The International Schools Review Forum

Bonjour,

I have been offered two contracts one is at a very good international school in Taipei, Taiwan with an annual salary of 36000€, annual round-trip flight, two room flat in a modern and upscale building, and a 1500€ settling in allowance. The other contract is at a local private school in Bangkok, Thailand with an annual salary of 30000€, one way flight at the beginning and end of contract, and a 12000 baht housing allowance. The Taiwan contract would be teaching years 6-12 French, and the Thailand contract would be teaching year 10-12 French and humanities.

I have just finished my forth year of teaching, I have a BFA in French and French Literature, and a teaching license in all level French and secondary English literature.

I know nothing about living or working in Asia and these two areas. What would the work expectations be at these two schools? What is it like living in these cities?

Have you read through these blog posts? https://internationalschoolsreviewdiscu ... /#comments

I can't be of any more help, sorry. But good luck and congrats on the offers.

I've not taught in Taiwan but if it's a proper international school then I'd take that one. A "local private school" in Bangkok can mean many things, none of them good. 12,000 baht for housing is a joke. You won't be able to get much more than a studio for that. You'll be teaching all Thai students and therefore academic honesty will not exist. You'll be expected to pass everyone.

Go with the school in Taiwan.

If it's the school I think it is - one of my previous co-teachers has worked at that school for a couple of years. Taipei is also a good place to live but there is the joke about it's weather. Taipei has two types of weather - raining and about to rain.

Having accommodation included in major cities like Taipei and Bangkok is also a major expense. As such - savings potential is probably higher in Taiwan. Also - I concur with the previous comment of a proper international school beats a local private school almost always.

The real question is how much do you want to live in Thailand??

Take the Taiwan offer. Looks good on your CV, will be better off financially (a rarity for ITs these days), much safer, and if you really wanna hop on to BKK for shopping/food, it is a 3-hour flight. Moreover, Taiwanese will treat you way better than Thais. You will not be scammed in Taipei as they do in BKK.

That is a pretty high salary for a local private school in Bangkok. Still, if you have any desire to build a career in international schools, take the job in Taipei. A local Thai school is going to do nothing for your CV or professional life.

I dont disagree with the previous contributors, but I do find your post curious, as you 1) Certainly have the opportunity to research both ISs and regions on the web. 2) You are asking us to decide between chocolate (perhaps a fine Belgian Chocolate in the case of an Elite IS) and what is essentially poo (though 100K BT is a good salary for a local DS). Is there something else that would lead you to consider both offers seriously? If not the Taiwan offer is the superior opportunity, unless you really want to be in BKK for some reason, or as is likely the BKK offer is likely to be easy work, and easy money?

Thank you all for your responses.

I have no real desire to work and live in either Thailand or Taiwan, I have job offers for these locations and it is either accept one of them or remain in the United States at my current public school job, which I hate. The school, parents, students, and government do not care about foreign languages, other than getting students to pass and earn the appropriate number of credits in a foreign language. My students hate my class more than mathematics, none of them really want to learn French. My administrators treat my class and the modern language department as if we are a burden, and a drain on funding. We get no new books, or materials and often we are treated as babysitters who keep a room full of kids occupied with busy work. At the end of last year I had asked for new language instruction materials and textbooks, and was told to use the same 10 year old English and French dictionaries and have students copy vocabulary words. Nothing else, no grammar, no context, no structure. He didn't care since French isn't a state tested subject and there was no budget for elective courses. Our art teacher can't afford clay this year, and our science teachers get $200.00 a year for classroom supplies.

I did do some web research, but all I can really determine is that they are capitol cities in Asian countries, they appear to be nearly the same in everything from weather, culture, people, and lifestyle. I had read on this forum that schools like the Bangkok school are easier and will be less work. I can then use that time to build my resume and find a better school for next year, and won't have to worry about leaving after only one year, since the Bangkok school is a local school and only offers one year contracts, that can be renewed indefinitely. The Taiwan school is a three year contract, that I would have to break by leaving early.

Great attitude. Either school will be lucky to have you. :(

Taipei all the way. I have lived in Taiwan and only visited Thailand but have extensive contact with both peoples and cultures. Everything from the food to the organization to the development and weather is superior in TPE. Taiwan is a first class "country." Go with your gut but that is my input. I also don''t want to denigrate Thailand but the people are shifty, there's low accountability and the expat community is too big. Plus there are just way too many tourists. Taiwan actually feels foreign where oft times Thailand does not. But you might like that? Either way you have two wonderful prospects ahead of you and are very fortunate in that regard.

Good luck to you.

FrenchGirl wrote:

> I did do some web research, but all I can really determine is that they are capitol
> cities in Asian countries, they appear to be nearly the same in everything from
> weather, culture, people, and lifestyle....

I believe you are correct about the capital city status. After that, you may want to keep researching. I find the culture, people and lifestyle in each country to be radically different.

One thing that I'll say is you need to be a little careful what is written on this site as some admin are regular posters and French speaking teachers are quite rare so it will be very easy to pinpoint that it is you.

I'll also apologise in advance - but you need to be careful about painting things with the same brush. I've lived in Taiwan and have visited Thailand many times and find the cities, weather and people very different.

Firstly the weather. Taipei does get hot in summer but does have seasons. It can get a little cold in winter and it is quite rainy. Bangkok has two types of weather. Wet and hot or dry and hot. There are of course parts of the year where the heat is not so prevalent and they also have the monsoon (I think)

The people are also very different. English will be more widely spoken in Bangkok but Taipei is also a very metropolitan city with probably less crime and pollution than Bangkok. This part is my opinion (so its different for everyone and others will totally disagree) but I find Thai people are much more easier to get to know and be general friends. People from Taiwan are very friendly but tend to have fewer but more closer friends.

If you don't really want to work hard and show commitment - then maybe the Bangkok school is more for you. If you are serious about working at the best schools in the world then I'd work at Taipei (which I'm guessing is TES). Normally - 2 years is the norm for contracts but some schools ask for 3 as they are spending a lot of money bringing you out to their country to teach. As such - they need you just as much as you need them.

Remember that this is just my opinion so treat it as a grain of salt....

How important is the compensation package to you? If thats your priority and nothing else matters take the Taiwan offer. If your plan is to break contract or pull a runner you will have to ghost the experience, as a negative reference and breach of contract will destroy any growth to your resume, leaving the only real option to gain anything professionally is the Thailand contract.