I’ve been at this for almost 3 years now, and I think I’ve seen a wider range of opportunities than most westerners who come here to teach English. As such, I think it’s only fair that I share what I’ve learned with the current crop of foreigners coming here. That way maybe they won’t have the same bumpy ride I’ve had.
Are you here mostly to make money?
If your main reason for coming to Taiwan was to learn Chinese then obviously you won’t have the same goals as you would if you just finished liberal arts degree and came over here to pay off massive college loans. The same would be true if you came here to get to know your grandparents who didn’t move to immigrate to California with the rest of your family, or if you came because you’re really ugly and can’t get a girlfriend at home. Just kidding about that last one… sort of.
I personally came to Taiwan with the goal of learning Chinese really well, but that is a topic for a different post. And even with that goal, like many others, I ran out of funds and had to become an English teacher. Like many others, I started at
Big Chain Schools
There are a few really dominant bŭxíbāns (補習班), or cram schools, in Taiwan. The biggest bŭxíbān is Hess (何嘉仁). Close behind are Sesame Street (芝麻街), Giraffe (長頸鹿), and Joy (佳音). Most foreigners start out at one of these schools, and more than half leave within the first year. All of these schools are pretty similar.
Curriculum
They all have a decent curriculum despite some occasional English errors. For example, Hess books used to confuse the past participle “gotten” with the past tense form “got”. It would be ok if they were teaching British English, but they claim to be teaching 美語 (American langauge). As a north American, I can say it really sounds weird when kids say things like, “He has already got back from the store.” At Joy, there was a (very common Taiwanese) mistake concerning the meaning of toast. According to their books, once bread is sliced, it’s toast. I also remember another mistake in a book for a GEPT prep class that had some passage about a bird escaping its cage during a birthday and “creating a small chaos”. Obviously this passage was not written by a native English speaker. One thing about the big chains is that they usually correct these kinds of mistakes within a couple of years. The problem is their curriculum designers are almost all Taiwanese people who have majored in English and mistakenly assume that their English is so good that they can write better ESL materials than native speakers could. So, while the curriculum mistakes are found, there’s a steady stream of new Chinglish-ridden materials coming from the main office.
Teaching Methods
This is the real weakness of the big chain schools. Every single one pushes the “100% English” method, which involves having “real foreigners” (with blond hair and everything) speak nothing but English, flapping their arms to communicate the word “chicken”, and giving dramatic renditions of the actions of “crying”, and “sleeping” if necessary. This method of teaching was very popular amongst linguists about 40 years ago. However, due to very poor results, it has long since been dropped by L2 acquisition linguists. Modern research shows that other methods such as Massive Comprehensible Input are much more effective. The key word here, is comprehensible. By denying teachers the option of using the children’s native language to explain things, the children will either require more time to learn the same material, cover it as quickly but with much worse understanding, or worst of all misunderstand it. Naturally, enforcing homework, inspiring the class and pronunciation coaching all suffer as well. At my current school, I frequently give entrance tests to children who have spent 4 hours a week for 4 years at a big chain school. So far only one has ever been able to pass our first semester exam. 90% of the time they are deficient in every section of the exam: grammar, listening comprehension, spelling, phonics, and pronunciation.
Compensation
Most big chains pay about $600 per teaching hour. Usually, if you have 4 hours of paid work in a day, you’ll also have about 30 minutes to an hour of prep work to do, too. Sometimes there are Christmas parties and the such. The biggest schools usually pay for these, but some don’t. If you are interested in finding this sort of job, check out the listings at tealit.com.
Requirements
This is the big advantage to big schools. If you are white, under 40, eligible for a visa and not hideously deformed, all you have to do to get the job is show up for the interview. This isn’t much of an exaggeration. Even if you have no experience at all, and a very tenuous grasp of your own language you’ll have no real problems getting a job. Most schools prefer Americans, but a British accent won’t stop you from getting a job at any of the big schools or even very many of the smaller ones. After all, S. Africans are doing very very well here.
If you are Asian-looking, you will find more difficulties at first. Especially, if you don’t know any Chinese at the beginning. I’ve had several friends in this situation. Take heart, though! Your Asian looks are a tremendous advantage if you want to learn Chinese. And once your Chinese is even so-so, you are very employable not only as a bŭxíbān branch manager, but you’ll also have quite a few opportunities as a programmer, fitness trainer, sales rep or just about anything else you could think of. I have three Asian-looking foreign friends who are bŭxíbān managers, one who manages at California fitness, and two others who have worked their way up at tech companies fairly quickly. Though you will face “reverse” racism as an English teacher, racism will be all in your favor once you make it into management. Also, so-called “ABCs”, or “American-Born Chinese”, are at the top of the social ladder. You will be assumed to be more educated, cooler, etc… than other locals. Some may even resent you for it.
If you are black… all I can say is that you face an uphill battle. One of my better friends from back home came here after completing a degree in linguistics. Despite being more qualified than I am, he had great difficulties in getting a job. It is possible, but you’ll really have to be the best at what you do and dress well to even get your foot in the door.
Big Chain Kindergartens
In most ways these are about the same as the bŭxíbāns. The only difference is that you will probably have less prep time required of you, and you’ll have to do more special events like Christmas plays, etc…
Teaching Methods
The teaching methods are about the same as those in big chain bŭxíbāns, but usually with more singing, exercises, coloring and such. Actually most of the big chains run kindergartens in addition to their bŭxíbāns. There are a few big chains, like Kid Castle, that just do kindergarten.
Compensation
The pay is sometimes a little bit lower than it is for bŭxíbāns. $550-$600 starting is the norm.
Requirements
Kindergartens can be hard on the voice; make sure you take care of yourself. Also, don’t expect the kids to learn much. Just try to keep it fun for everyone. One other thing is that even at schools that don’t let you speak any Chinese, you’re better off if you can understand a bit. Otherwise you may find out that Chinese sentence the kid in front of you was saying didn’t mean, “what’s that thing?”. It meant, “I’m gonna puke all over you.”
Public High Schools
There is definitely a big variety in the English teaching jobs within the public school system. There isn’t much central planning, or if there is, it’s not effective. In theory only high schools can hire foreigners directly, but in practice many middle schools and a few elementary schools do too. At most schools there is only a very bare-bones curriculum and the teacher is left to his or her own devices. Speaking some Chinese is usually but not always tolerated. Classes usually have a HUGE variance in English proficiency. Some students are also attending bŭxíbāns, or did in the past. Those who haven’t are, naturally enough, way behind.
Compensation
At public schools, there is large variance in not only pay, but also in duties. Many schools require that you stay from 8:30 A.M. until 5:00 PM and grade tests, help the local teachers with their English, or perform other administrative duties. Usually the pay is a salary between $65,000 and $80,000 per month.
The Real Deal
Do you want to make $1.5 million (about $50 thousand USD) or more a year? Do you want to be on a career path that will allow you to open your own school and make half a million a month? Do you want your kids to really learn to speak English really well? If you’re willing to learn some Chinese and stay at the same school for a few years, there’s another kind of school where you can. I’ll describe it in my next article.
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