how do I make more than 70000 NTD a month?

[GoOverseas]

As people said, making that much money involves a combination of luck and hard work. One suggestion: If you want to work at an international school (Taipei American School, European School, Kang Chiao, etc.) you may not want to go to Taiwan first and look for a job. These schools often hire from international fairs, rather than on the ground in Taiwan. In fact, a lot of them prefer not to hire people on the ground, for all sorts of reasons. There are exceptions to this, of course, but it's true in many cases. It's strange in Taiwan that there are two very different worlds within the teacher community: The international school jobs and the buxiban/kindy route. I'd agree with others than the buxiban/kindy route isn't generally a great long term choice, but that's also a matter of perspective. I'd never belittle anyone for feeling that a 60K a month job is good for life and feeling satisfied with their work. Caring about your students and putting in the hard work to be a great teacher can be a very fulfilling life mission in and of itself. I'm just saying that wouldn't be for me for the long term and it's best to go in with your eyes open. Some people get stuck.

You can also do more research on schools on the Teach in Taiwan page on Go Overseas here: http://www.goteachabroad.com/teach-in-taiwan
It has a list of all (most?) schools in Taiwan along with ratings and reviews. And for everyone else on the thread, please leave a review of your school!! If your schools isn't listed yet, you can easily add it here: http://www.gooverseas.com/leave-a-review-contest

[Dougster]

Or you could train for a CELTA. It's a step in the right direction if you are serious about EFL teaching.

[housecat]

Or you could train for a CELTA. It's a step in the right direction if you are serious about EFL teaching.

*I'm not knocking the CELTA.*

But I've never seen anyone here offer more money for someone who has a CELTA. I don't have a CELTA, I'm a licensed teacher. I don't get more money for my license, but it gets me access to government jobs. I'm looking at one or two now who are willing to recognize the MA, and pay more because I have it, but this is the first time this has been the case.

By and large, teaching qualifications don't help you get a better, or higher paying (not always the same thing), job here. The government schools, or better private schools, are just about your only choices for earning more than NT$70,000 from one job.

And really, you can earn the same money working fewer hours in a buxiban. It just may take three or more buxibans to get the hours.

[adikarmika]

AFAIK, in addition to a certain amount of teaching experience, a basic TEFL qualification such as CELTA is necessary if you want to be trained as an IELTS examiner. (A nice little earner that will lift you above $70,000 if you are not already making that much from your regular teaching job).

[tomthorne]

AFAIK, in addition to a certain amount of teaching experience, a basic TEFL qualification such as CELTA is necessary if you want to be trained as an IELTS examiner. (A nice little earner that will lift you above $70,000 if you are not already making that much from your regular teaching job).

http://www.britishcouncil.org/africa-ie ... ements.pdf

This does highlight the point that the supposedly useless EFL qualifications (useless in Taiwan, at least) are, in fact, of some importance. I don't think that I know anyone who is still earning the same now as they were 5 or 10 years ago, but I would bet that those who are have done little to improve their cv during that time.

From an instant cost-benefit perspective it probably isn't worth it to take a month off to Chiang Mai to take a CELTA. However, over time all these things start to add up. Incomes from teaching rise in small increments that may not seem worth it at first. Over time they add up.

[GuyInTaiwan]

GoOverseas: It's not a simple dichotomy between teaching in an international school or teaching in a buxiban. There are also government jobs. There are also all sorts of other private sector jobs, it's just that they're smaller in number and not as well known.

tom: The only thing someone needs to think about is the opportunity cost. It really depends upon how much it will cost to get those extra qualifications and how much that money could have grown to if invested in something else instead. Also, those qualifications may open up more opportunities, but they're also in particular locations. If you don't want to live near Taipei, the likelihood of those qualifications leading to additional work diminishes rapidly.

[Dougster]

AFAIK, in addition to a certain amount of teaching experience, a basic TEFL qualification such as CELTA is necessary if you want to be trained as an IELTS examiner. (A nice little earner that will lift you above $70,000 if you are not already making that much from your regular teaching job).

Precisely, in addition to Cambridge testing (YLE, KET/PET), which also pay well, but you kiss goodbye to your weekends, especially in the Spring and Summer months.

[GuyInTaiwan]

AFAIK, in addition to a certain amount of teaching experience, a basic TEFL qualification such as CELTA is necessary if you want to be trained as an IELTS examiner. (A nice little earner that will lift you above $70,000 if you are not already making that much from your regular teaching job).

Precisely, in addition to Cambridge testing (YLE, KET/PET), which also pay well, but you kiss goodbye to your weekends, especially in the Spring and Summer months.

That's the thing about EFL here generally. It has very anti-social hours. Getting 9-5 gigs that are legitimate and reasonably paid is a difficult prospect.

[Indiana]

AFAIK, in addition to a certain amount of teaching experience, a basic TEFL qualification such as CELTA is necessary if you want to be trained as an IELTS examiner. (A nice little earner that will lift you above $70,000 if you are not already making that much from your regular teaching job).

Precisely, in addition to Cambridge testing (YLE, KET/PET), which also pay well, but you kiss goodbye to your weekends, especially in the Spring and Summer months.

That's the thing about EFL here generally. It has very anti-social hours. Getting 9-5 gigs that are legitimate and reasonably paid is a difficult prospect.

The nice thing about IELTS, though, is that it is only typically on every other Saturday (and you aren't forced to examine for every exam...you could do it once a month or even once every two months if you wish. Having said that though, I know there was (is?) a severe examiner shortage in Taiwan, especially in the south, which means you may be expected to be available when asked to examine).

[skoster]

I've mentioned this in other threads but I fail to see how someone living back "home" couldn't earn more from being a public school teacher than someone slogging it out in Taiwan cram schools. At least you have some kind of "ladder" to climb with pay increases, something cram schools for the most part lack.

Around the Northern Virginia, Maryland, Washington DC area I don't know of a single district which has given a step raise in the last several years. It's in the contract, but it doesn't happen. The step 1 salary for MA holders in my district is about 930 nt, but don't forget that then you have to take out taxes, union dues, and everything else for which you're squeezed. Just knock out the taxes and you're down to under 630 nt per hour, take out the various required payments for health insurance, dental, life insurance, union dues, etc., and you're well under 600 nt per hour.

I'm not saying you guys don't have it bad, but keep in mind that people just starting out aren't exactly on a teaching gravy train here either.