Korean Job Discussion Forums

[stanny]

Hi guys,

I am a non-native English speaker of Chinese ethnicity and I am looking to stay in Korea to do some writing. My novel won't be completing anytime soon and I would need to find means of income. I plan to give private lessons here and there, maybe for 10-15 hours a week just to pay rent, food, etc. I can speak decent Korean as well as I've took lessons before. My first language is English as I mostly stayed in Australia but I do not know anything about teaching English. I will try to get a long term tourist visa though I am not sure how long it last. Maybe I can go to bordering countries to renew it? A full time job for me at this point is not an option.

I understand giving private lessons is illegal, will I be able to stay under the gun? How viable is my plan overall? Cheers.

[Tobias]

I don't know if you'll have much luck. If you're of Chinese heritage, Koreans may view taking lessons from you as a loss-of-face risk. They much prefer white faces giving them lessons, no matter how fluent you are. This is a status thing, of course.

You might do much better in Bangkok working freelance for the English newspapers there.

[Kwangjuchicken]

[oskinny1]

[ytuque]

Are you an Australian citizen? Do you have a degree from an English speaking country? If not, consider getting a student visa which allows you to work up to 20 hours per week. I met a number of Indians here on student visas. They were teaching privates, and they had really heavy accents.

[suadente]

Why don't you teach the dialect of Chinese that you also speak?

The school I work for has two teachers from Beijing, teaching legally.

[stanny]

I am not an Australian citizen however I graduated with a Degree from there. I'm a Malaysian and my Chinese language is really poor. In fact, I hardly speak it at all so I won't be qualified to teach Chinese. I do know how to speak Cantonese which is a major Chinese dialect since the Chinese mostly use that in Kuala Lumpur but I doubt anyone would want to learn that. I also know Malay but that's not too popular, maybe only 20-30 million speakers worldwide so don't think that would be an option as well. My American accent is fairly strong, if that's a plus point. All in all, I am really not looking for a legal full time job as I need to concentrate fully on my novel.

The freelance writing in Bangkok for the English newspaper does sound like a viable choice. But preferably, I rather stay away from Bangkok for the time being. Maybe Chiang Mai would be okay.

[PRagic]

Wow, isn't it interesting how someone can want to come to the 5th most expensive city in the world, and pick up English teaching to foot the bill. The word must be out that Koreans are desparate to improve their English.

Go for it, and let us know how it works out.

[gojulie]

We have a Chinese freelance teacher at my school too. She is ethnic Chinese and comes in for about an hour a week for the kids. Many also learn on the side, so you may be able to find some work teaching and tutoring Chinese if you have no luck with English.

Good luck.