Korean Job Discussion Forums

[carrotpatchkid]

I'm about to look for a new job in the fall and I was wondering if I should bother with a TEFL or something like that. Having a piece of paper is all well and good but does it actually make a difference when negotiating pay?

[Yu_Bum_suk]

It'll get you ~100,000 / month more with most government job agencies and a few academies. It won't give you a great deal of practical ideas that will work in a Korean classroom but at least it will give some idea on how to start teaching.

[Tobias]

1. Get a book from Amazon on TESOL/TEFL.
2. Study said book for a week or two.
3. Get a TESOL certificate from eBay for 30 bucks. You could also get a fake one in Bangkok for 10 bucks if you just happen to head that way soon or if you have a friend there who can send one to you. Kho Sahn Road University is a well-established institution with a world-wide reputation.
4. Add 'completed TESOL course' to resume.
5. Get job and pat yourself on the back.
6. Go on ski trip with money you would have spent on a real TESOL course (which you won't need to be a good teacher). Or simply save said mulla for plane tickets later.
7.Contribute here later to help someone else avoid an unnecessary expense.

[carrotpatchkid]

brilliant

[Kimchieluver]

I recommend getting a certificate if you are looking into the public school sector or staying more than a year.

[losing_touch]

I have a TESOL Certificate. I found it to be a worthwhile thing to do. I learned quite a bit about teaching, linguistics, and second language acquisition. The concepts covered in my program are quite useful to me. As for just reading a book, I must have read 15 of them in my program covering different aspects of the aforementioned subject areas.

Of course, it isn't required for Korea. It can help you become a better teacher or have some sort of starting point when you are new. I agree that if I was going to teach in Korea for just a year, I wouldn't bother. However, if you are going to spend a lot of time in Asia teaching, I would consider it a must. Thailand jobs require the certificate for example. It also gives you more room for negotiation when it comes time for that. Looking back, I wish I would have gone all the way and gotten the Masters.

[Tobias]

To get on a side track for a moment......Losing Touch, what's going on down in the land of smiles these days?

Teachers in Thailand now have to take a licensing course. Said course is nearly a year long and costs nearly 2,000 US bones, at least rumor has it.

I shouldn't even post this, as the Korean government may get some funky ideas about forcing us to take such a course here.

If true, such a course would be much more expensive than the 2 grand. One must factor in opportunity cost as well, which could run over 12,000 bucks. Teachers-to-be would be sitting in classrooms instead of working the first year.

So...14,000 dollars for a simple piece of paper that allows me to get a job making 1,000 bucks a month AT MOST in Thaiville, not to mention a lost year. I could be working as a teacher somewhere else, making some good bank, and gaining experience instead of dicking around in a course for a year. If this shit is true, Thailand officials have now completely lost their minds.

Korea isn't the only place that's backpedaling when it comes to English education.

Please say this new requirement isn't as ridiculous as it sounds.

When it comes to Toyland, it's two words and two words only:

Never again.

[losing_touch]

[Tblake]

I paid about $1250 for a TEFL Certificate in Bangkok last year. I didn't learn anything practical. The only good thing was getting up in front of a classroom and having other teachers and the instructors critque me.

It helped me to land a job in Thailand relatively quickly and I hope it boosts my monthly salary once I get to Seoul and start applying to hagwons.

Like you were saying, it looks good on paper, but in terms of taking anything away from it to use in the classroom, there's very little.

Tobias' suggestion sounded like the right idea if you're willing to take that route.

[Tobias]

Hindsight is...well, you already know.

I took one of those expensive TESOL courses through TEFL International. Should have saved the money and worked during that time. I could have learned in a weekend in a hotel room what I learned at that course. What is more, I had to fly to the course from the USA on my own dime.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda....

I coulda gotten a job without a cert in Korea.

I shoulda came to Korea right off the bat and avoided the course. I shoulda gotten a fake TESOL from eBay or the University of Koh Sahn Road in Bangkok.

If I had it to do over again, I woulda done the above instead of going the expensive, and unnecessary, route.