Posted by on October 21, 1998 at 14:59:41:
Rush English School (Shir Jie Lee)
garyrush@mail.lgnet.com.tw
We're looking for teachers that can speak fair Mandarin Chinese and are willing to learn more. About three semesters or four quarters of recent Mandarin study (or equivalent ability) would be a good start. We're looking for teachers that can be both humorous and strict. Teachers must be able to speak loudly, think fast and quickly zoom in on students that need special attention. You don't need many years of ESL training to be a good teacher. TPR, Total Emersion and all that ESL stuff just doesn't work very well (Sorry, that's been our experience. (All the other schools use that stuff, and after five years of study most of their students just don't have the ability of our two year students.) If you've learned it, that's fine. Just don't expect to have time to use it. The three pillars of a good English program are 1. A very logical and no-nonsense teaching plan. 2. A teacher who is intelligent and likeable. 3. An ability to speak the local language (at least for absolute beginners) You do need a legal college diploma in any field. A junior college degree is quite acceptable. We believe 24 to 34 year-old teachers are best suited for this teaching method, but we'll consider any candidate who can teach energetically and control the classroom environment. It goes without saying that we are looking for teachers who are easy to get along with and are dependable.
Teacher's must have a standard north American accent. We can't tell you exactly what that is, but we can tell you what it isn't! Individuals born and raised in the deep south, the Bronx, French Quebec, England, Singapore, Tanzania,..etc. might have trouble teaching at this particular school. The parents of prospective students would listen for all of five minutes and complain to the font desk, "S/he's not North American!" It's not fair, I know. But when in Rome..... You might have a better chance applying at a Chinese owned school, or perhaps working as a private teacher.
We teach 8-13 year-old children. There are 14 to 30 students per class. The average class size is about 18. We teach the students to stand up, speak loudly and open their mouths. We teach grammar and pronunciation. We give moderate pressure. Teachers work independently in the classroom and follow a teaching syllabus. The lessons are translated and broken down into suggested time segments. Part of a typical lesson might look some thing like this:
15 minutes (writing)
How often do you go to the park? (Ni dwo jou yisz chyu gong yuen?) I go to the park once a week. (Wo meige libai chyu gong yuen yi tzs ) Make sure the "once a" links up nicely. Don't let "park" sound like "pock". Also, the dictionary says "often" can be said with or without a silent "t". Have each student ask this question, but substitute the location. Ex. How often do you go to McDonalds?....
There is no class preparation needed on the part of the teacher other than the time the teacher may need to get familiarized with that day's assignment and/or practice the Chinese. If you've taught before, you'll REALLY appreciate that! Homework, compositions and tests are graded by the teacher once every three weeks. Our school has 7 semesters and the curriculum is for 31/2 years) We speak entirely in Chinese in the beginning semesters and gradually reduce the Chinese as the students advance. We start the children from their ABCs and work them up to compositions and conversational ability.
When a new teacher first arrives at the school, the teacher is considered a trainee no matter how much experience he or she may have. A new teacher usually sits in the back of the class for 1-3 months observing other teachers. The new teacher may be asked to grade homework or tests, or teach specific parts of other teacher's lessons. If the trainee is capable of doing so, he or she may be asked to substitute for another teacher. It is by this process that the parents begin to develop a relationship with the new teacher, and consequently refer new students to his or her new class. Classes fill very quickly as referrals come from the students and parents of all teacher's classes.
Presently (October 19, 1998) the current exchange rate is US $1=$33New Taiwan Dollars (NT) The pay break-down is like this.
1. Training period: The guaranteed minimum salary before opening any classes is $50,400.00 NT (US1,527.00) per month at 32 hours a week. (Hourly pay is NT $393 or US $11.90) As we stated above, this should only continue for a few months before the new teacher is considered trained well enough to open new classes.
2. After a new teacher becomes "official", he or she begins to receive an hourly rate of $700.00 NT per hour (approx. US$21.00) at 22 hours a week (remember, this is still before the teacher has any students and can generate any income for the school.
3. After the teacher has opened 3 classes, his or her pay increases to $750.00 NT per hour (approx. US$22.70 ) at 22 hours a week .
4. After the teacher has opened 5 classes, his or her pay increases to $800.00 NT per hour (approx. US$24.24 ) at 25 hours a week .
5. After the teacher has opened 7 classes, his or her pay increases to $900.00 NT per hour (approx. US$27.27) at 28 hours a week .
6. After a teacher has reached $900.00 NT per hour, he or she will still be eligible for a $50.00 NT raise every year according to the number of students being taught and the availability of funds.
Sometimes, as is the case when a full time teacher leaves, a new teacher may suddenly acquire many new classes at once and his or her pay rate may shoot up accordingly. Conversely, after teaching for a year, or two, some classes may graduate or merge, leaving a teacher with fewer hours. His or her hourly pay will remain the same, but until a new class opens the monthly pay will be lower.
If during the training period, we determine that the new teacher is not compatible with our school or teaching methods, we'll shake hands and send him or her home at our expense. Naturally, if the teacher quits or goes to another school, that teacher is on his or her own and no air ticket will be provided. (We would also be very unhappy!)
We offer a resident visa to work and live in Taiwan. We will help you locate housing and take care of you until you pay checks start coming in. Every year we are off with pay du