teaching english in asia

[Dabamf]

I'm a college graduate, age 24 and kind of at a point in my life where I want to experience new/different things and still feel things out. I lived in Ohio pretty much all my life and always hated it. When I graduated college I moved to NC with a buddy and worked as a server, intending on going to grad school after the year, but decided against it. Basically that is all I've seen and given that I'm 24, single, with nothing holding me down I want to experience new things. I was going to move to California, and I would probably like it there better than NC and Ohio, but it seems like it would be more of the same old bs.

So what I've been looking into is teaching English in Asia, most closely looking at South Korea. I've known a few acquaintances that have done it and absolutely loved it. I'm curious if anyone here has done this and if you could relay your experiences. How did you find the job, screen offers, choose a city, between public/private/hogwan? Did your school put you up with other westerners? I basically want to know anything and everything. At this point I've basically been reading a bunch of stuff online and am ready to start hunting down schools. I just have a ton of questions and I think I'm naturally a little nervous about such a big move so I'd like to hear some people's experiences and suggestions. I'd like to get this going asap and if I can swing it head out within 1-2 months.

edit: if you have longer stories or more personal experiences I'd love to hear them @ crenshao@gmail.com

[Loftish v2]

I'm a Junior in college majoring in Finance and I've been set on teaching in Asia for a year when I graduate for awhile; I'd be interested in what people have to say as well.

[Chips]

So you graduated college and moved to the south to be a waiter?

[Snugglebear]

Originally Posted by Chips

So you graduated college and moved to the south to be a waiter?

Yeah dude, you're doing it wrong, on this board everyone lies and says they graduated college then went on to a six figure salary and bangs supermodels.

[Cybsled]

Well, depending on your degree, that about sums up your job options in some cases ;P

[Gauss]

I'm always amazed at how common this idea of teaching English in Asia is. I personally know of 3 people who have done it or are doing it within the next few months: I think two went to Japan and one is going to Korea. I've heard nothing bad from either of them about their experiences, but I've heard of a lot of people complain about the positions they got when they chose their teaching job poorly.

As an aside, I have had half a mind in the past to prepare to apply for professional jobs in companies I'm interested in in Japan/Korea but I really doubt those countries want westerners in "bread-winning" positions.

[splok]

I've made a couple of brief posts on this in the past:
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/gener...rea#post809369
http://www.fohguild.org/forums/gener...ea#post1122961

Also, SA has had a couple of good threads on it in the past. Here's the current one, but if you can search, there's at least one other good thread that I've posted more in, though it may be in the archives now.

us about teaching English in South Korea/Living in South Korea! - The Something Awful Forums

Also, here's a forum for ESL teachers in Korea. The site has a network of other forums for other locations, but this one has the most traffic by far.

Korean Job Discussion Forums :: Index

Imo, just read everything you can so that you'll be as prepared as possible.

How did you find the job, screen offers, choose a city, between public/private/hogwan? Did your school put you up with other westerners? I basically want to know anything and everything.

There's lots of info on this in the SA thread and on the ESL forums, but you've got to accept that it's pretty much a big craps-shoot. You can watch for warning signs and try to do everything you can to line up a great position, but there's only so much you can do from here. Lots of people on the ELS forum advise going to Korea so you can evaluate the job in person, and while that would help, it's not exactly practical advise for someone who has never been there imo. If you're cool with just popping into another country on your own for a month or so, then sure, it's a good idea, but otherwise, you're pretty much stuck with wading through a hundred job postings that sound exactly the same.

For your questions specifically, to find a job, just scan through the Dave's job postings and send your resume to any jobs that sound interesting. Don't be shy about replying. Most of them will just send you an auto-response. Expect most of the people that actually do contact you to be really pushy. If they need someone, they will treat you as if you've already accepted whatever position they're offering so don't be shy about brushing them off. After you finally agree to a position, expect it to take around a month to get things sorted out.

I was in one of the cities near Seoul, and that's probably a fairly safe bet, since you'll be able to get anywhere you want to go via the subway or buses. However, it might be good to ask how far away from the nearest subway station and how far away from the school you will be living, though they might not tell you the truth. I was told that my apartment would be less than a 10 minute walk, but it was over 30. Taxis are easy to get and cheap, but living near enough to not need one is nice too. Living very near a grocery store is really nice too. Luckily, I lived across the street from a Wal-Mart for most of my time there. If I were to go back, I would consider staying in Busan, Jeju or one of the southern coastal towns, but those don't seem nearly as noob-friendly as the Seoul area.

I taught at two different private hogwans, and I don't think that a public school would have been better (though since I didn't teach at one, I don't really know). I think the bias against them is that at least the public system has some standardization and regulation whereas private schools function completely at the whim of their owner, occasionally making them very bad places to work. For me, the differences were smaller classes, taught at night (private), versus larger classes during the day (public). Also, in my limited experience with getting recruited, the private schools seemed to be much more accommodating during the recruitment process while the public school recruiters were very pushy and grating even by Korean ELS recruiter standards.

Some schools in my area had blocks or floors of apartments where all of their teacher's lived, but mine just had random apartments scattered around. I don't think there were any other foreigners living in my apartment building and certainly no one from my school, so it will vary. If you get to pick, it would be much easier at first if everyone lives nearby, but also remember that it might not be so great living next to the people you spend all day with, depending on how much you like the people you end up working with.

On things to take: If you take any electronics with you, also take a power strip for them. You can get a converter, but it will likely only have 2 ungrounded plugs. It's pretty easy to get everything you need, but take a year's worth of deodorant with you. It's not exactly common there (at least for guys), and the stuff you can find doesn't work very well.

If you have any other questions, just shoot.

[Darus Grey]

A lot of it depends what your education actually is as well.

If you're filling one of these positions as a completely unrelated degree/background, you're pretty limited to schools/companies that post looking for people.

If you actually have education training, linguistic training, or even a degree in language teaching/ESL(applied linguistics), you're in high demand and can just research individual schools and send apps into them(even if they're not hiring), and have a pretty good chance at landing a job where you know what you're getting into, and much higher pay.

[Lost Ranger]

Curious as to why this is discussed so much? Is there some really good money to be made in teaching english in Asia? I remember this getting brought up a few months ago and didn't really pay much attention.

Sounds like it could be a fun experience anyway.

[aychamo_aycono]

Originally Posted by Dabamf

I'm a college graduate, age 24 and kind of at a point in my life where I want to experience new/different things and still feel things out. I lived in Ohio pretty much all my life and always hated it. When I graduated college I moved to NC with a buddy and worked as a server, intending on going to grad school after the year, but decided against it. Basically that is all I've seen and given that I'm 24, single, with nothing holding me down I want to experience new things. I was going to move to California, and I would probably like it there better than NC and Ohio, but it seems like it would be more of the same old bs.

So what I've been looking into is teaching English in Asia, most closely looking at South Korea. I've known a few acquaintances that have done it and absolutely loved it. I'm curious if anyone here has done this and if you could relay your experiences. How did you find the job, screen offers, choose a city, between public/private/hogwan? Did your school put you up with other westerners? I basically want to know anything and everything. At this point I've basically been reading a bunch of stuff online and am ready to start hunting down schools. I just have a ton of questions and I think I'm naturally a little nervous about such a big move so I'd like to hear some people's experiences and suggestions. I'd like to get this going asap and if I can swing it head out within 1-2 months.

edit: if you have longer stories or more personal experiences I'd love to hear them @ crenshao@gmail.com

Hey. There are forums on the internet dedicated specifically to this. Please take your discussion there. How dare you discuss any topic on these boards!

[Alexzandra]

Originally Posted by Lost Ranger

Curious as to why this is discussed so much? Is there some really good money to be made in teaching english in Asia? I remember this getting brought up a few months ago and didn't really pay much attention.

Sounds like it could be a fun experience anyway.

There can be "good" relative to the standard of living in some Asian countries. Less so with Japan that others though. A lot of people don't do it for the money so much as a way to learn a language while having the government of the host country support you. Plus resume building, life experience, etc.

[r3probate]

Originally Posted by Lost Ranger

Curious as to why this is discussed so much? Is there some really good money to be made in teaching english in Asia? I remember this getting brought up a few months ago and didn't really pay much attention.

Sounds like it could be a fun experience anyway.

From my own research on the subject, depending on how good a job you land it can be quite lucrative. The pay isn't amazing by itself, but you often get a month's salary bonus on completion of your year contract, some free air-fare, free living accomodations (even though they might be terrible). I want to say you can get your pay tax free, but I'm not 100%. For someone with no real attachments and no obvious job path at graduation already in place, it sure as hell beats waiting tables.

[r3probate]

Originally Posted by Alexzandra

Plus resume building, life experience, etc.

Also this. It's like bumming around Europe, except with a job.

[Galgor]

Went to Korea here.

It was a great experience. Like a previous poster said, it really is a craps-shoot for most jobs. The majority of people I knew had no problems. The problems I had, and most other people I knew there had, were with the contracts themselves. Personally I got screwed out of pension and a flight from Seattle to my hometown.

So yea, I had a little trouble. But I still recommend teaching abroad all the time and plan to go back within the next month. I've come out of it wiser and will nitpick and negotiate my contract a bit more the second time around.

Go for it.

[Eomer]

Curious as to why this is discussed so much? Is there some really good money to be made in teaching english in Asia? I remember this getting brought up a few months ago and didn't really pay much attention.

Sounds like it could be a fun experience anyway.

I'd say that anyone with a college degree could probably do better financially in their country of birth, in most cases. The point of it is to see a new part of the world, have some neat experiences and try new things and come home with a bit of cash instead of having spent a nest egg partying it up in Europe or SE Asia.

Although honestly, if you've only ever been to Ohio and NC and never left the continental US or even really seen more than a small handful of states, be prepared for a fair amount of culture shock for the first while. It can be difficult to adjust to a different country that speaks the same language and has a very similar culture to yours, let alone one that speaks a totally different language with a culture that bears little resemblance to yours. Prepare accordingly.

Or perhaps consider saving up 10-20k and bumming around Europe for a few months instead. You might actually have a lot MORE fun, but obviously it's a cash negative venture. You'll definitely see a lot more of the world.

That said Asia can be cool. Depending on your contract you can use your job as a base of operations to check out other countries than just the one you're working in. Thailand, Indonesia, Phillipines and many others are all worth spending at least a couple weeks in each if not longer if you can find the time and funds.

I fucking wish I wasn't shackled to my city with the occasional 2-3 week trip abroad once a year, I'd love the ability to just pick up and try a new place for awhile.