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lovalova
Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: Wherever the girls are
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 Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:43 am Post subject: am i too young |
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| I was wondering if I would be considered too young to teach English in Korea. I will finish my university by the time I am 22 and was wondering if they would consider me too young and inexperienced to teach. Also I live in Australia but I wasn�t born there so English isn�t my first language. Even thought I speak it quite good since I came there as a boy will that be a problem. |
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phaedrus
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: I'm comin' to get ya.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:46 am Post subject: |
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| What citizenship do you have? |
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kprrok
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Location: KC
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:46 am Post subject: |
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You're not too young. But unless you carry an Australian, New Zealand, US, Canadian, S. African, British or Irish passport, you'll have trouble getting the visa.
KPRROK |
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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 3:50 am Post subject: Re: am i too young |
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| lovalova wrote: |
| Even thought I speak it quite good |
Do tell.
Oh, and see my sig for perhaps a more helpful comment. |
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lovalova
Joined: 30 Jun 2004
Location: Wherever the girls are
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:01 am Post subject: |
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I am Australian citizen and have an Australian passport. Oh the thing about visa. I am planning to go to Korea by the end of this year and the travel agency said that I don�t need a tourist visa (I know I need visa to work). I was wondering if other countries have same agreement. This can be helpful as I can come on a tourist visa and take my time in finding a job and then just do a visa run.
Anyways I was just thinking that they might tell me �Oh you are too young to be serious about working in a foreign country.� Or they might tell me that I wasn�t born in Australia so tuff luck. |
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Homer
Guest
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 4:26 am Post subject: |
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Just apply and see where it goes.
As long as you come here to do a good job and do your research prior to leaving and have a valid B.A. you should be able to find a job. |
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phaedrus
Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: I'm comin' to get ya.
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:25 am Post subject: |
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It seems your citizenship and all that checks out, and that you are on your way to your degree.
I guess another valid issue, of no concern to me, but it probably will affect your employability, is the color of your skin. |
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JacktheCat
Joined: 08 May 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 5:41 am Post subject: |
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At 22, you're about average age for an ESl'er here in Korea.
At 30 I am a washed up old man here in Korea. |
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marista99
Joined: 05 Jun 2004
Location: Incheon
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:53 am Post subject: |
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I'd be more worried about English not being your first language than about your age. I'm 22 and I got a zillion job offers, and never once did anyone mention anything about me being young. But they really want native speakers, so if you speak with any kind of accent at all, or they see your birthplace on your passport is another country, you might have trouble. Plus in general Korean employers seem to prefer Americans and Canadians to other nationals, so that may pose a problem for you as well.
But no, you're not too young by any means. |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 7:26 am Post subject: |
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| marista99 wrote: |
| But they really want native speakers, so if you speak with any kind of accent at all, or they see your birthplace on your passport is another country, you might have trouble. |
The accent is an issue only if you are interviewed by a native speaker or a Korean who has spent a lot of time overseas. Koreans who have lived most of their lives in Korea are unlikely to know the difference as long as you enunciate well. A strong Brooklyn NY accent, on the other hand, could be a problem because Koreans have a hard time understanding it, but many non-native English speakers (if they're fluent) have accents that are easy for Koreans to understand.
FYI, everybody speaks with an accent of some kind. There are hundreds of distinct accents within the United States. The Boston area is known for loss of rhoticity. The Flint, MI area is known for insertion of a "y" sound before a long vowel. I'm not going to bore you with more. When a school says it is looking for somebody with a North American accent, they really mean that they want somebody who sounds like Dan Rather or some other U.S. newscaster, which is really a bland U.S. midwestern accent. By the way, Dan Rather worked hard to suppress his Texan accent.
Last edited by prosodic on Fri Jul 02, 2004 11:32 am; edited 2 times in total |
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PEIGUY
Joined: 28 Mar 2004
Location: Omokgyo
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 8:19 am Post subject: |
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| i woudlnt' worry about age, i'm turning 22 in the fall and have a contract signed and have my teaching visa. Like it was mentioned the colour of your skin might matter but i'm sure you will be fine.. |
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prosodic
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
Location: ����
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 8:48 am Post subject: Re: am i too young |
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| lovalova wrote: |
| Even thought I speak it quite good since I came there as a boy will that be a problem. |
Don't take this the wrong way, but you may want to take a class on grammar before you graduate. |
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Falstaff
Joined: 14 Jan 2004
Location: Ansan
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 10:25 am Post subject: |
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| marista99 wrote: |
| But they really want native speakers, so if you speak with any kind of accent at all, or they see your birthplace on your passport is another country, you might have trouble. |
Don't know about this one. My country of birth is listed on my passport, and is most certainly not an English speaking country. Of the many jobs I applied and interviewed for, not one person even questioned or mentioned it.
I moved to the States as a child, but English is my native language. I have a trace of an accent, but it wasn't a problem.
I will echo the statement about skin color, though. |
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marista99
Joined: 05 Jun 2004
Location: Incheon
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 11:23 am Post subject: |
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| Falstaff wrote: |
| marista99 wrote: |
| But they really want native speakers, so if you speak with any kind of accent at all, or they see your birthplace on your passport is another country, you might have trouble. |
Don't know about this one. My country of birth is listed on my passport, and is most certainly not an English speaking country. Of the many jobs I applied and interviewed for, not one person even questioned or mentioned it.
I moved to the States as a child, but English is my native language. I have a trace of an accent, but it wasn't a problem.
I will echo the statement about skin color, though. |
Yeah, you're right...my point mostly was that other factors besides age are much more important. The OP also seems to have a bit of trouble with grammar/usage, so I echo the suggestion of taking a course in that. Although I do see people on this board who supposedly teach English whose grammar, punctuation and spelling suggest that they never made it past junior high...so maybe that doesn't matter either. |
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matthews_world
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Fri Jul 02, 2004 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| JacktheCat wrote: |
| At 22, you're about average age for an ESl'er here in Korea. |
Of course this is a matter of opinion, Jack. I'd say more along the lines of the 24-26 age range. There are many 30 somethings here.
| Quote: |
| At 30 I am a washed up old man here in Korea. |
To each his own, I guess.
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