Comments on: Language Schools

By: admin

admin — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 03:33:38 +0000

@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!

By: James

James — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 21:45:02 +0000

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.

By: admin

admin — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 05:13:00 +0000

@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.

By: wesley

wesley — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 23:09:09 +0000

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?

By: admin

admin — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 12:56:31 +0000

@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!

By: Spencer

Spencer — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 08:27:26 +0000

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?

By: admin

admin — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 00:28:21 +0000

@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.

By: jack

jack — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 23:08:09 +0000

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.

By: admin

admin — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 04:20:35 +0000

@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.

By: Clote

Clote — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:14:32 +0000

Hi Lynn,

What do you consider low wage, if I decide to apply for Hess school?