Post: #601

(10-22-2016 08:19 AM)Going strong Wrote:  About long-term visas, I don't know the situation in Taiwan,

A promising start.

(10-22-2016 08:19 AM)Going strong Wrote:  but, in most countries of the world, the -usually- best solution is, registering a local company for like, 200 usd or this kind of initial operative costs, then auto-hiring (designating) yourself as the president of said company... it enables easy business-visas attribution, considering that you are the one writing your own business invitation letter to yourself.

Except a quick search on the Internet would reveal that the minimum capital requirement for most business structures to be permitted to hire yourself and issue yourself a visa is nearly $20,000 USD and you need to have 6 times that in annual turn-over to continue the arrangement.

I don't know about you, but I don't have type of money just floating around.

The requirements are less stringent for open a representative office (if you have a business setup elsewhere), but I'm fairly confident that if I dug deeper, there would be some clever means of closing the "self-employed English teacher loophole."

(10-22-2016 08:19 AM)Going strong Wrote:  I don't know of any easier way. Best way for Argentinean business long-term visas for example. Probably, such a (legal) solution exists in almost all countries.

This isn't true in the least about Asia. Asian nations go out of their way to close such loopholes.

Post: #602

@Suits, can't comment on the visa situation for ESL, although it doesn't seem to me to be much different than China. I have a business visa, although the main purpose of it is to allow stays greater than 90 days. You'll need a letter approved by the authorities, but it's no harder to get than an extended China business visa. My visa is 5 years and allows 180 days in Taiwan without leaving.

Taiwan is a completely different place than the Mainland. Foreigners are generally more liked, girls are more open, and the culture is more influenced by Japan than China. People are polite and hospitable and somehow manage to speak Mandarin quietly. It's not chaotic at all dealing with people and getting around.

That being said, Taipei is not the most livable place on an ESL salary and sometimes the living space can be HK-sized. Kaohsiung and Taichung are great places to live, but you may end up bored if you value nightlife. Girls are foreigner-friendly all over the island and aren't scared to communicate in English. I've never done ESL in Taiwan, but I know a Kiwi that did it quite well for a few years at a major chain school and parlayed it into a better job in Dubai.

The girls will enjoy your Mandarin and will say something along the lines of 'wow you sound like them'.

Post: #603

@elcidcampeador, I've already heard good things about Taiwan from many sources over years and it already has me interested. I'm planning to potentially visit for a few weeks this winter.

However, it's taken no shortage of sacrifice to get myself to a point where I can consistently make around $70K USD a year here in Beijing and plan to use this income (which is well above what I need to survive) to fund the development of the company I'm developing in addition to the teaching and consulting work I do.

So, obviously, unless I could earn a similar income in Taiwan, it isn't in the cards until my business becomes my primary source of income.

However, due to the nature of the freelancing I do, I could potentially spend a portion of each year there. I'm just trying to scope out where I would stand, which is why I'm asking the questions that I am.

Nightlife is somewhat important to me. Not clubs so much, as I've grown bored of these, but a city that features an enclave or two of decent restaurants with good service and delicious food, cocktail bars with genuinely good drinks and two or more microbrewery joints is important to me. Having access to those things here in Beijing really adds a lot of value and enjoyment to my life.

Post: #604

Still not sure whether I should teach in Taiwan or Japan. Do you guys think that if I was placed in a Japanese city outside of Tokyo, I'd be able to save more money than if I were in Taipei? I don't have any teaching experience, btw.

Post: #605

(10-22-2016 09:36 AM)Suits Wrote:  However, it's taken no shortage of sacrifice to get myself to a point where I can consistently make around $70K USD a year here

Suits, you've given me a new financial goal. Note to self: spend more time around people who are more ambitious than me.

Post: #606

(10-22-2016 08:07 AM)Suits Wrote:  I'd very much appreciate a more detailed expansion of this post.

In particular, I'd love to know more about the following:

Comparisons between the internationalization and vibrancy of specific cities in the Mainland and specific cities in Taiwan.

An outline of the visa situation in Taiwan. Can long term visas only be acquired outside of Taiwan as it is the case in Mainland China or can you be issued a work visa after arriving on a tourist visa without being required to make a trip home?

How easy is it easy to maintain a visa if you are freelancing? What is the likelihood of being busted for working on a non-work visa and fined/deported?

How well do jobs pay in Taipei and elsewhere?

<Comparisons between the internationalization and vibrancy of specific cities in the Mainland and specific cities in Taiwan.>

Shanghai and, from all I have been told, Beijing (haven't been there) are more international than Taipei but Taipei is improving. There are bigger expat communities in the PRC cities and a more vibrant bar/music/art/international food scenes. However, there are also some much bigger downsides to the PRC ones: way more pollution, more aggressive people, tainted food sources, dangerous tap water, expensive international medical, and a more or less cutthroat culture. Taipei is more or less a nice, efficient, safe albeit kind of boring place. Not real boring but not real exciting either. Lot's of cute young women and a good place to be a single man up to around 40. Also, unlike the PRC, you have fairly easy access to nature and can get out in the country within 2 hours and away from most of the smog.

By the way, Internations just published a survey of its members and Taiwan came out number 1 for expat satisfaction. You might want to check that out.

<An outline of the visa situation in Taiwan. Can long term visas only be acquired outside of Taiwan as it is the case in Mainland China or can you be issued a work visa after arriving on a tourist visa without being required to make a trip home?>

Taiwan actually has a consumer friendly government even in dealing with foreigners. They don't throw up a bunch of unnecessary hurdles like needing to leave the country to convert to a residence visa/work permit. The message you get from bureaucrats is consistent (unlike a place like Mexico where the law is what the guy on the other side of the desk says it is) and coherent (also unlike Mexico).

<How easy is it easy to maintain a visa if you are freelancing? What is the likelihood of being busted for working on a non-work visa and fined/deported?>

I don't know about freelancing. I know that Taiwan is trying to encourage people to start companies in Taiwan and I know people who own companies here and have no problem with visas. I would just contact immigration and ask or raise the question on NomadList. The have a rating for Taipei as a digital nomad city so they probably know something about freelancing. Worst case, you can do is get a job teaching a day or two a week. That is enough to get you a visa.

as far as getting busted, I don't know that. I do know like any non-white nation they take immigration laws seriously and routinely arrest PRC nationals who overstay then stick them in a detention center until they arrange extradition.

<How well do jobs pay in Taipei and elsewhere?>
Depends on what types of jobs. It is good for teachers, even English teachers (in terms of cashflow). For most other jobs, pay isn't high her but neither is the cost of living except for accommodation. What type of work do you do?

Let me know if I can help you with any other questions.

Post: #607

^ Phenomenal post my friend. Especially the bit about Internations' poll results. I wonder why that is.
Regarding pay in Taiwan, it's depressingly lower than mainland China, however it's an easier lifestyle and more efficient, less bullshit to deal with which at the moment I bet I could use.

(10-22-2016 09:36 AM)Suits Wrote:  Nightlife is somewhat important to me. Not clubs so much, as I've grown bored of these, but a city that features an enclave or two of decent restaurants with good service and delicious food, cocktail bars with genuinely good drinks and two or more microbrewery joints is important to me. Having access to those things here in Beijing really adds a lot of value and enjoyment to my life.

I just skyped with a friend that said outside of Tai Pei, there's virtually no drinking culture whatsoever in Taiwan. Somewhat depressing and strange considering how much they glorify Korea/Japan. But yeah, going in-person would be the way to see the truth, or ask Atlant

(10-22-2016 01:29 PM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  Still not sure whether I should teach in Taiwan or Japan. Do you guys think that if I was placed in a Japanese city outside of Tokyo, I'd be able to save more money than if I were in Taipei? I don't have any teaching experience, btw.

You'd probably be saving exactly the same amount of money, except the big problem with Japan is good luck finding people that speak English in 2nd-tier cities. I'd choose Taipei over it for that reason alone; plus the warmer weather year-round.
.

Post: #608

Would Taipei require qualified teachers or can native speakers do by?
It's sounding rather interesting I must say

Post: #609

As much as I think it's smart for me to give Taiwan a closer look, my expectations are a low. Taiwan seems to have retained all of the Chinese issues that I'd rather live without on the Mainland.

Lazy police enforcement, people who are blissfully inconsiderate of others, horrible and selfish drivers and English schools run by idiots who care only about money.

I'm looking for a place that I could see myself settling long term, not just visiting for a couple years until it's time to move onto the next destination. I don't mind travel and extended visits to new places, but it would be nice to have a reliable base of operations that I could call home.

Canada, my home country, has never felt like home to me. And have no interest in returning.

I absolutely love Hong Kong. It's the only place in the world where I've ever felt truly at home. But with the high cost of housing and the extreme likelihood of increased Mainland influence both politically and economically in the coming decades, it is a risky place to put down roots.

Thailand doesn't allow foreigners to own 100% of a business and I'm not sure if the vast majority of the foreigners living in Thailand are people I want to be around. It's not an option that I've fully explored, and therefore I leave it open, but I get the feeling that Thailand might not be a good long term fit, although I would love to be wrong.

Cambodia is great on a business front, as it very much welcomes foreign investment, but it's still Cambodia, the South-East nation of last resort.

Singapore is too small for my tastes, although it would be worth a visit, I've received a lot of advice to suggest that I would bore of it.

Vietnam is communist and corrupt. Not somewhere I feel comfortable putting down roots. I've visited several times and I've enjoyed my visits, but it definitely doesn't feel like somewhere that could become home.

Laos is just too undeveloped for my tastes. I've been there and enjoyed the more casual atmosphere, but I would prefer to live in a larger city with a range of entertainment options and women.

So, while I'll probably go through with my plans to visit Taipei for a couple weeks this winter, I'm a little reluctant, because I fully expect to be crossing another nation off my list of possible places to settle down. Which would be too bad, because Taiwan has a lot to recommend itself. I'm just anticipating that at some point in my life, I may cross my limit as far as how much I can handle (especially in regards to people who threaten the lives of others by driving like selfish assholes. Having to deal with that every day in Beijing has been getting to me).

Post: #610

Suits, have you spent any time in Kuala Lumpur or Penang? I'd suggest those for future scouting trips. Malaysia has plenty of things to dislike, to be sure, but there are a lot of things to like as well.

As you pointed out, there are issues in most of these destinations, and I too have found it more difficult of late to find a place a place in Asia which ticks all the boxes. That's part of the reason why I've been back in the States for the past year or so, after many years bouncing around Asia I was beginning to tire of certain issues in different places. Priorities change and you begin to look for longer term viability. In the end you have to figure out which problems you're willing to live with.

Post: #611

I wouldn't say Taiwanese are particularly inconsiderate, they're certainly not as rude and do inconsiderate things in the polite Japanese roundabout fashion, but the other points are true. Having spent 3 years in HK and 3 in Taiwan however I can't claim that their impact on your daily life is as significant as in China. In either case the teaching stuff doesn't affect me since I don't teach so you would have to ask someone else about that. My impression is that the big chains suck but there are smaller independently run schools that care more about their students and teachers.

The biggest issue with Taipei is that it is small, no matter if it's networking for business, girls, friends, etc., after a few years you'll start running into the same people again and again. If you want to find a comfortable, safe and predictable place to settle and perhaps eventually have a family, I'd recommend it. But if you want an energetic, dynamic playground where shit is going down and you can go at it hard career- or business-wise and meet plenty of like-minded people, it's not the place to be.

Post: #612

(10-24-2016 12:13 AM)GlobalMan Wrote:  Suits, have you spent any time in Kuala Lumpur or Penang? I'd suggest those for future scouting trips.

I'd definitely like to visit Malaysia, but I don't have high hopes there either.

Essentially, my expectations are not realistic.

I want to live in a sophisticated city, but without all the problems that come with big cities.

Beijing offers so much of what I want and most cities anywhere would not offer the same range and availability.

The main things that I want to escape are

(1) Living in a city that is so geographically large that I literally spend hours on the road many days just doing normal stuff. Currently, to get a low cost apartment that doesn't look like a prison cell, I'm paying about $500 USD per month and this puts me an hour by motorbike (and longer by subway) to visit anywhere in the city worth visiting.

Living somewhere decent as I did last year would cost me $1500 per month. I'm not opposed to paying that much, but even if I do in Beijing, I still have to spend 20 hours a week or more driving to meet clients and friends all over the city. I don't mind this terribly, but I'd rather not have to.

(2) Dangerous traffic where people's driving constantly remind me that I'm surrounded by selfish assholes. It's hard to stay positive in a place where constantly forced to see and experience things that make me loose faith in humanity.

Three days ago a car swerved from the opposite of the road into the bike lane where I was riding my scooter. He front ended me. Fortunately I was able to come to a stop so our collision occurred at only about 1 km/hour.

The asshole expressed zero concern for me, didn't even leave his car. He just motioned for me to get out the way. When I pulled up to his side window and confronted him, all he would say was "sorry" in bad English with a complete lack of any sincerity. He just wanted me to be out of his way and to stop inconveniencing him.

I wasn't even human in his eyes. And it wasn't because I was a foreigner. It's because I wasn't an immediately relative. Chinese people don't give a fuck about anyone who isn't an immediate relative and given how they often treat their immediate relatives, I wouldn't want them to be my family either.

A week before that, I took a big risk by intervening in a situation where a Chinese guy got in a car accident and then grabbed the first foreigner he and his friends could find and physically would not them leave. I got the police involved who found traffic camera footage that showed the foreigner who was being accused was in no way involved.

The Chinese guy from what I could tell didn't face any consequences for assaulting an innocent person.

It's hard rubbing shoulders with scum like that. I know from personal experience that just about all of my "Chinese" friends would happily sell me out if it meant protecting their own interests. I know this to be true, because it's happened to me. The last time it happened, my "friends" participated in helping some other locals squeeze $600USD out of me after a Chinese person hit me with a bicycle.

I very much enjoy the upscale aspects of Beijing, but living somewhere that you know you are at the mercy of a corrupt unfair system where you are severely disadvantaged as a foreigner is not fun as you look to the future. Getting almost struck and injured by vehicles on a weekly basis because they'd rather run someone over than not win at the game of traffic is not fun either.

However, Asia being what it is, it's unrealistic to want to live somewhere that isn't corrupt and unfair, not to mention insulting to your basic humanity.

This is unfortunately, because I'm very good at surviving life here. I have far more earning power in Asia than back in Canada.

What I'm looking for right now is a reasonable compromise between my hopes and what I can handle living without completely losing my faith in humanity.

(3) Air pollution. I'm not one to complain about this and I take it in stride in Beijing, but long term, I think that it would be smart to avoid living somewhere that threatens my health on a practically daily basis

Post: #613

Based on what you've said you're looking for, and keeping in mind the places you've already crossed out, I would say skip Taipei for now and take a trip to KL.

Personally I like Taiwan as a whole, but I think you might find a few too many things there that you're looking to get away from. Still should check it out of course, but maybe someplace with a greater difference from Beijing/Mainland China would be a better bet.

I like KL. It's large enough, but not too large. Efficient transport. Generally clean, decent air quality. Great food. An adequate amount of girls to be swooped.

LouieG gives a great rundown: /thread-16517.html

Post: #614

It's commentary like this that worries me that Taiwan will disappoint me.

http://jsphfrtz.com/this-is-taiwan-a-dan...se-excuse/

Quote:Now, that doesn’t necessarily result in betterment. It often leads to “haterism,” as Taiwanese people will all tell you how awful Taiwanese drivers are…as they, personally, drive awfully. But that’s human nature – same as “It’s our culture” – we never want to believe we’re in the wrong.

This is even more obvious in Taiwanese/Chinese culture, where admitting you are wrong is one of the worst things you can possibly do, because (and this goes back to the powerlessness) Taiwanese take any opportunity they can to “be unquestionably right” and use it to explode their righteousness all over the other person.

You see it all the time in traffic accidents, where no one will admit fault; when fault is determined, the “injured party” attempts to completely dominate the other person. But that mentality exists in all facets of culture. It’s a world where “I’m sorry” is simply not said.

So Taiwanese can frequently see each other as an enemy they hope to, at some point, gain advantage over.


That’s why it’s so much fun to do business in Asia and why it’s so baffling to Westerners who watch Taiwanese spend two weeks making excuses about why they haven’t finished a job that takes two days to finish: no one wants responsibility because that could lead to their demise.

So Taiwanese are afraid of responsibility, which also fuels the “This is Taiwan” mentality where everyone hates the man driving the bus but no one wants to drive it, themselves.

I have a lot of respect for Hong Kong. Although drivers are more or less willing to run you down if they have the right-of-way, in traffic situation it is always clear who has the right of way.

Sure, it is potentially dangerous and a far cry from the absurdly contentious drivers and people of Vancouver. But at least there is a system. Mainland Chinese drivers, on the other hand, engage in daily games of Chicken, where every square inch of roadway must be competed for, with the driver who is the most willing to get into an accident gaining the advantage in every case.

If I was involved in a legal situation in Hong Kong, I would have the expectation that there would be some fairness involved. In the Mainland, there's no way of predicting how things will end, especially when you have absolutely no power to influence the outcome.

When I do business in Hong Kong, people can tell me what to expect and they always deliver based on those expectations. In the Mainland I have to constantly be on my guard, because even the people I should be able to trust will lie to me for a large variety of reasons.

I've gotten good at life in Mainland China and can compensate for every disadvantage and risk, but I know that I won't want to do more than a few more years in Beijing and am currently exploring what the next place should be.

It could be just another temporary destination where I live for a few years and then move on. However, since I'm 30, it would be nice to move to somewhere that could develop into a long term base.

Post: #615

Hey Suits, how long have you been teaching English?

Post: #616

(10-22-2016 01:29 PM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  Still not sure whether I should teach in Taiwan or Japan. Do you guys think that if I was placed in a Japanese city outside of Tokyo, I'd be able to save more money than if I were in Taipei? I don't have any teaching experience, btw.

Don't teach outside Tokyo if you go to Japan. I can't speak about Osaka because I have never been there but Tokyo is where the pickup action is. Remember that Tokyo is an enormous city so don't take a job in a BFN location because train fares from outer Tokyo Metropolis, Kanagawa, Chiba , Saitama... to central Tokyo or Yokohama are expensive,unbelievably overcrowded and finish at midnight. The best way to avoid this is to familiarize yourself by maps google earth with Tokyo before you go there.

Nightclubs in Japan are a waste of money, Tokyo is one big nightclub with one of the greatest number of girls of any city on earth. You have to be seriously useless to not be able to pick up in Tokyo.

The reason Tokyo is so much better than smaller Japanese cities is the anonymity it offers 20 something Jgirls who leave their small town or city for a job in Tokyo. Very large numbers of Jgirls like foreign men and need to keep their relationships with them discreet because of the xenophobia of their families. Japan is a larger country than many imagine and Jgirls in Tokyo often see their families only twice a year. Even girls who grew up in Tokyo can remain anonymous because the city is so huge.

I taught for 3 years in Tokyo and 6 months in Taiwan in the early 2000s. Back then Taiwan had a decided advantage for apartments because good apartments were a lot harder to find in Tokyo since you had to pay several months rent upfront for the better apartments which was not the case in Taiwan.Cost of living relative to wages favoured Taiwan but not by much and Japan more than made up for the difference with a much cleaner environment, much less pollution and better infrastructure and cleaner food.

You don't need Japanese/Mandarin skills to get work. You need them for the better jobs but your language skills will improve with time. In Tokyo the best jobs are as assistant language teachers at government schools. You need some Japanese language ability for junior high school and very good Japanese for high school. High schools and jhs are better because your workload is much lighter and benefits and conditions better and salary usually better than conversation schools.

Post: #617

Whiskey and smokes are cheaper in Japan and fruit and veges and fruit juice a lot cheaper and immeasurably better in Taiwan. For girls Taiwan and Japan are on par. Social circle is better in Taiwan than Japan. Coffee shop game is much better in Tokyo. Shopping and street game are fantastic in both Taiwan and Tokyo.

Post: #618

(10-24-2016 12:02 AM)Suits Wrote:  So, while I'll probably go through with my plans to visit Taipei for a couple weeks this winter, I'm a little reluctant, because I fully expect to be crossing another nation off my list of possible places to settle down. Which would be too bad, because Taiwan has a lot to recommend itself. I'm just anticipating that at some point in my life, I may cross my limit as far as how much I can handle (especially in regards to people who threaten the lives of others by driving like selfish assholes. Having to deal with that every day in Beijing has been getting to me).

I think there are a lot of things to like about Taiwan:

The food is pretty good and I like their lunchbox/biandang culture. A large percentage of the population brings a lunchbox and fills it up with food from small restaurants on the way home. So there are high quality, reasonable cost places to eat everywhere. Without the gutter oil and bullshit. Plus there is a fast food chain that has sweet potato fries. I liked the food.

The people I dealt with there seemed much more western, essentially just like HK folk. That goes a long way to dealing with less bullshit. I often feel a complete wall of understanding with Chinese people even though Ive been here a long time. In Taiwan I didn't have that feeling, especially with the educated people, which was a lot of them.

Taipei transportation was very good, though now I feel Guangzhou is a little better.

One issue with your trip: I also went for a month in the winter. Taipei weather in Jan/feb is really bad. Its cold and rainy, can also be windy. I think that it doesn't give the city a fair shake. I went down to the south of the island during that time to Gaoxiong and the beach park I think called kending. Great weather. Sunny, blue skies. But in the north during the winter, bad weather. I actually really liked Gaoxiong, the 2nd biggest city and the big port city in the SW. But its not nearly as cosmopolitan as Taipei.

Post: #619

(10-24-2016 11:31 AM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  Hey Suits, how long have you been teaching English?

Over four years now.

I don't do typical work anymore. I burned every copy I had of my resume a year ago and swore to never apply for a job again. I specialize in play-based and activity-based language learning, using games, cooking, art and other fun activities to increase student's functionality.

I promote myself as a service online, not an individual looking for a job. I've found with experience that anyone who asks for a CV is going to waste my time and isn't even worth meeting. People who just want to meet me and talk business respect me as an equal and are more likely to be a legitimate partner in offering classes to groups of students.

I've had some success in using online ads to find families that want to organize a class for their child and his friends, however the best clients in this regard always come through my network. Typically girls who have come to one of my parties will introduce me to someone.

At this point I charge about $50 per hour and practically nobody questions it, especially after I show them the creative materials I've designed for my classes. They're usually surprised that I've invented it all myself.

What I do is unfortunately very niche (because while everyone agrees that practice is important, from what I can tell, unlike me, no one has ever developed a systematic process by which to implement that practice).

I really enjoy my work and am in the process of creating high quality curriculum products and training courses to sell to schools and teachers who want to do what I do.

At the moment, I have a very good client list in Beijing. It's taken me two years and a half years to get to the current point. A year ago, I was still dependent on working a regular daytime job with low per-hourly pay just to be able to make rent each month. I finally quit that job in February and have never looked back (even though initially, some of my school partners failed to deliver as promised, which hurt me financially).

If I was to move somewhere other than Beijing, it would either be after I was earning the majority of my income from selling my curriculum and teacher training projects, or because I needed a long break from Beijing and intended to do the same type of teaching work (as I do now) in another city somewhere else in Asia.

Post: #620

I've watched various Japan vloggers who claim Osaka is a good city to be in, not only for teaching but for pickup. Girls are supposedly more open, friendly and down-to-earth than Tokyo.

And you can earn decent dosh if you hustle. Supposedly around $5000 USD or more a month. I have no personal experience teaching there, so I can't vouch.

Post: #621

The problem with Japan is that the are actually strict about their visa laws. Since over a decade ago, attempting to enter the country for the third time on a 90 day visa exempt stamp would earn you a serious questioning about your intentions.

A far cry from Mainland China, where if you have the visa, they let you in, no questions asked.

Post: #622

(10-22-2016 01:29 PM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  Still not sure whether I should teach in Taiwan or Japan. Do you guys think that if I was placed in a Japanese city outside of Tokyo, I'd be able to save more money than if I were in Taipei? I don't have any teaching experience, btw.

Working in a 2nd tier city in East Asia would be depressing as hell.

I would recommend Taipei over any city on the outskirts of Tokyo.

Post: #623

(10-24-2016 08:19 PM)Mr. Scumbag Wrote:  I've watched various Japan vloggers who claim Osaka is a good city to be in, not only for teaching but for pickup. Girls are supposedly more open, friendly and down-to-earth than Tokyo.

And you can earn decent dosh if you hustle. Supposedly around $5000 USD or more a month. I have no personal experience teaching there, so I can't vouch.

Osaka has that reputation and a mate moved there and did well with girls. He said Osaka was a lot friendlier than Tokyo but I have never been to Osaka. Osaka seems a good option. Big enough to offer opportunity with half the population of Tokyo.

Post: #624

(10-24-2016 08:06 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(10-24-2016 11:31 AM)Heart Break Kid Wrote:  Hey Suits, how long have you been teaching English?

Over four years now.

I don't do typical work anymore. I burned every copy I had of my resume a year ago and swore to never apply for a job again. I specialize in play-based and activity-based language learning, using games, cooking, art and other fun activities to increase student's functionality.

I promote myself as a service online, not an individual looking for a job. I've found with experience that anyone who asks for a CV is going to waste my time and isn't even worth meeting. People who just want to meet me and talk business respect me as an equal and are more likely to be a legitimate partner in offering classes to groups of students.

I've had some success in using online ads to find families that want to organize a class for their child and his friends, however the best clients in this regard always come through my network. Typically girls who have come to one of my parties will introduce me to someone.

At this point I charge about $50 per hour and practically nobody questions it, especially after I show them the creative materials I've designed for my classes. They're usually surprised that I've invented it all myself.

What I do is unfortunately very niche (because while everyone agrees that practice is important, from what I can tell, unlike me, no one has ever developed a systematic process by which to implement that practice).

I really enjoy my work and am in the process of creating high quality curriculum products and training courses to sell to schools and teachers who want to do what I do.

At the moment, I have a very good client list in Beijing. It's taken me two years and a half years to get to the current point. A year ago, I was still dependent on working a regular daytime job with low per-hourly pay just to be able to make rent each month. I finally quit that job in February and have never looked back (even though initially, some of my school partners failed to deliver as promised, which hurt me financially).

If I was to move somewhere other than Beijing, it would either be after I was earning the majority of my income from selling my curriculum and teacher training projects, or because I needed a long break from Beijing and intended to do the same type of teaching work (as I do now) in another city somewhere else in Asia.

Interesting. Did you teach for a year or so before you started to do your own thing?

Did your business grow via word of mouth?

Post: #625

Just made the transition from hired teacher to earning my income mainly as freelance here in Kiev.
I worked for my school for a year, I loved the job and never had better students, but I couldn't turn down the money this bank agreed to pay me to train their employees in-house (over triple what I was making at my school).

Basically I used my first year as a teacher as a stepping stone. I got good training, the curriculum wasn't rigid and allowed me freedom to create my own exercises and ignore whole lessons in their book if I chose to. I took what I developed as a teacher at my school and will now implement it for better pay.

I start my new gig tomorrow and I've been preparing lessons the past two days. I'm excited and nervous because, as Suits said, if I don't deliver to their expectations it's going to hurt me financially.

Suits, $50 an hour is amazing. I'm probably still another year away from hitting that pay-grade. How many hours a week do you work on average?