Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Dev]

If salaries were similar in China to Korea, where would you rather work? Why? As the Chinese economy grows, this will be entirely possible. There are already some international schools in China that pay exactly the same kind of salaries we see here.

[lastat06513]

I met an Indian guy who surprisingly opened a language school in the backwoods of China (by backwoods, I mean a city of less than 500,000). His capital was about $30,000 to start it and he now has about 100 students who pay about 1000rmb (roughly about $130.71) a month, mostly middle-class high school students who will go abroad to study at a university.

I asked him if hiring foreign teachers cuts in on his profit, he said "no" because for the Chinese english language teachers, they would be happy with about 1000 to 2000rmb a month while the foreign teacher would get only about 5000 rmb (about $653.57) a month with a minimal added expense of about 1000 to 2000 a month for housing and utilities, which doesn't seem like much if you are earning 100,000rmb a month (roughly $13,071.55).

I asked him if the salaries would increase in time; "god no" was his reply because there are literally thousands of people wanting to go to China more than wanting to go to Korea and because the visa requirements are not so strict (they are even recruiting teachers from Africa to teach English in China), ANYONE with half a brain and basic knowledge of how to speak English can go there and teach it.

And god forbid I say this in a class full of Korean students; but there are alot more hot women in China who are willing to talk to a laowai than there are Korean women who are willing to associate themselves with a waeguk

And as for shopping; China blows Korea out of the water (in some ways, even the US) by the amount of products they have in stock.

And for housing: Some of the housing in China would even put Kangnam and Apkujeong to shame...

A poster said this a long time ago; Korea has no future because China IS the future

[Homer]

Interesting question.

I have a few friends working in China (Beijing and Shanghai mostly). Salaries are nowhere near Korea but cost of living is often lower.

I would say Korea is where Japan was 10 years ago for ESL and China is where Korea was 10 years ago...so in essence, the ESL scene will change here and might become more like Japan.

By that time China should move up to where Korea is now itself being followed by another emerging ESL market....and so on.

For now, China is still a cowboy market in many ways.

[Saxiif]

Well I'm sure that the Indian guy you talked about will be able to get cheapo foreign teachers indefinately. However he's teaching middleclass kids. The real market is the richest 5% of the kids and if half of those want English teachers, that'll be tens of thousands of English teachers employed by parents who're rich enough to want whities with college degree. There are so many people in China that once the upper class gets just a little bigger and richer, I'm sure it'll suck in a lot of people who'd otherwise end up in Korea.

[pugwall]

China and Chinese are my more fun. IMHO. Chinese are simpler easier to get along with. I like Korea but find it a hard place to full in love with. Whereas China has so much to full in love with

[pest2]

Korea-- fun points: 2, money points: 8
China-- fun points: 7, money points 2

Korea wins, but barely. If you are already rich and dont need to save, no question about which one to choose.... also, though, qualify the question such that "living in China" means living in a big city like Beijing or Shanghai or Hongkong... otherwise, China loses several fun points.

[jajdude]

[pest2]

[Ilsanman]

I wouldn't go to China. The whole lack of freedom of speech thing gets me down.

[pest2]

[Ilsanman]

Koreans? Insecure? The hell you say!!

[Homer]

Of course us westerners are not insecure at all as the endless string of posts where we identify ourselves as being from the West and holding western values demonstrate...

Nothing screams insecurity more than over affirmation...

[pest2]

[mindmetoo]

Geez China. More pollution. Major internet censorship. Crappier toilets.

Korean cultural superiority: Irritating but cute in the final analysis. "Awww, you people really think kimchi is going to take the world. Awww, ya'll think Rain is going to storm America because 14 year old girls in the Philippines go wild for him and 40 year old women go wild for Korean dramas. That's so cute. One word: Disco. It ends. Be prepared for the backlash."

Chinese cultural superiority: Irritating and frightening, notably when they figure out how to build and operate aircraft carriers.

[MissSeoul]