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The amount of money you make varies slightly from month to month, and also from school to school. Teachers are not paid a salary, but rather an hourly wage. The standard rate is NT$ 500 per hour (500 New Taiwan Dollars). Most schools guarantee their teachers at least 100 teaching hours in a month. Your monthly salary should thus look something like this:
NT$ 500 x 100 hours = NT$ 50 000
Depending on the exchange rate, this monthly figure can vary in Rand terms from R10 000 to R14 000. Teachers are not paid for their lesson preparation time or for days of school missed due to national holidays or typhoons.
Even if teachers teach less than 100 hours in a month, most schools guarantee a minimum salary of NT$ 50 000 from the second or third month of teaching. However, if teachers happen to teach over 100 hou rs a month, as is often the case, they will be paid an additional NT$ 500 for each extra hour worked. After a few months, most teachers end up working between 100 and 140 hours in a month.
NT$ 500 x 140 hours = NT$ 70 000
Depending on the current exchange rate (which has ranged between about NT$ 3.5 - NT$ 5 : R1 for the past 3 or 4 years), this could range between R14 000 and R20 000 per month.
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Living expenses in Taiwan are relatively low compared to your earnings. How much you save depends a lot on how much you want to spend on luxuries like movies, travelling, going out at night, eating at fancy restaurants etc.
Most employers will provide accomodation for their teachers and charge them only for basics like cable TV, lights and water. This usually doesn't come to more than NT$ 3000 a month. The standard of accommodation varies from school to school, but most apartments or rooms are clean, safe and acceptable. Every month, you are also expected to pay 20 % tax to the Taiwanese government. After 6 months of working in Taiwan, this figure will drop to 6 % and you will be able to claim the extra 14 % that you paid during your first 6 months back before you leave. The tax details depend on the time of year that you arrive in Taiwan: those first six months have to be within one calendar year. Therefore, if you arrive in December 2003, you will pay 20 % tax for December, and then also from January to June in 2004. After June, your tax will drop to 6 %, and you will be able to claim your extra 14 % back for January to June 2004, but not for December 2003.
If you are living in a smallish town, a budget of NT$ 1500 per week is quite acceptable. This will buy you all the food you require and pay for petrol for your scooter. If you want luxuries like McDonald's burgers or you want to watch a movie, expect to pay a lot extra. Western luxuries are expensive in Taiwan. In all, a monthly budget of NT$ 8 000 per person per month would allow you to live comfortably, if not luxuriously; the rest of your money is then yours to save or spend as you like.
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