Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tjg_marantz]

Hello to everyone,
I have been reading the boards here for a week or so, absorbing the tremendous amount of information that is available. I do have some questions lingering though.

A little background first. I am 30, I am not university degree. I was born in Quebec and my native tongue is french although I am perfectly bilingual, no accent whatsoever. My wife is 29, she graduated from U of R (Regina) with a Bachelors in Education. Neither of us has TESL certification of any kind.

Here are my qestions:

1. With her Bachelors, does she need a certificate as well or is a Bachelors sufficient. She has experience teaching as well.

2. Can she apply to University positions or will her Bachelors only get her in the door for 'regular' positions? Or does she need some certification for those jobs?

3. Will the Korean government recognize online degrees that you can send away for? In the 500$, wait 10 days and voila type. I am not going to link to the online university as I am not sure if this is frowned upon or not. This seems to be the 'easiest' way of getting a Bachelors but I know it's a cheap way to do it. Right now, I am just exploring all my avenues. If I do go this route, should I also get a certificate in TESL?

4. Like I said, my native tongue is french but I am perfectly bilingual. With an online diploma, can I teach english in Korea even being natively French. Is the requirement only that I am from Canada or do I have to be an anglophone also from birth?

5. If the online bachelors route is not legal, my wife would bring my as a dependant, can I look for work in fields other than teaching or am I stuck being a househusband?

6. Are there any jobs that English/French speaking foreigners who do not go into teaching have an easier time finding? Is the addition of French any help in finding something? (newspaper, signs, different kinds of schools��)

I have used the search function extensively but these answers I could not find. Any help/guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

[pet lover]

1. No, Yes.

2. Yes, No, Yes.

3. No no no no no no no no.

4. See number three.

5. Yes, no and good luck.

6. No idea as have no inclination to go that route myself.

[tjg_marantz]

I am getting conflicting info about the onlin degrees you send away for and the french speaking canadian teaching english. Not that I don't trust you answers of course but does anyone have anything else to add or experienced something different?

Thank you

[Kalhoun]

I agree with pet lover. I wouldn't head over here unless you are comfortable with being a househusband. You need a Bachelor's Degree in order to get an E-2 Visa in Korea.

Your claim of being billlingual might be questionable IMHO. I speak some French, but would not claim to be billingual.

In any event, bon chance!

[tjg_marantz]

I know I need a Bachelors to get an E-2, my question was more, do those online 'degrees' get accepted when applying for an E-2 visa. I have a no from pet lover and a yes from someone at another board, has anyone here gone that route? What were the results?

Kalhoun, my mother tongue is french, english is my second language since the age of 5. I am not going to ask you to believe me as it is irrelevant. I know I am bilingual, completely, perfectly. Would speaking absolutely perfectly in both languages help me in finding employment in a field other than teaching?

(I was the student rep at a school in Saskatchewan and the principal never knew I was french until I told him I was going home to Montreal, that's my level of bilinguism, not that I need to prove anything. I would only be lying to myself and putting myself in hot water if I was not really bilingual)

Any further help is appreciated.

Thank you all

[oneiros]

French being your first language - not a problem. I've worked with a few teachers before who had similar situations, and there was never any difficulty.

No degree - big big problem. No valid degree (and I mean from an actual university, not one of those send-away places) no visa.