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stonegate101
Joined: 20 Oct 2008
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 Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:36 am Post subject: Nationality |
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I'm hoping to start a teaching job in Korea fairly soon (FINALLY got all the damn visa documents together). I was just wondering what kind of nationality mix there are among foreign esl teachers? Do there seem to be a lot of any nationality in particular?
It's not something that is bothering me, just wondering really. I'll quite happily mix with people from any country!
I'm British, by the way.
Oh, and this is my first post on this forum. Hurrah! |
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spencer23
Joined: 25 Jan 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:45 am Post subject: |
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From my observation of teaching in Korea the breakdown of nationalities go like this
1) Canadian
2) American
3) British
4) Australian
5) South African and New Zealand
I have met a couple of Irish but not as many as the all the others. These are just what I have seen. |
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Lukychrm42
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Cheonan
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 2:41 pm Post subject: |
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I'm American, and my few foreign encounters in town have revealed a couple of Americans, a Canadian or two, and an Irishman. (Not too many of us- I usually have to go to the Gap or Coffee Bean to find any.)
Of interest to me anyway, my hagwon's textbooks are very much US-oriented, with a few notes on Canada. My kids' public school textbooks seem to feature characters based in the UK.
Oh yeah, as for other foreigners, I appreciate seeing groups of other nationalities- occasional Indians, other middle-eastern, and Vietnamese... I like hearing the mixes of languages besides Korean.
Last edited by Lukychrm42 on Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:20 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 3:14 pm Post subject: |
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Mostly N. Americans.
A handful of Brits with a sprinkling of NZ'ers and Aussies. There are Irish out here, but they're pretty thin on the ground. Same goes for South Africans. They're here by all accounts, but I've never met one.
Outside of teaching and depending on where you end up, you may also see Russians and Filipinos. For some reason, from time to time, I also see groups of about five or six Indian looking men hanging about. Usually looking lost. |
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sarbonn
Joined: 14 Oct 2008
Location: Michigan
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:28 pm Post subject: |
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| Lukychrm42 wrote: |
Of interest to me anyway, my hagwon's textbooks are very much US-oriented, with a few notes on Canada. |
That's because only the United States is relevant.
(sarbonn backs up slowly, suddenly noticing the area has turned into a minefield)
I kid, I kid. really.  |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| spencer23 wrote: |
From my observation of teaching in Korea the breakdown of nationalities go like this
1) Canadian
2) American
3) British
4) Australian
5) South African and New Zealand |
No, there are more Americans teaching than Canadians. I heard an official breakdown not that long ago, and I believe Canadians here number fewer than half the total Americans (English teachers only).
We just stand out more because we're better. |
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definitely maybe
Joined: 16 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:33 pm Post subject: |
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| what happened to all of the irish teachers? there was a time whn itaewon and hongdae were crawling w/ them. i still know a good number of them here. i'd imagine all it'll take a is a trip to hollywood's to confirm and that the irish are still here in force. |
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Captain Marlow
Joined: 23 Apr 2008
Location: darkness
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 4:50 pm Post subject: |
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my school:
2 scots
3 canadians
2 s.africans
1 brit
2 americans (1 a gyopo)
i seem to find that the majority of english teachers that i meet are from canada... a lot of them turn out to be runners though... wonder why? lack of fresh air? |
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buttons
Joined: 28 Apr 2008
Location: Byeongjeom
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:19 pm Post subject: |
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lol i dont know about anywhere else but i know quite a few irish have left suwon and im heading back to ireland soon enough.
i've met people from sri lanka, mexico and france  |
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TeeBee
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:36 pm Post subject: |
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North Americans are definitely the largest group out here. With GEPIK schools, South Africans have become the largest group behind North Americans.
You can check out the numbers for 2007 here:
http://cge.ken.go.kr/eng/skin/layout/sub_02/teaching1.asp
Other than that, it's mostly been Brits, with one or two Australians and New Zealanders for good measure. |
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BS.Dos.
Joined: 29 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 5:48 pm Post subject: |
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^34 etc?
Freaks? |
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Adventurer
Joined: 28 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:26 pm Post subject: |
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| TeeBee wrote: |
North Americans are definitely the largest group out here. With GEPIK schools, South Africans have become the largest group behind North Americans.
You can check out the numbers for 2007 here:
http://cge.ken.go.kr/eng/skin/layout/sub_02/teaching1.asp
Other than that, it's mostly been Brits, with one or two Australians and New Zealanders for good measure. |
I do believe that it's correct that the number of South Africans has been increasing. There used to be a lot of fewer people from Sud Afrika.
It is probably to recruit South Africans, because the economy there is perpetually like the US is right now, it seems. There aren't many jobs in that country and the currency is not high.
Americans and Canadians make the largest number of teachers. Americans represent the largest group, and there are significantly more Americans than Canadians. Based on the 2006 break-down, there were a lot more Americans than Canadians, but disproportionately there were more Canadians. The gap between Americans and Canadians is small when compared with the gap between Americans and people from the British Isles (The U.K.) and Ireland. I think it's refreshing to see someone from the U.K. There are some Australians here and there. I see them here and there and the same for the New Zealanders. |
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TeeBee
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2008 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Adventurer wrote: |
I do believe that it's correct that the number of South Africans has been increasing. There used to be a lot of fewer people from Sud Afrika.
It is probably to recruit South Africans, because the economy there is perpetually like the US is right now, it seems. There aren't many jobs in that country and the currency is not high. |
Ok, a bit off topic:
I think the increase in South Africans is actually due to relatively recent changes in the visa rules that officially made SA one of the English-speaking countries that schools could recruit from. That and the fact that the KRW is relatively strong against the South African Rand. I make twice as much here as I was making in SA, and actually managing to save some money. Can't beat that.
Actually SA's economy is doing really well. Growth has been steady for years now, and there are jobs. I never struggled to find work, and actually turned down a decent job offer back home so that I could come to Korea and get some travelling under my belt. Most of the South Africans here tend to be recent graduates looking to pay off some loans or save some money for a house or travelling, or older people looking to do put some money away for retirement. At least, that's what I've seen. I wouldn't say South Africans come here for lack of opportunities back home. But maybe that is just from my experience. |
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