[butterhons]

Anyways, did you go through an agency to get a job?!

I didn't go through an agency, I just applied directly to the schools. I applied to a recruiting company too, but they were taking forever and only offering me schools in areas that I didn't want to live in. Even before I came, I knew I wanted to live in Bundang, but recruiters kept offering me schools in Suwon and Incheon~ so I took matters in to my own hands, and just applied directly to the schools I wanted.

[HappyKrman]

I have questions on those who are paying off student loans while working.
Do you think that you are earning enough money to survive and make tenable payments on your loans?
Also, any one of you who are teaching there weren't born in the States (or any other English speaking countries)?
I was born in Korea so living in Korea wouldn't be a problem as far as the language issue goes...but would that affect the probability of getting hired as an English teacher? I've heard somewhere that if you were born in Korea, it would be harder to find a job even if if you spent years in the States...o_o

Actually if you speak both fluent Korean and English, that's even more of a plus.
I know some 학원 and schools prefer Caucasian-Americans/Canadians only, but in many private tutorings, many prefer to hire gyopos instead.
Gyopos who can speak both native Kor-English get paid much more than average English teachers.
So if you can speak both, then you won't have trouble finding a job...and if you have a good connection, making good money in short period of time won't be a problem at all.

[ginger]

I'm currently teaching English in Korea, and it's not all fun and games I tell ya. I was recently verbally attacked at the local family mart. I made a video blog about it for my friends here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACpywl5g76o


But besides that, teaching in Korea is great!
And for those of you who are wondering about saving money, I'm almost done my one year contract, and I have already saved $10,000 AND I went on three trips this year to China, Thailand, and Japan (I make the standard entry level wage). I also have a shopping and fried chicken addiction, so if I can save that much, so can you.

I'm hoping to save 10,000 this year, too. Christmas hit me so hard, though, followed up by a 4 year anniversary with my boyfriend, his birthday, and now my family is coming to visit this month. You're working in Bundang? I almost took a job with YBM out there.

-ginger

[iDoof]

I wasn't sure where to post this, and I'm fairly sure I've seen some posting on this, but I couldn't find it.

I'm considering spending some time after college teaching English in Korea, but I don't know of any good programs. Has anyone here ever done it and would be willing to share their experiences? Also, what's a good program?

Thanks

[isabellavang]

okay! this subject got me going crazy and so forth!
i'm planning to apply to CDI or EPIK this June!
now, i have a BA degree in Liberal Studies from CSUF...no TEFL certificate! graduate in 2005!
but work P/T during my college years with youth for 2 plus years until i graduated,
NOW, i have work 3 years, F/T with Asian youth, ages range from 8-14 yrs, varying from 3rd to 8th graders!

Being a Asian woman, single, in my late 20's,
what are the chances that i would get hire? and is
it worth it to get a certificate?

any feedback would be great...thanks in advance!

[ginger]

To the last 2 posters:

there are thousands of sites about this on the web and there are probably loads of testimonials on this thread if you backtrack. I teach with SMOE (Seoul's public school system) and went through Korea Connections to get the job. YOU HAVE TO APPLY THROUGH ONE OF SMOE'S RECRUITERS TO GET THE SMOE JOBS. Some people I knew sent their apps directly to SMOE and then complained that SMOE never got back to them. It's because they specifically have stated they need you to go through Worknplay, Korea Connections, or Footprints to get the jobs.

-ginger

[uws]

for those of you who have taught or are actually teaching in korea right now, what's the average age of new instructors that come into korea every year? i'm one of them unfortunate one's who is graduating college pretty late (i'm 24 right now; 25 in october ); and am curious to find out. i know it's the foremost ideal priority for me to just find work right after school to get started on my career or what not, but I know it'll be a huge regret later down the road.....but the more big concern to that is, considering my age, even more so since i'm 26 in korean age ; is coming back to the states without any relevant work experience to find a job. anyways, enough of my stress....

but any input will be much appreciated regarding the whole age deal

[lilshinhwafreak]

i actually got lucky this past summer
someone at my dad's church owned an english hakwon and asked if i wanted to teach.
i'm only a sophomore right now but i guess through some connections and because i go to NYU, they allowed me to work.
my major was english (although now its dramatic lit)

i worked with grades 1-8 in an intensive summer program (was only 3-4 weeks).
the little kids were easy to teach. especially the younger ones. they were a lot nicer to me.
the 2-6 graders were a bit rowdier (i had a class full of little boys, maybe thats why)
but you can always play little games with them and have cookies and snacks as prizes at the end.
the junior highers were especially harder because they didnt really want to learn and they never did their hw.
towards the end, I learned to play around with them and we played scrabble alot. haha

What i did on the job was read books with them and then give them follow up questions and some grammar lessons.
i guess my job description was just letting the kids hear the english accent and be able to engage with me.

it didnt really work out because the kids found out i understood korean and started speaking korean to me...
but i hope they did learn something -___-;;;;

what i didnt like was the directors of the place asked me to clean up the classrooms and stuff..
i didnt appreciate that because when i came to the job, they said they'd treat me like a foreign teacher since I've lived in the US for all my life...but they really didn't because I was korean...

either way, i got 2000 dollars for reading to children for 3 weeks. so i guess it was worth it.

[ginger]

for those of you who have taught or are actually teaching in korea right now, what's the average age of new instructors that come into korea every year? i'm one of them unfortunate one's who is graduating college pretty late (i'm 24 right now; 25 in october ); and am curious to find out. i know it's the foremost ideal priority for me to just find work right after school to get started on my career or what not, but I know it'll be a huge regret later down the road.....but the more big concern to that is, considering my age, even more so since i'm 26 in korean age ; is coming back to the states without any relevant work experience to find a job. anyways, enough of my stress....

but any input will be much appreciated regarding the whole age deal

The average teaching age is definitely up there. Trust me, 25 is pretty young. I came here at 22 and I was the youngest person out of my group of English teacher friends. Most of my foreigner friends are around 25-27, but I have some friends here are in their early to mid-thirties. So yeah, 25 is still really young on the English teaching spectrum! Don't sweat it.

-ginger

[Yubumsuk]

i actually got lucky this past summer
someone at my dad's church owned an english hakwon and asked if i wanted to teach.
i'm only a sophomore right now but i guess through some connections and because i go to NYU, they allowed me to work.
my major was english (although now its dramatic lit)

i worked with grades 1-8 in an intensive summer program (was only 3-4 weeks).
the little kids were easy to teach. especially the younger ones. they were a lot nicer to me.
the 2-6 graders were a bit rowdier (i had a class full of little boys, maybe thats why)
but you can always play little games with them and have cookies and snacks as prizes at the end.
the junior highers were especially harder because they didnt really want to learn and they never did their hw.
towards the end, I learned to play around with them and we played scrabble alot. haha

What i did on the job was read books with them and then give them follow up questions and some grammar lessons.
i guess my job description was just letting the kids hear the english accent and be able to engage with me.

it didnt really work out because the kids found out i understood korean and started speaking korean to me...
but i hope they did learn something -___-;;;;

what i didnt like was the directors of the place asked me to clean up the classrooms and stuff..
i didnt appreciate that because when i came to the job, they said they'd treat me like a foreign teacher since I've lived in the US for all my life...but they really didn't because I was korean...

either way, i got 2000 dollars for reading to children for 3 weeks. so i guess it was worth it.

So church is a good place to go to find illegal employment?

To the last 2 posters:

there are thousands of sites about this on the web and there are probably loads of testimonials on this thread if you backtrack. I teach with SMOE (Seoul's public school system) and went through Korea Connections to get the job. YOU HAVE TO APPLY THROUGH ONE OF SMOE'S RECRUITERS TO GET THE SMOE JOBS. Some people I knew sent their apps directly to SMOE and then complained that SMOE never got back to them. It's because they specifically have stated they need you to go through Worknplay, Korea Connections, or Footprints to get the jobs.

-ginger

Just a note about SMOE - unlike most other government programmes, they generally do not give letters of release / visa cancellations to teachers who wish to quit their jobs before their contracts are up and move to another job. This means that if you are unhappy at your school, or even encounter a very serious problem (e.g. sexual harrassment, dishonest principal), you may be stuck either working for your school or unable to get another job in Korea until your contract's up.

[ginger]

So church is a good place to go to find illegal employment?




Just a note about SMOE - unlike most other government programmes, they generally do not give letters of release / visa cancellations to teachers who wish to quit their jobs before their contracts are up and move to another job. This means that if you are unhappy at your school, or even encounter a very serious problem (e.g. sexual harrassment, dishonest principal), you may be stuck either working for your school or unable to get another job in Korea until your contract's up.

Well, I think that many of the people interested in doing this are of Korean descent, thus they would get an F4 visa and the letter of release wouldn't be important.

-ginger

[Yubumsuk]

Well, I think that many of the people interested in doing this are of Korean descent, thus they would get an F4 visa and the letter of release wouldn't be important.

-ginger

A lot of gyopos who are only thinking of teaching in Korea for a year, or aren't sure how long they want to stay here, come over on an E2 visa. While they could get an F-visa if they really need to get out of a job and want a new one, the paperwork could still take a very long time, especially if they need to collect paperwork from boths sides of the ocean. The refusal to give teachers LORs is a very good reason to reconsider working for SMOE, despite the fact that it may be the only way someone applying from outside Korea can get a public school job in Seoul.

[hei0shi11]

geez... i suddenly missed my Korean students here in Manila...

anyone of you studied English here?

I love teaching them woohoo!!!

I am planning to go to daegu next year but im still not sure..

but i do hope to visit korea soon!!!

[lilshinhwafreak]

So church is a good place to go to find illegal employment?

very clever answer -__-

I just got lucky because they were desperate for a teacher and i happened to be available.

plus, I'm a Korean citizen, so i don't think it was illegal
technically it was REALLY a part time job for me with some special benefits attached since i knew how to speak english fluently in the "native tongue"

[uws]

The average teaching age is definitely up there. Trust me, 25 is pretty young. I came here at 22 and I was the youngest person out of my group of English teacher friends. Most of my foreigner friends are around 25-27, but I have some friends here are in their early to mid-thirties. So yeah, 25 is still really young on the English teaching spectrum! Don't sweat it.

-ginger

thanks for the input ginger

[Lebanese_Blonde]

ahhh a word of advice to anyone who is going to teach english to a relative..or friend's child or anyone you may have some sort of relation with....it's terrible! i'd rather teach at a school than do freelance just because in a school you are the authority and it's organized. when you're doing one:one with a child i feel like you start bonding with them and you tend to go soft on them...i used to tutor math in korea one:one and the students would just do anything to get out of learning...whereas at a school it's just a different vibe.
just my advice ^^;;

[Yubumsuk]

very clever answer -__-

I just got lucky because they were desperate for a teacher and i happened to be available.

plus, I'm a Korean citizen, so i don't think it was illegal
technically it was REALLY a part time job for me with some special benefits attached since i knew how to speak english fluently in the "native tongue"

So your employer registered you with the tax and pension offices and deducted accordingly?

[ginger]

A lot of gyopos who are only thinking of teaching in Korea for a year, or aren't sure how long they want to stay here, come over on an E2 visa. While they could get an F-visa if they really need to get out of a job and want a new one, the paperwork could still take a very long time, especially if they need to collect paperwork from boths sides of the ocean. The refusal to give teachers LORs is a very good reason to reconsider working for SMOE, despite the fact that it may be the only way someone applying from outside Korea can get a public school job in Seoul.

Eh, the paperwork is pretty easy. You just fill out a special paper and show them your birth certificate/family registry that proves you are of Korean descent. Done. It took my friends with E-2s more work since they had to get their transcripts, diploma, etc to the embassy.

-ginger

[FRUITYCHEESECAKE]

So your employer registered you with the tax and pension offices and deducted accordingly?

Yubumsuk,
i think the person wasn't intentionally trying to lure the idea of finding a teaching job in Korea "illegally." I think he/she just wanted to point out that somehow getting a job was easy since he/she knew someone who could offer such position. I don't think this should really get into great details...=/

Back to the "main" topic:

I was reading you guys's posts about different types of visas...I did some research on those cos I have no idea. I found this site and they were explaining those as followings:

An E2 visa is for teaching foreign languages.
An F2 visa is for people married to Korean nationals or their children if they were born outside of Korea and are joining family here - for Residence purposes. I thin you can also get one of these if you've lived in Korea for 7 years.
An F4 visa is for an overseas Korean - someone born outside of Korea of Korean parents. These people are commonly known as Gyopos.
A C4 visa is for short term employment (such as a summer camp)

The thing is, I thought the definition of gyopo(교포) also includes those who were born in Korea but now is a resident/citizen of a foreign country. I am slightly confused...cos then I couldn't get F4 visa. o_o Also, they mentioned F-2-1 visa. I think it involves with a marriage with a Korean??? Is E2 visa a "bad" visa like they said on the site? (they mentioned that it is like being a slave to schools...)

[xkrn4lyfx]

i'm thinking of going to korea to teach english during the summer, currently i do NOT have a degree, will they still hire me? or will i just not get paid a lot? (reason i wanna go is partly for the mass loads of money)