Comments on: Advice for people wanting to teach in Korea http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/ Travel often. Capture Life. Create Art. Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:29:15 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 hourly 1 By: lao-ocean-girl http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3969 lao-ocean-girl Tue, 28 Aug 2007 12:22:43 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3969 Erin, thanks for the added info. It sounds like your kindergarten class was good. For me, it was my VERY first time teaching, and I had 15-18 students in my class. It was very overwhelming at the time. Now, I'd try it again, but with a smaller class. Erin, thanks for the added info. It sounds like your kindergarten class was good. For me, it was my VERY first time teaching, and I had 15-18 students in my class. It was very overwhelming at the time. Now, I’d try it again, but with a smaller class.

]]> By: Erin http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3968 Erin Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:58:41 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3968 Always make sure, no matter what your prospective employer or prospective coworkers say, that the school is not mentioned on any blacklists. There is also a graylist, if I'm not mistaken, of schools that have had minor complaints. You can't be too careful about this: the school I worked for considered the contract a guideline instead of a binding legal agreement. My contract called for "optional" overtime, which meant that I had the "options" of either doing the overtime or losing my job. Read the contract carefully and learn about Korean employment laws to see how many loopholes in Korean law the contract is exploiting. I really liked teaching kindergarten, particularly the class I taught for the last four months of my contract: ten seven-year-olds (by Korean reckoning) who had never been to school before, English or otherwise. If you like working with little kids and learn to cultivate some patience (that took a while for me) it can be wonderfully rewarding. There's nothing like starting from scratch, knowing that when you leave, you'll have taught them everything they know. It's heady stuff. Not a day goes by that I don't miss those children. That's just one teacher's opinion, though. Another note on public vs. private: if you choose a hagwon, which is a school that specializes in one particular subject, find out everything you can about that hagwon. What are their disciplinary standards? Do the foreign teachers really have authority over their students or will management refuse to uphold punishments/rewards? Some hagwons care more about keeping the kids and parents happy (i.e., bringing in the money) than actually teaching them anything. I had the occasional problem with this as well. The positives of hagwons are that there are generally several foreign teachers and much smaller classes than in public schools. Just some notes from a teacher who has learned from her mistakes. I'm going to push for a better deal this time around. Always make sure, no matter what your prospective employer or prospective coworkers say, that the school is not mentioned on any blacklists. There is also a graylist, if I’m not mistaken, of schools that have had minor complaints. You can’t be too careful about this: the school I worked for considered the contract a guideline instead of a binding legal agreement. My contract called for “optional” overtime, which meant that I had the “options” of either doing the overtime or losing my job. Read the contract carefully and learn about Korean employment laws to see how many loopholes in Korean law the contract is exploiting.

I really liked teaching kindergarten, particularly the class I taught for the last four months of my contract: ten seven-year-olds (by Korean reckoning) who had never been to school before, English or otherwise. If you like working with little kids and learn to cultivate some patience (that took a while for me) it can be wonderfully rewarding. There’s nothing like starting from scratch, knowing that when you leave, you’ll have taught them everything they know. It’s heady stuff. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss those children. That’s just one teacher’s opinion, though.

Another note on public vs. private: if you choose a hagwon, which is a school that specializes in one particular subject, find out everything you can about that hagwon. What are their disciplinary standards? Do the foreign teachers really have authority over their students or will management refuse to uphold punishments/rewards? Some hagwons care more about keeping the kids and parents happy (i.e., bringing in the money) than actually teaching them anything. I had the occasional problem with this as well. The positives of hagwons are that there are generally several foreign teachers and much smaller classes than in public schools.

Just some notes from a teacher who has learned from her mistakes. I’m going to push for a better deal this time around.

]]> By: Lao Ocean Girl Provides Advice for People Wanting to Teach in Korea | Teach English in Korea | Jobs in Korea | Teaching Kimchi dot Com http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3966 Lao Ocean Girl Provides Advice for People Wanting to Teach in Korea | Teach English in Korea | Jobs in Korea | Teaching Kimchi dot Com Mon, 27 Aug 2007 14:17:20 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3966 [...] can find rest of her post here. Popularity: unranked [...] [...] can find rest of her post here. Popularity: unranked [...]

]]> By: Rosalyn http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3928 Rosalyn Sat, 18 Aug 2007 19:44:31 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3928 I'm glad you posted that ESL link. I've tried googling Korean Teaching Jobs and came up empty handed. Thanks I’m glad you posted that ESL link. I’ve tried googling Korean Teaching Jobs and came up empty handed. Thanks

]]> By: John from Daejeon http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3922 John from Daejeon Fri, 17 Aug 2007 14:48:09 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3922 Here are two more good ESL job sites: http://www.eslplaza.com/ http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/esljobs/index.pl?index=0 Here are a couple for bringing your TV viewing pleasures with you: http://www.amazon.com/Sling-Media-Slingbox-PRO-SB200-100/dp/B000IVDIL4/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-1290866-8495663?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1187361955&sr=8-1 http://www.myhava.com/products.html You might also want to check out Windows Live Messsenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or Skype for free computer to computer calls or very cheap computer to phone calls from anywhere in the world with broadband access. Here are two more good ESL job sites:

http://www.eslplaza.com/

http://www.eslteachersboard.com/cgi-bin/esljobs/index.pl?index=0

Here are a couple for bringing your TV viewing pleasures with you:

http://www.amazon.com/Sling-Media-Slingbox-PRO-SB200-100/dp/B000IVDIL4/ref=pd_bbs_1/105-1290866-8495663?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1187361955&sr=8-1

http://www.myhava.com/products.html

You might also want to check out Windows Live Messsenger, Yahoo! Messenger, or Skype for free computer to computer calls or very cheap computer to phone calls from anywhere in the world with broadband access.

]]> By: lao-ocean-girl http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3921 lao-ocean-girl Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:57:53 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3921 Good advice, John. BTW, my 2nd and 3rd years here were spent working at a GnB! Good advice, John.

BTW, my 2nd and 3rd years here were spent working at a GnB!

]]> By: John from Daejeon http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/comment-page-1/#comment-3920 John from Daejeon Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:42:53 +0000 http://lao-ocean.com/2007/08/16/advice-for-people-wanting-to-teach-in-korea/#comment-3920 Prospective ESL teachers should realize that every school and town is different. What are you looking for? The Big City, midsize, smaller, rural, or is the beach and Jeju your thing. Private vs. public. Private schools have smaller classes, but sometimes they are on shaky financial ground as enrollment is all important. With private, do you go with the big franchise guys (GnB being one) or maybe with a small mom and pop school. With public, you never have to worry about the school folding and not getting paid, but the class sizes are ginormous and discipline is very tricky as shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVdbPrwyU54&NR=1 Do you need the comfort of a Costco or other foreigners close by? Are you comfortable with "four" seasons (one being quite frigid when you are from the deep South)? If coming, bring a laptop and maybe a 500 gig hard ($119-139 at Wal-mart or BestBuy) drive from back home to do your downloading. Electronics are rather pricey here. Prospective ESL teachers should realize that every school and town is different. What are you looking for? The Big City, midsize, smaller, rural, or is the beach and Jeju your thing. Private vs. public. Private schools have smaller classes, but sometimes they are on shaky financial ground as enrollment is all important. With private, do you go with the big franchise guys (GnB being one) or maybe with a small mom and pop school. With public, you never have to worry about the school folding and not getting paid, but the class sizes are ginormous and discipline is very tricky as shown here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iVdbPrwyU54&NR=1

Do you need the comfort of a Costco or other foreigners close by? Are you comfortable with “four” seasons (one being quite frigid when you are from the deep South)?

If coming, bring a laptop and maybe a 500 gig hard ($119-139 at Wal-mart or BestBuy) drive from back home to do your downloading. Electronics are rather pricey here.

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