Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SPINOZA]

Is it true that Immigration have spies?

Is it true that Immigration have 2 million Won awards for snitches?

I'm sure it's been done to death, but please vote.

[sadsac]

As with anything in Korea, there is a mjor potential for problems. I just can't be bothered with the risk. Personal choice.

[Yu_Bum_suk]

I'd suggest a third option: is it worth the bother? I make more than enough to get by and if I were really hungry for more I could just try to set up extra classes at my school.

[Trumpcard]

there's really an award for snitches?

[spliff]

Yes! 1. They are not that risky at all if you know what you're doing and careful. 2. Salaries here are way to low for those who do this work as a career.

[SPINOZA]

[MissSeoul]

If you are not married to a korean, it's not worth because Immigration is going to deport you if they catch you, however if you are married to a korean, it may worth to take chance because Immigration is not going to deport you, they let you just pay fine.
If you don't private, you will never really make good money.

Some korean teachers ( not all english teachers ) do private for senior highschool students for college entrance exam, this guys make 3-4 times more than regular school teachers.

[Qinella]

Well, when I lived in Daejeon last year I heard stories of several people being busted by 'spies'. They posed as people wanting to take a private lesson, then reported the person to immigration upon completion (or engagement, not sure) of a class.

I had one lady run into my on the street and beg me to teach her son English. Her English was fantastic, and she said her son had already lived abroad several years, but she was desperate for him to 'learn' English. I felt like she must have been trying to set me up.

Is it worth it? Maybe. Just don't carry text books around with you, and don't accept students indiscriminately.

Personally, I don't do privates. There are other ways to make money around here for a native English speaker with skillz.

[bosintang]

I'd say for the most part, yes, it's worth the risk. Especially if you're a short-timer here purely for the cash. If you're humble about it, it's not likely you'll get caught, and if you do, it won't be much more than a slap on the wrist. See 'Mack The Knife's' thread on Korean [laws] encouraging people to rape their country short-time and leave. A law like this does exactly that. I'm sure the people who run the government have their own private tutors for their children.

[SPINOZA]

[SPINOZA]

30 votes and nobody knows the answers to the questions in the OP?

Bosintang, I await your response, because I wanna know what you meant by a slap on the wrist.

[spliff]

[wylies99]

[Qinella]

I really don't know why these women with fantastic English are so desperate for a native speaker to teach their kids. Every student I've had whose mother teaches them at home has been the top in the class. It's hard for me to imagine a better teacher than one's parent, assuming the parent is knowledgeable of course.

But, in general, the only students I've had who have really good spoken grammar and understand things like subject-verb agreement and article usage have been kids whose mothers teach them at home.

[Homer]

I would answer: it depends on each person.....

I mean you have to figure out if what you risk losing is less important to you than the extra cash you might make teaching those lessons.

It is also about quality of life and free time along with personal situation.

I mean take a teacher who is here for a year or 2 and has no plans to stay...he or she might think that doing pvts might be worth the risk to earn a few thousand dollars more over that 2 year span. Then, if they get busted they lose out on severence, airfare and lost wages along with paying a fine. Thats the risk-calculus here.

Then take a teacher who is here long term and the equation becomes more complicated. Why would such a teacher risk deportation? Then it is about more than just cash....

The bottom line for me is if a person wants to do pvts they have to be grown ups and accept that if they get busted they will have to pay the piper and not whine little little babies that they did nothing wrong.

Also, these people, I hope, would make an effort for those lessons and not do what many seem to do and show up to just chat with the students for an hour and take the cash.....be a teacher, these students pay you very well for the private tutoring.

As for boshintang...it is not just a slap on the wrist my man...

It can be just a small fine in certain cases but it usually involves a fine of several million won and deportation. This implies you have to pay the fine and buy your flight outta here. You are also banned from teaching here for a few years.

The mild cases occur but they are not the majority or the norm and to imply such a thing is missinforming people. The risk exists and people should be made aware of it.

As a simple example, a teacher got busted doing privates last year. He worked at hagwon near my University and we often had lunch together as we had common interests. He was teaching private lessons in students homes for about 8 months. One day, immigration shows up at his school and busts him. They had it all: how many lessons, how much money he made (almost to the tee) and where he went to teach.

He had to pay a fine of over 2 million won and got a deportation order with a 5 day grace period. He had been in Korea just over 2 years and had planned to stay a couple more. We met the day before he left and had dinner. He had paid his fine and bought his ticket and was leaving. He had no recourse and this sincerely was not a "slap on the wrist" for him by any stretch of the imagination. It was sad he got busted but as he knew he had broken the law (wether he agreed with the law of not it was a law).

It does happen and it can be milder (smaller fine with no deportation) but do not count on it.

Over the years here, a story like his has happened many, many times.