Teaching In Asia: Where to go?
So you are thinking about teaching in Asia. Teaching in Asia can be a rewarding way to experience a new culture and land, learn another language as well as providing a base for further travel throughout the region.
A great many people come to Japan, China, Korea or Taiwan to teach usually after graduating university or college and most take home positive memories of their time in Asia. A few of course have problems - moving to a new continent, country and culture can be a difficult experience without the right expectations and some careful research. I have taught in Japan for over 6 years and in China for 8 months and hopefully this page will help you choose where and what to teach so that your time in Asia will be happy and successful.
Types of Teaching
There are many types of teaching jobs throughout Asia. As most require no foreign language skills (and some even frown on such abilities) these are the most common jobs for freshly arrived Westerners. The main categories of English teaching are as follows:
Private Language Schools
The majority of teachers in Asia work for such businesses. On the plus side, visa issues are usually taken care of by your employer, your salary is stable, there are people to look after you and you normally get some holidays. If you are only planning to spend a year in Asia then this is probably the easiest option. On the down side, the pay is usually not great and compared to public institutions vacations are significantly limited. The workload can be heavy and your weekend might be Monday and Thursday with split shifts a distinct possibility. Some of the larger schools allow for shift swaps which can make vacations a possibility without using leave.
Private Students
Illegal in Korea but common in China, Japan and Taiwan, private students are a good way to top up ones income. It is possible to make a living only teaching privates, and some people really enjoy the freedom this allows, but students can be unreliable so without good people and teaching skills this is a tricky option. On the other hand quite a few language schools were born this way - keen and respected teachers who got more students than they were able to deal with personally.
Public Institutions
Definitely the pick of the bunch, public institutions - kindergartens, primary, intermediate secondary and tertiary - offer reliability, sociable hours, reasonable salaries and excellent holiday packages. University level jobs usually require at least a Masters degree - often with a TESOL, English Literature, or Linguistics major - as well as publications.
Teacher contact hours at such institutions are usually around 9 to 12 teaching hours a week with plenty of time for research. As well as a degree such positions often require a good network of contacts to get an introduction.
Most jobs are direct hires, although in Japan outsourcing companies have made an entry into this market, lowering wages and staff quality.
Below the University level jobs are often obtained through an agency who act as a middleman between the school or board of education. Such jobs are relatively easy to obtain although the salary will often only be that of a private language school teacher. Also be careful that the middleman pays you for holidays. The worst of these companies do little more than find a teacher and then siphon off the money from the school. Direct hires with schools or boards of education are usually better paid although these may require personal connections. Holidays are the same as the students - in Japan this means you can plan your vacations whilst in China were exact holiday dates are often unknownright until the day before planning can be difficult.
As these jobs are Monday to Friday and in the daytime, positions at such institutions allow one to have a normal social life, with time for sports, recreation and friends.
Corporations
This category divides into in-house training, and out-sourced language services. In-house training for a large corporation offers the possibility of work experience at a respected international company and the possibility of internal transfers back to one’s country of origin.
The pay is usually good, although the hours will often be long with classes before the start of work in the morning and then in the evenings - and you may not always receive overtime. The trainer is also often required to have a high level of competency in the language of the country where they are working as they are often called upon to translate, interpret or proofread documents.
Out-sourced language training involves visiting different companies and conducting training at those companies. Pay is usually hourly and should be at the high-end of what one receivesfor teaching private students. I did this for 2 years in Tokyo and found it to be highly rewarding and stimulating. The clients are normally highly motivated business people who need to improve their communication skills in order to further their careers. On the down-side you are working per hour so if you have to cancel a lesson due to illness or for personal reasons then you don’t get paid (I only cancelled one lesson in my 2 years - thanks to South China Airlines). Also during holiday months ones pay will be considerably lower than normal.
Country Comparison
The following table provides a rough comparison between teaching in Japan, China, South Korea and Taiwan.
I haven’t taught in Taiwan or South Korea so you should take it with a grain of salt as they say. All prices are in American dollars and are monthly amounts unless otherwise stated. Currency conversions were made March 23rd 2006 but they should give you a reasonable idea. See also the notes below.
| Place : | China | Japan | South Korea | Taiwan |
| Hiring Season | February, August | March - April | Year round | May - August |
| Monthly Salary | $560-750 | $2100-2500 | $1750-2200 | $1500-1800 |
| Per Hour Rate | $6-12 | $17-34 | n/a | $15-19 |
| Fulltime Hours | 80 | 100-160 | 100-160 | 120 |
| Common Benefits | 6 month / One year bonus | Travel Allowance, National Health insurance is excellent | Airfare, Healthcare | Some healthcare coverage |
| Rent | ($75) often provided by employer | $500-850 Upfront: usually rent times 4 |
Usually paid for by employer | Budget: $120-215 One Bedroom: $244-460 2-3 Bedroom: $460-920 Maintenance fee: $15-45 Upfront: usually rent times 3 |
| Living Expenses | $190 | $1280 | $500 | $1000 |
| Possible Savings | $350 | $850 | $900 | $500 |
| Advantages | Many opportunities, high salary compared to living costs, relaxed employers | Language, culture, martial arts | Kimchee, polite and helpful people | Learn Chinese, reasonably relaxed |
| Disadvantages | Low value of RMB, huge distances , pollution , dangerous drivers | Expensive, crowded, job market saturation , strict dress codes | Dodgy employers | Job market saturation |
| Overall | A reasonable choice | A reasonable choice | An OK choice | An excellent choice |
Of course these are only rough estimates. Things like salary and benefits depend a lot on the contract you get.
Have a look round at what other jobs are offering and ask questions during your interview - most employers are prepared to negotiate and little extras like language lessons may be possible. Cost of living and possible savings depend a lot on you - if you only eat and drink at western restaurants you wont save nearly as much nor will you experience much of the culture and you will have little chance to practice the language of the country you are in.
South Korea seems to offer the biggest opportunities to save money, but I only put it down as an OK choice. There has been a lot of negative feedback about Korea (of which I have no direct experience). It is very easy to get on the internet and complain about things - so the old adage of not believingeverything you hear certainly applies. I would suggest one asks for email addresses of past and present instructors so that one can get a feel for what one is getting into. This goes for not just South Korea but for any job.
Job Hunting
Finding a teaching job in Asia, with the exception of Japan, is a lot like shooting barns at five paces with a shotgun - incredibly easy but watch out it doesn’t all hit you in the face.
Japan: the job market in Japan is quite tight with fierce competition for even average jobs. I worked for a franchise of a major chain school and when we were hiring we would receive over a hundred resumes for each position. Formal business wear, a haircut and no visible tattoos or piercings are helpful as is being energetic as entertaining students can be as important as actually teaching them.
The big four ECC, Nova, Geos and Aeon all conduct interviews in Western countries and these are good ways to get a working visa - especially for Americans who cannot take part in the working holiday programme. If you don’t have a working visa then it is difficult to get a teaching job. Which is a bit of a catch-22. If you come to Japan on a tourist visa you cannot work - obviously - but many teachers do come on tourist visas to look for work, which then usually requires a visa run to either Korea or Taiwan to change the visa.
China: with the RMB still artificially low, and with China having the huge population it does, the job market is very open for foreign teachers. With the exception of Hainan and Tibet you should be able to get a reasonable job anywhere you are interested in. Be careful of job ads that have terrible grammar and spelling as this may signal possible communication difficulties.
Taiwan: The job market is quite similar to Japan’s in Taiwan. There is a heavy focus on the importance of English for children in Taiwan and this means there are a large number of jobs for people interested in teaching children.
South Korea: There seem to be a large number of openings for English teachers in South Korea. There have also been a lot of horror stories. Owning an English school is a lucrative idea which if not managed properly can be a disaster. A lot of new schools open, offer amazing salaries and then go under in a few months because their expectations didn’t quite match the reality of the market.
If it looks outstanding, it probably will leave you out standing… somewhere… Better to go with a well established school which pays a bit less but should be more reliable. Ask for former instructors contact details and do your homework. Recruiters are also a big part of finding a job in South Korea - they get around US$1000 for a successful placement. Again do your homework.
Recruiters who have been around for a while will be more reliable - they aren’t just after quick money (if you quit within 6 months most recruiters have to refund their fees).
There are jobs listed in some of the forums below.
Teaching Resources
Local :
On the Internet:
The Grandfather of them all: Dave’s ESL Cafe
Tools:
Forums:
- Dave’s ESL Cafe - Teaching English to Deaf Students
- Using English.com
- TEFL.net
- Teaching English and Living in China Forum
- Mark’s ESL Cottage Forum (Global)
- Gaijinpot - not just teaching - (Japan)
- Dave’s ESL Cafe (again) Korea Forum
- AA Circle (Taiwan)
- Forumosafieds and Formosa.com (Taiwan)