Teaching English as a Foreign Language – Taiwan Case Study

Saxoncourt recruits teachers for Taiwan most months of the year. From your initial application to when you actually arrive there, the company does everything it can to make the process as smooth and as simple as possible.

Below is a case study of teaching in Taiwan.

Why did you go to Taiwan?

Asia had always interested me ever since I was young. When a friend moved to Taiwan and told me how much fun he was having teaching and living there, my mind was made up.

How did you get there? Was it by a recruitment agency? Or otherwise…

My first teaching position was at a small independent school where my friend was working. I stayed there for 18 months before coming back to England. Once back in England I knew I wanted to go back to Taiwan with a larger, more reputable company. I had seen Shane schools in Taiwan and had heard very positive things about them. I sent my application to a recruiter and was offered a job.

What was the teaching like? I.e. what was it like teaching in Asia and teaching young students, etc.

Teaching is by no means an easy job. The students have a lot of energy and the schedules can be demanding. However, working with children is very rewarding and great fun. There is also a lot of variety. I’ve taught various levels and ages ranging from Kindergarten to professional adults and everything in-between.

What are you doing now? How has your career progressed in TEFL?

I’ve been with Shane for almost 5 years now. After 4 years of teaching I decided to apply for a job at Shane English School Taiwan’s Head Office. It was very difficult for me to leave my students, who I had taught for so long. However, currently I am the HRADoS (Human Resources Assistant Director of Studies) for SEST (Shane English School Taiwan). I still get to teach occasionally and I feel I’m still improving as a teacher even though I now spend most of my time in the office. I’ve learnt a huge amount about the TEFL industry in my current position and my experiences working within SEST have been fantastic.

Tom Bowen