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kimchipig
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Mon Sep 27, 2010 8:13 am Post subject: |
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| liveinkorea316 wrote: |
| kimchipig wrote: |
| plato's republic wrote: |
There's a clear correlation here between the state of the Japanese economy and the decline of TEFL in Japan. Once the Japanese economy tanked in the early 90's, the amount of people who could afford to pay the high fees associated with studying at a private language institute also began to gradually decline. Fast forward roughly two decades and now we're starting to see the death of TEFL in Japan. There'll still be a market for learning English in Japan, but just not on the same scale as twenty to thirty years ago.
Regarding the 'cool' aspect of studying English among Japanese, I would agree with that to a degree, however, having taught in Japan for three years I found that a majority of my adult students were studying the language not because it was the cool thing to do, but for reasons such as travel, business, overseas study etc.
Now, if the Korean economy were to tank on the same scale as what happened in Japan, and for a sustained period, it wouldn't surprise me to see the vast majority of mom'n'pop hagwons go bust overnight and perhaps a few larger chains as well. If that were to happen, we might find ourselves talking about the death of TEFL in Korea. For as long as the Korean economy continues to purr along, and while parents can still afford to send their kids to private institutes, there'll still be a large market for TEFL in the ROK. |
The Korean economy tanked on an even larger scale in 1997 than the Japanese economy tanked in 1992. There was nary a bank left. The entire economy of Korea stopped dead. The exchange rate went from W800 to a US dollar to W2000 almost overnight. It has never recovered. The levels of spending on English lessons now pales in comparison to pre-1997 levels. Real salaries for ESL teachers are a fraction of what they were before the crash. In 1996 I was saving C$2300 a month and living high off the hog. Korea has never recovered to the level it was. There is simply too much competition from China for most of the stuff Korea made and still makes.
I have been in ESL business for eighteen years and I have seen the trends. ESL in Korea reached its pinnacle circa 1996 and it has been a gradual decline since then. Japan peaked in the late 1980s. China is still on the rise and will be for the foreseeable future.
Fact is, if you want to make money, China is much better. Yes, living in China presents certain challenges, but living in Korea in 1994 wasn't exactly easy, either. Yes, there is xenophobia in China. In fact, it was much worse in Korea fifteen years ago than it is now. However, a fat payday makes it much easier to swallow. Also, from my standpoint, China is much easier for me, anyway, due to the support of a wife, friends and in-laws. |
How long have you been away from Korea? Sounds like years at least. Things are still humming along here. Oh, and in case you were still unaware, Korea is not Japan. Don't be confused because they look similar, or are close in proximity. There are enough differences between the countries to make the "Oh Japan did this so Korea will too" statements sound silly.
Japan started WW2 in the Pacific. Korea was clobbered by Japan during that time.
There is one huge difference. The people are different. Governments different. Korea has a President. Christianity is very popular in Korea, not so in Japan. Japan is a mature economy with a per capita GDP in the region of $US44,000 per annum while Korea's is less than half that.
I think there are decades lesft in the Korean ESL scene...maybe more. |
I am glad you are having a good experience in Korea. But you don't have anything to compare to. If making money is your goal, Korea is not remotely as good as it was 15 years ago. Not even close to what we made in 1995 or even in 2000. I can see the salaries posted on Dave's and I saw the cost of living in Seoul what I was there this year. I have seen the deterioration in contracts being offered. The bit about Korea being clobbered and Christianity I don't quite get and Korean Christians are, ahem, rather unique.....
Having lived in both Korea and Japan, the similarities are huge, more than the difference in many ways. China, is, however, a completely different ball game. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 4:34 pm Post subject: |
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| kimchipig wrote: |
Having lived in both Korea and Japan, the similarities are huge, more than the difference in many ways. China, is, however, a completely different ball game. |
Can you describe these differences in detail? Because almost every other post I see on Daves claims that the two are strikingly different.... |
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kimchipig
Joined: 07 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 8:33 am Post subject: |
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| shostahoosier wrote: |
| kimchipig wrote: |
Having lived in both Korea and Japan, the similarities are huge, more than the difference in many ways. China, is, however, a completely different ball game. |
Can you describe these differences in detail? Because almost every other post I see on Daves claims that the two are strikingly different.... |
The company work environment is practically the same. The banking system is identical. The way people do business is the same in many ways.
Japan is, however, much more developed. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 9:12 pm Post subject: |
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| kimchipig wrote: |
| shostahoosier wrote: |
| kimchipig wrote: |
Having lived in both Korea and Japan, the similarities are huge, more than the difference in many ways. China, is, however, a completely different ball game. |
Can you describe these differences in detail? Because almost every other post I see on Daves claims that the two are strikingly different.... |
The company work environment is practically the same. The banking system is identical. The way people do business is the same in many ways.
Japan is, however, much more developed. |
Ok...well you have business down...how about the other 90%? |
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Hotwire
Joined: 29 Aug 2010
Location: Multiverse
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Japen the very bad people not kind or gentleman and past very badly to Korea. |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 10:39 pm Post subject: |
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| Hotwire wrote: |
| Japen the very bad people not kind or gentleman and past very badly to Korea. |
lol |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:17 am Post subject: |
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| kimchipig wrote: |
| I was getting 300 yuan per hour teaching privates |
Sorry to bump and old thread but I'm really curious about this. That's $50 an hour! Are privates still paying that much? (Is it common to get such a high hourly rate?) What's the cost of living like in China (generally speaking)? Slightly lower than Korea? |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 12, 2014 5:19 am Post subject: |
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| kimchipig wrote: |
| I was getting 300 yuan per hour teaching privates |
Sorry to bump and old thread but I'm really curious about this. That's $50 an hour! (The typical going rate for privates in Korea has fallen well below that.) Are privates still paying that much? (Is it common to get such a high hourly rate?) What's the cost of living like in China (generally speaking)? Slightly lower than Korea? |
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cdninkorea
Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Feb 13, 2014 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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| World Traveler wrote: |
| kimchipig wrote: |
| I was getting 300 yuan per hour teaching privates |
Sorry to bump and old thread but I'm really curious about this. That's $50 an hour! (The typical going rate for privates in Korea has fallen well below that.) Are privates still paying that much? (Is it common to get such a high hourly rate?) What's the cost of living like in China (generally speaking)? Slightly lower than Korea? |
Why don't you ask this in the China forum? I'm not being snarky; it's a genuine question. It seems to me that you'll get more information there. |
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Stan Rogers
Joined: 20 Aug 2010
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| Posted: Fri Feb 14, 2014 12:44 am Post subject: |
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| PatrickGHBusan wrote: |
Epik, you forgot to include floods, quakes, famine, plague and four horsemen riding in.
About the Ops questions, what is happening in Japan may happen in Korea but as Tom pointed out, the system is set up differently and therefore less vulnerable in the way Japan's industry is. |
You forgot about volcanoes! Everybody forgets about the volcanoes. |
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World Traveler
Joined: 29 May 2009
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| Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 4:46 am Post subject: |
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| cdninkorea wrote: |
| Why don't you ask this in the China forum? |
One must register to get another separate account to post there. Takes days to be approved.
Interesting post I saw:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/viewtopic.php?t=105728
$75 an hour in China?
It's a lot!
(I wonder what quals that guy has; how he got that job) |
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