subject: What Is Teaching English Like In Taiwan [print this page] What is teaching like in Taiwan? Teaching English in Taiwan is a very interesting experience. Some people love it, some hate it and some just do it because they don't know what else they can do. Are you wondering how you might feel about being an English teacher? Do you want to know what teaching is really like without all the usual smoke and mirrors that recruiting agencies typically use to make jobs sound more glamorous than they really are? If you haven't ever taught English before, you may find out that it isn't anything like you expected it to be. This is especially true in Taiwan where the actual business side of how most schools are run takes precedence over actually educating children properly.
Teaching English in Taiwan usually involves working 4 hours a day, Monday to Saturday. Work on Saturdays? Yes, that's right. Saturday work is the norm in Taiwan and you shouldn't really expect that you will find a job that doesn't have classes scheduled on Saturday. This doesn't mean everyone works Saturdays but the majority of English teachers do. Many people groan about it but it is the accepted norm for just about every job in Taiwan. In addition to working on Saturday, you also typically need to turn up half an hour early before class to prepare for that day's lessons. Classes usually run for 50 minutes with a 10 minute break in between. Depending on your school you may have tests and homework that you need to take home to grade. There is usually a certain amount of grading that you must do outside of work hours and as a result you aren't paid for this extra work.
Most classes involve teaching children English. There may or may not be a Taiwanese assistant teacher in the class with you while you are teaching. Worried that you can't speak Chinese and won't be able to get a job? You shouldn't be. You don't need to speak Chinese as the entire class is taught in English. You'll find that students often don't understand what you are talking about and you are basically just talking to yourself. This is common and can be very annoying sometimes. It's times like these where you'll need to either use the whiteboard or some body language to try and convey your meaning to the students.
There really is no experience quite like teaching English in Taiwan. Many teachers do it for one year and then go back home to find a "real job". Some people do it for a few years as they are saving up money to pay off loans. Others do it for their entire lives because they either enjoy it or just enjoy the style of life teaching in Taiwan. The work is relatively easy, perhaps too easy and you will be working mostly with children. If you enjoy working four hours a day and don't mind working on Saturdays, then teaching English could very well be your thing.
