FAQ - Teaching English in Taiwan


Please read through the following information regarding the job offered by the MEET English Center in Taichung, Taiwan. Feel free to send us a letter with any specific questions you have if you can't find them here.

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    Questions almost everyone asks:
  1. Do you pay airfare?
  2. Won't I need a work visa?
  3. Do I need to sign a contract?
  4. Who would I be teaching?
  5. What should I include when I apply?
  6. Can I learn Chinese while I'm there?
  7. Could you tell me about your school?
  8. How do I get paid?
  9. Are there any start-up costs I should know about?
  10. Do you know of any other opportunities in Taiwan?

Do you pay airfare?

No, we don't. Unfortunately, the custom in Taiwan is that schools will not subsidize airfare or housing. However, we realize that some schools in other countries do offer airfare, so we've come up with a program of our own. The starting salary for new teachers is 400 NT an hour; we offer quarterly raises based on performance and student attendance, so that by the end of one year, you should be making 500NT. We haven't had a teacher yet who didn't qualify for this raise, and we have had a few who received more.
We have designed this program both to reward teaching experience and to help offset the cost of airfare. Instead of offering a bonus for completing our contract, which is how most other schools offer airfare, with our system you see your money faster, and you have some extra money to save or spend as you please.
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Won't I need a work visa?

Yes, you will. However, it's quite difficult to apply for a work visa from abroad. You'd need a medical exam, a copy of your degree, your passport, and a letter from us saying that we'll sponsor you. Once you have all those documents together, it can take up to six months for the visa office to give you your work permit, after which you can go ahead and buy a ticket.
Instead of making you go through all that trouble, we ask you to get a tourist visa, which takes only a few days in most circumstances, and is valid for two or three months. Then, once you get here, we collect all the documents you've brought with you, take you to the hospital for your medical exam, and let you begin teaching. We'll take care of all the paperwork (including the fee) that's required for the work visa. When you apply for a work visa from within Taiwan, it shouldn't take more than a month. As of this year, you no longer have to leave Taiwan to upgrade from a tourist visa to a work visa.
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Do I need to sign a contract?

Yes. The custom in Asia is that whenever a business deal is made, a contract is signed. Agreeing to work as a teacher is, after all, a business deal, so in keeping with custom, we ask that you sign one too. The contract is for one year, and guarantees your pay of 400NT an hour for a minimum of 25 hours a week. It also contains some basic conduct guidelines, and a penalty clause in case the contract is broken (which, for all intents and purposes, says that we won't pay you what we owe you if you break the contract, which could be up to one month's pay).
If the idea of a contract scares you, I'm sorry, but that's the way it's done here. There is no school around that will let you work for them (and offer a work visa) if you don't sign one. The penalty clause might seem a little severe, but seeing as you'd be paid monthly, all it means is that we wouldn't pay you for that month if you decide to quit.
The contract is protection for you just as much as it is for us. For instance, in the contract we agree to provide you a work visa, so you're assured to get one.
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Who would I be teaching?

90% of all English classes in Taiwan are for elementary school and kindergarten kids, so you can expect to be teaching kids when you get here. There are usually only about 15 students in a class, and the ages range from 4 to about 12, depending on the level you're teaching. The older the students, the more English they'll know, because most of them have been learning English since kindergarten, only they've learned from a Taiwanese teacher; most kids are a little shocked when they learn a foreign teacher is coming to teach them.
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What should I include when I apply?

The most important part of the application you send is your expected arrival date. Without this information, we have no way of preparing for your arrival, or guaranteeing you a job. In addition to this information, we'd like to know some simple personal details, like your name, home city, age, interests, marital status, etc. as well as education and related experience. Usually, if you send us a copy of your resume, that does the trick. You might even want to try sending it as an attachment (as a Word file, please; my Mac notebook is pretty stubborn) to an email message. If you choose to apply through the mail (to our address on our home page) be sure to include a casual photo of yourself; a picture is worth a thousand promises in this culture, so if you send one, we'll know that you're serious about your application.
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Can I learn Chinese while I'm there?

We've been surprised by the number of people who have applied with an interest in learning Chinese. We can set you up with free Chinese classes, tailored to your level (which is beginner for almost all our teachers) at the local college. We're also thinking of setting up our own Chinese classes just for our teachers, simply because so many of them are interested.
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Could you tell me about your school?

Sure. The MEET English Center is about six years old, and is a medium-sized operation in Taichung, Taiwan. We have hundreds if not thousands of students in over 20 schools in the city, and we have associations with other schools both in Taichung and elsewhere. We offer the advantage of avoiding the formalities of larger schools, while maintaining a similar standard and reputation. It's more important to us that we be considered the best, rather than the biggest school.
For those of you who are wondering, MEET stands for Multi-Environment English Training. I don't know who came up with the name, but I'm guessing that they were just trying to fit the acronym.
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How do I get paid?

When teachers first get here, we recognize that they might not have too much money in their pockets, so for the first while, we'll pay you cash immediately after you teach a class. Once you're established, we'll pay you once a month, on the 10th day of every month.
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Are there any start-up costs I should know about?

Good question. Once you get here, the largest expense you'll encounter is for your apartment. The custom here is to pay for two months in advance, plus the equivalent of two months' rent as a refundable deposit, so even if you find a cheap apartment, you might have to shell out some cash to get it. Apart from that, the medical exam (required for the work visa) costs about 3,000NT, and getting a phone hooked up also costs about 3,000NT. If you can, try to bring as much money with you as possible. We suggest about $1,000US, just to be on the safe side. You can easily recuperate your start-up costs within your first month of teaching.
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Do you know of any other opportunities in Taiwan?

There are a lot of opportunities in Taiwan. Admittedly, most jobs are in Taipei, but most teachers prefer to stay away from the capital because of high living costs and pollution. There aren't too many opportunities for teaching conversation, simply because there aren't many adults who can speak English. Teaching at high schools and universities is reserved for bilingual Taiwanese teachers, so no jobs are offered to foreigners.
Occasionally, however, one of our partners asks us to find teachers for them, and they might offer a different deal, or have specific requirements. These jobs are posted on Dave's ESL Cafe, which I'm sure you've already visited, when they arise. Just look for the same email address: teach_in_taiwan@hotmail.com.
Those are the top ten questions I've been asked. I hope you find some useful answers among them. If you have a particular question that's not covered here, or you think yours should be, just let me know. You can also send us your information if you'd like to apply.

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