 A typical alley in suburban Taipei. The majority of
Taiwanese live in
cramped
urban housing like this. High population densities, however, make for
great
convenience of services. Practically everything you would ever want in
life is available right around this neighborhood. |
Michael A. Turton |
|
Introduction to |
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in Taiwan |
 A
man cleans the hairs off a piece of pigskin. |
First, in the late 1980s chain schools sprang up and expanded mightily, pushing out the higher paying cram schools (which are also nicer places to work). Few of the really great old cram schools have survived. |
 Students
at an American school line up for carnival tickets. |
Second, at about the same time the government began cracking down on the whole system. Thus, you will probably have to work legally and pay some taxes. It is highly unlikely you will be able to work completely illegally, as in the old days. |
 The
interior of a large restaurant. |
Third, since the
chain schools
offer lower paying jobs, wages were stagnant for a long time. |
 Bees
are the same everywhere. |
Fourth, there are fewer and fewer children being born, so the potential market is both saturated and shrinking. |
 A
pizza joint on a small town corner. |
Fifth, the
government is beginning
long-term reform of Taiwan's mediocre educational system and English
teaching
is beginning earlier and earlier in the public schools. This has
created
opportunities for foreigners at every level. |
 A line of policemen steels itself against oncoming protesters. |
|
 A
night market braces for the influx of customers as evening approaches. |
Sixth, as classes
have shrunk
and revenues contracted, English schools have shrunk. However, the
system has formalized, and contracts for long hours are fairly normal. |
 A
garlic vendor. Taiwan cannot supply its own garlic demand and large
quantities
are smuggled in from China. The trade is controlled by organized crime. |
Seventh, there are
many foreign
job-seekers in Taiwan, especially in the cities. In fact the large
number of South Africans is constantly blamed for holding wages down,
though the reality is that
the market is in a state of near perfect
competition, which keeps wages steady. |
 Paradise in Taipei: a bookstore with English books, Aurora
computer
megamart,
and Starbucks together on one corner. |
Eighth are exchange rate problems. Ten years ago the NT was 24 to the dollar. It collapsed to 35, and has since climbed back to32-33 as the dollar continues to slide. |
 A
temple interior. |
But the pay is still not bad, relative to expenses, and a great way to get experience living overseas. And if you stay for a long time........... |
 Traffic
in downtown Taichung. |
Many people have asked if
the recent
economic troubles here have affected the English market. Not really. |
 Wartermelons for sale near the train station in Tainan. |
|
 Family tombs cleared and cleaned on Tomb Sweeping Day |
Because of long-term emphasis on English, massive
expansion
of higher education, implementation of English programs in the public
schools,
proliferation of bilingual kindergartens, and various other factors,
many
are predicting that the next couple of decades will be a good time for
English
here. |
Motorcycles wait for their owners on a street in Yungho, a suburb of
Taipei. |
Keep an Eye on....The Ministry of Education is currently floating a program to permit foreigners to teach in local junior and senior high schools at very high rates of pay -- 90,000 a month, almost twice what the locals make. Everyone is peeved about it locally. The government is broke, the locals are screaming about the job situation, and of course, in Taiwan, all problems are foreign-born....so the media is having a field day. I doubt this program will ever see the light of day in its current form, but something useful may show up someday. Stay tuned. |
 Expensive
decorated cakes are a great favorite of the locals. |
Here's another thing: lots of Americans come over and find with a shock that teaching, even English teaching, is work. Coming from a country where teachers are routinely derided (only in America does one hear such nonsense as "pointy-headed professor" and "those who can't do, teach") and the life of the mind held in contempt, many newcomers are quite surprised to find how difficult and demanding it can be. |
 A
lion guards a temple in southern Taiwan. |
As Taiwanese become increasingly saavy about foreigners, the stereotypical lazy drifter is finding it more and more difficult to find work. The bushiban system can be remunerative, but it rewards people in proportion to their willingness and ability to work hard. |
 A man smashes rocks by a local stream. |
|
|
in Taiwan |
| On-line degrees are not acceptable at any level. You must have received the degree while physically present at the institution offering it. |  Underwear
for sale in a night market. |
| The law on two year degrees and TEFL certificates is ambiguous. Some people have managed to obtain a legal work permit with a two-year degree and a TEFL certificate. The law says that if you don't have a four year degree, you must have ESL certification + a 2 yr degree (but what degree is not exactly stated) in order to obtain a work permit. However, not all employers are aware of this, and many will refuse to believe that it is legal. |  "And
mimsy were the borogoves...." You will see many examples of awful
English
like this tag off of a shirt. Remember that English in Taiwan simply
serves
as a marker of prestige and modernity; the quality of the language is
secondary
to its mere presence on a product. Additionally, because Taiwan's
copyright
laws are construed more narrowly than the US, much bad English exists
to
avoid copyright issues. My son has a Chicago Bulls T-shirt with the
familiar
Bulls logo in a different color scheme, with the word "Chicago"
replaced
by "Chance." |
| If you read the various Taiwan forums, you will soon find that there are people who are working here with legally inadequate degrees, or fake degrees. Perhaps their schools have good connections, perhaps they are lying. In any case, don't gamble that you'll find good work illegally. |  Rice
fields run up to the foot of the mountains in western Taiwan. |
| What kind of things can
happen
to you with an illegal degree? I get letters like this all the time.... i am currently living in taiwan with my boyfriend. i moved here in july of last year, my boyfriend three months ahead of me. unfortunately, i came here without a degree or tesl certificate. i only have a two year diploma in the accounting field. i was a little skeptical about coming empty handed but was told it would be easy and that everyone did it. my boyfriend actually got work using a fake tesl, and his friend who'd been here for years said the same, to just come. so i did. i got an offer from a well known school to work for them. actually it was to replace a friend of a friend. anyway, we made the mistake of changing my diploma to apply for a work visa. it got rejected. at this point i was already working for them. when the diploma didn't work we got a fake tesl certificate. the gov't wanted to see a school stamp so we changed it, and i applied again. once again it was rejected. my school let me go because they didn't want to risk being blacklisted, or me. so now i'm not sure how to go about working legally here. i've been told to take chinese classes, or get a fake degree, or take the tesl course online. i am currently broke and would like the cheapest way possible. i'm scared to apply with a fake document again and risk being deported. i am not ready to leave. i was told that you can get fake degrees that really work...but i'm still skeptical. what to do?! |
 Shoppers in a he-man fantasy land: a market devoted entirely to metal parts, equipment and power tools.  Foreign Language students put on Shakespeare. |
| Here's
another letter about teaching illegally, posted to Dave's ESL Cafe
in 2005. |
 A woman adds atmosphere at an upscale restaurant. |
| The law is simple: * a four year/BA/BS or equivalent * a two yr plus ESL certification. Please do not write me and ask about any other situation. If you ask me whether your special degree situation is legal, I will tell you it is illegal. If you ask me for advice, I will tell you to go get a BA. |
 A beef noodle joint. |
 Students
can really be wonderful.... |
| FROM AN ADVERTISEMENT
So you want to explore the mysteries of the Far East, peer over the Great Wall, walk in the Forbidden City? From the moment you contacted us you started your adventure with the Teach in Taiwan Program by ['''deleted..] Read what Jim Solinski, a seasoned ESL teacher who has taught English in five different time zones, says about teaching in Taiwan, which appeared in the Edmonton Journal, Canada's Capital Newspaper: I taught English in Taiwan for one year and saved $11,000 US then took off travelling. I took in cock fights in the Philippines, scuba dove in the South China Sea, climbed the tallest peak in Southeast Asia, hitched-hiked from Brunei to Bangkok, taught some more in Saigon, white-water rafted in the Himalayas, gave Hindu blessings at sunrise on the Ganges river, and eventually stopped in Sri Lanka. When my plane touched down in Canada two years later, I still had $7,200! Cash in on your luck by teaching English with [deleted]. Being born a native-speaker of English is like being given tickets for a non-stop thrill ride across the world. Millions spend their lives and money to acquire the skills you happened to be born into. Take advantage of this awesome opportunity today and walk along the Emperor's path or the Silk Road. It's your choice and [deleted] can make it happen. |
| Above is a mailing you get from one of the
English
organizations in Taiwan after you sign on. Garbage like this
gives
English teaching a bad name, and badly misrepresents the Taiwan
teaching
experience. Most people aren't going to save US$11,000 teaching
English
in their first year. Note first that the writer of the article is
a "seasoned" teacher rather than a newbie; he commands a higher salary,
has the requisite negotiating skills, and probably knows where to
go.
We do not know when he went either. I once saved well
over
two thousand a month, but that was in the late '80s and early '90s,
when
the NT was 24 to the US dollar. Simple mathematics is clear: 30
hours
a week at NT$550 an hour works out to US$2,100 a month. You will
have to pay some taxes. Living expenses will probably eat a
thousand
US a month. The first couple of months you will not be making a
large
salary. Later, after you have been in Taiwan a while, made some
connections,
and can increase your hours, you may be able to save as much as $1,000
a month. But if you are not willing to put in the long,
inconvenient
hours, you won't make the big bucks.
This article appears to be complete bullshit. An interesting thing about this article a reader pointed out, which I missed, is that Edmonton is not the capital of Canada. Also, I noticed the other day that the writer claims he hitchhiked from Brunei to Bangkok. How? Brunei is on an island..... |
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in Taiwan |
