Korean Job Discussion Forums

[asmith]

There really is no recovery coming.

After Christmas, the won will start to unravel. Somebody has to buy all the stuff that Koreans make. They will devalue the currency in the hopes of selling their exports.

The won will go off the cliff. Teachers will flee. Then we'll have another shortage.

[DCJames]

[Cheonmunka]

Commodities are still mostly paid for in USD's.
I think there are a lot of implications in that - every country in the World is tied to the dollar in many ways. Surely there won't be a sudden sell-off. But, the US is buying other currencies. They already flooded NZ with 13 big ones - a large % of the GDP of NZ.

So New Zealanders are putting up with x-rates very similar to during the IMF period. And, this has already become a longer period than the few months of x-rate pressure between 1997 Nov and '98 March.
Simply because of foreign investment giving easy borrowing and an inflated sense of self-worth.

[asmith]

[runthegauntlet]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[asmith]

[bigclanger3]

I get it. He's one of these guys who always has to have the last word. Apologies to the OP but I can be a stubborn w*nker too.
asmith - GO AWAY!

[Mr_Bacon]

Wow.

Somewhere between page 2 and here, I literally forgot that this was my thread. Some of you stayed on point, some others...not so much.

Someone definitely should sticky a Crier of the Apocalypse thread. That, or let him see his own reflection in a pond. He will be so utterly captivated by his own arguments that he'll pull a Narcissus and just debate himself forever.

In other words, if you want to discuss economic catastrophes, then GTFO my thread(s). That goes for everyone.

Now, there was a part 2 to my OP that is still unanswered re: alternative countries to go to. Have any of you heard good things about Taiwan? I did just a bit of searching, and the site I found told me all of the good, and none of the bad. Any good insights on the pros and cons of Taiwan?

[Bronski]

[Francis-Pax]

[DAC]

I think what will likely happen, if the present trend continues, is that Masters Degrees will be more in demand, and those of us who presently get away with teaching freshman university classes with only Bachelors (like me) will find fewer and fewer jobs that we will be considered for.

I disagree that the quality of teachers will go in the toilet. When I taught adult ESL in Toronto, I found the demands to actually teach much higher than I've found in 9 years in Korea, because in our countries native speakers are literally a dime a dozen, and the bad ones can be replaced more easily. Anonymous student feedback forms (at the adult level) helped to make teachers aware of what students like and don't like. And while what they like and don't like isn't the final word on what should be taught in the classroom, what the teacher thinks should be taught, to the exclusion of what the students are interested in, is a recipe for disaster in any classroom.

As the market becomes saturated, employers will be more likely to get rid of teachers who are only native speakers and don't give a rat's ass about what they teach to their students, as Korean parents will be more aware of what kind of teacher their kids COULD have, and complain about the disparity with their kids' present teacher.

And to put in my 2 cents, asmith, could you lay off? I can appreciate your opinion, and I agree with some of it, but it's only serving to distract both the people looking for assistance, and those who are interested in helping them.