Korean Job Discussion Forums

polygone · Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Location: Kansas City

Hello all,

my name is paul and i am planning on pursuing a teaching position in South Korea for August/September 2007. i've enjoyed reading various posts here on the message board - they're both informative and entertaining - and i was hoping i could get some help on a couple of questions:

1) for those of you who are TEFL certified, how useful do you think it has been to your teaching? i have some experience teaching (preschoolers and college aged students), but i imagine teaching english to non-native speakers is a different beast all-together. so, for those of you who are TEFL certified has it helped, or did you chuck the training out the hagwan window and just improvise as you go along?

2) i am considering applying for a public school position through EPIK. i have heard both pros and cons about EPIK on this board - (relatively) consistent paychecks v. not knowing where you're gonna get placed, for example - and i was hoping someone with EPIK experience would comment on his/her time spent in the program.

i appreciate the help!

paul

laogaiguk · Joined: 06 Dec 2005 Location: somewhere in Korea

I got a CELTA. It was definitely worth it, even though I am teaching kids now (though I did teach uni in China, and the CELTA really helped there).

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

I already had a year under my belt when I did my TEFL. I didn't feel like it was that worth while because I mainly prefer to teach kids. The TEFL course was geared more toward adults. However, if you have no teaching experience in ESL, then a TEFL or soemthing would be really good.

Woland · Joined: 10 May 2006 Location: Seoul

I think you're right to assume that teaching language is different from teaching other school subjects. In that sense, getting some kind of TEFL training is worthwhile. A big chunk of your time here will be spent on the job and anything you can do to make that time go more easily will help you enjoy the rest of your time and your stay here.

polygone · Joined: 26 Nov 2006 Location: Kansas City

i appreciate your insight into this Woland, Kat2 and laogaiguk. from what i can gather both through your comments and my own research, TEFL certification sounds like the way to go for me. although i want to teach children (probably at an elementary school through EPIK), i think TEFL training will still come in handy. what i dont want is to get to my job in South Korea and be subpar for x number of months until i figure out what i am doing. at the very least, TEFL training ought to shorten my number of subpar months!

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Polygone; if you do TEFL training it should bump you up a notch in the EPIK payscale. But there are certain criteria, (check out the Epik homepage for details), the tefl course has to be a certain number of hours.

bosintang · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 4:29 pm Post subject:

If you have the time, money, and inclination, do a proper TEFL course now before you start. If you go the EPIK route, the payraise will be enough to pay it off in a year, and the boost in your confidence and capability to do your job more effectively will make your time here much more enjoyable.