Questions about Korea, China, Japan, Thailand, and Taiwan?

Question

Alright, I'm considering taking a job (English as Second Language teacher) in one of these places. However, I am completely ignorant to the lifestyles and cultures of them. I have no clue which I would prefer. Some questions I have about all of them (please answer whatever you know about any of the places, it would be great help!):

1 - Would the language barrier be a big issue? (Me only knowing English)
2- Where is the best place to live for the least amount of money?? (I would like to save as much as possible while living there, I will get a free furnished apartment and free airfare, so just general living costs such as food and entertainment/clothing...)
3- What are some do's/don'ts of the countries?
4- What is the usual climate and temperatures for these places?
5- Any other comments or advice?

Thank you in advance!

Answer 1

Lets see can answer about Korea for sure and China a little. I teach in Korea and my brother works in China.
1 - Korea, you can get by pretty easily with only English, most street signs etc can be found in English, and there are lots of people here who speak English. China, I know my brother had some problems at first until he made some friends at a University who spoke English, but he is in a small town.
2 - You can definitely save alot of money here in Korea, you get paid around $2000 dollars a month, and your airfare, visa, apartment are paid for. You are responsible for utilities in most places. But hey I just got my last months bills, gas was $6, cable was $11, electric was $12, my internet (which is high speed) is $35 a month, and my phone is about $50, but I use it alot, and you can get away with paying less. Even eatting meals out all the time you can spend about $600 a month on restraunt meals if you eat Korean food. If you cook, you can eat just as cheap, just watch it they like to sell things in massive amounts cause Koreans get paid once a month not every 2 weeks like at home. Movies run about $6, beer at the bar $3 for a 700 ml glass (that's a lot of beer), taxi starts at $1.80 and usually doesn't go too high no matter how far you go. We took a half hour taxi ride one day and it cost us $12. China too is really cheap and your housing is usually included. But not sure of the details. You need to look over any contract carefully to see what is included and what is not, and what you pay for. One friend has a free apartment but she had to pay a deposit when she moved in.
3 - Do's
Be aware that Koreans are very hierarchical. You must respect old people and people older than you. You can't even really be friends with people older and younger than you by their standards, but as foreigners not a big deal, just will explain why your students act the way they do to each other sometimes.
Do a little research on customs online. There are alot of little things that are not a big deal but show a lot of respect if you follow them. Like not pouring your own drink and hilding your glass with two hands to show respect for the pourer of your drink. After a couple of weeks you will start to just automatically do a lot of these things. Pay attention and you will see others doing it too.
Don't
Expect it to be anything like home. It's not, and you might as well enjoy it for what it is. AND this is anywhere you go.
4 - Somewhat cold in the winter, but really dry. Strangely enough the summers are really humid and wet. I attribute it to those big fields of rice filled with water. You put that much water out in the sun and it is bound to get humid. RAINY season. In July for about 3 weeks it will rain, and that is in most areas in Asia. All of those countries have typhoons. My brother has had his roof fall in in the middle of the night because of one. Here, not too bad, just alot of rain.
5 - Of all of them, my understanding is that China has some of the more lax rules about working for a school and changing schools. Your visa is with the country not the school. In Korea, my visa is directly linked to my school. I can't work for anybody else without permissin and paperwork. And if I leave my school I have to leave the country. However, I can leave the country to visit other countries and there aren't all kinds of medical tests to get a job here. Most of the countries in the ROC, China and Taiwan make you take all kinds of medical tests and have a full exam from a doctor of their choosing in the country. If you lose your job in Thailand you can't get another job and they will kick you out of the country immediately. At least in Korea and Japan if you lose your job you can get another as long as you don't violate your visa and overstay or work outside your contract.
Anyways that is all the information I have. Been working here in Korea a long time now ,and was looking into the others before I came here. Good luck and hope you like where ever you choose to go.

Answer 2

You are asking for a lot of info. The websites below have a lot of answers. I took the Stamford ESL teacher training course a few years ago and do recommend it.

1. Not speaking the local language should not be a consideration for any Asian country. I have spent much time in all of these countries without knowing the languages and while occasionally frustrating, it's okay.

2. The least expensive places, China and Thailand, are also the lowest paying. You would have a hard time saving anything earning $700/month no matter how low the cost of living. To make money, only Japan, Korea and Taiwan, in that order, should be considered.

3. Do not touch a Buddhist monk or directly hand him anything!

Be polite, adaptable, considerate, dress neat and conservatively and you will do okay. You will be forgiven for stepping on threshholds, sticking your chopsticks in the rice bowl pointing up, wei-ing to children and such minor faux-pas.

4. Korea and Japan have climates like northern US, nice in the summer, ice and snow in the winter. Taiwan is hot in the summer and beautiful for 8 months. Bangkok, Thailand, where more than 80% of the jobs are, is almost always hot. China is bigger than the US so has diverse climates.

5. Go to the websites below.

Answer 3

Although I have only been to Thailand a few times, and a few other smaller Asian countries, I would still say Japan. Although the cost of living may be more, if they are paying your living expenses you can learn to be cheap no matter where you are. One of the times I was in Thailand I met up with a group in the North who had been teaching in Japan prior to coming to Thailand. They said they would teach in Japan for about 6 months and then would travel all over for the rest of the year. This is because they made so much in Japan. It does depend on the job and pay.

I know plenty of people speak English in both Japan and Thailand, as long as you are in the bigger cities, and I'm sure this is the case with most of the places you mentioned.

As to the whether, Thailand is pretty nice all the time, as long as you like warm rain during the rainy season. It is especially a nice place if you get out of Bangkok.

Answer 4

Each of the places you listed differ from each other. I'd suggest you figure out which one you'd like to teach/live in and learn as much as you can about that culture.

I'm gearing up for a trip to China so I've been learning Mandarin Chinese and getting my hands on as many books as I can. There are so many free resources online and at your library, you shouldn't have a problem. You should learn even a few key words and phrases so you can get by and impress your new friends.

You may also want to get Skype, it's an instant messenger and internet phone program that makes it really easy to meet people in other countries. I talk to Chinese people all the time and they are more than willing to help you with the language and learn about the customs.

Also, there is a series of books called "Culture Shock" that will be priceless for those who want to travel overseas. There are some things it's just not cool to do in other countries. For example, you never want to lick your fingers while eating in China. You also don't want to wave your chopsticks around or point them at people. It's rude. The Japanese (among others) are big on saving "face", so you my want to read up on that.

Answer 5

1. would be, especially in China and Japan.
2. choose China, Korea, or Thailand. Taiwan and Japan are expensive.
3. East Asian nations, such as China, Korea, Taiwan, and Japan are not immigrant country.
More than 75% is Han race in China, and other minorities follow the Han race's language.
More than 98% are Japanese in Japan and Han Chinese in Taiwan.
Nearly 100% is Korean in S.Korea.
Don't think racial diversity like the US is the best solution for every nations. You would be a minority in these countries.
4. East Asia and Thailand are wide. Can't describe in short. However, Japan, Korea and northern China are cold in winter. Hongkong and Taiwan is warm. Thailand is hot.
5. If you want to save money, skip Japan. And although Japanese study English, most of them do NOT think it is must-language for their life.

Answer 6

Wow... I would not recommend Japan if you don't know anything about Japanese culture. There are so many things you have to know about before living there. For one, it's rude to blow your nose in public. If you don't slurp noodles loudly while you're eating, you're being impolite. There are many different ways of speaking Japanese (You would have to learn some Japanese if you were to live there, right?), depending on who you're talking to. Putting soy sauce or anything else on your white rice and leaving your chopsticks in the bowl is also rude. These are just a few of the general manners people have... I would suggest picking one of the other choices.