Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Been There, Taught That]

I'm really just posting this, merely part 3 of a whole series, because I'm in the process of finding a job again, after 10 years.

https://www.koreaexpose.com/education-blues-deported-english-teacher/.

I read this, not yet a year old, and immediately these questions came to mind:

1. What kind of reputation does Korea Expose have? Official form of trollism, or actual issue?
2. Is this kind of thing just an interesting rarity made to look real panicky?
3. If it went on then, within the last year, is it still going on?
4. Isn't it kinda picayune of the Moon-Jae In (among others) government to
differentiate 'conversational English' from every other English-themed
task that a body could be asked to do, unless that issue is a cover for a
greater agenda? And is it?

Up to 2010, I had never experienced any gov't interaction at all in anything that went on, let alone deportation for teaching English as a 'mere' E-2. There was a time when the Korean bureaucracy would turn up its collective nose at the thought of dealing with the unseemly business of the workforce of legitimate foreign teachers.

The article mentioned it had something to do with what a school officially declares itself to be, and at that point in my mind, it all began to take on the status of of 'imbroglio'.

Does anyone have more insight and answers than I have? Recruiters don't discuss any of this. . .can ya believe that?!? (And actually, to keep the job search rolling, neither do I).

[Aine1979]

There were quite a few Canadian international schools operating on hagwon licences, but they weren't hagwons, they were accredited elementary/middle/high "international" schools. Their teachers should have had E7 visas, but the schools were not licensed properly in Korea and so gave the teachers E2 visa (language instructor).

The schools were given warnings in advance but did not do what was needed to be done. All the teachers on E2 visas were deported and the schools were fined. At least one has closed, and those that remained open are only able to hire F visa holders.

The E2 visa is for teaching english language. Not conversation - this information came from the deported teachers, never from immigration. Their comments caused all sorts of panic, with people claiming teaching phonics, grammar, reading, writing etc was a breach of an E2 visa, and all E2 holders could teach was speaking.

It's the difference between English language (you can teach that), English literature, and English linguistics. You can even teach math, science, history etc provided it's taught to further English language, and not as an accredited branch of a child's formal education. No-one on an E2 visa can be a "subject" teacher in an accredited school.

AFAIK the whole investigation started before Moon was elected.

[ttompatz]

E2 is teacher of foreign languages.
You can get an E2 to teach English. You can get an E2 to teach Mandarin. You can get an E2 to teach Japanese, etc. The rules are the same: native speaker, educated to the first degree level, clear background check.

If you teach any thing else (regardless of the language of instruction) and you are not of Korean ancestor or do not qualify for an "F" visa then you need either an E1 (visiting professor (MA/PhD required)) or E7.

.

[Krokodil]

There is a political dimension to this. Korean English teachers really resent foreign, native-speaking English teachers (i.e. us). We get paid more, have big apartments provided, etc. and local sentiment favors them over us. Once in a while, one of us gets thrown under a bus to keep the local teachers from boiling over.