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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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 Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:42 pm Post subject: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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Is there one?
Anyone ever read an article that shows a higher English ability = higher salary? |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
Is there one?
Anyone ever read an article that shows a higher English ability = higher salary? |
No, but the guy at the 7-11 down the street speaks excellent English as does the man and daughter who own the local PC Bang by my house. I wish the people at Immigration spoke English that well. |
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Cracker006
Joined: 11 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:56 pm Post subject: |
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It probably will eventually, but at the moment most people who are experts in some field, (chemistry, development etc) didn't spend their evenings studying english.
I think at entry level positions now you've got to have some english ability |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 4:59 pm Post subject: |
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Oh, I thought the question referred to ESL teachers...
There is of course a correlation but only indirect. It depends on factors such as whether English is a critical job skill for a particular position and of course on the "supply", i.e. the number of potential candidates who have this skill.
Doors may open to more lucrative positions such as overseas assignments with expat privileges which may also result in a more rapid rise in the company hierarchy, or moving from domestic to international sales/customer relationship positions.
The same can be said for any particular language in demand such as Chinese, Japanese, Finnish... or any particular marketable job skill.
Depending on what you do, English might also be as useful as an 11th toe. I wouldn't be surprised if some of the wealthiest people in Korea have no foreign language skills whatsoever. |
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eamo
Joined: 08 Mar 2003
Location: Shepherd's Bush, 1964.
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 5:11 pm Post subject: |
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Apart from the TOEIC requirements of the big boys like Samsung and LG, I think many younger Koreans have their eye on working for foreign-owned companies.......
The perks are good. Pay is better. Hours are usually shorter, well shorter than say, Samsung.
Contracts are respected (well, more than a Korean-owned company anyway.)
Promotion to an office in a foreign city is always possible (a lot of Koreans would like to escape their family responsibilities for awhile and try out a different country).
And they actually don't mind if their workers take their vacations!!
You need a decent level of English to get a job in a foreign-owned company. |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:32 pm Post subject: |
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| eamo wrote: |
Apart from the TOEIC requirements of the big boys like Samsung and LG, I think many younger Koreans have their eye on working for foreign-owned companies.......
The perks are good. Pay is better. Hours are usually shorter, well shorter than say, Samsung.
Contracts are respected (well, more than a Korean-owned company anyway.)
Promotion to an office in a foreign city is always possible (a lot of Koreans would like to escape their family responsibilities for awhile and try out a different country).
And they actually don't mind if their workers take their vacations!!
You need a decent level of English to get a job in a foreign-owned company. |
In some countries in Asia my company pays up to 10 times the rate the local companies pay. But we're talking "industrial averages" of 100-200 USD a month here. Still even a "modest" increase of 50-100% plus the other incentives you mention make it worth to learn the language even at your own expense.
This won't last forever though. |
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sistersarah
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Location: hiding out
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 6:38 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
Is there one?
Anyone ever read an article that shows a higher English ability = higher salary? |
No, but the guy at the 7-11 down the street speaks excellent English as does the man and daughter who own the local PC Bang by my house. I wish the people at Immigration spoke English that well. |
Exactly. They guy at the stationery store can carry on a conversation quite comfortably with me. I met a taxi driver who spoke surprisingly good English not long ago. I go into a bank and people are uncomfortable serving me.
My husband's English is excellent and it has not helped him further his career at all. He worked in trade for a huge company and all it got him was a bigger pile of work .... "Hey buddy, can you translate this presentation for me?" "I have some foreign clients coming tomorrow; can you come out with us?" "Here's a document I need translated by Monday." 
But then again, he's from a poor family and went to a shitty university, so..... |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:13 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| sistersarah wrote: |
| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
Is there one?
Anyone ever read an article that shows a higher English ability = higher salary? |
No, but the guy at the 7-11 down the street speaks excellent English as does the man and daughter who own the local PC Bang by my house. I wish the people at Immigration spoke English that well. |
Exactly. They guy at the stationery store can carry on a conversation quite comfortably with me. I met a taxi driver who spoke surprisingly good English not long ago. I go into a bank and people are uncomfortable serving me.
My husband's English is excellent and it has not helped him further his career at all. He worked in trade for a huge company and all it got him was a bigger pile of work .... "Hey buddy, can you translate this presentation for me?" "I have some foreign clients coming tomorrow; can you come out with us?" "Here's a document I need translated by Monday."
But then again, he's from a poor family and went to a shitty university, so..... |
Interesting, I also met one taxi driver and a convenience store owner who were both extremely fluent in English. The taxi driver told me he was also running a business in China but temporarily closed down due to the Olympic games (his business is a major polluter in the area). The shop owner has been around the World and is at retirement age, so perhaps this is something he does to keep himself occupied after his first work life?
The language problem is found in other countries as well, for example it is my impression that the immigration office in Bangkok hires only non-English speakers, maybe because their main clientele consists of only foreigners? Never figured that one out. Malaysia on the other hand... |
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Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Anyone ever read an article that shows a higher English ability = higher salary? |
Not for FTs, that's for sure. |
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Countrygirl
Joined: 19 Nov 2007
Location: in the classroom
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 8:14 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| sistersarah wrote: |
My husband's English is excellent and it has not helped him further his career at all. He worked in trade for a huge company and all it got him was a bigger pile of work .... "Hey buddy, can you translate this presentation for me?" "I have some foreign clients coming tomorrow; can you come out with us?" "Here's a document I need translated by Monday."
But then again, he's from a poor family and went to a shitty university, so..... |
Same here. We came from Canada thinking that a foreign education and being fluent in English would open some doors from my husband. But it turns out that he is 5 years too old for the positions that he can apply for. 
By the way, what is with all the old guys who can speak English well? They are always stopping us on the subway and speaking with my kids. Those that talk to us are fairly fluent and don't have the horrible Korean accent my students have, so I'm sure that they spoke English a lot when they did speak English. My theory is that they fought with the American GI's during the Korean war. |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:09 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| Countrygirl wrote: |
| They are always stopping us on the subway and speaking with my kids. Those that talk to us are fairly fluent and don't have the horrible Korean accent my students have, so I'm sure that they spoke English a lot when they did speak English. My theory is that they fought with the American GI's during the Korean war. |
Exactly. I've asked a few older Koreans about how they learned their English back when there wasn't much of a drive for it. Of those that I asked, a few told me they worked closely with the US military at one point.
I bet it's also possible that many elderly studied English in a school owned by foreign missionaries when they were children. |
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sistersarah
Joined: 03 Jan 2004
Location: hiding out
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:30 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| Countrygirl wrote: |
| sistersarah wrote: |
My husband's English is excellent and it has not helped him further his career at all. He worked in trade for a huge company and all it got him was a bigger pile of work .... "Hey buddy, can you translate this presentation for me?" "I have some foreign clients coming tomorrow; can you come out with us?" "Here's a document I need translated by Monday."
But then again, he's from a poor family and went to a shitty university, so..... |
Same here. We came from Canada thinking that a foreign education and being fluent in English would open some doors from my husband. But it turns out that he is 5 years too old for the positions that he can apply for.
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Here too! There's a damn cut-off age for most jobs, something like 29 or 30. Also, most jobs require test scores to prove you can speak English (like that proves anything!!). Since DH never took any tests, no one believes him -- well at least until they see him speaking with me or a foriegn friend and then their jaws hit the floor. They usually then suggest opening a hakwon together.  |
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orosee
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
Location: Hannam-dong, Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 9:44 pm Post subject: Re: Correlation between English ability and salary? |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
| Countrygirl wrote: |
| They are always stopping us on the subway and speaking with my kids. Those that talk to us are fairly fluent and don't have the horrible Korean accent my students have, so I'm sure that they spoke English a lot when they did speak English. My theory is that they fought with the American GI's during the Korean war. |
Exactly. I've asked a few older Koreans about how they learned their English back when there wasn't much of a drive for it. Of those that I asked, a few told me they worked closely with the US military at one point.
I bet it's also possible that many elderly studied English in a school owned by foreign missionaries when they were children. |
Interesting. This reminds me of Viet Nam where the foreign language spoken can be assigned almost directly to a historic period in VN's recent past. Old people to 50 yo speak fluent French learned under French colonial rule and in French private schools which operated until the 1970's. Then there's the range of those who worked closely with the US military advisors (ahem), usually also older since they were military age males. After that, mostly Russian as a SL and now English again. And since the communist rule came with a massive social upheaval, you'd find those with excellent language knowledge often in very basic jobs or even begging (no post-revolutionary merits for those who supported the enemy).
The US must also have sponsored at least some Koreans to study in America, if only for military education. Plus I would imagine (though not know) that the US and English were widely popular then, after liberation from Japan and fighting the Reds back to the North. |
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Jandar
Joined: 11 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Mon Sep 08, 2008 10:28 pm Post subject: |
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US trained K.A.T.U.S.A soldiers are usually well spoken with English, though heavily accented. the Acronym stands for Korean Augmentation Troops to the United States Army. If you ever meet an older one in a bar they will talk your ear off.
Some of them made it stateside for training, but, had abject social lifes sue to the relatively low pay. It's unfortunate that they had little off base time while stationed stateside.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KATUSA |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Tue Sep 09, 2008 12:13 am Post subject: |
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| In the public sector and large corporations higher test scores can help with getting employment and promotions. For academy teachers having higher scores means you can command a higher salary (so does having lived abroad). For the one job where it should matter the most, being a public school English teacher, it matters the least. |
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