Korean Job Discussion Forums

[indytrucks]

[Tony_Balony]

Cleaning up the industry means closing the industry. I went to one of the KTESOL or whatever conferences and read an article by one of the speakers who is very established in the industry said Korea's practice of hiring so many foreigners is way out of line and should stop. He said Korea has sufficient resources to teach English. It looks like so much of this "scene"
is on thin ice.

Next to that, establish annual guidelines and revisit and monitor them every year to determine progress.

[djsmnc]

[Qinella]

[pest2]

[pest2]

Speaking from the perspective of Korea, it seems like a better thing to do than any of this would be to reduce demand for English teachers here by re-assessing their entire method of measuring academic progress in public schools and how it is determined students get into university.

Let's face it: Koreans mostly study English so they can do better on a test. Few of them will ever or will want to use it, later. The Ed system puts pressure on all students uniformly taking the academic path to learn English. All the students who desire to become anything requiring an academic education that pays more money after college spend money to study English... Even chemists, engineers, geographers, government paper pushers, agricultural planners, urban planners, etc etc etc... all jobs that certainly dont require English speaking skill because they dont require interacting with people from other countries, necessarily.

Instead of having a standard, identical test for every student and making this and other tests the only means by which students academic performances can be measured, they should give specific tests for specific studies, and they should make projects and homework a significant factor.

Then, at least by Middle School, many many students wouldn't even bother studying English because they'd be the ones who want to be architects, engineers, etc.. And those students could save money not enrolling in an English hakwon. And they could devote their study time to calculus rather than English.

If they would just stop and look around at other countries, surely they'd see how ridiculously much money they spend on English ed.... It isnt necessary to their development as a country.

"oh, but in Korea, we should all think and be the same"

So, they get what they deserve, including the few 'bad seeds' that come over here for an easy job.

[Qinella]

[guido]

Bottom line...This is an unskilled profession...no different to mexicans working on farms in the US...anyone can do it and Over the years I have seen so many useless people doing it...there is no professional recognition here and like others have said, young and goodlooking is the best prerequisite you can bring...People need to get over themselves and realise it is just a job like working at burger king back home, not a profession, well not in this country and probably never will be....some may scoff and start saying they have a masters in tefl and have been bumped up to 2.6 after 10 years here but come on, I know people just off the boat who are getting 3.5 with no degree doing the 6 month visa run thing...so just work, save all you can and remember we are all just slaves in an industry where looks are your greatest asset...sounds a little like prostitution dont ya think?

[Grimalkin]

Yeah Yeah Yeah...


It's blame the foreigners all over again. If Korea has a problem with pedophilia (hich I'm sure all countries do) they're not going to solve it by eliminating the tiny percentage of pedophiles in the country who are foreigners. They be far better off putting policies in place to protect their children from home-grown pedophiles who I'm sure constitute the vast majority.


Also the roots of the esl industry problems stem from the teaching methods employed in the public school systems and native speakers end up trying to undo all the harm that has been done that blunts the students ability to effectively learn the language.


But I guess a witchhunt is far more easy to organise than finding a real solution to the problems!

[Julius]

[cdninkorea]

[koreandefence]

I think the OP has some great points, just a pity a handful of _____ heads miss the point.
Just like to address some: The fool who mentioned 'international norms' in relation to hiring practice. Yes, good one! Have you even researched your claim?
The nutter who was all upset because Korean employers didn't pay for background checks. Hey fool (Mr T voice), in the mighty west employers don't pay for these checks either. Do you think it is cost effective to have each employer (who get untold numbers of applicants) to pay for security checks? No! Go get one at your own expence, keep it with you. Easy!
Or the moron who tried to turn the OP points in to his own little soap box for illegal immigrants in their country. How does this relate to Korea? Did you not study at university? Very simple and easy to understand tip for you. Stick to the topic!

The OP has some solid points. Nothing wrong with suggesting ways to improve ESL teaching instead of moaning and complaining about how terrible everything is.

[Yesterday]

Apparently Vietnam is way ahead of Korea...

What documents do I have to provide in order to legally work in Vietnam?


Work permits are required for all foreigners to legally work in Viet Nam and in order to renew any work/business related visas. They are required for all teachers. In order to obtain a work permit the school has to submit an application on your behalf that includes notarised copies of your original:

University degree (BA or higher; if you have more than one qualification only one certificate is needed)

TEFL certificate or higher certification in EFL/ESL (again we only need one)

Police Clearance Certificate/ Criminal Record Search (PCC/ CRS) from the relevant agency in the home country of the applicant

It's advisable for applicants to contact the relevant authorities in their home country, apply for and obtain the PCC/ CRS before leaving for Viet Nam, or arrange to have it sent to Viet Nam once ready. In addition to this, an application for a work permit must include a health check certificate - (organized by ILA staff) - and other documents that will allow the applicant to get their legal status in Viet Nam approved. Apart from providing your original certificates and going for a medical check-up, nearly everything else is completed for you.

http://www.ilavietnam.com/careers/#academic

Korean Immigration doesn't require a TEFL certificate - and only recently has been thinking about making every teacher do a Police check...

seems Korea is far behind South-East Asia in employing English teachers...

[regicide]

[Jizzo T. Clown]