Korean Job Discussion Forums

[loganimal]

Arirang TV has this debate/discussion show called Face to Face and it features University students, highschoolers and hagwon/school teachers - Korean and foreign, sometimes in the same team.

Check it out at http://www.arirang.co.kr/Tv2/FaceTo_WhatsOn.asp?PROG_CODE=TVCR0397&code=Po1&sys_lang=Eng . You can stream videos of past episodes online.

You get 50 bucks per show (if you win the debate, you get to come back on) and there's a grand prize if you win 4 debates, but it's mostly for a lark and some good fun. It's team based (3 people in a team) and each show takes about an hour. Shoots in Arirang TV studios, near Apgujeong.

They want to get more foreigners on the show, to make in "international", (which makes sense I guess since most of their audience is overseas).

No experience required, TV time guaranteed. Email loganimal gmail.com if you're interested! =]

Cheers

[mindmetoo]

How many can even get arirang on their local cable these days? My cable provider in Nowon dumped it, although oddly they kept the Chinese and Japanese language channels. How many people in Nowon are learning either of these languages? Geez.

[loganimal]

Yeah it was dropped on my cable channel, and then I found it again! =]

You can watch it online tho, and I've heard of feedback from Philippines, Thailand, Bhutan, Canada and even this kid in Iraq!

It's also getting pretty popular among highschool kids now.

So sure, it's not as popular as those 4 guys doing strange things for laughs, but it gets some decent viewership.

[PRagic]

Hate to say it, but typical Korean-style broadcast logic. 50K/show? You have got to be kidding. Does Arirang know that even basic studio voice work is paying 80-100K per 50 minute session?

You get what you pay for, and unfortuntately, Arirang has never wanted to pay too much. They outsource their documentary programing to companies wherer nobody speaks English, and even a load of the senior management at this 'English Only' broadcasting company couldn't function in an English-only environment.

Everyone, give this one a pass. Participate at your own risk. A waste of time.

[Smee]

Unfortunately some people will do anything to get on TV, including belittling themselves to appear on goofy programs that have no relevance to the foreign community actually in Korea. It'd be great to have an English-language channel about Korea, with issues of interest to foreigners, with decently-subtitled programs, and with an effort to helping us feel a bigger part of things here. However, Arirang is content being a 24-hour commercial to promote Korea's image mostly to Koreans overseas and those looking to practice their English. To practice their awkward English, I mean.

[fustiancorduroy]

I went on "Face-to-Face" a few months ago. I only got paid 50K, but so what? I got to be on TV and had fun doing it. Are people here really so greedy that they have to get paid big bucks for everything they do, even if it's for fun?

If you're going to be on this show, do it because it's a way to broaden your experiences, not because you can make a bit of cash. Also, the host Logan, who is posting here, is a really nice guy.

Does Korea really make people this jaded?

[PRagic]

Jaded? No. Realistic? Yes. If you want 'new experiences', and will work for 50K, let me know and I'll start lining them up for you. Of course, I'll be be making 500%, but, hey, you'll just be in it for the experience, right.

And people wonder why there are so many 'agents' cropping up here. Yeesh.

[itaewonguy]

[PRagic]

Congrats. And while you're doing that, the general viewing public is subjected to substandard programming, the network becomes an international laughing stock, and professionals who can do the job well are shut out of opportunities.

Glad you had a nice time, though.

[STP]

Why does the TV show have to target the ESL filth in Korea, why not go after the other proffesional ex-pats in Seoul?

Every day I have to deal with ESL scum, why does everything regarding foreigners in Korea automatically assume that it has to be a scumbag ESL teacher.

I feel sorry for the Korean in which the only contact they have with the west is some white trash ESL teacher with a university degree.

[loganimal]

There might be some misunderstanding

1. This is not a job, you don't have a script or need to have experience/good voice/dashing looks/highschool diploma. It's an opportunity to go on TV and debate or discuss issues with other foreigners or Koreans (professionals, college kids, high school students). Each shoot lasts an hour or less, 6 people collectively speak for about 40 minutes. If you're getting 100 bucks for 50 minutes of studio voice work (10 bucks for 5 minutes), this show offers you 50 bucks for an average of 7 minutes of actual speaking - sounds like I could make it worth your while PRagic.
Do it for fun - although if you work in a hagwon teaching English, your boss will love you for it.

2. The show is about debate. Topics range from the serious to social to inane, including polygamy, abolishing marriage, child rights, nuclear weapons and abortion to whether you would prefer to be reborn as a man or a woman. So what the show is looking for is a diversity of opinions and backgrounds. I know some pretty smart ESL filth, like the ones on this forum who love Discussing things in General. But if you know any serious professionals who are interested, I'd be happy to invite them on the show too.
Just so you know, we've had at least two PhDs debating on the show, and one of the judges is a Professor at the Korean Development Institute. Most of the foreigners who've come on the show in the past were foreign students in Korea.

Watch the show on the website. You have to create an ID and log in, but it's free. There are some quirks and occasional spelling mistake, but we're trying to improve it. I don't work for Arirang TV by the way, I just host the show on weekends because it's a good time, it helps kids and adults who are interested in learning debate and it's a good platform for expression.

And fustiancorduroy is right about it being about having fun (thanks!). I'll leave it to you to decide if I'm a nice guy or not, but we try to have as much as fun as we can on the show, and then have a few beers after and try some more.

[bobranger]

Arirang is a terrible station. It's a step above a community college channel. Could you imagine a station that recruits people with no experience and no pre-interviews to go an international broadcast.
It would be fine if the station got someone with some experience or some expertise but they don't.

[wylies99]

[mindmetoo]

I mostly enjoyed Arirang, when my cable station bothered to carry it. I did like the morning music video shows. It was a great way to figure out what my kids were listening to, so when they started throwing around terms like "big bang" and "epic high" I knew they were talking about Korean boy bands and not a street drug.

If the quality and the pay sucks, well, consider the station's viewer market: esl teachers in Korea. When does business in Korea chase after us?

[loganimal]