::A Geek in Korea::

I’ve been teaching in South Korea for nearly a decade now, and I’ve worked my way up the later from lowly kindergarten teacher to teaching freshman at a National University. I’ve been here long enough that I might have some useful advice for first timers, or at least I’d like to think I do.

In general:
If you like teaching children, don’t mind food or culture that is sometimes very different, can deal with institutional racism without recourse as a foreigner, and generally don’t have culture shock, you’ll do fine. That’s no small order, but if you can approach it as things being “Different” from time to time, it helps a lot. It’s not always bad, but everyone has a war story now and again.

Hagwon/Academies:

The private school system is FOR PROFIT first, teaching second. There are few holidays, but you’ll basically work 50-51 weeks a year, weekends off, no sick days in most cases. There are no substitutes. If you don’t teach, your school loses money and parents complain. You can work like crazy and make a lot of money for school loans or paying off debt. Cost of living in a city outside of Seoul is SUBSTANTIALLY cheaper than the States. If you live within your means you can pocket 50-80% of your salary easily. Even if you party a lot you’ll have cash to burn, which can get a lot of people in a lot of trouble.

Where to live:

Housing is either subsidized in richer areas, or paid for in places outside of Seoul. Rural countryside jobs are hard to tolerate because you’ll run into intolerance and racism far more often, and there can be shit else to do but drink to forget your problems. It’s better for people to start in the city. City jobs are better because you can meet more people and have more friends right away, but depending on the area can be competitive and stressful for both you and the students. It depends on the school, region, and type of program you are put into on your salary and apartment.

Where to look for work:

If you want to know competitive salaries look up some recruiters on Facebook. Dave’s ESL Korea job pages is also a good source of info, but for the love of god forgo their forums. That place is a den of hate for Korean burnouts.

There is very little actual recourse with teachers in abusive schools, so working with a recruiter to find a really good school can be important. They let you dictate terms and do a little leg work for you. Finding a good recruiter is also important, because some are on the take from schools. Recruiters get a headhunting fee paid to them if you don’t burn out after a month. They will tell you all sorts of shit to get you over here, but it might not match the actual case on the ground. Ask recruiters to contact other people they’ve placed in schools to see if they have a good reputation.

About the teaching:

Schools push students through book series and classes, sometimes regardless of actual ability. Standardized testing has created a system where students study for 18 years for a single college entrance examination. It’s ULTRA competitive and that is why people are willing to spend mad cash on English teaching. Responsibilities for first year teachers range from foreign speaking monkey to actual teaching of grammar, phonics, or reading skills. Students as young as 3-5 years old are in immersion classes with foreign teachers at some schools. I know. I used to teach them. That’s “normal” here. Deal with it.

How to approach the work:

Teaching is secondary to surviving Korea. If you can’t handle your culture shock, or can’t adjust to the food, you won’t be a good teacher because you’ll be too overwhelmed. If you are taking a long term approach, you won’t have a clue what is going on until you’ve got a little experience. It takes time to adjust. Good schools let people that can’t adjust burn out, then they hire the survivors when they finish their contracts. Don’t be one of those culture shock victims!

If you end up at a school with a positive learning environment and people that care about work, you’ll have a kick ass time. My first year in Korea was the time of my life. I had hard times, but it was rewarding and totally life changing. If you end up with some dead enders, you’ll have a rotten time and will take a negative opinion away from the country and the work.

What the fuck, I’m a teacher now? What the hell am I doing?

Even at the best school I ever worked at, I got no training what so ever. My second DAY in Korea I was tossed into a class, jet lag and all, with no training. They just point you at the door and say, “TEACH!”

Controlling a class in a second language is a daunting challenge. Looking for a school with a Korean co-teacher is what some people try their first year. I never had the luxury, but I’d look into it if you are going to be teaching kids, especially if you are with pre-kindergarten classes often. It’s pretty common at places that teach young children and hire first year teachers.

As long as you show up for work, try your best, and keep your temper around misbehaving students you’ll have a job. Also, don’t do anything that could be considered drugs other than alcohol, or be a pedo. Obviously. Korea is much more conservative than the United States, but by and large people still respect teachers. Korean students are great, as long as you keep in mind that in any given day they might study 10-15 hours as a middle school/high school student. Kids have been studying English all their life, and you are just one more reason they can’t go out to play Starcraft. Sometimes they accept that, sometimes they don’t.

Getting a better job:

Some places are awful to work at, some aren’t, like anywhere else. Stick out a full year’s contract so that you can get your feet wet and find a better place. Finishing your first contract might be Herculean, but it’s seen as a big plus when you go to renegotiate for a job in Korea. Any place that routinely or exclusively hires people with a BA straight from the States is looking to save money. It might mean they don’t actually care about the quality of their teaching in my experience.

If you find a place that is trying to actually teach students that pays on time every month, look into it in greater detail to see if you are interested in what they are doing, where they are located, and try to find a job there. Some schools can’t find anyone to hire and are desperate. You might get lucky. If you do a good days work, you can find a better job somewhere else eventually.

If you stick around for a year or two, you might get enough Korean under your belt to make your life a little easier. Then you’ll have a network of contacts and relationships that can help you find better work at a school that actually knows what they are doing. When you go looking for a better job, a director that sees you’ve stuck it out will be much more likely to take a chance and offer you a higher salary to boot.

Why do you need to stay at a crappy job sometimes?

Your visa as a first year teacher will be E-2. The E-2 visa is provided on the terms of your employment as a teacher. Your boss OWNS your house, owns your visa, and pays your salary. See how this could potentially be abused? The foreigner basically only has control of their own reputation as a teacher, and showing that they can do the work asked of them whenever they can. If you get screwed over, and you might, you can look for work before your visa expires, but it is a tiring prospect that is really difficult to do. The law and the money is on the school director’s side most of the time. People with E-2 visas aren’t going to get special protection from the law 9 times out of 10. Talking to a good recruiter to find you a school that has a good reputation will save you a lot of headaches.

Post any help you might have learned for people that are thinking about coming over to Korea for the first time.