Flexible Working Hours
Unlike most jobs, teaching English in Taiwan can range from as little as 14 hours a week up to 30+ hours. The exact number of hours you get will depend on the type of school you work at. I consider this to be a bonus and these flexible working hours are great for people who want to work less to pursue other activities while still being able to make a decent living.
Kindergartens
Jobs at kindergartens are usually in the mornings or afternoons. Most kindy positions will require you to be there from around 9am to 12 midday. They may also offers additional classes and require you to work between the hours of 1pm to 4pm in the afternoon. Keep in mind that kindy positions are illegal, but they are the only choice for people who prefer to work mornings or afternoons and don’t want to work at night. You should expect anywhere from 10 hours to 20 hours a week, with most kindys offering teachers around 10 hours a week in classes.
Cram Schools
Cram schools usually run classes from 5pm to 9pm on weekdays and anywhere from 9am to 5pm on Saturdays. You can expect anywhere from 14 hours to 30+ hours a week, with the majority of schools offering teachers around 20 hours to 24 hours a week. Working at a cram school will leave your mornings and afternoons free, giving you time to study Chinese or pursue other interests.
Public Schools
Unlike cram schools, public schools will give you a more traditional work load. You can expect to be at work from 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday. You will basically be working a 40 hour week. This does not mean you will be required to teach 40 hours of classes, and the average class load appears to be around 24 hours of actual teaching. The remaining time is classified as office hours.
Universities
Universities are similar to cram schools in that most of the positions advertised will be for teaching classes at night and possibly on weekends. This does not mean that day time classes aren’t offered, but these positions are highly sought after and you will most like require a PhD to be eligible. The number of hours offered by universities can vary greatly and may be less than 10 hours per week.
{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
Good day
My husband has been transferred to Taipei for work and we will be moving down in November/December.
I am a South African citizen who has teaching experience in both South Africa and Sweden. I have completed an undergraduate/bachelors degree in commerce and I have obtained a TEFL 100 hour certificate. I don’t however have a teacher’s license.
I would appreciate if you could kindly assist me with the following:
1) I would like to teach on weekdays during standard school hours. It seems as though a public school would be my best option. Do you think my qualifications would enable this? If I require a teaching license, how can I go about obtaining this in Taipei?
2) Given that the academic year starts in August/September, do schools hire teachers in January as well? I am concerned that I may not find something suitable until August next year.
3) I will not have a working permit when I reach Taipei as I require a job to get one. Will this be of a disadvantage to me when looking for a teaching job?
4) What are good teaching agencies in Taipei? Should I start contacting them already or will November be sufficient time if I would like to begin in January?
Thank you very much!
Shanah,
you need to be a registered teacher in your home country in order to teach at primary/secondary schools in Taiwan. If you aren’t then you can’t teach here without one. Don’t worry about the permit, your school will help you apply for one once you are accepted. Schools in Taipei hire year round, so you won’t have a problem finding work. Good luck and I hope you enjoy Taiwan.
Hey, like the site. Nice work.
You said standard contracts are a year and so teaching at a school for less than a year wouldn’t be possible, legally. I too am looking for a 3-6 month position. What other possibilities are there? Might some schools still hire me? Could I teach private tutor lessons or something like that?
Thanks
@Ed,
You couldn’t get sponsored to get a visa for 3 – 6 months. Could you teach privately? I guess so, but I really can’t offer any advice on working illegally in Taiwan. Plenty of people do it, but I obviously can’t condone such activity on a public site. Best of luck.
Hi again,
Thanks for your advice… maybe I’ll just suck it up and take a real position… I plan to just go. From there my options will be more clear.
What is the dress code for teachers in Taiwan and would it make sense to just buy clothes when I get there? Are clothes as cheap as food and housing? I like to pack light…
Thanks again.
@Ed,
Housing and food is cheap, but it depends on which city and where you are from. Anyway, I’d say bring clothes if you have them, because it means you’ll save money having to buy new ones. Dress code is casual, but it does depend on the school. Jeans and a t-shirt is what most people wear. Provided you don’t look like you just rolled out of bed, you should be fine. Best of luck.
Hi,
Great site, very informative – Thanks. I want to move to Taiwan and work only in the mornings and use the afternoons and evenings for another project which can only be done at this time. How easy do you think it would be to find this sort of job and could i survive on 10 – 14 hours a week if need be (i realise i would have to cut spending).
Just wanted to add that i look the part, have a degree and have a tefl qualification with 20 hours class experience.
@Sean,
Morning jobs are kindergarten jobs, which are illegal here for foreigners. You run the risk of being deported and banned from returning to Taiwan for 5 years. Can you survive on 10 – 14 hours of work per week? Yes, but as you said you would need to cut back drastically on what you did in your spare time. Good luck.
Hi like the site. Good stuff – very helpful.
I am English, 36 and have been in Thailand for the last 2 years teaching in a High School. I have a degree and a TEFL.
I was disappointed to see I would need to be a registered teacher to teach in a secondary school in Taiwan. I teach 15-18 year olds and prefer to teach age 15+ to adults…I want to earn decent money and work 20+ hours….Cram School my best option? Also how easy is it to pick up extra private tuition work and what is the hourly rate? Currently I earn an extra 20,000 baht (400 UK Sterling) from private teaching….Also what time of year do most the organisations do their hiring? Help would be appreciated.
PS I plan to go home to to UK for a couple of months before coming out…do any organisations pay for flights?
@Jay,
Cram school is your only option without a teacher’s license. Pay is around 600 – 700NT an hour for privates and while there’s not problem finding them, you won’t be rushed off your feet unless you’ve been here a while and have built up some connections. 99.9% of cram schools do not pay for flights. I’d ask myself why Taiwan and not Thailand. If you just want to experience Taiwan, then come on over. However, if you have a good job where you are that pays well, I’d make sure I had some very good reasons for leaving it and coming to Taiwan. Most cram schools hire just before Chinese New Year and then around August or so. However, many still hire throughout the year, but it means you may not have that many jobs to pick from. Good luck!
Hi,
Great site for people who need information on this. I hope I don’t ask you any questions that were already answered that I missed, but I’m pretty sure I didn’t see any info on this…I was wondering what the school break times were, in terms of vacation. What holidays are celebrated there in Taiwan and during what months the students/teachers get time off from school? Also, the school year runs from when to when? Sept-June, or is there summer school?
My other question is: If one were sign a contract for a year and end up not staying the full year, what type of consequences would exist, if any? Thanks in advance for your time!
@James,
Good question. I don’t think anyone asked it. Cram schools will take time off for CNY (about 1 or 2 weeks usually) and that’s it. Public holidays are extremely rare, but they do celebrate a few like Mid-autumn Festival and Dragon Boat Festival. The school system here follows the US model, but that only applies to “real” schools. Cram schools take students any time of the year. If you signed a contract and left early, there usually isn’t much that is done. However, you wouldn’t get any end of year bonus and obviously the school wouldn’t hire you again. Good luck!
So as far as travelling goes, while working in Taiwan as a teacher, it is difficult to have enough time off to visit surrounding cities and countries? What is the system of vacation time, is it possible to accumulate vcation days or does that depend on the school as well? thanks
@James,
If you are working in a cram school, then about the only time you will get off is at CNY. It’s usually about 2 weeks or so. The problem is that EVERYONE wants to travel at this time of the year, so it’s not a great time to actually do anything. If you aren’t working weekends you will have plenty of time to travel around Taiwan (it’s a tiny island), but visiting other countries will either you taking time off from work or just doing it when you do get time off, like CNY etc. No school I know of allows you to accumulate days, it will just depend on your school. However, the majority only give you CNY and public holidays off (there aren’t many public holidays in Taiwan, so be warned). I hope that helps.