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Teaching English in South Korea
Teachers' advice > South Korea
teaching english in south korea
"South Korea is a challenging place to live and work because of the language
barrier. One year is a good enough period for you to learn and understand the
teaching style here. I don't recommend this country if you are into serious
teaching. S Korea is for those who just want to have fun and have no prior
teaching experience."
Anonymous, 18/04/06
"There will be a lot of things that might faze you when you first come to South
Korea. A year here will definitely toughen you up!
You should get to grips with the alphabet early because even though you might
not be able to speak or understand Korean, if you can read, it helps a lot. A
lot of the words are 'Konglish' which means English words phonetically
translated into Korean so if you can sound out a word you'll probably be able to
understand what it means.
The most important advice I can give is to check stuff out fully before you
commit to a job here. Aim for a school with a good rep, good holidays, a boss
who can speak English etc.
Research the school and you'll probably find something on the internet about
your area. Post any questions on forum websites. There are a lot of dodgy places
here that are just interested in making money so watch your back.
Get things in writing like promises to pay bonuses or flight money.
It also pays to get a job at a university if you can get one. The pay is maybe
not as good but it works out much better for holidays and overtime rate. And you
don't have to do crappy extra things like market days and speech contests.
Good luck!"
Anonymous, 04/03/07
"Bring your game face and be prepared to smoke at least 2 packs of second hand
smoke a day and reduce the strength of the liver due to copious amounts of brews
and soju from the wiles of Itaewon."
Angler, 04/03/06
"If you are coming to South Korea, make sure you will be living somewhere along
the Seoul subway line. I'm stuck out in the middle of nowhere and bored
senseless most of the time! Also try to get a job in a public school or a
university. A lot of Hogwon's are really dodgy. After 6 months my boss has only
just started paying my pension, I still don't have medical insurance and I
frequently have to remind him to actually pay me!"
Kille-chick, 17/01/07
"Everyone's experience is different. My best advice is to ask plenty of
questions. Find out about everything. Many of our teachers have found themselves
in sub-standard housing (bugs, mold, no heat, no hot water, etc.) Don't be
afraid to find out what your whole situation will be like before you go. It is
important that you have a good living situation.
Be careful, as my recruiter told me not to ask questions as it was considered
rude. Don't follow this advice. Even a co-worker here who has been here for over
nine years says plainly: Ask questions!! If you don't, you open yourself to a
lot of problems.
It's equally important to find out as much as you can about your work situation.
The school I work at has a manager who is only interested in making money for
the school. This includes giving low grades to students (even if it's not
deserved) in an effort to prevent students from leaving the academy. He also has
a definite bias against foreign teachers, feeling they don't work as hard or as
efficiently as our Korean counterparts. Our staff is about half and half.
Our manager also pushes quantity over quality. In other words, he doesn't care
as much about the students learning the material as he does about them getting
through the book.
I'm a former Peace Corps volunteer, I've had considerable experience living and
working abroad. My experience in Korea (from a work standpoint) was not very
satisfactory. I hope your experience will be better and that this bit of advice
will help you."
Sean, 20/01/07
"Living in Korea is hard especially if like me you are not in what I call a
"foreigner friendly" place. I live and work in rural South Korea up near the DMZ
and the people here are very warm and welcoming. However, the administration
doesn't know how to deal with the needs of a foreigner, especially with regards
to living conditions. The Korean culture and professional behaviour are very
different from what one experiences in many Western countries. My advice is to
not judge them on your own value system. This I find greatly reduces the
frustration levels one feels. Also if possible try and find work in either a
public school or university, though the money may be less there is more job
stability. Doing your homework about your employer and being aware of the
possible pitfalls can greatly reduce your chance of running into problems in
Korea. Enjoy the opportunities this country can offer though. Good Luck."
Anonymous, 04/03/07
"Working in a public or government school is alright, but be careful accepting a
position with a private school, hagwon. There's a saying among hagwon owners in
S Korea, "If I could make more money selling kimchi..." English schools are big
business here. They don't all necessarily have the interests of the students, or
teachers, at heart. I would suggest getting references from previous teachers,
and have everything in writing. Contact the embassy as soon as you arrive."
Anonymous, 15/04/07
"Well, I have been teaching in Korea for about 4 years now. I have had good
moments and bad. I have taught at private schools and in companies. I suggest
teaching adults but I was lucky I guess, because some people say that they don't
like to teach adults so it's mostly up to you. Right now I am teaching in a
public school. I have a co-teacher but I do most of the teaching, the only
problem is most of the books at public schools are written in Korean which
brings up a problem with making lessons. If anyone knows some good ways to
handle large groups of students and some handy lessons that would be great."
Kenneth, 18/06/07
"I haven't been teaching long here in South Korea but my impression of the
country, the people and the schools so far is excellent. Both my husband and I
are teaching in public schools, which are not only well organised, but very
welcoming and helpful to new teachers as well. People have helped me out with so
many things so far and I have found the whole process of getting here and
settling in to be really smooth. I have heard that there are a lot of problems
with private langauge academy owners and poor conditions for teachers. In this
case I would thoroughly recommend getting a job in a public school."
Anonymous, 11/09/07
"I have been in Busan for 7 weeks after leaving a very boring and unsatisfying
job in London. I am working in a public elementary school and from what I've
heard from other people working in the academies I am extremely lucky. The
academies give less time off and my school is actually closed for normal lessons
for 12 weeks per year. With this in mind I will be doing a winter camp which I
will be paid extra on top of my normal salary. This is one of the perks of being
in a public school.
If you decide to come here be prepared for the initial culture shock but don't
be put off by it. The people are really friendly most of the time and very
willing to help in any way they can.
Money for teaching is low compared to England but the cost of living here is so
cheap. The beauty of working in Korea is that you can do all the things you want
to do and still have money left at the end of the month to save. Now is
definitely time to come here with the schools paying for your flights and
accommodation for a year, I don't think anywhere else in the world does that but
feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.
Overall I would say if you're not happy doing what you're doing now go for it!"
Anonymous, 25/10/07
"Korea is the best place to make money while teaching ESL. Unfortunately I see
so many people here squander all of their money on drinking and partying every
night of the week. You don't have to party to have a good time in Korea. You can
travel for very cheap, dine at good restaurants for prices a little better than
US prices.
Advice on picking a good school: Talk to one of the foreign teachers who already
teach at your school. Get a VERY GOOD account of all aspects of daily teaching
life that will be important to you, such as do you get paid on time, do you work
a split shift (pain in the @$$), is there anything to do outside of work, are
you close to public transportation, how is the residence?
My school provided me a very comfortable residence and it's very clean, my boss
cares about her employees and takes care of us all whenever something goes
wrong. In return, we have to be flexible with her. We stay late some nights,
maybe once a month I'm at work from 9 am to 6 pm, then a school function til
8:30 pm then mandatory staff dinner and beers together until 11 pm. You have to
be willing to scratch their back.
A lot of schools and employers take advantage of foreigners. A lot of residences
are terrible. But a lot of employers want to make this as easy as possible for
you because that means making it easy for themselves, too, so do your homework
and find a good school. Don't rely on blacklists, etc. Talk to someone who works
there. Talk to the person you are going to replace. If your potential school
won't provide you with that contact, move on. There are too many jobs available
here to put up with that kind of nonsense.
It's SO WORTH IT to teach here.
TW, 28/02/08
"Yes, the E2 visa is strict. You even have to take an HIV test, this is just
wrong, would they ask tourists to do this?"
Lei, 28/04/08
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Resources for South Korea
TEFL jobs in South Korea
TEFL courses in South Korea
Teaching in Asia Forum
Travel information for South Korea
English Language schools in South Korea
Learn Korean
Culture Shock! Korea: A Guide to Customs and
Etiquette
"I bought this book before I moved to Korea and it helped me a lot during the 12
month I spent there. The Korean culture is very different to any European and
without this book life in Seoul would have been much more difficult."
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