Teach in Taiwan with HESS Education

First and foremost, I love Taiwan. I want to stay here; it is brilliant and amazing. I love where I live, I love the local area and the people. My review reflects none of that because -- and I wish I could underline the rest of this sentence -- that shouldn't be the consideration you have when working for Hess.

Focusing entirely on the program: It's only (and barely) adequate if you've never taught a day in your life and have absolutely zero experience; the materials are poorly edited, and this includes both student books and teacher manuals. There are points where the grammar is absolutely incorrect and the examples are glaringly wrong; the materials contain highly inappropriate "in-jokes" that shouldn't even exist. There are countless references to subtle racism (black children going to the police station, poor representations of the Rroma as 'crystal-ball carrying gypsies,' caveman-inspired Native Americans), drugs (a girl is holding a flower that looks exactly like a marijuana leaf), alcohol, age inappropriate word choices for teaching phonics.

There is far too much work for the time allowed, and you're expected to get through all of it. There are activities that are incredibly pointless for the time given to them, and you're questioned if you skip something in favour of doing a different activity. I prefer to incorporate more speaking in my classes, as this is something most of my students need more practice with. However, as I'm expected to get through all the low-grade secretarial work provided in order to "prove" I've "effectively taught" my students, there isn't a lot of time to incorporate discussion and questioning.

When I'm teaching, my co-teachers commonly interrupt me. Sometimes it's about class behaviour, which I can handle. The moment the most minor infraction occurs, my teachers are up and shouting at my students. If I'm in the middle of teaching something, they always question me. I had a lesson about using past continuous tense; the instructions stated that students should be using past continuous tense, and my co-teacher kept insisting that we should be using "simple past tense" regardless of how many times I pointed out that the instructions stated "past continuous" and that answering all questions using past continuous would make sense. Rather than waiting until after class and discussing this, it was determined that the best time for an argument over instructions was during class time and in front of the students.

The training that is provided is minimal and inadequate. They constantly pull you in for trainings on various things that do nothing more than waste time; they could easily email you the videos and PowerPoints they plan to show you, as those are the only thing they will ever reference. More than half of your questions will be answered with the phrase: "Check the teachers manual" or "Ask your branch." Both of which are problematic when your branch doesn't know.

Their pay is lower than average, too. It's not bad, and a person can obviously live on it; it's just lower than the going standard.

Two more things to consider, as well, if you're going to work with Hess:

1. They won't tell you until nearing the end of training what the legal status is about working in kindergartens. It's a changeable law that is a grey area, but it is currently illegal; depending on the capricious nature of the inspectors (and even your school), you really need to be aware of its legal status and avoid being caught if you're currently teaching children in that age bracket. Seriously.

2. If you're looking at Hess for a cheap alternative to a TEFL certification, you're being silly. Their TEFL is not accredited by any university/program (as they cannot afford the costs of going to an English-speaking university?). They state that it may be useful but will not always be accepted, but they sort of neglect mentioning this directly in their propaganda for new recruits.

In July of 2009 I moved to Taiwan a month after graduating college. I went for a few reasons: work, travel, fun and to learn Mandarin. I was interviewed and hired before I went by Hess Educational Organization. My two years in Taiwan started off with a 2 week Hess training in the capital Taipei where we learned teaching strategies - everything from classroom management to how to explain adjectives. This was a great time to adjust to the time changed, make friends and learn about the culture all while being housed in a nice hotel and fed 2 free meals a day. I made friendships those first two weeks that I still have today. After training I moved to the port city of Keelung where I moved into an adorable, small Japanese style studio apartment and started teaching ESL. I started out teaching at Hess's kindergarten in the mornings and teaching elementary and junior higher school students in the evenings. A typical day involved riding my scooter to kindergarten - teaching 3 year olds for 2 1/2 hours then having lunch with my fellow teachers (usually something made by the kindy aunties - delicious Taiwanese food). Teaching kindy was really fun in the sense that we were really involved in every aspect of the kids' education, from teaching them phonics to teaching them how to clean up and how to be polite. I taught the same kids two years in a row and it was so amazing to watch them grow up. By the time I left they were 4 and 5 and could speak English really well. It's also challenging teaching the younger kids though, it takes a lot of patience, and sometimes it seems like the kids have better relationships with their Chinese speaking teachers (which makes sense of course). I enjoyed teaching the older kids as well, although teaching till 8:30 at night was not on my list of favorite things. The older kids really appreciate learning from a native speaking teaching and while you have a pretty strict curriculum to follow there is always time to share your culture and get to know your students and their culture.

Hess as a whole was a really supportive school. I would definitely recommend Hess to any one starting out teaching abroad. They offer a lot of support such as finding an apartment and helping with necessary but very difficult tasks, like setting up a bank account, filing taxes and going to the dentist. The Taiwanese teachers we worked with were awesome too, they were really helpful in and out of the classroom.

I loved my experience in Taiwan. A huge reason I went was to study Mandarin and live in an Asian country. I made some amazing friends - the Taiwanese people are some of the nicest people I've ever met in my life. They are so welcoming and love sharing about their country. The city I stayed in was just the right size, big enough to never get bored, small enough that you became familiar with the area and people pretty quickly. There was a cafe called Leaf Cafe in Keelung where I befriended the owner of the cafe. Of all my experiences in Taiwan - studying Mandarin at the Normal Taiwan University, going to glorious Green Island, lasting through a Typhoon, experiencing Lantern Festival (and ALL the other festivals), going out in Taipei - the thing I am thankful for the most is that little cafe and all the wonderful memories there. When you travel it's hard not to feel like you have to be living on the edge every single day, seeing new places, trying new foods, meeting new people, but at the end of the day that gets pretty exhausting especially when you're living and working somewhere for an extended period of time. By the end of my two years in Keelung I was so thankful for my curry place where the owners knew my favorite dish, for the comfort of having friends nearby, for my faithful scooter that gave me freedom to explore, and for a beautiful, ancient culture that will always be a part of me.

I have been working for Hess for almost four years and it has been a great experience. Taiwan is so conveniently located in Asia that it allows you to travel easily between many countries on the cheap. Also this company does quite a bit to ensure that you are looked after once you arrive. I would say that most peoples biggest gripe about Hess is its large size and the feeling of working in a middle sized corporation. Overall it is a good company, but Taiwan is the real reason to come. This island is truly beautiful!

As an introvert, going overseas to teach during the 2009 recession was a scary prospect, but HESS did a fantastic job of making sure I was comfortable and settled. I had a fantastic time teaching kindy for two years in Keelung.

Hess is one of the largest "cram schools" in Taiwan, and is therefore often seen as a safe bet for those looking to apply for a job in Taiwan while overseas. They conduct interviews via Skype, so for many people it's nice to have the security of a job offer before arriving in Taiwan. They also offer a 2-week (unpaid) training which can be extremely helpful for someone who has never taught before. Teaching materials are provided as well. However, your day-to-day experience as a Hess teacher might vary wildly from someone at a different branch than you. Some branches seem to be well-organized and supportive of their teachers, whereas others are definitely not.

Where I was placed, the new NSTs received almost zero support upon arriving at the branch, even in terms of basic needs like finding housing (it was promised during training that our branch would help us find appropriate housing). I was not given any information about the classes I was teaching other than being given the materials for the class (and the information I received during training). I only had a chance to observe kindy (no TreeHouse or Step Ahead) and I was not given the follow-up observations that are supposedly required after 3, 6, and 9 months. Despite multiple requests, the NSTs were unable to receive "fun time" craft materials for Kindy or even printer paper to use for printing tests and worksheets so we basically had to buy our own supplies out of pocket. Additionally, sometimes when Teacher's Guides/flashcard sets became outdated or went missing, the branch refused to order new ones and we were left without materials for our classes. Class performances were a HUGE ordeal, and despite being given very minimal information about the expectations for our Kindy and TreeHouse performances, we were harshly criticized for their apparent inadequacies (extremely frustrating considering we had all put a lot of unpaid time and effort into preparing them). Lastly, if you teach kindy, you should be prepared to witness the routine physical and emotional abuse of the children by their HRTs (Taiwanese teachers). At my branch, the children were hit, pushed, yelled and screamed at (often for such small transgressions as spilling water or throwing up on the floor), and forced to hug/kiss teachers and classmates against their will. If these things make you uncomfortable, being in such a classroom can make for a very unhappy situation. The branch managers seemed to condone this behavior.

I do know some people who had good experiences at their Hess branches, but overall, there are so many horror stories that you are taking a big risk by accepting a job offer from them. I think that if the organization could keep better tabs on its individual branches to make sure they are keeping their promises to their teachers, and if the organization invested a bit more in its teachers rather than treating them as disposable, then Hess could take a step toward being a more reputable business.

Each week day was started by teaching children between the ages of 3-6. They love you so much and bring a lot of energy to the class. These classes bring a lot of satisfaction because they enter the school with zero English so everything that they learn, comes from you. It's also really fun working with young people. Watching them grow and develop personalities is interesting because each one is completely different from the other. There is also a portion of the lesson devoted to building up skills like cutting, coloring, movement, etc each lesson which allows you to help the students learn how to learn independence which brings them confidence they need to try new things.

In the evenings, you get to teach the older students. They are usually in grade 1 or higher. These students usually have some English brackground already and you are maintaining what they previously learned and expanding more on the English language. These students have the ability to share what happened in their days with you. You teach them writing, listening, speaking and reading skills to allow them to have a well rounded English language ability.

From my experience with working for Hess I can safely say Hess is not interested in students education, teachers well being, or maintaining an enriching program. Basically they cram as many students in the classes as they can to make a ton of money. The head Chinese teachers constantly undermine the foreign teachers authority - which makes it impossible to keep your class under control or teach them anything. The lesson plans are fairly well structured, but good luck finding them and finding the appropriate books. If you can think on your feet, you don't mind being disrespected, you can stand being overworked, and you can tolerate a lot of yelling - you will be able to handle hess. Overall Hess is an incredibly unprofessional and I would not recommend anyone to work for Hess.

Like most HESS teachers, this was my first teaching in Taiwan. Many people who have been living here for a while will describe HESS as a "training school." It's a mostly good introduction to being an educator as it does provide a 10 day training course, which can be useful if you are genuine about wanting to learn. Depending on the branch, they are usually pretty good about letting you observe more experienced teachers, both Taiwanese and foreigners. Just make sure that you are compensated for these observations. It's typically half your hourly pay, UNLESS you are not getting the hours promised to you in your contract. For instance, if you sign a 25-hour contract but wind up teaching 22 hours, this means you should be getting 3 hours of paid observation.

One huge benefit of HESS is the teaching materials provided. Being as large as they are, they have the resources to print books, flashcards, workbooks, and even have unique songs to go along with the curriculum.

However, your experience is largely dependent on which branch you are placed. Many have wonderful facilities, friendly staff, brilliant students, and dedicated teachers. But... there are the horror stories. Branches situated in old buildings, with a jaded Taiwanese staff who have learned to mostly ignore what they consider petulant foreign brats. Many foreign teachers at HESS are real scum bags and lend to the reputation that foreigners in Taiwan have.

But be aware that since most teachers are fresh-off-the-boat and typically only plan to stay one year, HESS teachers will not enjoy the benefits that other schools provide. For instance, absolutely no paid vacation and absolutely no holiday bonuses.

Overall, it was a pleasant experience. If you are able to see past the BS and facade, dedicate yourself to being a good teacher, and be open to the fact that things are different from back home, you should be fine. Although I had a terrible experience that caused me to leave, I would still recommend this school to unexperienced teachers.