Which of these countries is online poker legal in: China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan? If I go to one of these places to teach English, I'm hoping to grind a little on the side for some extra money.

all of them.

I live in Kobe and its def one of my favourite cities in the world, pretty chill, decent night life etc prolly the best city in Japan for actually living imo (although I havent stayed in any other city for more than a week)
I lived in China for like a year aswell and Japan is definately waay more expensive but i would assume that English teaching jobs would pay more so it would all balance out. Most English teachers I know make around $4k US a month i guess.
Plus in Japan you can get by no worries without speaking Japanese I've been here for like a year and a half and pretty much dont know any lol
Seoul is also pretty sweet

I posted last year that Tokyo was really expensive, but after having spent some more time there, I've come to re-evaluate my position a bit.

Rent is actually comparable to a lot of other major cities I've been in. You can get a decent two bedroom place in a non-central part of Tokyo for $800. The trains are frequent and very efficient, so you can get to anywhere in the city quickly and don't need a car.

Eating out can get expensive. But if you're not there as a tourist eating out at Kobe steak, fugu sashimi, and ninja restaurants every night, then you can live pretty frugally. The bento boxes at the grocery stores are around 400 yen (about $5) and are amazing. They also have 100 yen shops everywhere, where you can buy food and household supplies for cheap.

As for going out, they have these awesome 270 yen izakayas where everything (beer and a huge bar food menu) is 270 yen (about $3).

Having spent some time in New York and Sydney this past year, I'd say that Tokyo is cheaper and a better value than either of those cities. In Sydney, I was constantly pissed off by how expensive everything was, how much the food sucked, and how ugly the women were. While Tokyo is expensive, I find it a much better overall value.

I've met English teachers making about $4000 a month, that are able to live well and save a decent amount of money.

I was thinking of the ghetto desert shops I used to go to in southern China. You can get a 红豆冰 for 10 kuai, but it'll be served to you by some sweaty chain smoking Chinese guy in a wife beater and they won't turn on the air conditioner because they're trying to save a couple dollars a month on the electric bill.

This isnt unique to southern china. THIS IS CHINA

As far as teaching goes, there is no better gig than Korea right now. It's not even close for you, especially considering you need to send back $450 a month, You could easily send back $900 a month and still eat out and drink everynight in Korea.

Japan, you earn more 'money' but when everything costs so much, it's simply not going to get you as far as it can in Korea and you wont be able to send much home.

Personally, I only send about $600 back home a month and the other $1500 I earn here I just spend on whatever I want, and that money goes faaar here. I eat out every night and drink most days, buy new clothes every weekend and obv shout girls meals and drinks several times a week.

The fact that there are no big expenses here makes Korea an easy choice in comparison to either Japan, China or Taiwan. In all of those places the wages don't cover your rent, which is easily 1/4 of your wage in any of those places, and in Japan, even higher. Factor in you can eat out for 20,000 won a day and drink picthers of beer for 15,000 won, with an average daily pay of 80,000 won... it's really no comparison IF English teaching is the way you want to make your living.

Flights paid round trip up front, plus a month severance bonus at the end of the contract makes Korea>>>> the world for ESL teachers

Great points. However, I've also heard that Korean culture is not as interesting, which is why many people have recommended Japan or China instead. What are your thoughts on Korean culture?

Korean culture?

Do you actually mean their culture, or are you talking about something else? (nightlife etc)

As for their actual culture they have a very old well established culture, their old King Sejong invented the hangul language and koreans have an interesting perspective on family values and such.

Personally I don't care too much for the history of the place, it is interesting to know but I'm not much of a museum kind of guy.

They are a super fun people, they drink ridiculous amounts and eat tons and tons of food. The girls are the hottest in asia (read: the world), you should go to a bigger city like Busan or Seoul for a short holiday, and you'll be surprised.

Infact it would be easy to do all three cities you suggested in a month, spending about 10 days in each. Seoul/Busan would be better all round for fun and living standard combined with well paid work.

If you want to send money home, have a good life with minimal bills, eat awesome food and drink a variety of alcohol to your hearts content then Korea trumps the rest of the world for ESL teaching, and really, it's not close.

I always wonder when reading this forum, what qualifications are required to get a good ESL teaching job in somewhere like Seoul?

I've googled ESL teaching a few times and it's always cluttered with different websites trying to get you to sign up for a course with them.

I'm not planning on doing it any time soon but I am curious.

Thanks.

You need a 4 year degree in any discipline to get a job with a reputable company in Japan or Korea.

In mainland China you don't need anything except the ability to speak English and a white face. Don't bother if you are black or asian.

Korea - BA Degree in any subject, 100% Clean Criminal Record, No Health Issues
China - Be White from a native speaking country (yes, it is racist, its just a sad fact)
Japan - BA Degree any subject, Clean Criminal Record, Some form of TEFL/CELTA
Taiwan - BA Degree, TEFL preferred

getting a TEFL is a worthwhile investment in any case. They're cheap to do and can bump up for salary in most places. CELTA is more valued, but more expensive. MA in TESOL + a couple years experience will get you a high paying job in the Middle East $60k per year tax free, 10 weeks paid holiday. That's what I'm aiming for in the next couple years.

To expand on Korea a bit, there are two types of jobs, hagwons and public schools.

If some guys could post a more detailed review about China, Japan, and Taipei in a similar vein to what this post does, we can have more clarity of information.

Public schools are government run, and as such you get more paid holidays, roughly 20 days a year + 18 national holidays + upto 15 sick days. You will always be paid on time. You get paid $1250 upon entry to pay for your flight costs (so if you get a cheap flight for $800 you pocket the difference), and the same upon exit. You also get $275 entry allowance. Starting pay is usually $1900 a month, but after 2-3 years and depending upon your education, you can earn up to $2700 for the same job. 22 classes per week. At the end of the year you will get a year bonus, equivalent to one month full salary. Your contract will be honoured.

hagwons are private language schools. In reality they are businesses. They are always treading a fine line between daycare and education, and the bottom line is profit. As such you will be usually paid more, starting at around $2050 a month, raising with experience to up to $3000. However, I think the downsides are worse. For example you get less than 10 days holiday advertised in your contract - the boss will pressure you not to take your holidays and act as if you're asking for the earth - despite the fact its written in pain English in your own contract! Sick days 3. Slightly longer working hours 25-30 classes per week. Same other benefits as public school, free apartment, free flights, bonus equiv to one month at the end of the year. Hagwons can be good, but be picky! Re-write your contract you get offered to clarify the English (it's usually poorly worded) and modify things you want to have changed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t8XAch40z8E is a good video on the hagwon vs public school issues.

The best jobs by far in Korea however, are Uni gigs. Short workings 12-18 a week, usually only 4 days a week, loooong paid holidays or 10+ weeks. Free apartment. Slightly less pay, $1700 a month, but way better lifestyle! Usually you need 3-4 years experience, some form of teaching cert like CELTA or - probably more valuable - a hook up at the uni.

Wow, thanks a lot 1aday! That was a really insightful post.

hi chairman mao.

Does anyone know if this is also the case in Japan (and/or China)? 50+ vacay days a year is no joke! Not to mention, you can take additional vacay after the contract is up (like traveling for a couple months before finding a new contract).

Lol. Compared to Seoul, Japan, and Taipei?

I live in Shanghai now, it isn't bad. Lots and lots of things to do. Big foreigner community. No clue about teaching jobs.

What about taxes?

3.3% to 4.5% depending on where you are from and if you sign up for pension.

Wow, that's incredibly cheap.

How long is each class? I'm guessing 1.5 to 2 hours, since most jobs I see online seem to be about 40 hours a week of work. In fact, one thing I've noticed from looking at job posting in China, Japan, Korea, and Taiwan is that most of them mention about 35 to 40 hours a week. Does anybody know if other opportunities exist with much lower hours? Preferably, I'd only be teaching about 20 to 25 hours a week.

None of these jobs that post 40 hours of work mean 40 teaching hours a week. That's an insane amount of facetime with students. It would most likely be around 25 to 28 hours of teaching per week and the rest is "office hours" where you'll probably be either marking papers or if you dont have to do that, you'll be extremely bored. This is the case for all private language academies (buxibans in Taiwan, eikaiwa in Japan, hagwons in Korea, etc.) and probably for the EPIC scheme and ALT jobs in Korea and Japan, respectively.

If you want low hours, you won't find it unless you go part time in most of these countries. Or, you could try for a university job in China. The hours there are very low (14-16 teaching hours and maybe 2 office hours a week) and the paid vacation time is substantial (this is important as opposed to the vacation time provided in Japan at public schools since I don't think they are paid and if they are they are at a substantially lower monthly "salary"). That being said, university jobs in China do not pay well, but they leave you with plenty of time to pick up private lessons for extra money or play poker if that's what you want to do. Without experience, though, getting a university job in a Tier 1 city in China is pretty tough since everyone wants to work there, leaving you with most options in cities where you may not want to live.

I've just been through loads of research on this for the past year and I've decided on going to Bangkok to pursue test preparation work (SAT, TOEFL, etc.). Be weary of job offers from overseas if it's with a private school in any country, especially if they seem too good to be true. Japan will be very expensive to start no matter who or where you work. Taiwanese schools seem to work you long hours for not so great pay. I think if you really just want to make money then Korea is the best bet, although I'm not sure about the teaching hours. I do have several friends who worked for hagwons in Seoul and did not seem to be overworked at all.

Any idea how easy it is to find part-time gigs? I want low hours, so that I can focus on other things (like starting a business). I wouldn't mind working 40 hours a week my first year or two, but after that I'd really want to work 25/week tops. Part of the reason I'm thinking about teaching abroad is to avoid sitting in an office for 40 hours a week.

I'm guessing the ability to live on part-time hours will also greatly depend on where I'm teaching. For example, I suspect that Japan is expensive enough where 40 hours of teaching a week is needed to survive, while in China 20 hours a week maybe enough. I'm just speculating though...

I don't think it's tough to find part time teaching work in any country in Asia. Most language academies would rather put you on part time, probably, because they then do not have to provide a work visa/permit and health insurance or any other perks that a full-time job with a reputable company would include.

The problem here is that in some places like Japan and Korea, you would never make enough to enjoy yourself working part-time. China, not so much. I'm not really sure about the legality of part time work in most of these countries. I know in Thailand it's technically illegal to work on a tourist visa, but tons of people do it. Japan you could, depending on where you are from, but it would be so expensive I wouldn't do it. Taiwan is a little more reasonable and you can work lower hours there for sure, but if you're living in Taipei, you better be sure you have another source of income to supplement teaching wages and private tutoring is not allowed since it wouldn't be on your ARC and you could get deported if you do it (I don't know exactly how realistic that is though).

Your best bet may be to try getting a university teaching job in China. In all likelihood you'd be looking at cities outside of Beijing and Shanghai since the competition is so steep and I don't know how much experience you have. Or you could try Bangkok. If you have a degree you would easily get a part time job at a language academy since there are tons of them in Bangkok. But again, you wouldn't make enough to live comfortably unless you're making money from poker or something else.

Does that mean starting a business there could get me deported too?