November 23rd, 2009
I would like to teach in Korea. It sounds like an interesting experience. However, I have heard some good things about it and some bad things. I’m Southeast Asian so I’m wondering how do they feel about people like me? I’ve heard that its a lot of fun to experience Korea but there must be some negative things that go along with it.
What are some of the good and bad things about teaching ESL and living in Korea? And what are some of the bad things?
Image taken on 2009-11-02 19:39:33 by dkuropatwa. Image Source. (Used with permission)
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- Is it difficult to get a job teaching ESL in Korea?
- Is ESL still in demand in Korea? And is it easy to get a job there?
- Is this good enough to teach ESL in Korea?
- Is it illegal for an ESL teacher to teach private lessons in Korea?
- If you are an ESL teacher in South Korea how much do you charge for private lessons?
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5 Comments
The good things:
- Unlike China (PRC, not ROC), employers don’t screw around as much with your visa/pay/conditions/etc. They might still do it, but it’s still a way more honest environment than working in China where everyone is trying to scam you.
- The food is great. I’m in Taiwan and the food is so bland. I love really spicy food. Korea had it.
- Internet everywhere — it’s a standard feature of many residential buildings to have high-speed broadband without having to pay extra.
- Dongmyo Ap Market is the cheapest place to buy clothes I’ve ever seen on earth, forget Dongdaemun.
Now for the bad things:
- Korea has the longest working hours in the OECD by a margin of about 500 hours per year. Not kidding. And that’s including housewives that stay home all day, so you can basically assume that any serious career-track working person is doing about 60 hours a week. And this translates to every aspect of life. People are always in a hurry and push other people around and act extremely rude sometimes. People blow off stress by getting extremely drunk seven days a week, which translates to angry burnt-out people walking the street starting fights. If you’re working at a hagwon, expect to put in longer hours than any other entry-level teaching job in Asia. Sure your pay might be all right, but you’ll be working for it — longer hours than China, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, etc.
- Korea has a SERIOUS racism and xenophobia problem that is much worse than any other country I’ve ever seen. Sure, the majority of Koreans don’t hate foreigners, but even if a small number hate foreigners, it can make your life a living hell. I’ve been assaulted in Seoul twice by people on the street. My foreign female friend was raped and I know two other foreign women who were almost raped (seized by a man and public who tried to drag them somewhere). In other countries like America, people might call you names or curse at you, but in Korea, they’ll just deck you. And no one around you is going to sympathize with you or try to help unless you’re dying in a ditch. You’re a dirty foreigner who deserves it. The visa process is also HIGHLY biased in favor of Korean-Americans whether they speak Korean well or not. For reference, I knew a Korean-American who spoke almost no Korean, threw cigarette butts at passing businessmen, and was a total jerk, and he got instant permanent residency. Meanwhile I lived in Korea for five years, spoke KLPT Level 5 Korean (advanced, 6,000+ words) and was denied a working visa for FIVE YEARS. Not kidding. I qualified for one twice, but both times they came up with arbitrary reasons to refuse my visa.
I’m going to have to say that despite the good parts, the racism/xenophobia issue makes Korea very difficult to tolerate. I’ve lived in five countries — the Netherlands, the US, Korea, Hong Kong (PRC), and Taiwan (just starting out). I have NEVER seen a country with the deep-seated hatred of all foreign peoples that Korea has. This is not speaking about all Koreans, but even a violent 1% can put your safety in danger, and a non-violent anti-foreigner 30% can remind you every five minutes that they don’t want you there.
Honestly, if you are a Southeast Asian, Korea would not be a good place for you. Koreans are generally (not all!) prejudiced against other Asians. As for teaching, your students may not like you if they are children (or adults for that matter) because they want a “white face.”
I have bee here for over two years and enjoy it, but I’m a white American and even I have experienced racism. It doesn’t happen often but it does happen.
Just my two cents, for what it’s worth.
I have two friends over here who look South East Asian – though they are actually from England, and one friend who is Korean American, and they don’t encounter any more racism then anyone else. I have heard that it can be harder to get a job here, but you can circumvent that by going through a good recruiter that is against discrimination. There is some racism here, but I have never encountered any abuse, just stereotypes.
The good: As long as you are clever and come over to a public school you will work about 20-22 hours a week for about 2 million won/month.
Living is cheap here, and so is travel. You can easily save some money and still have a lot of fun over here on an esl job. There are some groups that have regular events for english speakers here so its easy to meet people and go on adventures as long as you can get the internet. The country side is gorgeous, and the food is great. You get a lot of vacation time if you go through the public schools – if you are lucky and your school is lenient even more then your contract generously gives you. Medical care is cheap (compared to the US, etc) and easily accessible.
The bad- the apartments provided by the schools are often old, small and cheap. If you come over on a private contract your school can try to screw you over, and its hard to fight with them. There is some racism to deal with (foreigners are drug addicts, they are dirty, they are lazy) from some people. People stare at you if you look different (though my South East Asian looking friends don’t have to deal as much with that – the trade off is that people will try to speak Korean to them).
All in all, my husband and I really enjoy living over here, and so do most of the foreigners I know. I think a lot of it has to do with being smart about getting a good contract, and about coming over with an open mind and a good attitude. Most of the people I know who don’t like it here or who had issues caused most of the problems themselves.
its definetely different being a non-white english teacher in korea (im filipino-american). they usually think im either from mexico,a mix (which some of my young kindergartners call me…which gets to u after a while) or black. i also live 4 hrs outside of seoul (in jeollanam-do) so theyre not used to as many foreigners as the poeple in bigger cities.
that being said, in my city people are more blatant about how they would feel towards u as a person…where in larger cities they seem more subtle about it (maybe b/c they know the consequences of talking noise to foreigners). ex…i walked into mcdonalds and right when i came in, 3 or 4 high school or uni aged students looked at me, said stuff in korean and started laughing. i ordered my food…and strategically waited at a table where i was turned facing them. one of them had a sly look on his face, talking smack, then he turned towards me…and i dead-eyed him. he turned his head back so fast…u thought he’d get whiplash…and never looked at me again. i was ready to throw a damn hamburger in his face.lol
i guess all i can say is stand ur ground and be vigilant… people wont bother u…if it looks like u are not one to be messed with.im not a big guy (only 5′6″)…but i will protect myself.
another bad thing…sometimes its hard to find ‘real’ friends in korea…both foreigner and korean. from the foreigner end, u’ll get a lot of drinking buddies…but many times when people like that leave, u’ll never hear from them once they go back home…even if u helped them out during their stay in korea.
as far as korean friends go…some will want to practice english w/ u and see u as a commodity and not take u seriously as a person.
so now a days, when i get approached by people…i have the whole’ what do u want?’ attitude. b/c of my time in korea.
sorry ive had only enough time/space to type some bad stuff…there are many good things…one thing about korea (especially the big cities) is that there is always things to do and its not boring!
msg if u need more help…
I’ve been teaching in South Korea for 3 years now and I’m planning on another year. I’m honest when I say it’s the best place I’ve lived. I really like my life here. The teaching is cool. I teach elementary kids and really enjoy going to work everyday. As long as you have some rules in your class and don’t let kids walk all over you, you’ll do great and enjoy the teaching. Koreans are really welcoming and nice to all foreigners from my experience. If you look Korean, they might start talking to you in Korean, but once they find out you’re a foreigner, they treat you even better.
Some good things:
• food is really cheap to eat out
• bars and restaurants stay open till 3am,4,5,even 6am.
• Many places are open all night long
• You can save alot of money here (even if you spend $500-$1000) a month, you can save about $1,000 or more every month.
• The school pays for your housing
• The school pays for your roundtrip flight
• Public transportation here is great and very cheap
Some bad things:
If you live right in a busy section of downtown Seoul, the air pollution can be a little much. But living a little outside of the city is clean. If you’re from the US or Canada, it’s far from home, so visiting on holidays can be expensive and difficult.
The Italian food is not so good here, but Korean food is quite tasty.
Here are some videos about teaching in Korea to help you decide if it’s right for you:
http://budurl.com/TeachInKorea
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