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I highly recommend reading and frequently referencing:

• Jim Burke - "The English Teacher's Companion: A Completely New Guide to Classroom, Curriculum, and the Profession"
  
  
• Echevarria, Short, & Vogt - "Making Content Comprehensible for Secondary English Learners: The SIOP Model"
  
  
• Rethinking Schools, Ltd. - "The New Teacher Book: Finding Purpose, Balance and Hope During Your First Years in the Classroom"
  
  How do you make yourself an adequate teacher?
  
  This is the wrong question. You shouldn't strive to be adequate, but to be fluent in your subject. Once you understand English, the grammar, syntax, pronunciation, its workings and intricacies, you shouldn't need to worry about "adequacy." If you enjoy your subject, fluency in it will be reflected in how you teach it. I hope I won't be considered presumptuous when I say that a lot of teachers of English have very little actual knowledge of the language beyond speaking it. If this reads like you, do yourself a favor and learn English more intimately. There is a lot to know, and only being able to speak it, even with some educational methods behind you, is going to be detrimental to your teaching.
  
  > Today was the first day of teaching in my entire life and it was a thrill to be in front of a classroom attempting to command the student's attention.
  
  It may just be my interpretation of your wording, but try not to command their attention. Work with your students and lead them into the lesson.
  
  It's difficult to give you "tips and tricks" without knowing the students' ages. However, I'll try to give you some of my philosophy:
  
  Educator Thomas Carruthers once said, "A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." The goal in your classroom should be not to simply educate, but to guide. Encourage your students to think and explore a subject. Since I don't know what exactly you're teaching, I'll use prepositions as an example. Here is how I teach them:
  
  

1. Identify the important words for the lesson: In, On, Between, Above, Below, Under, Next to, Behind
   
   
2. Demonstrate the words in a manner that coaxes and demonstrates, but doesn't just deliver and give, the meaning. With the above words, I initially use a chair and have a student come sit on the chair. I ask the class where that student is and they usually reply, "On the chair!" I maneuver the student around the chair and try to get everyone to use prepositions in regards to the chair/student combo. Progressively, I use less and less wording in my questions until they are just saying locations without being prompted.
   
   
3. I give my students a paper with various objects and lines on it (for example, Stage / __; ___ / Podium / Window...etc.). They do a hunt around and outside of the classroom to determine where these objects (labeled, as not all are known) are in relation to other objects. They are actively engaged, using English, discovering new objects and reinforcing their understanding of the words.
   
   
4. Bring students back and discuss their findings.
   
   
5. Introduce the dialog that uses the aforementioned prepositions. They now have more confidence in the text's information.
   
   This is just one example lesson, though the main point is always to actively engage students. A lot of teachers end up just talking at students, which often leaves everyone confused. You may or may not have done this, but it's something to keep in mind.
   
   Unfortunately, there is no surefire way to eliminate boredom from language acquisition, but active engagement is a method that can be used for its reduction.
   
   How do you make yourself appealing to the students?
   
   I am just myself. I bring my humanity into the classroom and don't divide the class into teacher/student. Instead, I view the whole as a community. My students know about and inquire as to my hobbies, and I show genuine interest in their lives. You may be surprised at how effective this can be.
   
   How long does it take you to feel stable and confident with the job?
   
   I feel it is difficult to feel stable in a cram school. That's the nature of that beast: parents and admins will always be on you about something. To actually answer you question, though, it depends on the person. I know people who have been here for decades that still don't feel stable in their schools. There are teachers I met only last year that have exceeded expectations and become such fixtures in their schools that it is like they've always been there and will remain necessary.
   
   What do you wish you knew when you first started?
   
   Sarcasm doesn't translate well. That's about it.

Caveat: I haven't been in about 3 years.

DO:

• Bring quick-dry everything. It will be pretty grossly hot, and if you're not used to crazy humidity, you will be sweating almost constantly.
  
  
• Get used to not being 100% dry. Ever.
  
  
• Bring bug repellent. I got absolutely DESTROYED by bugs when hiking. My white friend got bit maybe twice.
  
  
• Eat all the delicious Taiwanese food you can, you lucky bastard.
  
  
• Bring durable shoes. You'll probably be walking a lot.
  
  
• Have an umbrella! Fucking monsoons, man.
  
  
• Rely on 7-11s. They have everything. They're the fucking shit.
  
  
• Talk to the locals. I believe that Taiwanese people are the nicest Asians I have ever encountered. I don't think I met a single person who was not willing to stop what they were doing and direct me to wherever I was trying to get. One lady even insisted on driving me and my friend 15 minutes out of her way to one of our destinations. Crazy nice!
  
  
• Consider bringing a white friend. You get a lot of bonus points with a white person. It's weird.
  
  DO NOT:
  
  
• Wear cotton
  
  
• Have your hair too long. It's so hot and sweaty, god.
  
  
• Spend too much on food/drink in any one place. Food in Taiwan is wonderfully cheap (depending on what you get).
  
  
• Rely on street names to get around. It's as if all the roads in Taiwan are nameless. Seriously.
  
  
• Stay in Taipei for more than ~5 days total. There's so much to go see!
  
  
  Are you going down-and-dirty backpacking-style, or would you rather travel and stay in higher-end places?
  
  When I went, a friend and I took a clockwise tour around the island mainly using the High Speed Rail and stopped at cities or sites. One pretty memorable detour was our hike through ~10km of the Caoling Historic Trail and slept in a monastery at the end.
  
  If you've never been, you should probably make sure you hit:
  
  Taroko Gorge
  
  Alishan
  
  Kenting
  
  These are all great sights to see with a lot of hiking and other recreation about.
  
  Make sure you hit the night markets. This is a must. You should also go and eat at Din Tai Fung in Taipei (make reservations), and try a Mos Burger (you'll see them in big cities--fucking delicious).
  
  There is SO MUCH to do in Taiwan, and it's all incredibly traveller friendly. To my memory, there is a small information hut at the mouth of every train station with English-speaking guides who will tell you all about the area, including sites, activities, good lodgings, etc.
  
  You shouldn't have to worry too much about money in Taiwan, as (3 years ago) I could spend less than $1500 for a full month of sight-seeing and tourist-ing.
  
  I could probably go on and on and on about Taiwan as I remember things more clearly, but what I truly suggest is for you to go get the Lonely Planet: Taiwan guide book. I personally used the 2007 edition, which worked very well. There's a 2011 edition, but that has mediocre reviews.
  
  This reply is a bit all over to place, so I apologize for that; however, if you have any other direct questions, I'd be totally happy to answer. If you need specific travelling advice, I could probably do that, too!

A good teacher is going to be the best- someone who is qualified to teach CSL.

that said here is one of the books I used to use which taught "by radical" which was great way to learn two things at once: individual characters and the radical system:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0804832064/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_2?ie=UTF8&dpID=512ZVoNoV2L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL100_SR100%2C100_&refRID=E1HW5HQMSF0KJNN82GCY

Also, Anything by Far East is usually great quality: https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Character-Dictionary-Traditional-Version/dp/9576125200

If you have any questions or requests for more suggestions let me know. I've learned about 5 different ways and from a few different teachers, my main teacher is a person with a Chinese degree from China...so I learned a lot about how to teach/learn mandarin from him

My favorite novels include the works of Guo Songfen (郭松棻), Chen Yingzhen (陳映真) and 袁哲生 (couldn't find his work in English though). I read the Chinese version of their works and am not sure what their works would look like to an English reader.

For Guo, I recommend his Running Mothers and Other Stories. He died several years ago.

Chen likes to write the average people's life and is pretty good at writing the beginning of a story (which always made me feel very musical). I guess the only problem I had with him is that he supports unification and moved to China several years ago. I heard that he was very sick for a while and not sure if he's still alive. He used to be in a turmoil in the 70s, because someone accused him of writing what is called "工農兵文學". At that time if you were keen to write something about farmers/workers, someone would assume you as a supporter of communism. He was one though.

I am not aware of any work of 袁哲生 (Yuan Zhe-Sheng) has English translation, but he was a talented writer before he committed suicide in 2004. He's a huge fan of Hemingway so you can probably outline his writing style. My favorite is 秀才的手錶.

Source? Common sense? How do you predict the outcome of military conflict? Have a look at Ivan Arreguin-Toft's book: http://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Weak-Win-Wars-International/dp/0521548691/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1374343020&sr=8-1&keywords=ivan+arreguin-toft, it is not like stronger always win, in fact they lose as much as they win

Where in the article do you see that U.S. policy is not to intervene? U.S. policy is to oppose any unilateral solution of the conflict...that pretty much includes China's use of force against Taiwan

I don't know of any movies or documentaries, but the book The First Chinese Democracy is a pretty good overview of Taiwan since Chiang and political movements/reforms up till about 2000.

I'm a fan of Cheng Ch'ing-wen (鄭清文), though some of his stuff can be a bit hard to read (be that a sin of translation or just how he writes I cannot say). A fairly well known collection of his short stories, Three-Legged Horse, can be found on Amazon. I'm a huge fan of the story called Betel Nut Town in the English translation. Though it's about a rich Taipei girl's trip to the South, it reminds me of my own experiences, and I suspect that it would speak to many a foreigner in Taiwan (it's also just a really beautiful story).

For those who are actually interested in doing some reading, I suggest this book. It's written by veteran foreign service officer Jay Taylor who also wrote many other excellent books. After doing careful research he was able to provide a objective account for a complicated man in a complicated time.

I would recommend reading this - http://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Gate-American-Suburbs-Taiwanese-ebook/dp/B00K5ASP1Q

Good book about an American who took Taiwanese citizenship and then had to serve two years in the mid 90s. It doesn't give strategies on avoiding service, but does give an insight into what it might be like (or what it WAS like back in the 2-year service days).

Oh no, some fifteenth-order effects might cost him ten cents! Obviously he will suck China's cock!

Dude, the Clintons have been taking in a fortune in donations from China. Go read the book "Clinton Cash" regarding the Clinton Foundation's hard work to make Bill and Hillary as rich as Hugo Chavez's daughter. Then go read the book "The Year of the Rat" about Bill's various sellouts to the Chinese military back when he was president.

Then come back and tell me with a straight face that Hillary will lift a single pubic hair to help Taiwan.

Helpful Amazon links:

http://www.amazon.com/Clinton-Cash-Foreign-Governments-Businesses/dp/0062369288

http://www.amazon.com/Year-Rat-Clinton-Compromised-Security/dp/0895263335

From the military dream standpoint, if you go to Taiwan and serve your mandatory duty you will likely never be allowed to then serve with the US military. Though these S&R opportunities exist in Taiwan and for some, are relatively accessible if you join the military voluntarily as opposed to just mandatory service. They are desperate for people actually (the opposite of the US military). However, I think you will find that many units are stunningly unprofessional. The TW military for the most part is a joke, and everyone here knows it. Though some Americans have done it. Here's one of their stories if you're interested. http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00K5ASP1Q/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=1R89GTH5RNLRU&coliid=I120M41ORXT35K

The slogan “Do the right thing” is also hitting the “Elect Any Functioning Adult” demographic 😂

That said, he seems like a sane politician.

You guys should read this book by Ian Easton

https://www.amazon.com/Chinese-Invasion-Threat-American-Strategy/dp/1546353259

War isn't going to happen in 2020. I'd be surprised if it would happen at all. The most interesting point he brings up in his book involves geography and the weather: there's about a six week window throughout the year where it's calm enough across the strait to launch an invasion of scale. That's not enough time to move 100,000+ troops.

That being said, Taiwan really needs to take its own defense seriously. Time to crack down on draft dodging.

https://www.amazon.com/China-Collectors-Americas-Century-Long-Treasures/dp/1511357754

There is a book written by TC Lin about his experience in Taiwan army. This happened way back in the day though so not sure ho relevant it is if you are looking for latest experiences. https://www.amazon.com/Barbarian-Gate-American-Suburbs-Taiwanese-ebook/dp/B00K5ASP1Q

I don’t get why are you are vulgar and agitated. This book was published by the Yale University and the writer is a renowned Taiwanese-Chinese scientist. Maybe you never heard snot him. Not my fault. The book I recommend has an entire chapter from his previous book: Kwang-chih Chang Fengpitou, Tapenkeng, and the Prehistory of Taiwan (Yale University Publications in Anthropology)

https://www.amazon.com/Fengpitou-Prehistory-University-Publications-Anthropology/dp/0913516066/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?keywords=Kwang-Chih+Chang&qid=1562406648&s=books&sr=1-1

Instead only reading only the title of the book and immediately vomit up your opinion in disgusting way try to understand what you see. I hope you will apologize.

A very readable history of Taiwan: "Forbidden Nation: A History of Taiwan" / Jonathan Manthorpe, 2005/2009.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0230614248/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_q02sybYSTAA10

If you're truly interested in learning about Taiwanese history, here's some good resources.

• History of Taiwan - Wikipedia: High level overview from prehistory to modern times
  
• Taiwan Under Japanese Colonial Rule: Focusing on the 50 years of Japanese rule
  
• Formosa Betrayed: Focusing on the 1940s transition from Japanese to KMT rule
  
• The First Chinese Democracy: Transition period from KMT autocratic rule to today's multiparty system.
  
  I'm not saying Japan had much more impact on today's Taiwan than the retreating KMT army, but merely pointing out that Taiwan has a rich multicultural history. Some of us have grandparents that only speak Japanese and Taiwanese, others have grandparents that see the Japanese as their sworn mortal enemy. In the past these two facets caused a giant chasm in our society, leading to mutual distrust and brutal oppression from KMT. This is the party that in its autocratic days killed tens of thousands of Taiwanese and sent an assassination crew to assassinate a Taiwanese American living in California for writing an unauthorized biography of then president Chiang Jing-kuo.
  
  I note that you mentioned your parents immigrated from Taiwan, my assumption then is that you did not grow up in Taiwan. I think if you did you'd be able to better understand why many of us see ourselves today as Taiwanese first, Chinese second. For better or wose, when people immigrate they tend to carry with them a snapshot of the society as it was when they left.