Interview: Teaching English In Taiwan

I first met Josh Clark when I arrived in Mueang Tak, Thailand. He had already been living in rural Thailand for some time by then. I remember he was the only foreigner sitting at the back of a local cafe sipping black coffee and drawing in his notebook. We struck up a conversation, learned we were living in the block of apartments, and that he was teaching at a primary school not too far from where I was to begin teaching.

He told me of his recent experiences living and teaching in rural Ban Tak before he moved into the city. It was at that first meeting that I also witnessed his proficiency in speaking Thai, which was already developed to a conversational level (by the end of his time in Thailand he was also able to read and write in Thai).

I have known Josh to be a truly caring and energetic teacher and thus one of the best people to have as my first written interview. 

 

As Josh has recently begun his new teaching job in Taiwan, I thought it was as good a time as any to ask him some questions about his new career move. 

I have made a note that Josh and I will collaborate on a proper podcast companion to this interview in the coming months… If there are any questions you would like me to ask send me a message!

 

 

The Interview:

 

Please introduce yourself to the readers.

 

Hi there, my name is Joshua Clark, I am South African, and I’ve been teaching in Taiwan for 3 months now.

 

 

So why did you decide to teach in Taiwan?

 

I guess the main reason was that I found an appealing job offer and combined with wanting to explore another country it was something that I looked forward to. Also, I had been studying Mandarin before and so the language-learning journey made it a bit easier. It wasn’t really a reason that I decided to move but one of the other really nice things about being in Taiwan is that it’s a lot easier to travel to other Asian countries from here… there are no re-entry permits like in Thailand, you can leave and come back as many times as you want. 

 

How has your experience been in Taiwan so far?

 

I’d say overall the experience has been very positive; living in Taiwan is great. The people are very nice and friendly and welcoming, the food is really good. It’s not as spicy as Thai food which I’m a little bit upset about, but many people won’t be haha. It can be hard to find good chilli here. Living in a big city has its pros and cons. It’s a lot more convenient in a lot of ways; like I’m able to go rock climbing and bowling and stuff which I never would have been able to do living in Tak.

 

The public transport is really, really good here. It’s easy to get around. The island itself is small. I can catch a train or a bus to Taipei and once you’re in Taipei there are subways and the local train will essentially take you around the entire island.

 

Have there been any challenges?

 

Mainly challenges just come from living in a city; it’s busy all the time, lots of traffic and the fast-paced lifestyle sometimes leaves me kind of longing for rural Thailand again. There’s also the commuting. Having to spend an hour commuting to and from work every day. It adds up, and it ends up being two hours of your day being on a bus or a train or walking.

 

And this is kind of specific to the job I have which is working for a Cram school. But rather than a regular or private or international school all of our lessons are extramural lessons, so they happen after school which means my schedule typically starts at 5 p.m. and ends at 9 p.m. For me it’s a bit of a struggle because I’m very much a morning person, I like to wind down after 5 p.m. and be in bed for 9 p.m. Having to be energetic late into the evening can make it difficult for me to sleep after that. It’s just part of the job and not really an issue, more of a personal preference. 

 

What about studying Mandarin? 

 

I’d say it’s definitely helped that I studied before I came which is so different to Thailand where I arrived not having prepared anything, literally only knowing how to say hello and goodbye which is the same phrase haha. I will say that in Thailand, where I started, I didn’t really have a choice but to speak Thai because no one else spoke English and in that kind of situation it really does accelerate your language learning. 

 

In Taiwan, the level of English is much higher, so I am surrounded by English speakers or people who are very competent at speaking English. I find the amount of organic practice I’m having is much less. So, I would say that in my self-study I do a lot of reading, so my reading is improving nicely but my speaking ability isn’t up to scratch yet. For example, I’ll have conversations with people, or try to, and inevitably end up not being able to say what I want to say and get flustered, then within 30 seconds of leaving that social interaction I will have responded in my head really well and I’m like ‘ahhh’ why didn’t I just say that.

 

Language learning for me has a very heavy practical component to it. And I’d say without really having to speak Chinese things are going a bit slower than in Thailand even though I had a head start in Chinese. It’s just a matter of having to use the language. In Taiwan I would say that it isn’t 100% necessary, there are a few odd situations where you might need to speak Chinese but they’re very few and far between 

 

What advice do you have for new teachers coming to Taiwan? 

 

I would say it’s been a very easy transition, to be honest, the only other experience I had was in Thailand where I was taken to a small remote village with no other foreigners in it, so the adjustment was quite intense. In Taiwan, everything is very connected. Typically, you’ll be working at one of these bigger cram schools or public schools and there will be other established foreign communities that you’ll be able to get help from. And with public transport, it’s very easy to get around, you wouldn’t have many issues. Yeah, it’s been a very smooth transition to moving and living here.

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