Korean Job Discussion Forums

[korea.teacher]

Searching sites for teaching in Korea, I came across a a number of web sites, forums and blogs opposed to coming here.

Same old issues.

Anyone read these before coming and think twice or just ignore it as complaining from people who were't prepared and didn't try to adapt?

Sample Web Sites

stopteachingenglishinkorea - introduction
stopteachinginkorea.com/ - Cached
Stop teaching in Korea!Yes, that's the warning posted here to help those considering an overseas teaching assignment in South Korea understand the constant ...

Teach English Abroad - Warning
www.tesol-ua.org/teach-english/korea/warning.htm - Cached
Don't Teach English in South Korea If you're thinking of going overseas to teach English in South Korea, some people say you'd better not. Why not to go.

Teaching English in South Korea
www.eslbase.com/advice/south-korea - Cached
Advice for teaching English, living and working in South Korea. ... I don't recommend this country if you are into serious teaching. South Korea is for those who ...

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Underwaterbob]

I'm all for them. The less people come here, the more my skills will be in demand.

[Who's Your Daddy?]

I read the warning on the U.S. government (state dept.?) site.

[viciousdinosaur]

I don't think there's anything wrong with giving people a warning about this country. It's dog-eat-dog out here. A lot of people take a big chance by coming here and often find themselves in a situation in which they are powerless. There's no support network, aside from Dave's, you're about as far from home as you can get, and usually you're broke. So yeah I think a warning is in order. Give people good information and let them make their own decisions.

In my case my F6 visa gives me some stability. I rent my own apartment. I have a family here. I wouldn't be living in Korea if my life was in the hands of a hagwon director. Some are comfortable with that situation. That's their choice.

[goreality]

It's definitely not Kansas.
But year the less people who come here the better off I am. So beware.

[luckylady]

numbers mean something as well - the more that come, the more that will have a bad experience. because Korea has lower standards, more come here that have little or no experience teaching in other countries. therefore, it doesn't always occur to those who have bad experiences that they might have had similar or even worse experiences elsewhere.

a quick browse over in the international forums will confirm that ESL teachers in general are in a risky profession and that there are plenty of places that screw teachers, don't particularly like foreigners, etc. etc.

I would also opine that there are enough arrogant, self-serving Westerners out there that truly believe because they were screwed, it is their duty to make sure everyone knows about it and do their best not to make others' experience better but rather to keep the status quo as it is and let their own victimhood reign.

[YTMND]

Koreans are the best people to hang out with, but I don't care to work for them. My personal opinion. I would still do it again if I never visited Korea.

[soomin]

It's always a risk, so yeah, people should be prepared and know that they have to stand up for themselves. Some people are still coddled and sheltered and when they come here, by themselves, with no mom and dad to fall back on and little to no support, it's going to be hard.

And of course there are the schools/hagwons that are just so unreasonably ridiculous that no matter how strong someone is, they're making some exit strategies after a week or so.

I started reading this one:

Teach English Abroad - Warning
www.tesol-ua.org/teach-english/korea/warning.htm - Cached

And, umm... that's some interesting English you got there...

"There is a 70% chance that5 being unknown of many juridical details in your very much complicated contract, you may be deceived."

"He was fired because his girlfriend was an afro-American, and his supervisor did not like that of the racists view points."

"The girl had never come there again"

and so on...

I also have the sneaking feeling that "his friend M" and he are the same person...

"The first company M worked for owes me 6,200,000 won (roughly $6000 American dollars)."

"During his second trip to South Korea, the company that fired M refused to pay him the money they owed me for the previous month, even though it was required in their contract to do so. "

>.< Was this guy really an English teacher?

Also... what???

"If you want to travel to South Korea, go right ahead. Indeed, its strongly advisable foe you to volunteer yourself for a contract, and when you're there with your free plane ticket, skip out on them and visit Japan or China instead. If they are going to screw over foreigners, then is nothing wrong with us foreigners screwing over them."

This was an excellent read~ ^.^;;

[Keeper]

I looked at one those sites. It looks similar to many "reviews" of schools done by disgruntled people. I went to one story which was a link to a story about the lack of teaching positions.

Some woman lost her teaching job in the States so she came to Korea. Her Korean contract is not being reviewed so she needs to find work elsewhere. Her quote which stuck out in my mind, �I am happy to be here, and I don�t want to leave.�
Seoul�s English teachers shocked at getting axed
http://koreajoongangdaily.joinsmsn.com/news/article/html/533/2946533.html

The title of the article sounds depressing which is why it was used as a link but it kind of destroys the main concept of don't teach in Korea.

[sml7285]

[iggyb]

I didn't look at any of the sites - but I wonder how old they are?

I've been around here and there on this site and in Korea since 1995.

Korea earned its bad reputation in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I got there just as the hakwons were importing NSETs and just as the Asian economies tanked. The industry was immature and a lot of owners who thought they were going to get rich quick got ruined - and they screwed a lot of expats over.

That was a long time ago, though.

Maybe the current economic problems and loss of some of the public school jobs has brought up some of those old problems. I can't tell how much, because I haven't been reading Dave's diligently to get a feel for how much it looks like back in the bad old days...How frequently people are reporting those old abuses...

My sense is that it is still much better than in the past: Still many stable public school jobs. Still not as many hakwons going bankrupt or just about to. Still higher salaries. Still no shared housing. Still changes in the visas laws. Still have labor boards for whom handling expats is not as foreign to them as it was in the early days....

The big thing is to watch what happens with public school jobs next year after a new administration comes into office: If the hakwons lose that competition, you might see a return to shared housing and lower contracts, and see shady dealings become more common again...

Until then, Korea will remain a good place for people with a college degree but no experience (or training) to come to teach. The money is about right for them but not for people with better qualifications.

With China rising in the ESL market, maybe the loss of public school jobs will not change things in Korea too much...

By 2000, the hakwon market had gotten such a bad reputation, it was harder and harder to recruit people. Before then, it was not too usual to meet expats not from Canada or the US...By then, it was becoming more and more usual to meet people with fake degrees or working without a visa...

[Keeper]

[iggyb]

[iggyb]