Korea ESL

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niagara_ridder

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I am looking at teaching english in korea for a year and finding it problomatic finding a school with a good reputation. Was wondering whether anyone on the form has had any experience with the schools over there. Good and bad information is welcome.

Thanks
 
I have a friend that's in Korea doing this right now.
The question is, do you have any educational background?
Are you ready to commit to a year of this?
Lastly, do you have any money saved or committed to this?
 
I used to work in the collections department for the bank and a lot of overseas teachers ended up in collections. The cost of living is high in certain parts of asian and they weren't making as much money as they thought they would have. Most fell behind in their bills.
 
Cost of living in Korea is sky high. If you are doing for the money, nay.
Koreans are among the slowest in the world in learning English, so you might be stressed no matter what school you end up in.
Politics in the workplace is absolute BS in most Korean workplaces including schools.

But if you are going there for the that (we all know what it is, but not saying it's yours) reason, sure.

I am a Korean born and lived there and had 2 friends who did the ESL thing. Been offered myself a few times.
 
Had two female friends who were teaching in Korea (Seoul) for two years. They had a blast and their living expenses (rent) was taken care of so they were able to save quite a bit. They got to travel all over Asia etc.. IIRC you do need to have a University degree to be eligible to teach.

They're only complaint was that the Korean men treat woman(specially white foreigners) like absolute ****. They'd get harassed randomly and one of them was actually punched in the gut by some random dude. But other than that they enjoyed it. If you want I can get the name of the school they were teaching at.
 
my mom taught in China for 2 years....she saved up CRAZY money...she taught at regular school for ex-pats, and took my brother with her....so she wasnt teaching to Chinese per se (its rediculously expensive to go to that school, so it was all european and korean students). Anywho, in Tienjin (not sure of spelling) to take a cab is 7 Yuan for first 5 or 6 km...7 Yuan is just over a dollar...so u do the math...food was cheap, her 2 bedroom condo with heated floors, really nice place was about 25% of her monthly salary. I'm not too sure on the specifics, but she was paying for all the house bills here, and all the bills there and still managed to save about 25G's.

But again, this is China, not Korea...
 
Thanks everyone for the imput.

No I am not doing this for the money. Means leaving my current job where I am far more successful.
I do have a B.A. so education thing isn't a worry.
REason for doing it. Way to live outside the country for a bit. Change things up.
What I'm seeing post on this board is kind of consistant to what I am seeing on the internet. Some people who love it and some people who hate it.

Names of schools is what I am looking for.

thanks
Allan
 
niagara_ridder said:
Thanks everyone for the imput.

No I am not doing this for the money. Means leaving my current job where I am far more successful.
I do have a B.A. so education thing isn't a worry.
REason for doing it. Way to live outside the country for a bit. Change things up.
What I'm seeing post on this board is kind of consistant to what I am seeing on the internet. Some people who love it and some people who hate it.

Names of schools is what I am looking for.

thanks
Allan
Click to expand...

I taught abroad for 2 years and loved it.

I didn't go over to save money but rather for the international experience and the chance to travel. In that time I enjoyed myself immensely and traveled quite a bit. It wasn't the best financial move, but the life experience has been far more valuable.

Go. You'll love it!
 
You check this link out for an interesting take on living abroad and teaching English in Korea. there are also useful links on the site that should help you out.

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/

They are a Toronto couple that have been teaching there for some time.

I think you can probably find a reputable firm to provide you with a job placement. I think it would be an excellent life experience. Financially, I think you could still save some money if you wanted to but given that that does not seem like your number 1 priority I would probably just use the money earned to travel. You only live once so you gotta make it count.
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