Korean Job Discussion Forums

ESL Milk "Everyday · Joined: 12 Sep 2007

1) Be white.
2) Be from America or Canada.
3) Be what Koreans consider 'good-looking'.

That's about it.... but I think number 3 is most important for the best Korean experience. You can get away with a lot more than your peers if they think you're good-looking... also, they'll offer to help you more and they'll want to do things for you.

But don't worry if they don't do it... it's not about who's good-looking and who's not good-looking, but who, out of all your friends, looks the best!
Smile

krjames · Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Location: Suncheon

3) Be what Koreans consider 'good-looking'.

That's about it.... but I think number 3 is most important for the best Korean experience. You can get away with a lot more than your peers if they think you're good-looking... also, they'll offer to help you more and they'll want to do things for you.

Uhmm, that's life anywhere isn't it. I always thought I missed the lucky breaks just because I was old and bald!
The blonde bimbo and the handsome hunk have always had people fawning over them, the rest of the population have always had to fight it out. The definition of good looking may be different but the situation is and I expect will always be teh norm.

Cheers

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

The best way for a teacher to maximize their potential in Korea is to:

1. Learn to speak Korean at least somewhat fluently.
2. Get out of teaching and get into a company job doing something OTHER than teaching, or a military contract of some sort.

Don't get me wrong, you can make some good coin teaching, though, considering.

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

Wrong.

Get an F visa and nake some real money.

bassexpander · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

johnpeterson2008 · Joined: 23 Jul 2007

Be a Canadian and work without an E2 Visa around the clock. Multiple hagwons while mums the word.

buymybook · Joined: 21 Feb 2005 Location: Telluride

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

Let's make sure we understand the OP's question. He/She wants to know how to make teaching in Korea a successful career WITHOUT improving his/her teaching creditials and education levels, and WITHOUT bothering to learn Korean?

Yikes. Be part of the solution, not part of the problem.

Snowmeow · Joined: 03 Oct 2005 Location: pc room

No, the OP is looking for additional ways to improve his teaching, while acknowledging the obvious that learning Korean and more education is a good start.

Fresh Prince · Joined: 05 Dec 2006 Location: The glorious nation of Korea

In other words, learning Korean and obtaining a masters in a teaching related field are requirements for a successful career, however those two items alone wouldn't necessarily maximize one's potential.

Let's assume that one is willing to put in the study-time necessary to become an advanced speaker of the Korean language, and that it will take at least two or more years of study to reach that level, and that one is also willing to put in the study-time and take on the associated debt, to improve their education, and that too will take two years or more years to accomplish.

In the meantime, are there other things that someone can do, to maximize one's potential as a teacher, in terms of teaching ability and in terms of career development?

Kimchieluver · Joined: 02 Mar 2005

Unposter · Joined: 04 Jun 2006

Networking is spot on.

Trying.

You would be surprised how many people never try. Try what? Doing a good job, making friends, taking on responsibility, trying to get a good job or jobs.

I have come to accquaite (sp?) the English-language education profession in Korea to anarchy. Almost anything is possible and it usually does. Timing is everything. Take nothing for granted. Expect the unexpected.

You meet the right person and suddenly a million doors open. Act too cool for school and it may never happen.

Pak Yu Man · Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Location: The Ida galaxy

PRagic · Joined: 24 Feb 2006

So by 'maximize one's potential,' does the OP mean 'become the best teacher possible?', or, as some posters seem to have interpreted it, 'make the most money.'

If you want to become the best possible (English) teacher, then you could get TEOFL certification, a CELTA, and, if you're really motivated, a DELTA. There are no two ways about it; if you want to improve as a teacher, you need more training. Training costs money. Career development is a personal investment when you get started, particularly the completion of the MA/MEd. Later, after you are actually qualified (and in some cases, certified), your employer can pick up the tab for 'professional development'.

Are there other ways to simply improve as a teacher without doing any of this? Study. Go to seminars. Join KOTESL. Still, if you want to really be a teacher, and 'maximize your potential', you'll have to get trained. If you want to be in Korea over the long term and enjoy your life, work, and students more? Then you'd be doing yourself a favour to learn Korea.

A friend of mine (with over 15 years of teaching and management experience) put it best: "Teachers without credentials and degrees who claim that they are better teachers based simply on their experience crack me up. In reality, they have the experience of teaching the same old thing, often ineffectively, over and over for a long time. That's not experience I'd be willing to pay for!"

Did you mean 'make more money'? Network, for sure, if you are interested in doing privates and dealing with that. For professional teaching jobs, networking can help, too, but only so much.