So You Want To Teach English In Korea

As Experienced Me

email: xerexes@yahoo.com

Here is the scenario: You have just finished your degree (I have 3: a BSc. in Psychology, a BA in Archaeology and an MA in Physical Anthropology. Really. If you're really bored, you can check out my MA thesis on the blog posts). You have amassed an outrageous student loan debt (which is nearing the end of its deferment period). The economy sucks, and there are no decent jobs beyond the minimum wage level (if you can get one).

Hang on a minute, you spot an ad (online or in the newspapers) or hear from a friend of a friend, why don't you teach English in Korea? They pay your airfare, provide accommodations, and you will be able to save a little over $1000 a month! Not to mention the one month completion bonus you receive at the end of your one year contract.

What a dream opportunity. You get to travel to a foreign country and get paid at the same time. Just think of all those other cool countries you can visit while you are there: Japan, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Loas, Cambodia, etc.

The best part is that the only requirements are proof that you hold a Bachelor's degree (in any discipline) and that English is your first language!

Now, before you rush off and sign on with the first Korean agency you come across, I'd like to share my experience with teaching English in Korea. Remember, this is my point of view. There are many people who would violently disagree (please refer to Dave's ESL Cafe website under the Korean Job Discussion Board ) and others who can provide more insight (check out English School Watch ) but this is my tale, so take it or leave it.

I only wish that I had the information I know now before I accepted an ESL teaching position in Korea. If you choose not to read any further, just note this: Do not work for the Jung Chul English Language School in Seoul. The principal, Mr. Lee (I don't know his real Korean name) is an absolute idiot. He perfected the art of making my time in Seoul as hellish as possible and tried to get away with not paying my salary.

Okay, you have been mulling over the idea of teaching English in Korea. How hard could it possibly be? After all, since the idea popped into your consciousness, all you have heard are tales of people who have taught in Korea and, best of all, they have either returned home completely debt free or they have stayed on for years because they just loved the experience so much. If all of these other people have done it, certainly you can as well. After all, English is your first language and you have studied English in school...

These were my thoughts in October of 2001 as I sat staring at newspaper and online placement agency ads for jobs that I was either too qualified for (i.e. holding a Masters degree in Anthropology) or not qualified for (no surprise, holding a Masters degree in Anthropology). I had amassed a huge pile of "Thank you for your interest in our company" rejection letters and been sent on countless dead end placement interviews. Best of all, I was forced to live with my parents to save money since I had reached the end of my Masters fellowship and my student loan repayments were set to begin in November.

So feeling depressed, worthless and overwhelmingly in debt (I owed close to $40,000 in student loans for the last 4 years of my higher education), I sent off an electronic application to a Korean ESL advertisement on HotJobs.

To my surprise and deep seeded suspicion, I received an email response that very day from a placement agency in Vancouver. The email was just as vague as the job posting. It stated that airfare to Korea would be paid for, the salary would be $2,000-$2,400 Canadian per month, and a furnished apartment would be provided (with the school paying the monthly rent). All this for teaching children between 5 and 16 years of age.

Now I don't like children. Never have, and I seriously doubt that I ever will. This is not something that I say to be 'cool' (and no one takes you seriously anyway, especially when you are under 30 - which I no longer am, so people simply consider me a cold hearted freak). I really have no affinity with kids. You know how some people are just amazing with kids? They know how to keep kids interested and engaged, and kids love them? That is not me. I am the person who glares or rolls their eyes at the sight of children in public places (i.e. parks, restaurants, movie theatres, on the sidewalk etc.).

I also have absolutely no experience teaching small children (well duh, I hate kids, remember?). I have been a teaching assistant (for a third year physical anthropology course) and I've trained people when the work situation required, but teaching (and dealing with) small kids was, well, foreign to me.

Living in a foreign country didn't phase me at all. I have travelled through 30 or so countries on my own, for various lengths of time. So, while Korea had not been on my list of must see places on the planet, I was willing to take advantage of the opportunity to experience something new.

On a personal note, I found Korea to be extremely uninteresting both physically and culturally. There are millions of amazing things to see and experience on this planet but South Korea isn't one of them. The only other country that I have found to be as dull is Singapore.

The Unblemished Truth

I emailed an edited but honest version of these facts to the placement agency. I was hoping to teach in a university or tutor business people, so I was simply expecting the placement agency to refer me to another agency.

A couple of days pass by with no email response from the Vancouver placement agency. This was an early warning sign but I was deep into feeling worthless and unemployable, so I didn't pick up on it at the time.

To my surprise, I receieved a phone call from the rep, Michael. He was cheery and upbeat, just like a camp director or annoying pitchman should be. He expertly brushed aside all of my concerns, directing the focus of the conversation as to when I would be willing to leave for Korea.

Due to my efforts to be polite, and desperate for a job, I managed to allow myself to be convinced that, what the hell, teaching English to kids wouldn't be that horrible. I quickly found out how wrong that line of thinking was...

I made a concerted effort to ask all of the 'right' questions, but ultimately, you are screwed once you arrive in Korea. So here are some questions with REAL answers:

Can I teach only older students?

There is no bloody way that you will get out of teaching little kids. There is the mythical 'university position' with its 2 or 3 months of paid vacation, and less teaching time. However, unless you have your TEFL certificate or Masters in Education, better yet a PhD and a well thought out yearly lesson plan with an area of research in mind, there is no way in hell you are going to get one of these jobs. Especially when there are more than enough qualified foreign teachers in Korea.

You will be contracted to work at one of the hundreds of franchaise hawgwons (private schools) which 'specialize' in teaching English. These are run as kindergartens during the morning, and extra lesson courses in the afternoon/evening for elementary through high school students. That's right, extra lessons. These kids learn English in public school, take extra lessons and most of them also have private English tutors come to their homes (an illegal money making scam for foreign teachers). Can these kids read English? Yes. Can you understand their pronouncation? Sometimes. Can they write in English? Yes, albeit badly. Can any of them string a sentence together? For the majority of the students the answer to that is a resounding NO FUCKING WAY!

What does 'Teaching English' actually entail?

This is the question I really should have asked to begin with.

Teaching English is not as simple as the ads would have you believe. Just because you speak a language does not mean that you have the ability to share that knowledge with others. This is the biggest flaw with the whole ESL in Korea system.

The Korean government is trying to encourage its citizens to learn to communicate in English to allow the country to enter and interact with the global economy.

You are hired to teach children. Remember what it way like to be in school? Most of the time you simply didn't want to be there. Well, these kids are being forced by both their parents and ultimately, their government to learn a foreign language.

Most of the time they are bored, full of energy and have no interest in class participation. This means that you have to be thinking on your feet all of the time (literally, since you will be scolded for sitting down during class time - even if you are sitting at the same table as your students).

The first objective is to establish discipline in your classes. This is extremely frustrating since the kids will take advantage of you if you are too nice. As foreigners, we tend to be too informal with the students and we balk at the Korean standard of physical discipline.

The principal of my school continually complained that I wasn't 'active' enough with the students. By this he meant that I didn't sing songs and continually entertain the students. He couldn't care less that I was teaching new vocabulary, grammar, spelling, pronounciation and conceptual ideas.

The Korean way of teaching English is through memorization. The Korean teachers were provided with an exhaustive repretoire of FIVE workbooks for each language level. The kids would listen to and watch a CD-Rom of a particular lesson and spend 30 minutes repeating the dialogue and writing the same sentence over and over (usually 10 times).

This is a really lame way to learn a language since the kids never learn language rules, and are thereby unable to incorporate new concepts. For example, one day I asked a class of 11 year olds to name their favorite season. To my surprise, the entire class replied, "Winter". When I tried to get them to elaborate, they all replied, "I like snow'.

At the time I was amazed that they employed "I" since they typically say "Me", and I could understand the answer. However, I later learned that they were simply parroting a CD-Rom lesson.

The classes that I hated teaching the most were the so-called 'conversation classes' with the high school students. I had no teaching materials, no text book and completely uninterested students.

What pissed me off the most was the fact that 99% of the kids wouldn't interact at all unless we were playing a game. The nightmare of that is the fact that trying to teach them a new game (they don't understand a word you are saying) will take several days, if you are that persistant. The games that they will know are Hangman and Simon Says.

You try to do that for months at a time and not lose your mind.

Will there be a Korean teacher in the room with me to act as an interpreter?

You will be assured that yes, there will be an interpreter in the room (for a while anyway). In reality, you will probably have someone assist you for the first week or so and then you're on your own kiddo. In fact, it is better not to have a native Korean speaker in the classroom with you, since all of the children will naturally speak Korean and you are left standing there like a fool, ranting 'Speak English during English time'.

No joke, when you start your job as an ESL teacher in Korea, your one directive will be to ensure that no Korean is spoken. This rule is pretty much moronic, since it only applies to you, the foreign teacher. Every other teacher, being Korean, is allowed to speak to the kids in Korean. As a matter of fact, if I wasn't aware that I supposedly taught at an English Language Kindergarten, I would believe that I was the only person speaking English to the students.

That's the other thing. Once you have foolishly accepted this hellish job of teaching English, you suddenly become personally responsible for the financial success of the school. They actually don't care if you can teach English, they just want you to pose for pictures with the kids at the designated monthly 'field trips'.

It is a status symbol to employ a foreigner (that is, a non-Korean) to teach English. You are there to attract business (students) to the school. You are paid twice the salary of a Korean kindergarten teacher simply because you are a 'native speaker of English'. It's like getting someone from Paris tutor your kids in French.

Will I get some training before I have to start teaching English?

Excuse me while I pick myself off of the floor, where I was doubled up with laughter. I have been told that some schools do provide a few days of training, where you shadow another teacher and are given time to familiarize yourself with the school.

I was assured by Michael, the Vancouver placement rep, that I would get at LEAST a few days of training before I actually started teaching English. Huh. I arrived in Korea the evening of March 10, 2002, a Sunday. After being escorted to my new studio apartment in Seoul (more later), and meeting the principal and his wife (the vice principal), I was told that I was expected to start work the following morning at 10 am.

You have to understand that I had flown from Toronto to Vancouver, and then from Vancouver to Seoul (roughly 19 hours of flying time). It was now 10 pm. I was jet lagged, still had to unpack and didn't have a clue as to where I was. The Korean rep had to convince the principal that I needed to be picked up and driven to the school the next day (I was told that this was a big favour).

Actually, due to my work schedule, and lack of detailed English street maps of Seoul, I did not alter my route to and from work for almost a month due to the fear of getting lost. Actually, getting lost in Seoul is a given, even with all of the English signage.

The next morning I arrived at the school and was introduced to a Korean-American teacher, Marie. She became both my interpreter and life support for a few weeks (she quit and went to work for a better school). I was then told that I had to 'teach English'.

Really, those were the only instructions. I had been assured that I would get training and at least a day to recover from jet lag. All fucking lies. Luckily, Marie managed to convince the principal that I should shadow her for the morning lessons, which I did, but I was on my own for the duration.

I had to work from 10 am to 7 pm that first day. I had no idea what to do. There were no books to follow. The children didn't understand a word I said, and when they attempted to speak English, I didn't have a clue as to what they were saying. I wanted to run screaming out of there after the end of the first class.

Will there be teaching resources for me to use?

I was extremely pissed off to find out that not only did I have to make all of my own classroom teaching aids, but I had to beg for supplies as well. As a matter of fact, I had been teaching for a month before I was even SHOWN where the supplies were.

Most of the time I was told to draw picture examples on the board. While this is great for introducing new vocabulary, you cannot teach conceptual usage through pictures.

The most annoying thing is that the Korean teachers will not share their teaching aids. Even though we were all teaching the same lesson plan. Oh yeah, that's the other thing. The kids rarely learn anything new. I had to teach the 'parts of the body' lesson to kids aged 4 through 12. The sad part is that although the older kids have had the same lessons for years, they still couldn't name or spell the parts of the body.

What are the hours like?

There is no straight answer to that one. All of the schools are different. The one thing to remember is that this is a job and not a vacation. The most important point is that as an ESL teacher you will be expected to teach back to back classes with little to no breaktime in between. For example, Wednesday was my particular hell day. After lunch, which consisted of supervising a kindergarten class for an hour, I had one hour of free time before teaching my afternoon classes (2:30-8pm).

There were four kindergarten classes in the morning, each 40 minutes long, with no breaks in between. I used my one hour break to prep for the afternoon classes. This mainly consisted of photocopying for 60-70 students. Each afternoon class was 30 minutes long, the exception being the hour long conversation class (7-8pm).

I was working the following hours: Monday 9:50 am - 7 pm, Tuesday and Thursday 9:50 am - 1:30 pm (but I always ended up staying until 3:30pm or so preparing material for the next weeks' class), Wednesday 9:50 am - 8 pm and Friday 9:50 am - 7:30 pm. I met other teachers who had to work Saturdays or only worked from 2:30 pm - 7:30 pm during the week.

Most ESL teachers use their downtime to work as private tutors. This is all very cloak and dagger, since you will be deported if you are caught. You can't advertise your services, so it is a referral type occupation or sometimes mothers will hang around outside of the school and secretly offer you a job. I didn't do any tutoring, as I hated teaching in general. However, the money is great. I knew one Canadian teacher who pocketed an extra $3,500 Canadian a month from tutoring.

Will there be any other English speakers at the school?

I was the only 'native' speaker at my school. Some of the larger hawgwons have several 'native' speakers on staff. The other Korean teachers will more than likely speak a little bit of English (which you will be eternally grateful for soon enough) but don't count on the owner/principal being able to speak English.

I was told that the principal of my school could speak a little English. If you count 'Good morning' and 'Thank you' as being fluent, then I am just as fluent in Korean. Let's put this another way. The person to whom you are dependent upon to have all of your legal documents in order, whom you are contracted to work for (in English, mind you), does not understand a word that you say.

This means that you are completely dependent upon yet another person to act as your interpreter. Due to cultural differences, nothing that you really want to say is ever translated. Believe me, after 5 months of run ins with the principal, I began to understand the phrase, "This is Korea, and Sharon should act more like a Korean teacher". My (untranslated, I'm sure) response being,"If you wanted a Korean teacher, why did you hire a foreigner to teach English?".

Where will I be living?

I completely lucked out here. I had a small studio apartment in a brand new building. It was furnished with a single bed (haven't slept in one of those since I was 6 years old), a bar sized fridge, air conditioning (for which I was extremely greatful during the heat of the summer), a counter-top gas stove (no oven), a tiny tv, a table with one chair, and two storage units for my clothes. The bathroom was big enough (no tub, less to clean) and there was a washing machine (no dryer).

I was provided with one 'dinner' plate, one small plate, a cup, a fork, spoon, butter knife, and two small frying pans. There were dish towels (3), rubber gloves and cleaning sponges (3). I was also provided with two sets of slippers (Koreans always remove their shoes upon entering a home): one for the apartment and one for the bathroom. I had to purchase cleaning supplies (broom, mop, detergent, cleaners, dishwashing soap, etc.) and a drying rack for my clothes.

I met other foreign teachers who not only had hellish apartments but, to their complete surprise, had roommates. One Canadian teacher (she actually had a teaching certificate and had taught at kindergarten and elementary schools in Vancouver for 5 years) was shocked to find out that not only was she to live in a dingy, tiny, old apartment, but she had to share the one bedroom space with a male roommate. The one and only closet was jammed packed with the belongings left behind by other foreign teachers. I knew of three foreign teachers (2 New Zealanders and a Canadian) who were forced to share a one bedroom apartment. Luckily, they all got along.

The biggest benefit to having a roommate is that you have someone to talk to and hang around with while you get your bearings in Korea. I was on my own in my little area of Seoul for 3 weeks before I met any other foreign teachers.

The contract you sign is usually detailed but there is really no way for you to enforce it. The situation is hit and miss and once you are there, you are at the mercy of your non-English speaking principal to sort out your problems.

One other item that falls into a grey area is whether or not 'key' money (rental deposit) will be deducted from your salary. None was taken from mine, but some teachers had to pay $100 a month for the first 4 months.

How do I get paid?

You will be paid in cash. Yup, hard cash no paychecks, no receipts. The highest denomination in Korean currancy is 10,000 won. Your salary will range from 1.8 million to 2.0 million won - which turns out to be quite the wad of bills.

On the bright side, you get to be a multi-millionaire for once in your life.

As to when you get paid, that is completely dependent upon your principal. I was paid on the 11th of every month (since I started on the 11th), except when the 11th fell on a weekend or holiday, then I wouldn't get paid until the next working school day.

No matter where you work, at some point in time your school will try to get away with not paying you. The story will run along the lines of 'tough economic conditions' or some such bullshit. They are fucking with you. Don't put up with it. Refuse to work. Complain to the rep that hired you.

The sad thing is that you are on your own. No one cares. Fight back, gloves off, and give'em hell. Don't worry about being polite at this point, it's game over.

How will I pay taxes?

In 2001-2, the tax rate was 7% of your gross monthly pay ($200-250 Canadian) for Korean income taxes. However, you will still have to pay taxes in your home country as well, so contact your local taxation office before you leave.

What is the cost of living, and how do I pay for things like the phone bills?

The most important thing to know is that no matter what your good intentions of simply taking this job for all of the money you will be making (since you aren't paying rent) is the fact that the longer you stay, the more money you will spend out of shear boredom. That said, you should be able to send home at least C$1,000.00 a month, if you aren't drowning your sorrows in alcohol (in a bar, beer averages C$6.00 a bottle and hard liquor - sold by the bottle - will set you back C$120 or C$10 a drink).

The cost of living is equal to that of most Western countries. In other words, it isn't cheap. Food is extremely expensive (i.e. a half loaf of bread costs C$2.00, take out coffee starts at C$5.00). In the end it is cheaper to eat out than to attempt to buy food from the market and cook it yourself.

That said, as a Westerner, you will end up eating at one of the ubiquitous American chain restaurants (McDonald's, Burger King, Popeye's, etc.) since most of the Korean establishments won't have English menus. I did attempt to eat at restaurants where there were colourful pictures of the dishes to point to but I subsisted on fastfood for 5 months.

On the plus side, cigarettes are cheap which is a good thing if you are a smoker (which I am). The downside is that you will smoke alot due to stress, which really negates any savings.

With regards to paying your utility bills, the easiest option is to have your school deduct your payments from your salary. If you are really brave/patient/sadomasocistic, you can pay them at the bank.

Will someone meet me at the airport?

You will be met by the local Korean rep at the airport. If you are working in Seoul, you will be taken by bus/taxi immediately to the school where you will be working to meet the principal/owner. Then you will be taken to your new home. Then you will be taken out for a welcome to Korea meal (I passed on the offer due to jetlag).

If you are not working in Seoul, you will be taken to a bus station, loaded on board and sent off to fend for yourself. Good luck, brave soul.

How do I open a bank account?

Since you will be paid in cash, not by cheque, you really don't need to open a bank account. As a matter of fact, unless you have someone who will act as your interpreter while you go through the paperwork, don't bother.

How do I send money back to Canada / home?

You have 2 options: wire transfers or purchasing travellers cheques.

Any of the major Korean banks can do a wire transfer (there will be signs in English outside of the bank). You will need your bank's street address and your account number. Wire transfers usually take 2 business days to complete and cost roughly C$20.

Alternatively, you could purchase travellers cheques, sign them and mail them home (minimum 10 days) to be deposited (by a trusted friend or family member). This will cost you roughly 1% of the total dollar amount of your purchase ($20 for $2,000). The downside to this is that once you sign your travellers cheques it is the equivalent of mailing money - if it gets lost, there is no way to get it back. I doubt that AMEX will be sympathetic to your plight.

I chose the wire transfer option, simply because the money was deposited into my bank account 2 days later (which I could verify using online banking).

How much vacation time do you get?

Although your contract states that you get vacation time, you are at the mercy of your principal. You will get the government approved holidays (clearly marked in red on Korean calendars) but don't count on any extra time off.

Since I was the only 'native' teacher at my school, I wasn't allowed any time off at all. The one time I tried to call in sick, the principal hung up on me so I was forced to work. With regards to holidays, while all the foreign teachers at the larger hawgawns had 10 days off at the end of July/beginning of August, I received the one day government holiday (which, according to my principal counted as 3 days off since it fell on a Friday).