It completely depends on your Academic Director (the boss)

At first I thought, yeah this place is okay. They picked us up from the airport. They housed us for free for the first week. Luisa, the head recruiter, was kind and answered our questions. The main office was great with helping each step of the way. However, everything changed.

I came to Taipei with my boyfriend to teach. We were sent to different branches; thus, our experiences were COMPLETELY different. His AD had been there for years. Mine had been in her position for a few months. He had a thorough orientation. I had a packet and a brief (15 minute) meeting. Granted, I did observe many classes, but I just wanted to teach! Finally, I took over classes. My AD was a nice woman, but she didn't know how to do her job. Don't expect anything to be handed to you. You want more hours? Fight for them. You've finally reached the required number of hours, and you think it's time for your raise? Keep hassling them. During my first year, I made A LOT of handouts and spent too much time prepping for classes (and not getting paid for any of it!). My colleagues were great, and I could always count on them to help me out when I knew my AD wouldn't have a clue. Also, the TT (teacher trainer) and my school's librarian made my life bearable. Without them, I probably would have cried every day.

Then came the second year. My incompetent director left, and an (incredibly) even more incompetent one came in. Seriously, I don't know where this guy came from. He's from America, but his background is completely shady. He's only been teaching for five years, and yet he's already made it to AD. How is this possible? I saw him, not once, but twice screw departing foreign teachers on their visas. One even had to leave his very last class early to make a same-day visa run (although the AD knew he wasn't planning on leaving for another two weeks) or be threatened with fines. He makes inappropriate comments about people's backgrounds and families. He inappropriately touches teachers and makes creepy comments. He struts around like he thinks he's some amazing gift for us to behold. But he's lazy. He colors and does crafts, but he never does any actual work. For example, an AD is supposed to arrange subs when a teacher takes a vacation. But does he do this? Of course not. He gives us a list of other teachers WE need to ask to sub (which is meaningless because most of the teachers are already teaching at those times). He has no clue who is teaching what at what time. And did I mention the behavior that would have a boss fired within a fortnight at any company in the US? This man is worse than a joke. He is possibly the worst decision Kojen has ever made. And trust me, they've made plenty of other terrible decisions.

Kojen will try to cheat you of your pay. Typically not your regular pay, but quite possibly "bonuses" or "return rates." The in-house made materials are terrible, full of spelling and grammar mistakes, and blatantly infringe on copyright (Disney and Cartoon Network might be glad to know this). The company has had a string of lawsuits in Taiwan for its bad business practices. You work many more hours than you are scheduled, but you won't get paid for them. And if you get a bad AD, you will straight up suffer. Would I recommend them? Sure, in the same way I would recommend giving yourself a few dozen paper cuts, squirting some lemon juice on them, dousing them in Tabasco, then adding a dash of salt just for the seasoning. Then repeat every day. (Okay, not Sundays. Even here, you get one day off. Hope you enjoy it!)