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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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nate1983
Joined: 30 Mar 2008
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 Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 6:13 pm Post subject: |
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| Of course not. My Korean teachers never spoke in English and they were very effective (levels 5 and 6 at two universities). |
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EZE
Joined: 05 May 2012
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| Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2014 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
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I stopped watching after you said, 'The short answer is no you don't.'
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Why? In the sense of 'is knowing Korean a requirement to get a job here?' which is probably what most of the people he's addressing want to know, he's factually correct. |
Yeah, most of us landed here with limited if any knowledge of Korean and somehow didn't get fired. I can't speak Korean and I'm in my 24th month at my hagwon and the foreign teacher I replaced could speak Korean almost fluently and was fired in his 8th month.
Do I think I'd be a better teacher if I could speak Korean? Absolutely. But I'd probably have to speak it at a high level to feel confident enough to use it in a classroom setting. The only thing worse than explaining a language concept in the language that I do know would be trying to explain it in a language that I largely don't really know. Being fluent or close enough would certainly be beneficial, however. I do know for a fact I'd get more respect from my boss and most students if I could speak Korean, but respect isn't a requirement for the job.
I agree with the guy in the video on how it's not necessary, and also agree with him that learning Korean would broaden one's experience in Korea. For a foreigner with or looking for permanent residency, citizenship, or looking to stay for many years, I think it would be highly important to learn Korean. Is it a requirement for teaching here? We all know it isn't.
Although I'm not going to study Korean under any plausible scenario, I think the number of foreigners studying Korean would go up, not dramatically but by at least 5%, if the E-2 visa wasn't tied to the employer and if foreign teachers already in Korea with clean CBCs on file wouldn't have to get new ones so often. The D-6 mitigates the issue to some degree, but I know if I find out on Monday that I'm fired or the hagwon went under, I would fly home and go back to work. The red tape and being unemployed in Korea wouldn't be worth the hassle. Knowing there's at least some chance I could be flying out as early as Monday isn't very motivational to study a language that takes years to learn. There are so many teachers on E-2s here and I could be wrong, but I imagine a majority would fly home or to China or someplace within 48 hours if they lost their job. |
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