Teaching English language in Taiwan is quite lucrative if you are good at what you do. There are many teaching jobs available all around the island and this continues to attract many English tutors. This article contains useful information on things like cost of living, expenses you expect to make and many more things as concerns tutors teaching English as a foreign language in Taiwan.

Asides from having the necessary qualifications and traveling documents before getting the Taiwan, it is also good to either have a friend who already teaches ESL in Taiwan or to get to interact with someone who teaches esl in Taiwan (this can be done using the internet). Getting to know or interact with someone who is already into what you are looking forward to doing will give you more confidence and most likely soften your entry into the country.

In planning to travel to Taiwan, you should ask for vital information like the living conditions of your fellow teachers and general cost of living. This would assist in making a reasonable budget because not carrying enough money to a country aside your own is in fact a dangerously bad idea. We advice you carry around $1000 – 4000 with you so you would be able to set up comfortably. If you are worried about your supposed return on investment, you should know that incomes earned in Taiwan are excellent especially with the cost of living being low so if you happen to be amongst the saving type, you should be able to make the money you brought to Taiwan in no distant time. It has also occurred that some people that arrived Taiwan with little or no money but got jobs few hours after arrival. This should not give you any encouragement to travel to Taiwan without money, we are only trying to bring out the point that teaching jobs have very high demands in Taiwan.

When you have decided on traveling to Taiwan to teach esl, asides from having all necessary qualifications which allow you to teach esl in a foreign country (for more information as regards the qualifications needed, please check the article titled Taiwan ESL Guide) other things you should do it to try and get as much information as you can so as to decide on the part of Taiwan you would like to teach. Places such as Taipei, Taichung and Kaohsiung should be amongst the very first cities on your mind. The reason been that foreigners are much more in these cities than in other and since these cities are the top three most developed on the Taiwan Island, it is likely that you would encounter a preferred job in any of these three cities. Whether or not to begin your search for a school before your arrival on the island is something you would also have to decide. It is advised that if you are planning a very low budget, you may want to search and contact a school via the internet for job openings. Before accepting any job positions, discuss at length with the school authorities or the person in charge on things like accommodation, feeding, teaching hours and make sure the terms they provide you with are what you really want for yourself. You can then arrange for your travel and sign a contract with the school you have discussed with on arrival. If it is your first time in Taiwan, you may also want the school to send a representative to come pick you at the airport. This will reduce the time and money you would spend in locating the school. It also ensures you do not get lost hence providing a soft landing upon arrival. One very important thing you should note is that you must not sign any contracts with a school before your arrival. It is very important that you carry out a visual inspection on the school you are set to work for before making consensual agreement with them. This ensures you are indeed satisfied with what you see. It also makes sure you do not regret your decision to work for that school. 

Another option that may be better than the first is to wait until arrival before choosing to work with a school. This option should be reserved for people with enough money on them as it is more expensive than the first.

 Before traveling, all you have to do is carry out background surveys on schools of your choice (make a short-list of schools that have job openings with working conditions similar to what you want). Send different schools emails or fax on your intent to work with them and if they do have an opening, you can then move on the inquiring about their working conditions. Asides the pay, things like working hours, available of foreign teachers like yourself, accommodation, feeding and security should be paramount. Most high brow schools in Taiwan pay around $15-20 per hour with the numbers of hours worked varying. Depending on your expected income, you should negotiate for suitable work hours that ensure you meet with your aspired income and gives you the extra-time or amount of rest you need. Having fellow foreign English teachers in the same school with you would definitely help you settle down at a faster pace. Asides been able to collect tips and advice from them, they may also be able to tell you on how best to go about your teaching.

Once you have done your preliminary research that involves contacting schools and making a short-list, you can then look forward to traveling to Taiwan. Most foreign teachers in Taiwan apply for a ‘Visitor Visa’ that allows them to stay and work for a fixed period before upgrading their visa. Though working without a work permit or work visa is technically illegal, some schools do not force their workers to have these document. The advantage of getting a visitor’s visa is that you are able to renew, extend or upgrade to one that allows you permanent residency in Taiwan without having to travel back to your country of origin.

Once you arrive, you have the advantage of looking around schools, making enquiries with them, and if they do have job openings, you would most likely have more than one school to choose from. This gives you the upper hand in that you can select to sign a contract with the school best fitting your own work description. If it is a high paying school you intend working for or a school that would give you a guaranteed job for years to come, you have the advantage of being able to sit down and come out with a good choice.

You should also feel free to negotiate with schools as regards your pay. Because teachers of the English language are scarce on the island, a school may be ready to keep you at all costs.