Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cmr]

A couple of years ago... maybe more like many years ago actually, I had a friend from Quebec who taught English in the same hagwon where I was. Her mother tongue was French, but she was a certified English teacher in Canada.

Anyway, I was offered a job not long ago and thought I would pass it on to her since she mentioned in previous emails she'd like to come back to Korea, but I was told that she wouldn't be able to get a visa because she's from Quebec. Anyone knows if that's true? Anyone knows any French from Quebec teaching English in Korea?

[ckub]

Hey! I'm actually a francophone from Ontario, but I do know some Quebecois who are here teaching. Basically, it doesn't matter where you're from, as long as you studied at an English University (McGill or the one in Lennoxville) or elsewhere, that's the only thing they're looking for. So if you friend attended L'Universit� de Montr�al ou Universit� Laval, no, she will not be able to get her visa, even if she's perfectly bilingual.

Good luck to your friend!

[ciccone_youth]

yup, like ckub said, it's okay only if you have a degree from an English university.

[Harpeau]

[ciccone_youth]

They also say that English must be your mother tongue, so definitely make sure you answer that question right at the consulate interview. My mother tongue is French although I grew up learning both (my father is anglo). I have a slight French accent but the Korean consul definitely did not notice at all. Koreans cannot tell at all.

[Bagpipes11]

I grew up in Labrador, so our territories are side by each!

[cmr]

Thank you all for the quick replies/anwers.

As for my friend... she went to "Universite de Sherbrooke".

[carrotpatchkid]

It actually doesn't matter if English isn't her first language. As long as you began learning English as late as Grade 6 you're considered a native speaker.

[ciccone_youth]

really? i didn't know that, that scared me for the interview, although i told them that i went to French elementary school.

unfortunately, with a Bachelor's from U de Sherbrooke, she won't get the visa

[Geckoman]

Of the Canadian English teachers, you are less likely to find an English teacher from Quebec because Korean Immigration does not accept the degrees earned from Quebec colleges to get your English teacher visa.

If it's a degree earned in Anglophone Canada there is no problem but degrees from Francophone Canada are not accepted. The justification for this policy is that a person who graduated from a college in Quebec is not a native English speaker.

As for Puerto Rico, the American territory where the people speak Spanish as their first language, I've never heard of such a policy of not accepting degrees from Puerto Rican colleges.

I've heard it said that with the southwestern U.S. mainland having so many residents who only know Spanish, and continuing to get more residents who only know Spanish, soon the US will have a "Quebec" and the southwestern part of the U.S. will be America's "Quebec."

But America already has a "Quebec." America has a had a "Quebec" for over a 100 years. That "Quebec" is "Puerto Rico."

Puerto Rico, like the other four U.S. territories -- Guam, Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan is their largest island), U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa -- are almost always ignored by the national media and so your average American usually forgets they even exist, even though they are just as much a part of the U.S.A. as any state.

[ckub]

[quote="carrotpatchkid"]It actually doesn't matter if English isn't her first language. As long as you began learning English as late as Grade 6 you're considered a native speaker.[/quote]

Actually, I went to primary school and high school in French, and I my degree is in French Studies, and I had no problem getting my visa, even if I do have an accent. Yes, good thing I didn't know this before, I would have been stressed!

[Paddycakes]

[ciccone_youth]

hahaha good one!!!

[cmr]

[Adventurer]

[quote="Geckoman"]Of the Canadian English teachers, you are less likely to find an English teacher from Quebec because Korean Immigration does not accept the degrees earned from Quebec colleges to get your English teacher visa.

If it's a degree earned in Anglophone Canada there is no problem but degrees from Francophone Canada are not accepted. The justification for this policy is that a person who graduated from a college in Quebec is not a native English speaker.

quote]

Actually, my degree is from Quebec, but it is from an English university in Montreal. If you got your degree from either McGill or Concordia then you are fine. As far as the Universite de Sherbrooke ca peut etre un probleme pour la personne qui cherche un emploi. Perhaps, if most of the coursework was in English at a French institution then it might be okay. However, I am not sure. This would even hurt anglophones who studied at a French university. Also, if you are from England, Canada, or America and you studied at a Korean university and teaching English than you are illegal as far as I know. At least, that's what I heard.