What is so great about ESL teaching anyway?

1. The money

   It pays well to be an ESL Teacher. I am making a lot less than I was making at my job before deciding to come to Korea and teach, but the rewards of this job are worth more than the money. If you are an English major and a first time teacher, expect to make somewhere around 2.2 million won. I can only speak from my experience in Korea; it may be more or less if you decide to go to another country. Depending on exchange rate, that 2.2 million can go a long way considering you are not paying rent, utilities are cheap, and the currency is well below most English speaking countries from where teachers are recruited. If you are a non English major, you get around 2.0 to 2.1 but again this depends on location. Regardless of which category you fall under, you are able to pay off some loans if any, save, or be a jackass and party it away.

2. Cultural experience

   Not only do you get paid well, you finally get out of your parent’s house. And you are getting paid to travel. What could be better after college? The experience you get from traveling to and living in another country is priceless. It changes you completely and you start to look at life and the world from a different angle.



3. Relationships

   You meet people when you travel. Sometimes you are lucky enough to establish some sort of relationship with the people you meet. These relationships could last a lifetime. Take advantage of the opportunity and network as much as you can. One of those networks you make might be the gateway to your happy life. Although some relationships are not worth pursuing, you ultimately decide which are beneficial to you; so meet and greet, mingle, learn and grow.

4. Self growth and self realization

   For some people traveling has become mundane and they have lost focus on why they decided to travel in the first place. Don’t be one of those people. In the time I have been in Korea, I have learned more about myself and others than perhaps any other time in my life. I have come to realize what is important to me and what is not and I have changed accordingly. You might find yourself in the same situation and realize that the only thing constant about life is change. When you realize this and other truths, the experience can be daunting. Your reaction to it defines you are and who you will become. You have two choices, you can tuck your tail between your legs and book a flight back home to your routine way of life, or you can embrace it all and redefine who you are and to be for the rest of your life. Look for this experience when you travel; it is an amazing feeling.



5. Self worth

   By being an ESL Teacher, you are giving something back to the world. You are giving the world the next set of brilliant minds or the next set of idiotic minds that never venture outside the prevailing thought and willingly join the mundane. You have the power. However, you have both brilliant people and simpletons, you cannot cure either, but what you can do is be the best Teacher you can be and know how to be, in hopes of the former. By doing so, your self worth increases including your self esteem as a Teacher. But if you are a Teacher who finds themeselves in the short bus becuase of your own predijuices, you might see your self worth and self esteem drop like a pair of sagging tits. So, give your best and be your best.

6. Change

   Change is everything. You see change everywhere in life; if you don’t, you might want to live more consciously. Like I mentioned before, change is the only thing constant about life. By leaving your country to enter another you know little about, you are embracing that change that some of us yearn for but never can summon the power to act on. Hooray for you if you are one of those people who live for change; if you are not and are happy with your circumstance, that’s okay too. Change because you want to. By taking a job as an ESL Teacher, you are embracing a new advanture, a new experience and a new life by emercing yourself in another culture. Some people hate change and others love it. So, I tell you this, welcome change, (like I have done) embrace change, love it and be it.



and last but not least

7. Being on your own

   Like me, many Teachers travel alone. There is nothing more thrilling. There is no other way. I came alone I will go alone although I am never alone. Because when you know you are alone and thus only have yourself to depend on, this is the greatest power anyone can have.

I could be wrong though, do you have something to add or a comment about this list?

Tagged as: Teaching in Korea