rest of us Rubicon we will be sure to let you know. In the meantime why not show a little class and offer the OP an apology for your ignorant comments. Or do only hippies do that sort of thing?

Rubicon, you’ve added nothing of any substance to this thread at all, unless ill will and ignorant stereotypes are to be counted as a contribution. A person asks some harmless questions and you reply with hostility, ignorant judgements and assumptions. You’ve never met the OP guy, but you insult and flame away. Get a clue and a life!

Mods, if I may suggest, PLEASE flounder everything starting with Ruby’s Backpacker bum form Canada post. This thread is going nowhere fast.

Not so fast. You’re jumping on me for saying the same things that many of you oldies have said in the past, and far more nastily. I refer you to these two threads, which I just dug up in five minutes - I’m sure there are several more on the same subject of teacher without degrees teaching in Taiwan illegally.

[forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopic.ph … hp?t=18823](Fake Degrees

[Fake Degrees

So you want to delete my posts because I’m a newbie who’s saying the same things that people like you have already said?

So I pointed out that this guy was exactly the type of teacher you guys were talking about in those old threads. He has two major strikes against him:

a) He has no degree, and thus is unqualified to teach, yet still wants to teach
b) He openly admits that the reason he’s coming here is to blow in for a few months just to make money to fund his vacation in Asia

Hmm. I’ve heard lots of people rail against exactly this type of foreign “teacher”, on this forum and in real life. It seems that the big mistake I made was to say it to an individual poster, instead of making generalizations about a general type of teacher that he fits into the category of.

Well, let’s see. OP admits he doesn’t have a degree. He comes here and asks if it is possible to get work here without one. Simple questions. No attitude given, nor any call for any to be given in return.

You respond with a post full of steretypes and insults sure to enflame not only the OP person, but an entire nationality as well.

Care to apologize to me for insulting my nationality? Care to edit out the inflamatory garbage entirely? Didn’t think so.

You’re way out of line.

Where did I insult your nationality? Is “from Canada” an insult? That’s where he says he’s from, as he repeats in every post. I apologize if you took that as an insult. If he were from Zimbabwe I’d call him a hippy backpacker from Zimbabwe.

As for the “inflammatory garbage”, much, much more “inflammatory” posts have been made many times on this site. Why single me out? The rules should be consistently applied, to newbies and old timers alike.

"b) He openly admits that the reason he’s coming here is to blow in for a few months just to make money to fund his vacation in Asia "

Actually what I openly admitted was that I want to come to Taiwan to learn Mandarin before I go to stay with family in China. If I do not work I will only be able to afford to stay for around 2 months maybe 3. As I said I am unsure I can learn the language that fast and would be happier if I could get work and thus be able to stay longer and learn more. I also said that I am not just asking about teaching. While I am willing to teach, because I enjoy teaching and working with children, I am also more than willing to do other kinds of work. If you are going to give me this sort of attitude could you at least pay attention to what I say?

To those people who have kindly answered my questions, thank you very much! I appreciate the info! :slight_smile:

So let me get this straight…

  • it is possible to work legally in Taiwan without a degree but not as a teacher
  • if I have a college diploma and a TESL cert I may be able to work legally as a teacher in some areas
  • it is unadvisable to work ilegally as a teacher
  • if applying for work in other industries I may be required to supply verifiable proof of a certain number of years of experience in order to land a legit job and get a work permit
  • there is also a “researchers work permit” although nobody seems to be aware of what exactly that does for you, lol

Do I have all that right?

Also I was wondering if someone could tell me what OP stands for? People keep calling me that and I have no idea what it stands for. lol

Original Poster and why not wait until you get to China to start studying? The Mandarin you learn here (both in speaking and the way it’s written) is very different from what is used in the mainland.

The reason that I want to learn Mandarin before going to China is that once in China I will be busy learning the dialect that my family speaks and won’t have time to study Mandarin. I want to pick up both dialects and China will probably be my final destination in Asia. So that’s why I want to study Mandarin first. Then go to China, stay for a couple years there. Then, if I still want to, come home.

OP - You won’t learn much Mandarin in two months unless you are a seriously hard working, devoted, gifted language learner.

Rubican Brojador - There was something irritating abour tone and you haven’t build up enough context around yourself yet for that to have been softened at all. There is no reason for the same standards to be applied to newbies and oldies. Life doesn’t work like that.

[quote=“Rubicon Bojador”]Where did I insult your nationality? Is “from Canada” an insult? That’s where he says he’s from, as he repeats in every post. I apologize if you took that as an insult. If he were from Zimbabwe I’d call him a hippy backpacker from Zimbabwe.

As for the “inflammatory garbage”, much, much more “inflammatory” posts have been made many times on this site. Why single me out? The rules should be consistently applied, to newbies and old timers alike.[/quote]

Oh get off it, man. Of course “from Canada” is not an insult. Very creative self quoting; you conveniently leave out the insulting content. “ANOTHER backpacker hippy bum from Canada” and “fresh out of Tim Horton’s” are very inflamatory statements. You need not have insulted him, his nationality or anything. You need not have insulted my nationality by suggesting that we are all bums or hippies. You are not so dumb as to not realise how insulting you’ve been. I’m not singling you out, but I do feel especially insulted by your comments.

If the OP is a CBC and was raised in Chinese family (much like my gf), then s/he already can speak basic Mandarin and only would need a couple months to brush up and improve. Two months would not be near enough time for a total beginnner to acquire substantial language skills. But for an FBC who’s been exposed to the language most of his life, that’s plently of time to get up to speed.

Your FBC status also ads another dimension to your query, OP. Do you qualify for an ROC passport. If so, legal residence is a possible option.

What are the requirements for an ROC passport?

Take a look in the dual nationality forum for specifics. If your parents emigrated from here, you should be more or less able to get an ROC passport. Be aware, though, that if you are male, you may be subject to military service if you get an ID card. I knew a guy who simply left the country every so often to avoid being counted as a resident (and thus subject to the draft). Draft dodger? Possibly. But the guy had already served in the US military.

And I thought Americans were hypersensitive. Geez. I said ANOTHER Canadian because 90% of the foreign English teachers I meet are from Canada. Not a scientific survey so don’t call me on the numbers. Would your nationalist pride be soothed if I said “fresh out of McDonald’s”? Nowhere did I say that all Canadians were hippie bums. I said most English teachers in Taiwan without degrees are hippie bums who spend their money getting stoned at Thailand full moon parties. Get my stereotyping straight. I didn’t insult Canada or Canadians but a specific individual. You are projecting.

Anyway, judging from this guy’s posts he’s not the type I first pegged him as, so I apologize for the personal insults. He’s hear to learn the language. Sorry.