| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
|
 Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 12:49 pm Post subject: ESL in Korea and saving money compared to elsewhere |
 |
|
Is there anywhere in the world where it's easier to save money in casual ESL work than Korea? Start-up cost in Japan makes a yearlong stint not worth it, despite the better quality of life. Not sure about Taiwan. The Gulf emirates require advanced certification.
It's been a while since I was in the ESL world - is Korea still the best bet for a yearlong break? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
wishfullthinkng
Joined: 05 Mar 2010
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:20 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Who says the quality of life in Japan is better? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 1:27 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| wishfullthinkng wrote: |
| Who says the quality of life in Japan is better? |
I do. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 2:52 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Felix you may say quality of life is better in Japan and that is your opinion. That however does not make it a universal fact that is valid for everyone now does it? 
As for savings, it would depend on your qualifications and the type of job you can get along with the visa type, housing situation and so on... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 3:56 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I don't know about you (or your specific qualifications) but I am sitting in Thailand right now earning about the same salary that I was getting in Korea (better actually now with the falling won - equivalent to ~2.3 million won per month) and with a much lower cost of living and higher savings ratio.
Start-up costs were about $500 plus the airfare to get here.
Housing is a (non-shared) 3 bedroom house.
Utility costs (with aircon) are about $100 per month.
Work load is m-f, 8-4 with 1 hour lunch break and 20 classes per week.
3 months of paid vacation (March, April and Oct).
The only disadvantage is that I am 5 hours away (by bus) from the beaches.
China has some decent paying (8000-12000rmb) jobs as well in EFL/ESL and often include housing, airfare allowance and decent vacation time.
If you have some qualifications (beyond the BA) and experience you can do very well in places other than Korea.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Space Cowboy
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Location: On the blessed hellride
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 7:14 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| ttompatz wrote: |
| I don't know about you (or your specific qualifications) but I am sitting in Thailand right now earning about the same salary that I was getting in Korea (better actually now with the falling won - equivalent to ~2.3 million won per month) and with a much lower cost of living and higher savings ratio. |
I would love to hear a little more about your position. I just finished my MA-TESOL, and would probably be qualified for a position like that at some point. Are you teaching through a private company or through a university? From what I had previously understood, most uni positions in Thailand paid in the 900-1200 USD/month range, even in Bangkok. Do you find that this is inaccurate? How does your income stack up against that of other instructors in similar positions in Thailand?
Hope I didn't go overboard with the questions.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Tue May 25, 2010 8:04 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Space Cowboy wrote: |
| ttompatz wrote: |
| I don't know about you (or your specific qualifications) but I am sitting in Thailand right now earning about the same salary that I was getting in Korea (better actually now with the falling won - equivalent to ~2.3 million won per month) and with a much lower cost of living and higher savings ratio. |
I would love to hear a little more about your position. I just finished my MA-TESOL, and would probably be qualified for a position like that at some point. Are you teaching through a private company or through a university? From what I had previously understood, most uni positions in Thailand paid in the 900-1200 USD/month range, even in Bangkok. Do you find that this is inaccurate? How does your income stack up against that of other instructors in similar positions in Thailand?
Hope I didn't go overboard with the questions. |
Entry level jobs (basic BA) start around 30k Baht. (not much saving in BKK but not bad in the provinces). Usually 24-30 classes per week.
Add some experience OR a BA and TESOL cert = go to 40k (22 classes per week)
Add your MATESOL or a BA + TESOL cert + experience and go to 50k
Get a good school or some overtime and go to 60k.
If you are qualified as a subject teacher (rather than just ESL) you can also get salaries in this range.
The HIGH wage jobs are COMPETITIVE but if you have some qualifications and experience and interview well they are not that hard to get.
Mostly you are competing against guys with some experience, maybe a TESOL or CELTA and MAYBE a real BA.
And I am teaching at a (largish) regular school (private) not a language institute. We have about 100 staff in the school.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
|
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Space Cowboy
Joined: 27 Mar 2010
Location: On the blessed hellride
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ttompatz wrote: |
Entry level jobs (basic BA) start around 30k Baht. (not much saving in BKK but not bad in the provinces). Usually 24-30 classes per week.
Add some experience OR a BA and TESOL cert = go to 40k (22 classes per week)
Add your MATESOL or a BA + TESOL cert + experience and go to 50k
Get a good school or some overtime and go to 60k.
If you are qualified as a subject teacher (rather than just ESL) you can also get salaries in this range.
The HIGH wage jobs are COMPETITIVE but if you have some qualifications and experience and interview well they are not that hard to get.
Mostly you are competing against guys with some experience, maybe a TESOL or CELTA and MAYBE a real BA.
And I am teaching at a (largish) regular school (private) not a language institute. We have about 100 staff in the school. |
Thanks for the details! I will have to add this to my list of possible future destinations. Another reason there is no need to resign myself to going directly from Korea to the Middle East.
I will stop hijacking the thread now. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Felix the Cat
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Medell�n
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:36 am Post subject: |
|
|
Hijack away. I'm an immigration lawyer in the States, but highly mobile. I'm building a client base in Colombia and Panama, but there isn't any reason I can't set up somewhere else for a year. (I don't have to appear in court for the immigration clients I take, and everything can be done over the Internet.)
I prefer Colombia to Korea or Japan, but the money just isn't there. Didn't realize you could do so well in Thailand these days. I went there after a Korea-Japan stint about seven years ago, and found it infinitely preferable to northeast Asia. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:43 am Post subject: |
|
|
I just had a peak on the other board (specializing in Thailand) and noticed that there were adds for ECE educators (all subject not just ESL) and the pay was 60k.
There were other jobs listed at 40k + allowances as well as the usual run of basic ESL postings in the 30-40k thb range.
Lots of postings for China in the 8000-10,000 rmb range too.
.
. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ttompatz wrote: |
I don't know about you (or your specific qualifications) but I am sitting in Thailand right now earning about the same salary that I was getting in Korea (better actually now with the falling won - equivalent to ~2.3 million won per month) and with a much lower cost of living and higher savings ratio.
Start-up costs were about $500 plus the airfare to get here.
Housing is a (non-shared) 3 bedroom house.
Utility costs (with aircon) are about $100 per month.
Work load is m-f, 8-4 with 1 hour lunch break and 20 classes per week.
3 months of paid vacation (March, April and Oct).
The only disadvantage is that I am 5 hours away (by bus) from the beaches.
China has some decent paying (8000-12000rmb) jobs as well in EFL/ESL and often include housing, airfare allowance and decent vacation time.
If you have some qualifications (beyond the BA) and experience you can do very well in places other than Korea.
. |
I thought that you were off to the Philippines? Maybe you were just buying property there; can't remember.
I really liked Thailand when I visited. I'm aware that vacationing and living in an area are a lot different. Nevertheless, I've been toying with the idea of moving to Chiang Mai. In August, I'll be finishing up contract number three. Maybe I'll do another three years here and then move on.
I know a foreigner who lives in Thailand. He knows that I have no debt, and I've saved a chunk of change. He's completely baffled as to why I'm still in Korea and not in Thailand. Some days I wonder the same, too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
PatrickGHBusan
Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Location: Busan (1997-2008) Canada 2008 -
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:52 am Post subject: |
|
|
Tom,
Just curious here but has the recent political instability and violence affected your life in Thailand? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 5:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
Although SOME people might have a better quality of life in Korea than Japan, I haven't seen any professional assessments of worldwide quality of life rate Korea higher than Japan. I've never even seen it come close.
|
Those quality of life tables are a joke in my opinion. Ireland at number one? Everywhere you go in the world you see far greater numbers of Irish people living abroad per head of their population because so many people want to leave the place. If you live outside Dublin on the West coast, for example, you can expect whole summers when it rains everyday, no decent night life, inflated prices on alcohol and food, much less choice in the shops compared to the UK, one type of beer in every pub (what if you don't like Guiness) poor infrastructure, crazy housing legislation that makes it cheaper to pull down nice looking old houses and build ugly new ones,more political corruption than in the UK even and a church with far more power then it should have. And all that was before the big economic slump which has made things even worse. And who the hell wants to live in Luxembourg? Never, ever being able to suppoort your team in a world cup!
Last edited by edwardcatflap on Wed May 26, 2010 6:01 am; edited 1 time in total |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ttompatz
Joined: 05 Sep 2005
Location: Kwangju, South Korea
|
| Posted: Wed May 26, 2010 6:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
Tom,
Just curious here but has the recent political instability and violence affected your life in Thailand? |
Nope... not at all... people here were more concerned about shoes and backpacks for the start of school.... but I am not in BKK. I am about 90km north west of the city and we had nothing here out of the ordinary.
The resorts in the south (Phuket, Krabi, Phi-Phi, Ko Samui, etc) were all normal (if empty) as well.
Pattaya was affected for 3 days by the curfew from BKK but life there is back to normal too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
