Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ZIFA]

Here's mine...

January 2014: US unemployment down to 4.5%.

CBC has been dropped as an E2 requirement.

Average pay has risen to 2.7 to prevent exodus of teachers to China.

80% of eslers in Korea balding non-american males.

60% of schools cannot find a foreign teacher.

Apostille requirement dropped in favor of photocopy of original.

Schools still advertise using faded old photos of blond former teachers.

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

I don't think they'll budge on the CBC. I think that one is here to stay no matter how desperate they get for teachers. That's their buffer and I don't think they'll remove it.

[Busanjon]

How optimistic! I am pretty sure that they will never get rid of the CBC. It can't be THAT easy to get a job here. It's already a piece of cake. Also, why are so many non-american suffering from balding! get some rogaine it works wonders

[Yellowstone_1872]

My prediction:

by 2020, the US is no longer a dominant force in the world, and Korea drops ESL as their dominant language theme.

[RMNC]

Everything will be almost exactly the same except a few schools will blow their budgets on useless robots, and then go back the next year to traditional ESL teachers.

[Swampfox10mm]

[Triban]

[jfromtheway]

[Hugo85]

Robots get introduced in public school system.

Teacher treats robot robot teacher like a robot, very poor results in PS's which a huge edge to kids who can afford hagwons.

ESL gets re-instated in PS.

Salaries remain the same for the next 8 years despite inflation.

[sigmundsmith]

[Fishead soup]

There's no ESL in Korea. Most students even the good ones only study for the test.

[Triban]

[Gamecock]

Here's mine... (Just about as likely as the OP's)

January 2014: US unemployment down to 8%

After an expose on Korean TV of a foreign English teacher exiting a massage parlor in Thailand (which of course a Korean would never do!), the public is thrown into a hysteria and not only are CBC's a continued requirement, but any male who has a passport stamp from Thailand, the Philippines, or any other SE Asian country will be denied an E-2 visa.

Because of an exodus of male foreign teachers to China, desperate hogwan owners experiment bringing in Indian and Filipino ESL teachers. The average salary for ALL teachers drops to 1.2 a month.

One month after this "experiment," although the children are happily improving their English, hogwan moms go bat$&^( crazy and the first Wonderland is torched. In the ensuing chaos half of Seoul burns at the hands of adjummas.

Non-native ESL teachers are abruptly ejected from the country, as are the remaining male native-speaking ESL teachers who are demonized as being the cause of all this trouble in the first place. Perverts! Males married to Korean citizens are allowed to stay, but not allowed work permission. If caught illegally doing privates, their marriage is nullified by law and they are imprisoned for 5 years and deported after doing their time.

.02% of ESL teachers are now blonde, female, and under 30. Their salary is generously increased to 1.7 a month, but it doesn't matter because they are really here for the cultural experience, the kimchi, and the distinct four seasons.


99.98% of ESL teachers are Japanese robots with blond, blue-eyed faces, although the public is unaware of the fact the robots were manufactured in Japan. It seems the Korean tech companies were unable to develop an English teaching robot that couldn't be remotely run by someone in the Philippines.

A Korean tv expose reports the robots educating their children were made in Japan. A huge scandal ensues and hyper-fear about Japanese indoctrinatization of the youth spreads like wildfire. Huge protests in the streets bring traffic and the economy to a halt as protesters demand a ban on Japanese robots and American beef. To save face, the education minister and President kill themselves by jumping off a mountain.


The Korean government announces their 2015 English slogan will be: "No Englishee Necessary, Overrated are Bi-linguilisms"

English education is taken out of the public schools, much to the relief of the Korean English teachers who can't speak it. These teachers are designated as P.E. instructors. Public school principals move their annual conference to Bangkok, where the previously allotted money for foreign English teachers/robots can be better utilized.

English hogwans close their doors. The American government announces that tourist visas for Koreans are indefinitely suspended as so many hogwan owners decide to take a "holiday" to the USA, only to overstay their visa and never to return to Korea.

By the year 2020, the level of English fluency of the average Korean high school graduate is equivalent to the 2011 graduate.

In the southern United States, the chain school- Wonderland English Academy- is the business success story of the year, with branches springing up all over Hispanic neighborhoods, as a new U.S. law enacts English-only legislation in every sphere of American life.

In 2021, a rash of bloody homocides of Korean owners of Wonderland branches is reported on FOX news (now the ONLY news network in America). The Hispanic community rejoices to be rid of these dishonest, greedy, low-life, bloodsucking scum.

By 2050, Hispanics control all 3 branches of government in the USA and declare Spanish the official language of the country. Classes at all Ivy League Schools are entirely in Spanish.

Spanish language learning is the rage in the developing world. A greatly fallen South Korea, envious of the economies of the Philippines and Cambodia, have decided that every Korean student must learn Spanish. It is the future for Korea! Hogwans are opened, and Korean mothers become psychotic about all things Spanish. All Korean women are going for that bronzed Latin look! Butt implants are the rage.

American SSL teachers are welcomed to the hermit kingdom. They are paid a lofty 2 million won (equivalent to 140,000 won in 2011), are given
6 X 4 shared apartments, and all the free kimchi they can eat! Teachers are required to have an M.A. or above, and must show apostilled degrees, transcripts, CBC's, medical checks, and be within approved body fat limitations (Under 11%, but foreign women with a bra size of C or greater are allowed up to 20%)

2070- Koreans spend all of their excess income on Spanish language training for their children. Students cram for exams and focus on TOSIC and TOSFL and ISLTS, only to find that in practical conversation they are stumped after, "Hola! Estoy bien gracias, �y t�?"

[Sinnerman]

[silkhighway]

My longterm prediction for the future of ESL in Korea? I'ts already here, you just need to look across the water to Japan. Ok, it won't be identical, but the end result will look something like it. I predict Koreans will either burn themselves out on English -- possibly become reactionary about learning it -- or more positively, they'll start to be smarter about how they learn it. Either way native speakers will become mostly redundant compared to their prominence now.