Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

Dear Community Page

Think E-2 changes out thoroughly

I am just curious to know if the Korean government consulted with the United States and other governments about these new regulations.

Will the FBI be forthcoming about performing hundreds more background checks a month? It already takes about two months to get a passport in the United States.

With another four months for a background check - that adds up to a long wait. As far as going to a consulate, I agree that this is expensive and time consuming.

Furthermore, when waiting for the paperwork to go through, most teachers will need to work.

They will find a job to fill in the time, as well as to meet their own personal financial needs. So what will happen when they decide they don't want to go to Korea anymore? The hagwon could be hurt by this type of situation, if not by other issues.

In my opinion, this needs to be thought out more thoroughly. Teachers, hagwon, and of course students, will be taxed and put through the wringer. I hope the government will consider these issues and act accordingly.

If not, I hope the students don't mind long lines and illegal, poorly qualified teachers at hagwon that charge an arm and leg.


Bob United States


Questions still surround E-2 changes


What worries me, and what is not clear from any of the articles written so far, is the process that will have to be gone through if an existing contract with a school is renewed, which implies that the visa will then have to be renewed.

Will it be treated as a new application? In other words, would one have to go to their home country and do the whole interview etc. thing? Or, will it be handled locally?

Would one have to get another set of transcripts, police clearance certificates etc. or will the present documents which are on file be used? Why would someone have to leave Korea in order to get a new visa anyway?

If I'm here, the ministry can interview me right here, they can check with the Korean doctors I've been seeing as to health.

In fact, doing it that way will save an awful lot of taxpayer money since the processes will all take place locally.

In terms of police clearance: It is a fact that most sex offenders that are caught working in the teaching profession are usually first-time offenders (they have never been caught before), so all that will emerge in most cases is a clean record.

I welcome checks that will ensure that children are taught by professional, caring and committed teachers, and I will support such initiatives.

I do not see the present visa requirements falling into that category.


Leonie Overbeek Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province


English education is not 'failing'


I am writing to respond to the article written by Angus M. Harrison headlined "English education in Korea is failing" (Nov. 14). He bases his assumption that English education in Korea is failing by one student who he and his employer approached in a bath house. First of all, did it ever occur to him that the 14-year-old boy (who was approached in a bath house) was nervous and did not want to speak to them?

Or perhaps, if it was the case that his English was bad, that he is a bad student. Not all students excel at languages no matter how much their parents force them to. It is the same in any subject.

Unresearched responses to English education create unnecessary reactionism to an already sensitive issue. I have met more than one Korean student who is better at academic English than some native speakers I went to high school with.

Based on Angus' logic, that would equate to all students in Korea also being good at English.

As with anything in life, there are problems. English education in Korea could use some improvements. But before blame is placed on the teachers, parents or hagwon owners, someone needs to do a complete assessment of all factors before drawing any conclusions.

Please do not let uninformed individuals tarnish the reputations and accomplishments of both the students and teachers in this country, who are working very hard together at improving English proficiency.

I am an English teacher of two years in Korea and I feel that we are doing a good job.


Trevor Clouthier


Has anyone asked the teachers?


I have been here for almost two years and I am starting to feel like I am wasting my time here. I work very hard and spend a lot of my own money and all I get are half answers, no material when I need it, and the bad attitudes of schools toward English teachers.

The biggest problem I have faced is not being able to let the principal know the real story about what is going on under their own noses.

If the Korean government thinks that bringing more qualified teachers in will change those problems - good luck, as they will need it.

Try asking us native teachers about the problems we face.


Anonymous




2007.11.21