Teach English When people ask me for advice about teaching English in Asia, the one thing I tell them for Taiwan is to quit planning and just GO THERE. For other countries such as Thailand or China it might be smart to hook up with a Teach Abroad program before you go. Those exist for Taiwan as well but the thing about Taiwan is that the country is calmer and much easier for you to get your bearings straight. Often times you will find that the jobs you find after you arrive in the country pay more and are more flexible. Teach abroad programs most likely will require previous teaching experience and for you to adhere to a strict schedule. So go to Taiwan, enroll in a Mandarin course, make some friends and watch the English teaching jobs be handed to you on a silver platter.
I opted to not go for a position as a buxiban (after-school cram school) teacher. I substituted for friends sometimes but didn't like the classroom environment as much where most of the students were forced to be there by their parents. My roommate was a kindergarten teacher and she rode her scooter into work every morning and taught buxiban at night to adults which can be a lot less stressful then teaching kids. Then there were private tutors like me who either practiced English with kids on the side or helped them with their homework if they went to an International school. Private tutors could often hold specialities such as the SATs or AP test preps. Adults will also pay you to have a one-on-one conversations with them at a cafe .
They pay well for English language teachers and most of it is under the table. If you're signed on by a legitimate school, they will help with your work visa but most working tutors are students with a student visa who would obviously rather be paid illigetimately. I made $20/hour for about 20 hours of tutoring per week. Buxiban teachers make about the same wage. My rent was $180/month and I probably spent $6/day on food. I've heard SAT tutors are paid as much as $40/hour as do the private tutors coaching executives at big companies. You do the math. in 3 months of part-time tutoring I made enough money to fund my trip to Southeast Asia for 2 months.
Learn A Language I went to the National Taiwan Normal University (also known as Shida). They have a program separate but affiliated with the University called the Mandarin Training Center (MTC). It's separate because you don't need to be a student of Shida to enroll at MTC.
MTC is divided into 4 quarters and I went for the Spring quarter. There are a ton of classes for all different levels. The week before school begins you take a test determining your Mandarin level and they place you in a class suitable to your level. Each class is less than 10 people. Like any language you get back out of it as much as you put in as well as how strict your teacher is.
MTC also organized many cultural supplementary classes like Taiwanese cooking, knot-tying calligraphy and karate. They also organized social activities such as trips to Hualien. Most of these activities ended up being disorganized and chaotic in almost a comical way.
Overall, I'd recommend MTC if you're eager to meet a lot of foreign exchange students from all over the world. It's easy to get into the social life that the foreigners lead through the students at MTC and perhaps also get a taste for the expat life as well.
Three essentials for India:
GET YOUR VISA ORGANIZED AHEAD OF TIME. The Embassy wait can be brutal!
A-Z of Adventure Travel Insurance from World Nomads as you will probably get "Delhi Belly."
Hostelworld was a great help for finding cheap, but decent accommodation in India!
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