Teach English in Beautiful Taiwan

Hands down, Shane English is a great place to get your feet wet in the teaching English game. A very difficult thing in Taiwan is working with Taiwanese management as their approach won't always align properly with yours. Shane has a terrific support structure to accommodate this with Western Management readily available to help. The managers became good friends of mine and I still keep in touch with them today.

Shane places a strong preference on academic achievement and professionalism. Some people don't like dressing up for work- I relished wearing a shirt and tie. I took my job seriously and presenting myself correctly was a key part to that.

The team I worked with has remained in my life even though I am no longer in Taiwan. I have traveled to visit fellow teachers, been to their weddings, and continue to keep in touch. Shane does an excellent job selecting top notch teachers with great personalities and a love for their jobs. Working with them made my job a lot more enjoyable.

If I could improve anything about the school, it would be two things. The first, I believe that initial compensation should be a little bit higher. By no means is it low, but it was a little bit lower than my friends' working for other schools. They make up for this by giving two days off a week, having an excellent support system, and making it very easy to take holidays- very important aspects that I think outweigh the salary issue (all of which made my friends jealous). The other thing is that some of the schools could use a bit of a facelift. They are all clean, safe schools that make for great working conditions, but some of them have lost that "new car" smell.

These two things are really nitpicky and shouldn't detract you from pursuing a job with Shane. If my friend went to Taiwan to teach, I would strongly suggest they look at this school- it's a great way to start out.

I had had so much fun at Shane - I stayed for a second year. Being at Head Office was a bonus. Line managers were generally useful and helpful. School Manager was a plus - well organised and efficient. If you are looking for a good place to teach - where you will earn a comparatively decent salary - look into Shane. Mitch Gordan and company are fantastic. I will make sure that I get them to help me job hunt each time I move onto another country.

As my first experience with teaching ESL, I found that Shane had a lot of benefits. The initial training and observations allowed me to feel comfortable when I finally stepped into the classroom. Also, I appreciated the assistance offered with finding an apartment, setting up a bank account, and getting my health check done. Also, I knew that I could contact the staff at the Head Office if I ever needed help.
I really enjoyed teaching in their kindergarten program (preschool) and was lucky enough the have a wonderful TA in my class. I taught “kindy” morning and afternoon followed by an elementary class in the evening. I mainly enjoyed my time with Shane, but felt that I needed a change after my first year. Again, a very good experience for a new teacher.

Working for Shane (Taiwan) was a great experience for me since the atmosphere at the workplace was always very friendly and pleasant. The overall experience was phenomenal!

When I worked for Shane as a senior teaching assistant at one of the branches, I have heard a lot of great things from the teachers. For example, new teachers would be accommodated by Shane in a hotel close to the headquarters for the first few days of training and would be assisted with finding a long-term place to stay later on . After they started working officially, branch managers always tried their best to assign more hours to teachers fairly since they are paid based on teaching hours.

One special thing about Shane as an ESL school is that the teachers get a full range of assistance in class from the local teaching assistant, which means the teachers can focus on what they do best-teaching English- while the TAs take the most responsibility for other things, such as disciplining, student performance evaluating/reporting, and homework correcting.

Shane is a great brand with superior established reputation in the industry. Working for Shane is an honor and it creates great professional personal image for people who work there. However, Shane is not the perfect choice for candidates who prioritized the paycheck among other decision making criteria in selecting where to teach English abroad. However, the attentive local staff and full training and support provided by the headquarters are irreplaceable and priceless in making your great teaching experience abroad!!