Find Out What Hours You'll Work Teaching English In Taiwan
Teaching English in Taiwan isn't like any other job or career in the world
. Not only is the working environment completely different to what most people are accustomed to, but you'll also discover that the hours you work are also very different. You can forget the idea of working 9 - 5 each day and the common 40 hour work week. You will also have to get used to the idea of working on weekends. Class hours in Taiwan are mostly held in the afternoon and sometimes on the weekend. You won't be working 40 hours a week and in fact English teachers are by law only allowed to work 32 hours a week. So just how many hours will you be in the classroom teaching?
There are a lot of different kinds of English cram schools in Taiwan. Some are just for children, some have classes for teenagers and some for adults. Some schools offer classes for adults, teenagers and children. Regardless of where you work you will get a minimum of 14 hours a week if you are applying for your first job. Why just 14? This is the minimum that teachers can work in their first job in order to get all the papers that will allow you to stay and work legally as a teacher in Taiwan. 14 hours may not be enough and if you want more then it is possible, but be aware that depending on where you get work, 14 hours might be the number you start off on before you are offered more classes.
If you want more than just 14 hours a week, then the good news is that most schools offer more than 14 and usually give you around 24 hours a week. Depending on the number of days you work that will translate into about 4 to 5 hours a day. The legal limit you can work teaching English is 32 hours a week. This is clearly much less than the 40 hours most of us work back home, but the problem is finding 32 hours a week at one school can be very difficult. You may have to consider getting a second part-time job to compensate for the lack of hours your first school gives you.
English teachers in Taiwan do around 20 hours a week. Some work more than this and some work less, but the bulk of teachers turn up and teach about 20 to 24 hours of classes a week. If you need more then you may have to pick a school that can give you a full schedule or work in a city where there are a large number of schools. Cities where you stand the best chance of getting as many hours as possible are located in the northern area of Taiwan. The other big question is how many hours do you want to work? It may be best to find a job that suits your schedule if you aren't planning on working too many hours and have other plans outside of work that are more important to you.