Korean Job Discussion Forums

[BS.Dos.]

Just wanted to guage any thoughts/experiences/comments etc from any Brits who might be currently working in Korea.

Are you generally isolated or is there a community of sorts out there?

How are you received by the locals/North American community?

Do any of your accents pose any problems, teaching or otherwise?

What's the beer/local football like?

Any regrets?

[SarcasmKills]

Since when did they allow Brits into Korea?

*sigh* There goes the neighbourhood.

[bobbyhanlon]

there's not many brits here so i wouldn't say there was a community.. plenty of westerners in general though, but mate... you're coming to korea, try to make korean friends, not brits.
as far as your accent goes, it depends what accent you have. if you're a proper scouser, for example, then be prepared for nobody to understand what you're on about (hmm.. not much different to back home then but if you tone the accent down a bit and speak slowly you'll be ok.
footy- there's lots of teams, but since i'm a lazy git, i wouldn't know that much about them.
beer- basically all korean beer is like carling (cheap, and not very good).
regrets? hm... staying as long as i did. if i could turn back the clock, i would have left after two years, when i was still having a great time here. anyway, just come over, and if you don't like it, you can always leave.

[BS.Dos.]

@bobbyhanlon
you're coming to korea, try to make korean friends, not brits.

LOL You kidding? One of the reasons I'm want out of this country is to leave 99.9% of them behind.

No, I just wanted to get the consensus on how Brits are received over there really. I wasn't asking so I could align myself to an environment that resembles anything like Costa Del Seoul.

[bobbyhanlon]

haha ok.. fair enough then! i'm going back home soon but in a way i'm dreading it.. the 'av it, are-you-lookin-at-mah-bird, got-50p-for-the-bus-mate-no?-well-i'll-fookin'-'av-you-then culture just gets me down..
as for how we're perceived in korea, i can tell you its pretty good.. there is still this strange notion here that we are a land of gentlemen. often i've had an angry-faced old geezer come up to me to ask 'are you american?' and when i tell them i'm english, they suddenly brighten up and say 'ahh.....gentleman! very good!' or something like that.. ridiculous but who am i to argue?
i'd say there's a small minority of expats who don't like us, particularly those from the us or canada. i wasn't aware of this before but apparently we all have crooked teeth and participate in football hooliganism, without exception.
all in all, its not bad though.

[SPINOZA]

[shrews68]

hi i'm english and have been here 6 months now. i have had zero problems with koreans concerning my nationality and my american friends are spot on. if any thing the koreans like the fact that you are british because they think you are a gentlemen (strange i know). i live in a small town (85000) and i am the only englishman but as i have said all the yanks are sound. as for accent i can't say without knowing how strong it is, all i know is their are lots of strong american accents out here teaching.

the beer isn't all that bad, all lager and 4.5%, as the other bloke said it's a bit like carling.

i don't watch any local football (in seoul) but their is usually a saturday premier league game on the tv in the evening. as i write this i am just about to go back home to watch liverpool and arsenal k.o. local 9.45pm.
any regrets - no it's an experience and i get to save 13000 pounds. some people need the money here and others have the luck of rich parents and tend to moan a lot.

good luck to you

[BS.Dos.]

RE: Accent

I wouldn't say that I have a strong accent, but as I've lived in the West Country all my life (Bristol for 34 and Cornwall for 3) I'm sure that to anyone else outside the area it must sound quite prominent.

Still, the general consensus seems to be that it'll pass regardless and I suspect I'll only sound like a neanderthal farmer after I've had a few Sherries!

One other thing, I would imagine that the learners are very much clued-up about all things American (Cutlure and so forth) but how aware are they of British life in general? Do they all still think that we ride around on Penny Farthings wearing cloth caps supporting ridiculous large and bushy mustaches ? I only ask as I've a few American friends who live in the mid-west who still think that's how we live.

Sorry if that's a rather outrageous example, but (hopefully) you get what I'm getting at.

@shrews68
i get to save 13000 pounds

Really? What, in the 6-months since you arrived or is that what you expect to save over your first year?

[anajupear]

I'm an American girl from Michigan who's spent a few months in England and 5 years in Korea. I think only clueless idiots have issues with you. They're the same morons who think the US and Americans are the greatest and everyone else sucks. They shouldn't be given passports.

Many Koreans only want to learn American English, so you might encounter that a bit. I taught a biz English class in Seoul, and accidentally chose a textbook with British English. The tapes had only British accents, and it sent my students for a loop. They were very angry with me for not choosing an American textbook, and had a difficult time understanding the British accent and dealing with the spelling differences, and some word differences like lift instead of elevator. But I told them it was good for them to hear other accents and be exposed to British English, because not all native English speakers are Americans. Eventually they settled down and were fine.

In reality, most Koreans can't tell the difference in the accents, and won't know you're British until you tell them. I think my biz students' main problem wasn't the accent so much as how quickly they spoke on the tapes.

[BS.Dos.]

@anajupear

That goes some way to alleviating some of my concerns.

Thanks.

[mrsquirrel]

If you have problems just remind them that the actual chance of the students meeting and conversing with any other native speakers is slim. They are more likely to converse with another Asian speaking English. Then offer to speak in Singlish, Flipish, Indinsh, Thinglish or any other variety of English spoken around Asia.

[Cerebroden]

don't know of any americans that really have a problem with the brits.
Now if you were french.....

And I am now teaching a kid one on one who spent a year in singapore at an international school. His parents want him to lose his british accent.

[shrews68]

the 13 grand is the amount i project, but it's pretty safe to say it because i have saved half that in 6 months and am not planning to do anything much different in the second half i my year here

[koala5]

I just wonder what saving 13,000 pound will get you back home once you do go back home to the Queen's country. I really wonder how long it will take to purchase a house with that kind of money that is being saved? I gather the way you are going you will have the house in 20 years?

bye for now

[Scot-in-Ansan]

Just say Scot-a-land-a-saram and confuse everyone. Even some Englishee speakers.

In my opinion(which of course is limited to personal experience), it was great to be outside of of Seoul when I arrived in Korea, I found it very easy to meet people. Go straight to Itaewon and you meet many many foreigners but,like another poster said, it could grow old, very quickly.

I think somewhere like Ansan, Suwon, Uijonbu etc is great for a newbie to Korea. In my opinion of course!

Being a Scot(and girl to boot) I had a great time. English? not so sure! kidding!!! It's all good!