Korean Job Discussion Forums

[The Internationalist]

[lemak]

[Tyshine]

[fosterman]

yes, one of the previous poster said, why he would just want to choose any degree to come and teach is absurd, I will tell him that, yes he should definitely do a course which has some merit and will benefit him down the road, guess he is just looking at the immediate future, teaching English in Korea or Japan. but what happens 10 years or 20 years from now.
like he said, go back to plumbing, but why not have another option.
I will tell him that.

he is from New Zealand so community college might be polytech
I will have him look into that, and see if he can do a course there and then cross over to uni for the last 2 years, doing it in 3 years sounds good.

some posters keep asking, why would he want to do a degree just to teach in Korea. well that's what a lot you guys have done. some of you have degrees which are not in education but now live your lives in Korea with no desire to return home and use your degrees.

so it's not like the degree is only for teaching in Korea. the degree can be used to teach anywhere in the world! Saudi, Europe, south east asia.
sure the other option was, "dude. forget going to Uni, just come over and teach privates"! but that's just stupid, if he has the time, why not just get the papers and do it all legit.

thanks for your help guys.

[luckylady]

[singerdude]

[viciousdinosaur]

So to summarize a lot of what's been said already.

1) The degree must be from an English-speaking country.
* However many schools prefer Ivy league or highly-ranked-university graduates. Not all degrees are created equal
2) Starting in college and transferring is cheaper, but takes longer, as you usually only get half-credit
3) Year-round study is the fastest with completion at about 3 years.
4) You seriously need to consider the cost/benefits here. On average your entry-level teacher saves $10,000 a year. That means you would have to work here four straight years just to pay off the student loan. So your friend is choosing to tread water for 8 years basically so he can start to make money in year 9.
5) I don't think anyone got their degree to teach English in Korea. I got mine in 2005 when the economy was good. I only came to Korea as a break year from university. I planned for only one year, but got married.
And back home all my friends who are starting families and buying cars and houses are the ones who didn't go to university. Going to university is almost like taking a vow of poverty these days.
6) No one knows what the market will even be like in 3-4 years. But indications show a much smaller, limited market coming.

[coralreefer_1]

Just one suggestion that while may not be an option for your friend, is one that hasnt been mentioned yet.


Your friend could simply come to Korea to get their degree. The law changed a year or two ago, allowing those from native English speaking countries who have completed at least 10 years of primary education in their home country to qualify for the E2 with a 4-year degree from a Korean university.

I wont speculate as to why your friend wants to come to Korea, but doing a degree here would be FAR cheaper than back in the US even without scholarship, but considering the fact that nearly all foreign students get at least 50% scholarship, and in particular western students tend go get more, your friend could be looking at tuition per semester of 1,400 USD at 50% scholarship, or even less depending on scholarship granted.

In regards to how fast they could graduate, it is possible to graduate in less than 4 years depending on their grades and course load. I actually came to Korea to a small college in 2004 to enter the taekwondo department, and after completing the 2 year program there found myself with a bunch of credits that I could not use outside of Korea, so I simply transferred those into a regular 4-year program at a Korean university. At that particular university the requirement for graduation was 120 credits, which averages out to 15 credits (5 classes) per semester.

However all students could register for 18 credits per semester if they wished, and those who maintained at least a 3.5 gpa in the previous semester could take on 21 credits each semester. With this in mind other than the first semester, if your friend were to maintain that minimum gpa, they could graduate in 3 years or even less if they were taking 21 credits each semester AND doing a class or two during the summer/winter vacations as well. (Naturally this varies by university)

In the event your friend truly wanted a bare-bones approach to getting a degree and teaching, finding some small country university in Korea that would flip its heels to have an American on campus and likely give a great scholarship along with other "perks", that would overlook your friend not speaking Korean, and would make the experience as easy as possible may be a route your friend could be interested in.

I personally do not think it is a great idea and believe your friend would be MUCH better off to study in the US, or otherwise continue with their trade experience..but this is one avenue that may be of interest.

[Milwaukiedave]

coral,

That is a create solution.

[deizio]

[coralreefer_1]

I said that because i am currently doing a second MA here, and there are several foreign students in my department who could not speak Korean (they certainly did not pass a level 4 TOPIK which seems to be the standard at most universities for admission)

Granted that is grad school, and the international commerce department. If the person in question were to choose a major that was related to foreign business (like Global Business, International Trade, Commerce..etc) then his/her English skill may make up for the lack of Korean given that said "country" university would likely be thrilled to have a non-asian foreign student on campus, and the coursework would involve a good deal of English anyway.

That would be a case by case basis..and while i wont name the university I am at, I know for a fact there are students here pursuing undergrad and grad degrees who have very limited to no Korean ability, yet are registered as students and take Korean classes with the university alongside their other coursework (In short, they were admitted even though they did not meet the "standard" Korean language requirement). And while my university is not a SKY university, it certainly isnt some hobunk place out in Jeollanamdo..a place at which likely has few to no western students and would likely pass the guy with perfect scores in all classes just to have him on campus and take a few photos for the university advertisements.

The school I did my second BA was was like that..not exactly country but then again not all that highly regarded...and the head of the department basically took me under his wing...acted as my adviser, and in not so kind words...used his influence over all of the other professors whos courses i took to give me passing grades, asking them to give me what he termed "special consideration" during finals.

I am pretty sure even with my Korean ability at the time (I had indeed passed the level 4 before i entered) i would have passed anyway...but certainly not with A+ scores like the ones that show up on my transcripts.

Edit; When i entered that university i asked the man in charge of the international department how much of a Korean lecture I could really understand/comprehend/learn, and pass. His reply to me was like this. Courses are broken down into 20% attendance, 20% assignments (usually only one meager report per semester) 30% midterm and 30% final. He said as long as a student were to show up for class everytime, and turn in their assignments...regardless of anything else as long as they scored at least 33% on both exams...they would pass (although with low grades)...and this was not with any "extra help" from a given professor or adviser.

[Hugo85]

[coralreefer_1]