So you want to teach English overseas right? This article is about how I landed a job as an English Teacher in South Korea and how you can do the same. I am in South Korea as I write this article and I have been here three weeks. It is not as hard as you might think and the pay is great for the work. If I can do it you can too. Here is what you will need to do.
Things you will need
* BA or BS in any Major
* Passport
* Original Degree
* Extra passport sized photos
* Clean criminal record
* 3 Sealed transcripts from your university
Step one
Before you can do anything, you need a BA or BS in any Major. Some schools have been known to accept Associates degrees but I don’t personally know anyone who has been given a job with less than a BA or BS.
Step two
If you do not have a passport on hand, GET ONE MADE as soon as possible.
Your passport must be from an English speaking country and your first language must be English.
Step three
You must also have a clean criminal record; don’t worry about traffic violations. The criminal record must be notarized by a public notary then, take or send it to your Superior Court Clerks’ Cooperate Authority for an apostille.
Step four
Contact your college or university for official (seal still intact) 3 copies of your transcript.
Step five
You also need your original degree on hand. Once you have all of these documents, click on “contact me” tab on this blog and get in touch with me and I will walk you every step of the way to help you make a smooth transition. Once everything is settled and you have accepted the contract to teach in South Korea, we will book your flight and make pick up arrangements with you.
Remember
Included in your contract are:
* Airfare to and from Korea
* Furnished studio apartment
* Monthly check of $21,000,000 won which is about $1600 US or more depending on exchange rate and if your major is in liberal arts then you get paid slightly higher
* Extra months pay at the end of your contract, so you get paid for 13 months instead of 12
* If you book the flight yourself, the school reimburses you
* Lastly, don’t settle for nothing less.
The company I am teaching at is the biggest recruiter of English teachers in Korea. So they are very reputable and have been in business for over 20 years. They are recruiting teachers right now. If you are interested, contact me as soon as possible. If you have questions you need answered before deciding, see my contact page on how to reach me.
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{ 22 comments… read them below or add one }
i’ve been researching ways on how I could work in seoul. I’ve been always planning.. oh no.. i mean dreaming of working in south korea and preferably settling there. I came across your post while browsing, so let me ask few… uh.. i mean many questions regarding the topic.
1. I am non- us citizen, though english is not a primary language here in the philippines, I am very much proficient with the oral and written English. English was part our curriculum from primary to higher education. English is the major language of correspondence at corporate environments here in the Philippines, with these, can I apply?
2. I graduated with a degree in Communication Arts, and currently taking an IT Post Grad degree as I am working as Information Systems Auditor here in the Philippines. Apparently, I am not a teacher, no teaching experience and no teacher license.
, what’s my post?
Thanks for your post. Your reply will be much appreciated.
Good day
Hi apple, sorry for the late reply but I needed the time to get all the information I could on your particular situation. I spoke with the director in charge of hiring. Unfortunately, the only way you could be considered for a position at our particular institution since you are not a U.S citizen and English not being your primary language, would be if you attended and graduated from a U.S university/college. Sorry for the suspense and you waiting but I had to get the facts correct. Perhaps other institutions might make an exception if you can prove your proficiency in the English language. I will keep my eyes open for you in case I come across an institution that will. Good luck on your search.
oh, that’s too sad.. but thanks for your reply, btw i invited you for addition to my skype.
thanks again and have a nice stay in korea
HOLA, ME INTERESA MUCHISIMO PODER DAR CLASES EN KOREA.
MI FORMACION ACADEMICA FUE EN LA CIUDAD DE MEXICO, EN EL AMERICAN SCHOOL FOUNDATION.
AL TERMINAR HIGH SCHOOL, TOME CURSOS DE INTERPRETE TRADUCTORA, TOFEL, PROFECIENCY; EN LA CIUDAD DE MEXICO Y LONDRES.
EMPECE A TRABAJAR COMO MAESTRA EN 1980 EN “HARMON HALL”, AUN SI TENER EL TEACHER’S, AHORA YA LO TENGO POR SUPUESTO, HAN SIDO 29 A;OS DE EXPERIENCIA, COMPROBABLES.
MI PREGUNTA ES: PUEDO OBTENER EL TRABAJO CON EL TEACHER’S COURSE DIPLOMA?
ACTUALMENTE VIVO EN SAN DIEGO, CA.
Hello Angela, please forgive my Spanish but,
Si usted tiene un BA, BS o un título en cualquier especialidad con un pasaporte de un país de habla Inglés como EE.UU., Australia, Sudáfrica, Canadá, Europa, etc, entonces estará bien. Un diploma de profesor sólo añade a su calificación y remuneración, pero no es una de las principales cosas que ver. Hágame saber si usted cumple con estos requisitos o si te puedo ayudar más.
Here is the message in English also:
If you have a BA or a BS degree in any Major with a passport from an English speaking country like U.S., Australia, South Africa, Canada, Europe etc, then you will be fine. A teacher's diploma just adds to your qualifications and pay but it is not one of the main things they look at. Let me know if you meet these qualifications or if I can help you any further.
Tate
Hello Tate! It's so nice to watch/read your blog!
I'm a US citizen with a B.A. in International Studies from a liberal arts college, I studied abroad in Korea in 2007, and I have many Korean friends.. I want to go into international education and I've always wanted to go back to Korea… my major interest is with East Asian cultures as a matter of fact.
The only thing that makes me hesitate to apply is the lack of any considerable experience with kids and teaching kids. I know there's no formal teaching experience required, but my question is, is classroom discipline a huge issue for you? How much training and/or materials have you been provided with to plan your lesson times? I'm fairly introverted, but I'd like to challenge myself at this point. Do you have a feel of what is expected from you, the teacher, and if there is any kind of paradigm you can refer to in order to plan out your lessons? I tutored English to a Korean student in college and it was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.
Is it possible for you to send me the name of your school? What city are you working in as well? Sorry if I'm requesting too much info.
Thanks so much for sharing your experience with us!
Hello Roxy,
You seem to have all that is required to return to Korea and make your
experience memorable. Being that you are already interested in the culture like I am, it is a much more enriching experience when you come here with that kind of acceptance and open mind.
No experience is necessary to teach in my school or any of the other schools I was in contact with before I got here. All you need is energy and enthusiam to teach basic English. As far as classroom descipline is concerned, you deal with a little here and there but it is nothing serious; for instance, if a kid is acting up in your class, you can send them outside for a period of time and if they don't learn from that (which they do most of the time because they hate being outside alone) then you can send them to a Korean teacher because they handle all the descipline and they can call their parents.
My training was for about a week and a half. It involved observing classes and the school regulations. Books and other teaching resources are provided; all you have to do is be creative on how you present the material to the kids. You plan your own lessons according to the books you are given. As a teacher here, you are expected to teach the kids of course, be of good attitude, present yourself appropriately, be stricted but fun and entertaining at the same time (this goes a long way). As far as a paradigm there is no such thing when it comes to lesson plans, I usually refer to online sources and books available at the school to plan my lessons.
My school is ECC YBM; it's a huge franchise in Korea so there are many of them throughout Korea and you can pick which one to go to if you want to be in a particular city. I am in the Pyeongtaek branch. Here is a link to wiki if you want to read up on the city a bit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyeongtaek.
No you are not requesting too much info. I had a lot of questions too before making the transition and luckily there was a guy named Eric who worked here and was very helpful to me in answering questions and what not. The least I can do is pay-it-forward.
If you have any more questions or info, feel free to contact me.
Hello Roxy,
You seem to have all that is required to return to Korea and make your
experience memorable. Being that you are already interested in the culture like I am, it is a much more enriching experience when you come here with that kind of acceptance and open mind.
No experience is necessary to teach in my school or any of the other schools I was in contact with before I got to Korea. All you need is energy and enthusiam to teach basic English. As far as classroom descipline is concerned, you deal with a little here and there but it is nothing serious; for instance, if a kid is acting up in your class, you can send them outside for a period of time and if they don't learn from that (which they do most of the time because they hate being outside alone) then you can send them to a Korean teacher because they handle all the descipline and they can call their parents.
My training was for about a week and a half. It involved observing classes and the school regulations. Books and other teaching resources are provided; all you have to do is be creative on how you present the material to the kids. You plan your own lessons according to the books you are given. As a teacher here, you are expected to teach the kids of course, be of good attitude, present yourself appropriately, be stricted but fun and entertaining at the same time (this goes a long way). As far as a paradigm there is no such thing when it comes to lesson plans, I usually refer to online sources and books available at the school to plan my lessons.
My school is ECC YBM; it's a huge franchise in Korea so there are many of them throughout Korea and you can pick which one to go to if you want to be in a particular city. I am in the Pyeongtaek branch. Here is a link to wiki if you want to read up on the city a bit. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyeongtaek.
No you are not requesting too much info. I had a lot of questions too before making the transition and luckily there was a guy named Eric who worked here and was very helpful to me in answering questions and what not. The least I can do is pay-it-forward.
If you have any more questions or info, feel free to contact me.
Hi Tate,
I've been reading some of the articles on your blog and was very happy to learn that you work at YBM ECC. I've heard mixed reviews about YBM concerning contract fulfillment and i was wondering if you could shed some light on your personal experiences when you first came..pros and cons. were you paid on time? did you get a furnished apt? etc.
I've also seen in forums various blacklisted schools from ybm; could you tell me about some of the branches where you've worked at or known others that have had a positive teaching/living experience? I'm not sure how to rank the various cities, i'd like to live among a good foreign population and relatively close to cities, but i'm also concerned with working at a good school with a good work environment.
hope to hear from you soon
Hello Kevin,
With YBM/ECC is hard to tell what you will get because it is such a large franchise in Korea and each Director who runs theirs differently although they have a corporate standard to uphold. In terms of contract fulfillment, the only thing I recently witnessed was a teacher being asked to go home early; however, the Director paid him all the end of the contract payments and all that the contract stated. Each ECC is different like I mentioned, the best thing to do is speak with the Director personally and as often as you can before you leave to work for him/her that way you can get an idea of the type of person he/she is.
Pros, is not a hard job 2. It is fun 3. you have freedom to teach how you want 4. the material is provided 5. I haven't had major payment issues other than being paid in increments on two occasions.
cons, you may have to work more than 8 hours, 2. some schools require you to work 1 Saturday out of the month although my school has not asked that of me 3. It is fast paced from class to class, only about 5 minutes break between classes, 4. you don't get paid for prep time and you are asked to be at the school an hour before your first class
The branch I work at now in Pyeontaek is okay from what I have experienced and heard. The Suwon branch is pretty good too I hear, I haven't heard anything about the ones in Seoul and other areas though. It all depends on your personality and how firm you are when you say what you say because if you are not, they will take advantage and you maybe overworked, so just stick to your contract and be a little flexible though so you can create a harmonious relationship between you and your Director. If the Director likes you, you can get away with a lot of things that otherwise be frowned upon.
If you want to be at or near city then I would recommend Busan, Suwon, Gangnam-rich area, and other surrounding cities in Seoul area. look at wikipedia, I used it a lot before I came to get information about various cities and their population, foreigners etc. I hope that helps. If there is anything else I can do for you, don't be a stranger. Good luck on your search.
Hello Kevin,
With YBM/ECC is hard to tell what you will get because it is such a large franchise in Korea and each Director who runs theirs differently although they have a corporate standard to uphold. In terms of contract fulfillment, the only thing I recently witnessed was a teacher being asked to go home early; however, the Director paid him all the end of the contract payments and all that the contract stated. Each ECC is different like I mentioned, the best thing to do is speak with the Director personally and as often as you can before you leave to work for him/her that way you can get an idea of the type of person he/she is.
Pros, is not a hard job 2. It is fun 3. you have freedom to teach how you want 4. the material is provided 5. I haven't had major payment issues other than being paid in increments on two occasions.
cons, you may have to work more than 8 hours, 2. some schools require you to work 1 Saturday out of the month although my school has not asked that of me 3. It is fast paced from class to class, only about 5 minutes break between classes, 4. you don't get paid for prep time and you are asked to be at the school an hour before your first class
The branch I work at now in Pyeontaek is okay from what I have experienced and heard. The Suwon branch is pretty good too I hear, I haven't heard anything about the ones in Seoul and other areas though. It all depends on your personality and how firm you are when you say what you say because if you are not, they will take advantage and you maybe overworked, so just stick to your contract and be a little flexible though so you can create a harmonious relationship between you and your Director. If the Director likes you, you can get away with a lot of things that otherwise be frowned upon.
If you want to be at or near city then I would recommend Busan, Suwon, Gangnam-rich area, and other surrounding cities in Seoul area. look at wikipedia, I used it a lot before I came to get information about various cities and their population, foreigners etc. I hope that helps. If there is anything else I can do for you, don't be a stranger. Good luck on your search.
Hey I am not a U.S. citizen but as yoursef I have been dreaming of teaching in South Korea for the longest but I have been searching for the right answers to my situation. Although, I am not a U.S. citizen I do have my green card from the United States and I graduated from college as well as college in the U.S. I am a Jamaican citzien and English is our primary language. Our education system mirrors that of the British. Is there any hope for me? Please, please help me. I would definitely like to be teaching in Korea for Feb. 2010 semester. This is my dream and I really want to make it a reality. Please let me know how to deal with my situation. Thank You and have a great day!
Hello Nicole,
I am not sure about your particular situation but send me your resume: tnanje@gmail.com
I will ask some schools if you meet the qualifications because most schools if not all have the requirement that a teacher holds a passport from one of these countries: you must be a native English speaker.
if you are not a native English speaker but are fluent in the language this may still not allow you to get a teaching visa
you must have a passport from one of these countries:
Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, the UK or the USA
a bachelor’s degree in any discipline
a valid passport with at least 6 months of validity remaining
you must not have a criminal record
Do you meet most of these requirements?
Hey Tate,
I meet all of these requirements except the passport issue. I am a native English speaker as well. I saw in your earliest post that you told "apple" that he/she might be able to do it if they did schooling in the States. I was hoping that that situation could apply to me as well. I've done 7 years of schooling in the United States and I have my high school diploma as well as degree to prove it. I will email you my resume right now and thank you again for everything.
Hello,
I have a couple questions for you. My wife and I would really like to come over there and teach English. We have been talking about it a lot lately. The only thing is that she is from Thailand. She has a green card here in the US though. From reading the other posts it sounds like the agency you work for wont take people if they haven't studied in the US, or hold a US passport. Does your agency ever make exceptions though? She graduated with honors from the second best university in Thailand, and has been speaking English since she was 8 years old. She has also taught English around Bangkok at Wall Street, a very reputable English institution over there. With prior English teaching experience, good references, and a Bachelors degree in French and English, is it possible to get employed through your agency to come and teach in Korea? And if your agency's policy is no, do you know of any agencies who would want someone of this caliber? I already meet all of the qualifications, I just want to find a way for both of us to be able to teach at the same school or at least be able to live together.
So for my next question, if all of this is not enough for her to get a job through the agency, do you think she would be able to get a job teaching over there if she were to just come with me? Say I got accepted and she didn't, would it be easy for her to find a job once there?
Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it!!
hey, popped on your blog for a bit, you mentioned about the house "not being the half of it" i am curious as to what you meant by that? i wonder if scheduling has anything to do with it? was just offered a job for one of my friends husband's school in pyeongtaek…good for anytime i need work…so it would be good to weigh the options you know~ *^^* hush hush though~*^^*
Laura lol, great to hear, options are always good to have. They make life less stressful. Let’s just say, things are said that are not kept and disappointments are inevitable. Waters get stirred and reactions are taking by surprise as if they were not provoked. It’s best to do what is right for oneself.
hm. hope to see same more info. Can we speake about it?
hm. hope to see same more info. Can we speake about it?
hi Nanyekor,
it been like ages since u let Cameroon and we have hardly had any contacts. Thanks to facebook i could atleast see ur face again. well i,m interested in the teaching in Korea publication on ur website. Don,t know if u remember me again but i remember u very well.
i,m still in cameroon, i graduated with a bachelors degree in Women and Gender studies and Sociology and Anthropology, it actually a double major degree. i work presently with the department of women,s work at the presbyterian church in cameroon. i recently go married. And office course my langauge of instruction has been English from day one. i don,t know how eligible i am in the teaching offer u are advertising but i will be anxiously waiting for ur reply.
i will be very glad to have ur E-mail address where we can talk maore personal issues like telling u how the family in cameroon is like since u left.
while awaiting ur reply, Stay blessed
Nanje Nduweta Bahiya
Hello Nduuweta, yeah it has been awhile since I left Cameroon. I think I am due for a visit to the grandparents. Everyone on this side of the world are doing great and this summer I am going to see Uncle in Europe so I am excited. But in order to teach in Korea you need to have a passport from U.S, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, or Canada; Cameroon is not on the list since the dominant language is French. You would have to join the family in U.S to teach here in Korea but it's a long process that I think the reward wouldn't equal to the time invested.
Hello Quinn, my apologies for the late reply. We have been a bit preoccupied with winter camp. First, in order for your wife to get a job she has to have a passport from one of the following countries: Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Ireland, South Africa, NewZealand, United Kingdom and the United States. But there is always the option for her to do private lessons. If she is already in Korea, depending on the school also, they might make an exception although I have not seen as such myself. But again, with her experience as you list above, it is possible an exception can be made in her case. As far as living together, that is not a problem for the schools to accommodate. I will email you to get more details.
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