Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Zackback]

Ok so here's what happening with me lately.

My lady friend has big plans. She wants to teach in Korea with me but I told her she can just go there with me (we'd have to get married first) because they won't let her teach there in light of the fact that she is from the Philippines.
I'm from the USA.

Can someone tell me what's up with this?- I mean in terms of her teaching. I know if we tie the knot she can go with me to Korea but could she ever legally teach? I don't want to even bother about illegal stuff. I know better.
She has her B.A. and will take the test to get certified. I think it's called the LET exam here. Having her B.A. and if she gets certified could she legally teach there?

If she had an M.A. with certification could she legally teach there?
If she had a Ph.D. with certification could she legally teach there?

I told her I didn't think it was AT ALL POSSIBLE but man alive she has been badgering me about this non-stop.

Someone please help.

[ttompatz]

Degree in Education (not just a common BA or "education credits"), PROOF of English competency (IELTS, TOEIC, etc) LET (Licensing Exam for Teachers - professional teacher's license) and 2 years experience (g1-12) at home and she could at least try for an E7 job in an international school (she is still competing with native speakers with comparable qualifications for the same jobs).

There is NO HOPE for legal work on an E2 or F3.

Lots of work in the DDD sector as a factory worker or she could get an entertainer's visa and work in a bar.

Go to Thailand or China.
Degree, TOEIC/IELTS, TEFL (for China) and a police clearance and she is good to go for legal work. Hiring time is now in SE Asia.

Starting salaries in the 20-25k pesos for her.
Double that for you. Lots of opportunities for extra work as well.
Between the two of you, you should be able to pull in a combined US$3000, save 70% of that and still have 6-10 weeks of annual vacation time to spend it on.

.

.

[Dodge7]

Ttom never ceases to amaze me with his knowledge about this stuff.

[Malislamusrex]

If she had a PhD or MA with experience she could get an E1 Visa. I know a lot of Chinese, Russian, Japanese, German university lecturers.

[Zackback]

Even if (when?) she had an MA (with experience) I'm not sure they would want to hire her. The different nationalities you mentioned most likely teach their native language. I don't think there is a strong enough need to learn Tagalog in Korea. Do you? (Just curious).

Thanks

[ttompatz]

[12ax7]

[Kepler]

I met quite a few Filipinos teaching English in Vietnam. The pay isn't bad- $15-20 an hour at the language institutes there. I've also heard that a lot of Filipinos go to China to teach English.

[drcrazy]

There are quite a few Filipinos who are teaching English in Universities in Korea. They all, I believe, have an MA is something and the ones that I have met had E-1 Visas.

[drcrazy]

http://www.buhaykorea.com/2008/08/14/filipino-english-teachers-in-korea/


26,000 or 500,000?
by Betchay on August 14, 2008

I�ve noticed that I haven�t posted anything really substantial about life here for the past two or three weeks. I�ve been busy �studying.� We have homeworks every meeting and tons of readings as well. Korean students are quite competitive and I wouldn�t want to embarrass myself by coming to class unprepared.

Anyway, the �Midnightrunner� posted an interview of Dr. Paul Robertson (a non-Korean hagwon-owner) and one of the things he said is that the Korean government will soon open its doors to 26,000 Filipino English teachers next year. One reason is probably because of the 300,000 Koreans studying (and spending money) in the Philippines. It is expected that about 500,000 Koreans would travel next year to study there.

I used to think that Korea should open its doors to Filipino English teachers. Learning that there are now hundreds of thousands of Koreans spending their money in my home country is making me change my opinion. However, it�s ridiculous how much the Filipinos (based on Dr. Robertson�s interview) are being paid. Paid blogging is a lot more lucrative. Would it be better for the Philippines if 26,000 Filipino teachers could come here to teach? Or would it be more economically beneficial if 500,000 Koreans would go there to study (and spend money)?

[ttompatz]

That was an interesting proposition when it first came up about a decade ago and every time I have heard it since then.

The cost savings to the average Korean by importing and using Filipino teachers to Korea as compared to using native speakers is negligible.

My reasons are:
The airfare, housing and sunk costs are similar to those of native speakers.

The savings on wages by employers would also be minimal (on the order of only 20-25%) since the cost of living in Korea is largely the same for Filipinos and native speakers.

Verification of English proficiency IS an issue for Filipino teachers. Over the last 3 years I have interviewed some 300+ teacher applicants from the Philippines and fully more than 50% were unable to write a paragraph in English to an acceptable standard or were unable to obtain even a basic proficiency score of 600 on a TOEIC or similar test.

The benefits to the Philippines with Koreans going south are much more substantial and the costs for Koreans are pretty much on par with what they are studying in Korea. While English proficiency is an issue at least they can attempt to function in something like an immersion type of environment on a daily basis.

Costs, for those who figure out how to get out from under the "agency" that sent them down, drop substantially and the majority can do very well on 750k won per month including 40 hours per week with a private language coach and a nice condominium (instead of a dorm style room).

.

[I-am-me]

The only filipino teachers I know of used to work as bar girls and then married Koreans. Aside from that, chances are pretty much zero. Tompaz is right; go to China!

[Brooks]

They can get work in Japan. That is one reason why wages have decreased there.
Some Philappinas are not so good at oral skills, but compared to some Japanese, they are.
It seems that lots of Philappinas work at elementary schools.

In the past there were natives making 250,000 but now there are Philapinas getting paid 170,000 yen.

[alongway]