Online Degrees and Working as an English Teacher

There are a number of people around the world who'd like to make the move to teaching English in Taiwan. Taiwan is a great place to teach because it offers a reasonable rate of pay but doesn't have the high cost of living and excessive work load that Korea and Japan typically do. The majority of English teachers in Taiwan work at cram schools which cater towards children. Ages in these classes are usually 6 - 12 years old. This can be a problem for some people who are either not interested in teaching children or they'd prefer to teach adults. Work outside of teaching children is possible but the majority of it is only available at universities. Getting work as an English teacher in a university is much harder than in a typical cram school. For starters you need a Master's degree and usually some work experience. What kind of Master's degree will open the doors to teaching in universities?

Many people make the incorrect assumption that they just need to get an online Master's degree and they'll have no problem getting work in a university. These online degrees are much cheaper than ones that require you to attend a physical university and are usually cheaper. This sounds like the perfect solution to getting further qualified, especially if you are already working somewhere and your time is limited making it impossible for you to quit work and attend a university. The problem here is that online degrees are not recognized in Taiwan. If you present your online degree to a university, they will simply turn you away as online degrees to not satisfy the requirement as they are not recognized by the Ministry of Education. For many people this is a huge disappointment as they spent a considerable amount of time and money obtaining it only to later discover that it will not help you to land a university English teaching job in Taiwan.

If you want to teach at a university level then you'll need to obtain a standard Master's degree. By standard I mean one where you have to attend a physical campus. Only these kinds of degrees are recognized in Taiwan and this is the only way possible for you to be qualified to work in a university. The good news is that it there are many countries around the world that offer degrees which are recognized and they can be obtained at a reasonable price. For many people the USA is one of the most expensive places to study and there is no need for you to pursue your degree there. Other countries like Australia and New Zealand will be fine and you'll have no problem with your degree being accepted when applying for jobs.

Teaching English in Taiwan at a university level is possible provided you have the correct qualifications. Online degrees are not the solution to getting qualified to work in a university because they are just not accepted. Save yourself some time and a lot of money by actually going to a real physical campus and obtaining a normal degree. You'll be much more qualified and enjoy a wider range of English teaching career options.

What Hours Will I Get Teaching English?

Just what kind of hours are you going to be doing teaching English in Taiwan? If you are considering making the move to Taiwan to teach to make money, then it is obviously very important that you get as many hours as you can. Just what kind of hours do English teachers get teaching in Taiwan? The number of hours can really vary and there is no hard and fast rule as to what hours you'll get. Where you work, cram schoo, kindergarten or university can really impact the kind of hours you'll be doing.

Kindergarten and cram school teachers can expect work around 20 hours a week. The exact number depends on the classes but most teachers do about 4 hours a day, five to six days a week. So 20 - 24 hours is a good estimate. Kindergartens offer hours in the morning usually from 9am to 12 midday and cram schools are around 5pm - 9pm at nights. More hours may be possible, but usually a teacher won't be able to get anymore than 30 hours from one school, and it is highly unlikely to find a school that offers that many hours.

Universities are a little different than cram schools when it comes to class hours. By law you should expect to get a minimum of 14 hours which is the minimum amount required for a school or university to offer you a work permit. However, the problem is that this is all the hours you may be able to get. University jobs in Taiwan aren't numerous and you may find that getting plenty of hours at universities is difficult.

If you want to teach as many hours as possible, then the best choice for you is to work at a cram school. These are the most common type of English school and they'll be able to offer you plenty of hours, much more than most universities will. If you want to work only the minimu, then look for a school that can give you the absolute minimum of 14 hours a week which is the amount required to get a work permit.

Qualifications and Teaching English in Taiwan

Not just anyone can teach English in Taiwan. It may have been true that in the past all you needed to teach English in Taiwan or just about any Asian country was a passport from an English speaking country, but this isn't the case anymore. To be eligible to teach English in Taiwan today, in addition to being a native English speaker from the USA/CAN/Australia/New Zealand/South Africa, you must also hold either a Bachelor's degree or an Associate's degree with TEFL/TESOL certificate. If you satisfy these requirements, you'll find that getting work in Taiwan is easy.

What kind of Bachelor's degree is required to teach English? Does it have to be education or teaching related? Lucky, for many people, the answer to these questions is no. To work at most English schools in Taiwan, an education or teaching related degree isn't required. You can have a Bachelor's in Business and are still able to work as an English teacher in Taiwan. Since the majority of positions for English teachers involve teaching children, the exact kind of Bachelor's degree isn't important. What is important is that you have graduated from university with one. If you don't have a Bachelor's degree, you may still be able to teach in Taiwan.

For those people without a Bachelor's, the other solution to teaching in Taiwan is if you have an Associate's degree with TEFL or TESOL certification. If you have an Associate's degree but have not TEFL or TESOL certification, unfortunately, you won't be able to teach in Taiwan legally. Luckily, getting yourself TEFL or TESOL certified is easy and it shouldn't take anymore than one month to get the certification papers.

The requirements to teach English in Taiwan aren't too strict. However, keep in mind that if you have a Bachelor's degree or an Associate's degree with TEFL/TESOL certification, you will only be able to work in cram schools. These are the most common and hire the bulk of foreign teachers found in Taiwan. If you'd like to work at a University or public school, some extra requirements need to be met.

Why Teach English in Taiwan

There are many countries in Asia where you could possibly teach English. The demand for English teachers of all levels is very high in almost every Asian country, but the working and teaching conditions in these countries vary greatly. Obviously, as an English teacher, you want the best working conditions to make the most of your time as an English teacher. This is primarily the main reason why many teachers find themselves working in Taiwan. Taiwan is one of the best places to save money and live a comfortable life while teaching English.

Taiwan, while not as clean and beautiful as Japan, offers relatively cheap living costs compared to Japan. It is true that living in Taiwan can be expensive, but one of the great things about teaching in Taiwan is that you have several large cities you can pick to live in. Each of these cities offers you a wide range of working and living conditions. If you want to live in an expensive yet most developed city, then Taipei is for you. However, if you prefer a more laid back and relaxed working environment then Tainan and other southern cities will probably interest you more. Taiwan is not as undeveloped as some Asian countries are. This places Taiwan in the great position of being not too expensive to live in but at the same time it isn't as undeveloped as Vietnam or some other countries. Making the move to teaching in Asia can be a big change for many people, and Taiwan still allows you to enjoy some of the creature comforts that you may be used to back home.

The other thing Taiwan has going for it in regards to teaching is that teachers are paid fairly well. You might be able to get paid more living in Japan or Korea, but when you take into account just how cheap it can be to live in Taiwan, you will see that it can be much easier to work and save considerably more teaching in Taiwan than many other countries. This doesn't mean you'll get rich teaching, but if you are prepared to not go out drinking and dancing every night, you'll discover that with rent being so cheap and the cost of food so low, it can be very, very easy to save a fairly large chunk of money in Taiwan after working for a couple of years. Many foreign teachers take advantage of this and pay off student or other loans back home after just working for a few years in Taiwan.

Taiwan can be a great place to teach English. The low cost of living and reasonable pay makes a killer combination for anyone who is looking at saving up some money fast to pay of loans or other bills you have back home. You'll also have some first hand experience at working in Asia, and trust me, it really is very different than what most of us are used to back home.