Tips for Success

There are many things that can contribute to a successful and rewarding experience in Taiwan, but the following are particularly important:

Make sure that your purpose in going to Taiwan is to teach and experience its culture
If you are going there because you just want to flee from some reality at home or find time to ponder about your future, you are bound to fail and be miserable. 

Adequately prepare yourself academically
Schools in Taiwan put a lot of premium on the preparedness of the teacher. Students there are highly motivated and insatiable. For many of them, knowledge of English is an important avenue of mobility. To be successful as an English teacher, you need to be well prepared. You need to have a good, if not thorough, knowledge of EFL teaching methods, and the English language system (phonology, morphology, syntax, writing styles, etc). If you are shaky in this area, we suggest that you take a crash course or volunteer, time permitting, to assist experienced ESL teachers here in the U.S. at an education facility.  The experience will be quite different from what you can expect in China , but it will be invaluable in terms of solidifying the concepts you are learning. Please also visit the Resource section of our site, where you can find many suggestions and ideas.

Be patient, flexible and have a sense of humor
Be prepared that things are often done quite differently in Taiwan than in the West. One typical example is the way time is conceived of and managed in Taiwan. People tend to plan as they go and changes are often made at the last minute. Schools in Taiwan are very often accommodating when requests are made, but a lot of patience, flexibility and sense of humor are also crucial.