Teaching in Korea: The work environment

I talk about my experiences teaching in Korea and the working environment. You may have experiences that are similar to mine and you may have experiences that are completely different.

If you have any questions about teaching in Korea, email them to me at bryancsaxton@gmail.com. I'll try to respond to them ASAP.

In this video, I cover:
What to expect your first couple of days
Some contract issues
How to deal with not getting paid
Some things you should avoid
What to do when your job consumes you

Please note that there are many positive things about my job (in fact, I enjoy my job 95% of the time), but the negative stuff really sticks out. I'll try to post another video with the more positive aspects of teaching.

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• ESL
• Korea
• teaching
• work
• coteachers

[AnimeRuleGirl24]

what did you do for college to get to teaching in korea? I want to teach english in korea but i don't know what kind of classes i shoudl take!

[bry0000000]

@AnimeRuleGirl24 Take the ones that you like.

[kawaiikgirl]

hi could you give me examples of  lessons plans for kindergaterns? I will be teaching kindergaterns next year

[bry0000000]

@kawaiikgirl I mostly taught from a book. Don't worry about making the lesson plans too much for Kindergarten.

[ismybusiness]

@AprilShowers007 you have to set your foot down with kids right away... no matter where you are... they can smell fear and they will go for the throat if it is exposed.... i teach in an all boy school and i and a female teacher with best reputation for being extrict... but i love them... they know that if i say something it has to be done or there will be concequences... parents love me and kids keep asking me to teach them the following year.... they like tough love

[taxfactor]

Thanks for the information.

[vendettalour]

@bry0000000 My recruiter said that as of 2012 GEPIK and SMOE require all teachers to have a certificate to be L3. With EPIK, it would just qualify you as a L2. I was talking to someone with EPIK, and he said that it would be quite difficult to place a L3 teacher and that he recommended a certificate because of the new demand for better and more qualified English teachers.

[bry0000000]

@vendettalour Where did you see that? I'm looking at multiple recruiting websites and none of them ask for TESOL/TEFL certification. I'm sure it's helpful to have, but not mandatory.

[vendettalour]

@AnimeRuleGirl24 Korea now requires teachers to have a TESOL/TEFL certificate before qualifying to teach if you don't have your degree in English. So if you aren't going for an English degree, then take advantage of being in college and take whichever classes tickle your interests. The TESOL certificate will cover everything from lesson planning to text evaluation, and will prepare you more for teaching in Korea.

[AnimeRuleGirl24]

@bry0000000 which would be helpful for a teahcing class?

[AprilShowers007]

Yeah I teach at a private hagwon out here in Korea right not and Ive dealt with all these issues! The contract is totally not abided by the owners and the children usually are unruly but as soon as the Korean teacher comes in they are angels. lol its crazy