Language Schools
There are primarily four different kinds of schools most English teachers work at. They are: kindergartens, cram schools, public schools and universities. However, if you are coming to Taiwan for the first time you will probably end up working in a cram school.
Kindergartens
Kindergartens are very popular in Taiwan. The kindergartens that provide English classes hire foreign students to teach them. Please note that working at a kindergarten is illegal. You will still find kindergartens advertising and openly hiring foreigners even though they are aware it is illegal. Classes usually run from 9am to 12 midday and you may have anywhere from 5 – 15 children in your class. Activities usually involve a morning workout, English class time and then lunch.
Cram Schools
These schools make up the bulk or majority of English schools in Taiwan. Most foreign English teachers work in these schools. Most of the students are aged anywhere from six to twelve years of age with classes from 2pm to 9pm. Children are sent to these schools by their parents after they finish their daily public school classes. Classes range anywhere from five to 25 students and run for usually two hours. Each school has its own curriculum and teachers are simply required to follow the preplanned teaching schedules for each class. Many schools have a Taiwanese assistant on hand while you are teaching your class to help deal with any problems.
Public Schools
Public and private schools and hire foreign teachers but are not as common as cram schools. The requirements to teach at these schools is much stricter as teachers usually need to hold an education degree and be a licensed teacher back in their home country. Class sizes can range anywhere from ten to thirty and a wide variety of classes may be taught beyond just English. Work hours are usually similar to that of public schools and range from 8am to 5pm. Work at these schools is uncommon as the majority of foreign teachers in Taiwan are employed by and work in cram schools.
Universities
Similar to public schools, teaching positions at universities is uncommon and not as easy to obtain as teachers need to hold Master’s degrees and higher. Class sizes can vary anywhere from ten to thirty and working hours may be during the day, at night time or even on weekends.
{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
I am an American with a degree from St.Paul University in the Philippines . Can I use this degree in Taiwan ?
Any information would be appreciated.
Stuart Bacha
@Stuart,
Unfortunately I can’t help with this. Since you are a US passport holder, you meet that requirement, but I am not sure about the degree being from the Philippines. I would contact one of the big chain schools in Taiwan and ask them if the MOE in Taiwan will accept it or not. Good luck!
I am an American journalist with a M.A. and author of four books. In the last 5 years I have taught ESL in Asia, often online and some tutoring in person, and a few business seminars in English proficiency as well as doing my journalism assignments. Now, I have an idea of doing corporate training in Taiwan, perhaps offering my services as a corporate trainer in English to a language school/center and working out some kind of business arrangement. However, I am still in the initial stages of thinking through this. Any input on this? I am now in Manila for the time being… I did an Internet search and there are myriads of language schools in Taiwan and I have no idea of knowing which are of good quality and which are not! xie xie
@Timothy,
Sadly you won’t find much, if any, information on schools in Taiwan. As you already pointed out, most of them are cram schools for children. There are very few corporate schools, and most of them pay the same rate that cram schools do. I would strongly recommend you stick to Taipei, but all the adult schools advertising in Taiwan online pay anywhere from 400-600NT an hour. The “high paying” corporate gigs are usually obtained via word of mouth. I wish I could help you but corporate English in Taiwan is a tiny market. Unless you have other reasons to come to Taiwan, I personally wouldn’t recommend anyone come here specifically to teach corporate classes. You’d be much better off in Japan, Korea and even China.
So what are the requirements for people to work legally at Kindergarten schools?
@Serena,
None. You must hold an early childhood education related degree in order to teach legally in kindergartens, but the catch is that children under the age of 6 can not be taught classes entirely in English. This means there is simply no reason a foreigner should be teaching them. There are many schools and people who will try to argue that you can legally work at kindergartens, but the simple fact is that it is illegal.
I am currently completing my BA in Early Childhood Education from a university in the U.S. I’m considering teaching for HESS next year and one of the teaching possibilities is Kindergarten, However they “claim” that there is a Chinese teacher helpng in the class at all times. If I were to accept a teaching position with them would it still be illegal since I will be a certified teacher, teaching with a chinese teacher?
Thank you for all of your practical adivice
@Lynn,
Yes, it is still 100% totally illegal. Children under the age of 6 are not allowed to be taught classes entirely in English. What this means is that they CAN be taught English, but the class is meant to be carried out in Chinese, and no other lessons besides English are meant to be taught (example, you aren’t meant to teach children about Taiwan using English, this is a lesson that is conducted in English but has nothing to do with learning English). Obviously no-one cares because bribes are paid and schools get away with it, but just keep in mind that all kindy work is illegal. Good luck.
Thank you for your honest and specific response. Which schools do you have experience with or which schools would you highly recommend considering?
@Lynn,
Honestly, just go with HESS. I say this because they will hire you without being in Taiwan, and despite what people say they really aren’t that bad. The pay is low, there is a lot of correcting homework and other work outside of class, BUT it is a great and stable way to move to Taiwan without worrying about being fired. They are a “safe” way to test the waters.
Hi Lynn,
What do you consider low wage, if I decide to apply for Hess school?
@Clote,
The page I have about English Teaching Pay will give you the basics you need to know about what you should accept when it comes to teaching English here.
Accepting an offer of employment from Hess Language School to teach English in Taiwan; the offer of employment makes you feel rather secure about putting up all that money and travelling to Taiwan for Hess’s training programme, but it is very important to bear in mind that you only have a prospect of gaining employment with Hess at the end of training.
The offer of employment is dependant on successfully passing training. Hess training is more akin to a selection process, a nine day job interview, coupled with assessments and testing throughout. To actually be employed by Hess, as an English language teacher in Taiwan, you must successfully pass this.
Training is, in my view, conducted very rapidly, one could speculate, to minimise costs. A major problem for trainees is that assessed practical demonstrations are given with only very limited and arguably inadequate amounts of time for adequate preparation. Demonstrations must be carried out in accordance with the Hess curriculum and Hess teaching style, which the trainers go through rapidly. There are also daily tests and a final exam at the end of training to contend with.
If you are not adept at public speaking you will most likely struggle with training, as you will be required to use Hess teaching methods to teach from the Hess curriculum, in front of assessors and your classmates. This will happen throughout training.
I am aware of a trainee who was told by Hess’s Head Trainer that his demonstrations were average, after only his third ever attempt at one in his life, and that as a consequence he would not be offered a contract with Hess; this was despite Hess being fully aware that he had never before taught English when they made him the offer of employment in the first place. In this persons case he had travelled from the other side of the world to take up Hess’s offer of employment. If your scores are, likewise, rather average you can expect to be similarly removed from training, and refused a position with Hess.
If you wish to teach English in Taiwan, and you are looking for employment before you get there, I recommend finding another alternative. I would additionally recommend that if you do decide to go, be prepared to find work once you get there.
@Jack,
What you posted there does not surprise me. I really think people should avoid the big brand chain schools if they can. It can be very hard for people to do this if they live outside of Taiwan, because mostly only the big schools are willing to hire people before they move to Taiwan. I would recommend that people who start off at a school like the one you mentioned move onto something better after a year or two. Thanks for the very revealing post.
I understand that children under the age of six are not allowed to be taught in English (you made that quite clear), but is it possible, in any shape or fashion — provided one is proficient in Mandarin — to be a kindergarten teacher in Taiwan legally?
@Spencer,
It is definitely possible, but the point is that you cannot teach classes entirely in English to children under six. This means that you can’t teach them about non-English subjects. Having said this, it doesn’t stop plenty of people from working in kindergartens. Just be aware that it “technically” is illegal. So don’t get caught. Good luck!
I am in my 30s, came to the US from Taiwan when I was 3 years old. I have a bachelors and a US passport. What are the chances of being hired to teach English in Taiwan?
@Wesley,
So you are Taiwanese and not an ABC. That’s how schools will look at you, regardless of how long you spent overseas. You could definitely find work here, but it wouldn’t be in the mainstream cram schools where most foreigners work. You need to target schools that need an English teacher who is fluent or near fluent in Chinese. There’s opportunities here for you, but you’ll have to get creative and look where most people usually don’t.
Thank you for all the info so far. I have a friend who is a US citizen is on track to finishing his bachelor degree. Would he be able to find a short term English teacher job in Taiwan? Probably ranging from about 60-90 days.
@James,
Legally? 99.9% chance he couldn’t find such work. As I have said on this site, the minimum length of employment is one year. There occasionally are summer camp schools where you may be able to find work for a month or two, but these camps are only held once or twice a year. Also, you said your friend is on track to finishing his degree. Does this mean he would have it by the time he comes to Taiwan or not yet? You can only legally work in a cram school if you already possess a BA. Best of luck to your friend!
I hold an education degree but not majoring in English, I can speak chinese (mandarin) quite well as my parents sent me to study at a chinese primary school. Is it illegal for me to teach kindergartens in taiwan?
@Diana,
I am not sure what your nationality is, but it is 100% illegal for kindergartens to teach English. This is a law that stems from the belief that teaching a second language to children under the age of six will adversely affect their L1 ability. If you are Taiwanese, then obviously there’s very little chance you’ll ever be caught, because kindergartens blatantly ignore this rule and advertise that they offer English classes etc. However, if you are not Taiwanese then you are walking a fine line. Will you be caught? Honestly, probably not but you are at much greater risk than a local Taiwanese teacher.