Thinking About Teaching English in Korea?
A little about Korean life.
In Korea most English teachers teach at either public schools, or private academys (or hagwons). Public school teaching is comparatively much more consistent. It's always Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day, roughly 9-5, and all holidays and weekends are guaranteed off. Hagwons are more money, and usually afternoon and night hours. Since education is such a booming enterprise here, these places are run like businesses, very aggressively, but with that comes chances of shutdowns, money shortages, etc. Regarding private academies, I've heard of some good experiences, but more bad than good. I'm a public school teacher and I really like it. My rent is paid for, I have a studio apartment about a 5 minute walk from my school, 20 days of vacation (sat and sun not included), stipend for extra necessary furniture at the beginning of the contract, paid for plane ticket to Korea, as well as for visiting back home during winter vacation. Lots of perks.
(1,000 won (korean currency) is ROUGHLY worth about $1.00 (US or Canadian))
I made 2,000,000 won per month, and because of US/Korea tax treaties, US citizens do not have to pay taxes on their salaries for two years, as long as they can get a US residency certificate. (Unfortunately, acquiring this simple document from the IRS was sensationally difficult and backward.) Also Korea has national Healthcare which foreign teachers participate in and American teachers are given a rebate for it at the end of their contract. For gas and electric, I pay about 50,000 won per month. A good sized bowl of soup is 5,000 won. A really good meal of barbecued marinated meat with all sorts of awesome side dishes is never gonna run more than 10,000 per person, and that's with rice, soup, drinks, etc. The subway (that's usually what they call it in English) is fast, clean, and inexpensive. The price of internet and cellphone service is significantly cheaper than prices in the US. My cellphone bill is about 25,000 per month and internet about 35,000.
New clothes are on the expensive side, and even expensive clothes can be lacking in quality. Groceries overall are a little pricey. Out of season fruit is really expensive. I've seen watermelons for 20,000 won.
Online shopping is popular in Korea. It's usually cheaper than department stores. Delivery is big. Anything gets delivered, usually for free, from shoes to pianos to fried chicken and everything in between.
Global Campus is the recruiter I went through to get the public school teaching job. They were really great about helping me with every little detail from start to finish. Here's the link:
http://www.globalcampusjob.com/new/
Learning the language in Korea was difficult, but awesome. Many people, especially older people, appreciate that a person from another country would want to learn Korean. It was a great experience for me, both linguistically and culturally, but again, unless you have a natural knack for languages, it will take a lot of work.
I went to a Bible believing church in the northern part of Seoul, and worshiping and serving together with the believers there was been one of the best parts of my experience in Korea. The church started an English service on Sunday nights and I was thankful for the chance to help out with that, along with some other English teachers.
Due to being separated from family and friends, loneliness or feelings of isolation can be an issue for English teachers who come to Korea. I think it's a good idea to establish strong, healthy relationships with other English speakers as soon as possible after arriving.
In Korea there aren't as many restaurants which cater to those with serious allergies as there are in many western countries, but it is possible. Vegan and vegetarian restaurants and grocery stores also do exist in Korea, but it might take some searching to find them.
(1,000 won (korean currency) is ROUGHLY worth about $1.00 (US or Canadian))
I made 2,000,000 won per month, and because of US/Korea tax treaties, US citizens do not have to pay taxes on their salaries for two years, as long as they can get a US residency certificate. (Unfortunately, acquiring this simple document from the IRS was sensationally difficult and backward.) Also Korea has national Healthcare which foreign teachers participate in and American teachers are given a rebate for it at the end of their contract. For gas and electric, I pay about 50,000 won per month. A good sized bowl of soup is 5,000 won. A really good meal of barbecued marinated meat with all sorts of awesome side dishes is never gonna run more than 10,000 per person, and that's with rice, soup, drinks, etc. The subway (that's usually what they call it in English) is fast, clean, and inexpensive. The price of internet and cellphone service is significantly cheaper than prices in the US. My cellphone bill is about 25,000 per month and internet about 35,000.
New clothes are on the expensive side, and even expensive clothes can be lacking in quality. Groceries overall are a little pricey. Out of season fruit is really expensive. I've seen watermelons for 20,000 won.
Online shopping is popular in Korea. It's usually cheaper than department stores. Delivery is big. Anything gets delivered, usually for free, from shoes to pianos to fried chicken and everything in between.
Global Campus is the recruiter I went through to get the public school teaching job. They were really great about helping me with every little detail from start to finish. Here's the link:
http://www.globalcampusjob.com/new/
Learning the language in Korea was difficult, but awesome. Many people, especially older people, appreciate that a person from another country would want to learn Korean. It was a great experience for me, both linguistically and culturally, but again, unless you have a natural knack for languages, it will take a lot of work.
I went to a Bible believing church in the northern part of Seoul, and worshiping and serving together with the believers there was been one of the best parts of my experience in Korea. The church started an English service on Sunday nights and I was thankful for the chance to help out with that, along with some other English teachers.
Due to being separated from family and friends, loneliness or feelings of isolation can be an issue for English teachers who come to Korea. I think it's a good idea to establish strong, healthy relationships with other English speakers as soon as possible after arriving.
In Korea there aren't as many restaurants which cater to those with serious allergies as there are in many western countries, but it is possible. Vegan and vegetarian restaurants and grocery stores also do exist in Korea, but it might take some searching to find them.