Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Sushi]

Korea: Internet Teaching on the Up
Posted by ESL Daily at 9/18/2008 and is filed under ASIA,Korea,Finding ESL employment,esl reform
In a country that is obsessed with English education, a foreign EFL teacher may be hard to find. Long working and school hours, location and high prices to travel to foreign countries have pushed many Koreans to seek other methods of English education. The supper fast internet speed and the comfort of home make a perfect opportunity for an individual to flip on the computer, start up the web cam, put on a head set and have a one on one lesson from a teacher overseas. Reuters reports:

The new service, along with more traditional conversation courses offered by phone, is one of the fastest growing segments in South Korea's private English education industry, which is estimated at 15 trillion won ($13 billion) a year -- almost half of the country's annual education budget.

About 150 to 200 companies are in the market offering phone and Web English tutoring. "Students who are very inexperienced with English may initially find the classes challenging, but within three months, there is a tremendous improvement in most of the students' speaking ability," said Tara McKibben, a phone English tutor who has been teaching over seven years from the United States. - Reuters

South Korea has had phone teaching for ages, however most companies are based within the country, requiring local teachers and numerous offices to run the program. Korean internet speed has exceeded other countries for years; however, only recently have locals turned to internet technology for English. A heads up for EFL teachers, this is a great opportunity for the beginner teacher to gain experience, those that have university during the day in North America (teaching hours are generally in the late evening or early morning), or those wishing to return to their home country but have been out of the work force.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It's been an expensive failure in our school district, though whether that's due to management or just the nature of cyber teaching is hard to tell.

[Juregen]

What will be the difference between phone teaching and internet teaching?

Internet provides image?

[cruisemonkey]