Hi, I am a South African with a Taiwanese fiance, and we want to move back to Taiwan. Now as a foreigner the easiest way to start working is by teaching English, something I did 8 years ago after finishing university. My questions are as follows: 1-Is it possible to make a long term career out of teaching English? I would like to hear from people that have been doing this for at least 5 years. In my experience most of the teachers working in Taiwan on my last trip were doing it either to make some quick money, pay loans etc, and generally did not take the job to seriously for obvious reason. From my POV, their answers will not help me as their reasoning for teaching is different to mine. 2-If you work for a large nationwide chain are there decent opportunities for advancement within the company? 3-Are there other opportunities for foreigners in other fields. I currently do clothing production and am generally travelling around China once a month for business, for a company in SA (Not an option to carry on with them when I come to TW). I appreciate any answers given.
Taiwan - 4 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
For serious answers, please read the Q&A inthe following site before asking questions, they a re a bit sensitive. However, this is really the best place for the current info you require: http://www.forumosa.com/taiwan/viewforum.php?f=35
2 :
The most advantage point for you is that you do speak English well. Without Mandarin spoken skill,It will be quite difficult to work here. How about run a English cram school? You be the boss,and you can provide pure English learning environment. Lots of parents are looking for this kind of environment for a long time. Does ur wife still keep her Taiwan nationality ? If she does,then things will be much more easy. ex.visa... residency... Welcome to live here! P.S if you do run a cram school here,let me know please. I love to working under English environment. Give me a chance to work with you.job interview is totally fine to me.
3 :
1. yes, it's possible to have a long term career. in fact schools like it if you're married to a taiwanese because that equals stability. 2. don't work for the large chains. you won't make nearly as much money and it'll be harder to move up and there's just that much more bs to deal with. 3. there are other jobs available. management, editing and probably in the clothing industry, which would probably be the best for you with your experience, unless you hate it.
4 :
Michael, as a fellow South African who has been teaching inTW for more than 5 years, this is what I can tell you: 1-Is it possible to make a long term career out of teaching English? Yes, here in Taichung city I know of a number of Foreigners (some are saffers) who have been here many years and some (those married to Taiwanese) plan to stay for life. If you are married to a Taiwanese you don't need an ARC (alien resident certificate) which needs to be renewed annually. Your spousal visa is permanent (but you remain a citizen of SA). Alternatively, if you are not married to a Taiwanese and you have worked in Taiwan for more than 10 years, you may apply for permanent residency. Again, you don't lose your SA citizenship, unless you apply for Taiwanese citizenship. 2-If you work for a large nationwide chain are there decent opportunities for advancement within the company? You have a better chance for that if: A: You are married to a Taiwanese B: You understand the bushiban industry - it's showbusiness and entertainment, not so much teaching, and you need to make all your Taiwanese co-workers (mostly women) feel at ease with you. And never be too direct or speak your mind - a HUGE problem for us South Africans. I'm still working on this, since I'm a very direct and not a very chit-chatty person. C: You can speak excellent Chinese (Mandarin). Once you are married, you can register your own company in your wife's name. My experience is that its much easier to make more money than climbing the positional ladder. Once you are married, you are free to have as many private students as you want. For those of us on a regular ARC it is illegal (although everybody does it). 3-Are there other opportunities for foreigners in other fields. Again if your Chinese (Mandarin) is excellent, it is possible outside the English teaching industry. But you will have to build contacts in your industry and that may take some time. In Chinese society "guanxi" is very important. We have no synonym for this in English, but it's roughly somewhere between networking and bribery. For a Westerner it is a very difficult process to understand. My knowledge after 5 and a half years in Taiwan is only scratching the surface, but I hope this info helps. Welcome to mail me with questions.
