Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kuval]

Hello,

I begin working as an EFL teacher in 2 weeks in a school south of Seoul, and I had a thought. I thought to myself, "I'm probably going to do some really dumb things (or things that appear dumb to Koreans) in my attempts to learn their culture." Then I thought, "Wouldn't it be great if I could avoid that?"

So, I'm sure many of you were in this situation before. I was wondering if you could share something with me that you wish you knew before your plane touched down in Korea.

I'm sure this thread will contain many comical stories, and hopefully much help for teachers.

Thanks,
Dave

[laynamarya]

I wish I'd known that addresses mean nothing to taxi drivers. When you get into a cab, you'd better know the gu, the dong, and a couple of good landmarks. Otherwise, bring a Korean friend or take the subway.

Also, I wish I'd known I wasn't going to go back home. I would've tied up loose ends a bit better.

[Flashcard_Queen]

한글 (Hangeul), big time. During my first two years, I didn't make an effort to learn it. Nor did I make much of an effort to learn basic phrases or important words that would help me day-to-day and with teaching.

Prior to coming back for my third year, I finally decided to commit the Korean alphabet to memory. I still kick myself for not doing it sooner. I sat down, and it honestly took me about three hours over the course of one afternoon and evening to sort it out. I started by doing a google search and ended up looking a number of websites.

I still had a lot to learn after that, and a few sounds to really figure out, but it came pretty easily with extra practice. I'm amazed that I managed to get by as well as I did those first two years without knowing Hangeul, but there's no doubt that life has been much better since then, and my Korean continues to improve daily.

[byrddogs]

Don't let your co-workers take you out and get you smashed in the first couple of days and drop you off "near" your house. Everything looks the same at night.

[Flashcard_Queen]

[JustinC]

I knew it already before I came to Korea but you're not here yet so I'm digressing. To a noob I'd advise don't criticize anything you see until you've thought really carefully about it.

First try to really understand why the actions you've seen offend you, why they might not offend Koreans, where the difference lies, if those actions will really affect your life, who has been here for a while (a year or two) and are not bothered by them, when you should actually bring them up, what it is specifically about those actions that annoy you, where it happens the most, when you get the most tired, who you take it out on, why you act differently to back home.

Once you can answer all of those questions you can complain and give a reasonable argument.

[PatrickGHBusan]

한글 (Hangeul) for sure, even at a basic level!

[madoka]

[lithium]

[dairyairy]

I wish I had known that the ESL field had so many liars and backstabbers, and that includes owners, recruiters, and, worst of all, fellow teachers. So many fellow teachers were backstabbing losers with no idea how to do their jobs but suddenly geniuses when it came to playing office politics. Work alone.

[newb]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

Kindness is seen as weakness here, sometimes you have to be a pr1ck to get treated well.

[creeper1]

Take off your shoes before entering an apartment.

[ajosshi]

[Pablo]