Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ShadowEdge]

I've read quite a bit of negative things about the city of Incheon in past threads, but nothing really bad. Does anyone have any experience teaching in the Public School system there. Also, is the level of crime in Incheon higher than it would be in any other large Korean city?

[lostinincheon]

Hey shadowedge,
ive been teaching in a public school in Incheon for the past two weeks and as far as the job goes it is fine. The kids seem to be from lower-income families and have jack-all english, so whatever age they are you are basically always teaching beginners. Having said that the kids are not thugs or anything, the fact that there are so few foreigners in Incheon works well in your favour, you are instantly the most interesting and popular teacher in the school. If you are in a public school I think it is unusual to have any other native speakers on the staff, which can be hard if you are a total newbie like me and don't know anyone.
I haven't experienced any crime myself so thats as far as I can comment on that, but you are definitley a novelty as a whitey and will always get a few stares.
As far as nightlife goes, so far I have no-idea but ive heard Bup-Yeong is the place to go. Elsewhere no-one seems to have any English and it is very easy to feel isolated, I think there is an ex-pat community here but you may have to look a bit harder to find it. Or travel to Seoul.

[Milwaukiedave]

I've been in Incheon for 10 months now (in Korea for over three years) and never had a problem in terms of crime. I live a bit further away from Seoul then the other person that replied as I'm closer to Juan Station.

My school has been really good to me and my English coordinator speaks English well. I'm not resigning to another year as I've decided to go home this summer.

The kid's English level is very low as stated before. You will have maybe or two students in some classes that can speak English at a higher level then the rest of the class. Most likely their parents could afford to send them to a hagwon. The textbook is pretty bad in my opinion, but you can work around that by changing the lesson plans a bit.

It really depends on the school in terms of how well your treated. I've heard some pretty bad stories from other teachers here in Incheon. I'm particularly lucky though.

[Kim Jong Jordan]

Nothing wrong with Incheon. Like everywhere else in Korea it is what you make of it.