Taiwan Teaching
Created | Updated Jan 28, 2002
here is a guide to how i got here:
To all of you who are reading this, there are probably two kinds of people, the ones who are going on the TEFL course and fancy the idea of going to Taiwan and those of you are due to take the course and are dead certain that you want to go to Taiwan. I was the latter.
I took the course in Edinburgh in March 2000 and had every intention of going to Taiwan. I had known about TEFL since October when a friend came to Edinburgh for the course, She has since gone to Greece and is doing very well. The lady, Karen, mentioned Taiwan as being a very viable option and reading the letters in the introduction pack made the place seem very appealing. The change in culture, the distance from home and the decent wage. i hate to say it but the wage was a factor, as it is good and cost of living in relatively cheap.
If you are sure about your destination the sooner you start the ball rolling the better. It takes about a month at the least to get all the necessary work down in planning your journey out here.
:-)
Firstly buy the Lonely planet book on Taiwan and start reading it. if it does not put you off, good. I doubt it will as Taiwan is a very entising place. The book cost 12pounds and is well worth it. Besides it is the only travel guide on this place. ( apart from h2g2. of course!)
Second, contact the Taiwan Embassey in London as ask for a VISA application to be sent to you. Next, contact Sue about getting a job. Sue has fantastic resources and connections. If there is a job on the horizon, sue will know about it. Get youself a contact over in Taiwan. It will most likely be a teacher who has a job vacancy in their school. When introcuing yourself to your contact, be possitive and try not to ask too many questions. I know you will have many, so did I but trust me on this!
Got to a doctor and sort out what vacination and boosters you will need. I had many injections. I had my tetnus and polio boosts, aswell as typhoid, dipferia (?) vacination. I would also suggest Hepetitus A and B injections. The Hep B is a course of three. I had Japense Enceliphititus B vanctination which protects agianst a disease passed on by mosquitos. This is a course of three and can be expensive. Around 16pounds per injection. This one is only a recommendation.
I was on the advanced course which takes a month to complete. This was rushed so if you are serious about Taiwan, start the course asap. This will require all in all about 50pounds worth of investment.
With the injections get copies of the records to take with you, very important to have information of what drugs you have taken if you have to visit a hospital over in Taiwan. For the Jap B, this has to be administered by a Travel Clinic, your local GP will know of you local clinic. Having injections in such an intense period will result in taking that perticular day off work, you feel drained for a day or so.
If you have a good contact you might the in a position where you will have a job lined up for you. I was replacing a teacher who's contact was ending. This factor pretty much determines when you will leave.If a job is not lined up, it is still possible to just fly over and within a couple of days be employed. Good school are in demand and always try to gain new students and so employ more teachers. Your contact will do all the necessary work for you in getting your job. Follow their lead and do what they say, within reason! They will likely ask you for a CV for the Boss to read. Get one done and up to date. It is like any other job, a school will not employ you if they think you are unsuitalbe. Having access to email is very important for this as it speeds up the process.
Enquire about flight costs. I went to TrailFinders and got an open ended ticket for a year at 550.80 pounds. This was with all necessary taxes but without insurance. This price was better than STA Travel, but still look around. The airline was Royal Bruni Air which flys from Heathrow. You can get a connection flight from airport around the country to Heathrow with British Midland included in your price. Make sure you have enough connection time if you are flying to Heathrow. Flights are delayed. I flew from Manchester with 1 and a half hours to spare. My flight was delayed leaving Manchester and i missed my conection flight. I transfered to a flight leaving 4 days later which was ok but, and i stress this, make sure you take delay time into consideration when booking.
Ok, so far so good. Thing you might need and should take anyway.
A medical kit, plasters, bite cream, bandages, antiseptic wipes, diorea tablet ( oh yes, it will happen!) and any thing else you can imagine you will need on a trip to the east. Taiwan has good hospitals but when you go off for weekend trips, these thing might come in handy.
A full copy of all you most important documentation. you need to take with you your actual degree certificate and the telf certificate, this is must for the paper work necessary for you to get the working permit that the school organises. Create a folder with your birth certificate and marriage certificate if appropiate. With this, include photocopies of your passport data page and the page that has the VISA ( when rec'd) Also copy your travelers checks if you have any. Makes copies of all the paper work inc the certificates. one copy to take with you and the other to leave at home in hte Uk. This is for emergency, like if you lose your passport, the details are still known. This folder is you offical identity, keep it save.
Get as many passport pictures as you can. This is costly so if possible just get them copied onto sheets of A4 in colour. You will surprised how many of them they will need for forms. Keep these in you folder as well.
About filling in th VISA....It is not worth the time and hassle of saying that you intend to teach in Taiwan when you fill in the application. Apply for a VISITOR'S VISA. This gives you a four month window in Taiwan ROC. Say you are one a trip to visit a friend. Your contact will most likely fax a letter of invitiation to the Embassey stating this. The School can get the VISA extened once you have your teachers permit. You might have to send down a bank statement as well.
It takes about a week to get your VISA processed, as quite expensive. 25pounds for them to process it and you have to send it 'recorded deliverly and have it sent back that way aswell. It is for yuor own protection as you have to send your passport and flight tickets. The Embassey need to see that you have a leaving date that is with in 4 months. All in all, this cost about 28pounds.
so now you have your ticket with a a departure date, your VISA ( it will be stamped NO EXTENSTION WILL BE GRANTED, ignore that!) and your money. FOr money go American Express, they are very good. You might have to order New Taiwanese Dollars in advance. If iwas you do not bother with travelrs checks, you can only get them in US$ and not many places in Taiwan exhange US$ travlers check. Take over about 400-500 pounds. This will cover your rent and last you a month if you are wise. Depending on the school you will get paid at hte beginning of each month. I am will Shane School which is very good in Changau. You sign your contact and get a set wage, very handy. You work about 25-30 hours a week. 25 is plenty as it takes time to prepare your lessons!
Take toiletries with you that will last for a while, paracetamol, neorhpen and stuff like that. Books to read and anything you might think might be good for teaching. Word searches are a good idea. Cross words ( kids!) A good school has all the material you will need. And photographs of you and your family, the locals will be interested to see your family.
Taiwan is a great place and you will enjoy it as long as you dont bring with you any preconceptions. it is totally different and equally surprising.
Good luck and give me a mail if you need to know any more stuff, i think i covered it all but i cannot be sure.
To all of you who are reading this, there are probably two kinds of people, the ones who are going on the TEFL course and fancy the idea of going to Taiwan and those of you are due to take the course and are dead certain that you want to go to Taiwan. I was the latter.
I took the course in Edinburgh in March 2000 and had every intention of going to Taiwan. I had known about TEFL since October when a friend came to Edinburgh for the course, She has since gone to Greece and is doing very well. The lady, Karen, mentioned Taiwan as being a very viable option and reading the letters in the introduction pack made the place seem very appealing. The change in culture, the distance from home and the decent wage. i hate to say it but the wage was a factor, as it is good and cost of living in relatively cheap.
If you are sure about your destination the sooner you start the ball rolling the better. It takes about a month at the least to get all the necessary work down in planning your journey out here.
:-)
Firstly buy the Lonely planet book on Taiwan and start reading it. if it does not put you off, good. I doubt it will as Taiwan is a very entising place. The book cost 12pounds and is well worth it. Besides it is the only travel guide on this place. ( apart from h2g2. of course!)
Second, contact the Taiwan Embassey in London as ask for a VISA application to be sent to you. Next, contact Sue about getting a job. Sue has fantastic resources and connections. If there is a job on the horizon, sue will know about it. Get youself a contact over in Taiwan. It will most likely be a teacher who has a job vacancy in their school. When introcuing yourself to your contact, be possitive and try not to ask too many questions. I know you will have many, so did I but trust me on this!
Got to a doctor and sort out what vacination and boosters you will need. I had many injections. I had my tetnus and polio boosts, aswell as typhoid, dipferia (?) vacination. I would also suggest Hepetitus A and B injections. The Hep B is a course of three. I had Japense Enceliphititus B vanctination which protects agianst a disease passed on by mosquitos. This is a course of three and can be expensive. Around 16pounds per injection. This one is only a recommendation.
I was on the advanced course which takes a month to complete. This was rushed so if you are serious about Taiwan, start the course asap. This will require all in all about 50pounds worth of investment.
With the injections get copies of the records to take with you, very important to have information of what drugs you have taken if you have to visit a hospital over in Taiwan. For the Jap B, this has to be administered by a Travel Clinic, your local GP will know of you local clinic. Having injections in such an intense period will result in taking that perticular day off work, you feel drained for a day or so.
If you have a good contact you might the in a position where you will have a job lined up for you. I was replacing a teacher who's contact was ending. This factor pretty much determines when you will leave.If a job is not lined up, it is still possible to just fly over and within a couple of days be employed. Good school are in demand and always try to gain new students and so employ more teachers. Your contact will do all the necessary work for you in getting your job. Follow their lead and do what they say, within reason! They will likely ask you for a CV for the Boss to read. Get one done and up to date. It is like any other job, a school will not employ you if they think you are unsuitalbe. Having access to email is very important for this as it speeds up the process.
Enquire about flight costs. I went to TrailFinders and got an open ended ticket for a year at 550.80 pounds. This was with all necessary taxes but without insurance. This price was better than STA Travel, but still look around. The airline was Royal Bruni Air which flys from Heathrow. You can get a connection flight from airport around the country to Heathrow with British Midland included in your price. Make sure you have enough connection time if you are flying to Heathrow. Flights are delayed. I flew from Manchester with 1 and a half hours to spare. My flight was delayed leaving Manchester and i missed my conection flight. I transfered to a flight leaving 4 days later which was ok but, and i stress this, make sure you take delay time into consideration when booking.
Ok, so far so good. Thing you might need and should take anyway.
A medical kit, plasters, bite cream, bandages, antiseptic wipes, diorea tablet ( oh yes, it will happen!) and any thing else you can imagine you will need on a trip to the east. Taiwan has good hospitals but when you go off for weekend trips, these thing might come in handy.
A full copy of all you most important documentation. you need to take with you your actual degree certificate and the telf certificate, this is must for the paper work necessary for you to get the working permit that the school organises. Create a folder with your birth certificate and marriage certificate if appropiate. With this, include photocopies of your passport data page and the page that has the VISA ( when rec'd) Also copy your travelers checks if you have any. Makes copies of all the paper work inc the certificates. one copy to take with you and the other to leave at home in hte Uk. This is for emergency, like if you lose your passport, the details are still known. This folder is you offical identity, keep it save.
Get as many passport pictures as you can. This is costly so if possible just get them copied onto sheets of A4 in colour. You will surprised how many of them they will need for forms. Keep these in you folder as well.
About filling in th VISA....It is not worth the time and hassle of saying that you intend to teach in Taiwan when you fill in the application. Apply for a VISITOR'S VISA. This gives you a four month window in Taiwan ROC. Say you are one a trip to visit a friend. Your contact will most likely fax a letter of invitiation to the Embassey stating this. The School can get the VISA extened once you have your teachers permit. You might have to send down a bank statement as well.
It takes about a week to get your VISA processed, as quite expensive. 25pounds for them to process it and you have to send it 'recorded deliverly and have it sent back that way aswell. It is for yuor own protection as you have to send your passport and flight tickets. The Embassey need to see that you have a leaving date that is with in 4 months. All in all, this cost about 28pounds.
so now you have your ticket with a a departure date, your VISA ( it will be stamped NO EXTENSTION WILL BE GRANTED, ignore that!) and your money. FOr money go American Express, they are very good. You might have to order New Taiwanese Dollars in advance. If iwas you do not bother with travelrs checks, you can only get them in US$ and not many places in Taiwan exhange US$ travlers check. Take over about 400-500 pounds. This will cover your rent and last you a month if you are wise. Depending on the school you will get paid at hte beginning of each month. I am will Shane School which is very good in Changau. You sign your contact and get a set wage, very handy. You work about 25-30 hours a week. 25 is plenty as it takes time to prepare your lessons!
Take toiletries with you that will last for a while, paracetamol, neorhpen and stuff like that. Books to read and anything you might think might be good for teaching. Word searches are a good idea. Cross words ( kids!) A good school has all the material you will need. And photographs of you and your family, the locals will be interested to see your family.
Taiwan is a great place and you will enjoy it as long as you dont bring with you any preconceptions. it is totally different and equally surprising.
Good luck and give me a mail if you need to know any more stuff, i think i covered it all but i cannot be sure.
