Korean Job Discussion Forums

[textin]

The last post on this topic was getting too long, so here is a fresh start....

Any good teacher from any Native speaking Country is capable of conveying everything a Korean ESL student needs to know about English. Even, I would argue, enough to pass TOEIC exmans etc...

It is a sad reflection on Korean society that many feel the need to have exclusivly American English as the World is in fact a much bigger place.

If Korea wished to become a State of America then I guess it would be a good idea, but if it wanted to become an Internationally recognized Country in its own right, then a mix would be much more preferable.

There are numorous opportunities in other parts of the World for Korean students, workers and business people, probably even more so than in the higher restricted US economy. In these other parts of the World, it makes little difference what your accent is. In fact it probably makes little difference in the US either.

If you can get a good ESL teacher from any native speaking Country.....thats all you need.

[VanIslander]

Who are you trying to convince?
You want to change Korean values?
(Another frustrated foreigner hereabouts then.)

[JacktheCat]

The marketplace wants American English.

The marketplace looks for teachers who can teach it and gets taught American English.

[ajuma]

If you've ever taken the TOEIC exam, you'd understand...although I understand your point. Students need to be exposed to English in all of it's variations.

[Derrek]

This thread seems to crop up every so often, and it's always started by some non-American teacher who is ticked-off, feels inferior, or has become emotionally damaged when their boss asks them to, "Please speak American English."

Sometimes it becomes an issue when a non-American accented teacher is searching for a job and becomes frustrated at the jobs listed calling for "An American/North American Accent."

When one of these threads goes up, the responses are ALWAYS the same.

To make themselves feel better, some non-North American teachers post a comment about how terrible Americans speak, how awful the Southern accent is, blah, blah, blah......

Can you say, "Broken Record????"


Koreans call for an American accent. They will sometimes pay Americans or Canadians more -- and sometimes, hire them over you. Big deal.

It's a fact of life here, and you're not going to change it, nor will it change anytime soon.

Would you feel better if all North Americans hung their heads in shame? Or if Koreans publically marched against the North American accent?

Or if there were some government mandate that a certain percentage of teachers MUST be from a non North American country?

What exactly is it that you think you can accomplish by posting about it here??

[Pyongshin Sangja]

True. Now, can we get back to the drinking?

[plato's republic]

why is it that in japan, although American English is also the order of the day, the majority of schools don't care where you come from yet in korea everyone seems to want an "American-English teacher"? sure, in korea the market demands American-English, but no-one has yet said why that is.
well, it seems pretty obvious. sure America is currently the worlds only major superpower, but i think the main reason is that countries like japan, korea and the phillipines were at some point or other during the last 60years or so, host to american troops after WW2. the fact that America spent time and money on reconstructing these countries and building them up as bastions against communism meant that the inhabitants of these countries were in constant contact with speakers of American-English, not a langauge as such in its own right, but a form of spoken English or even an accent. therefore over the years American-English has become the norm in these countries. also today many asians desire to go study or live the american dream in the U.S., perhaps becasue they look up to America and all that it stands for.
as a speaker of british english, i sympathise with the OP's comments, it is frustrating being turned down for a job that you are more than qualified for just because you don't have an American accent, but then again, most north americans wouldn't stand much chance of landing a teaching job in some european countries where british english is requested and demanded. so i guess we just have to make the most of our chances...

[jinks]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

No, it's because you sound goofy to them. Sorry. You do.

[davyteacher]

Korea are just f**ked up when choosing teachers and their selection, for example, they choose only white people who are young, so it`s not just because of the accent, they`re just clowns.

They need to smell the coffee

[Derrek]

What they really want is "American TV announcer-style English" or "Movie English."


That's what they want.

[T-dot]

I teach Canadian english!

[thorin]

USA! USA! USA!

[eamo]

Yeah. It's a little unfair to the non-North American. But what are you going to do? Can't change the perceptions of Koreans.

British and Irish get the breaks if they want to teach in the EU where most ESL employers ask for an EU passport holder. Meaning British and Irish only!

Pity the pay sucks in Europe.....

If the pay in Italy, France, Spain etc was even 3/4 of what Korea pays I would have never come here in the first place.

[mishlert]

I'm an American and taught English in Dresden, Germany, and Budapest, Hungary. At the time it was easier to get a visa in Germany, and for the English. Well, the books were British English, but I didn't mind because when I walked in the classroom I taught English. Period.
As for Budapest, I taught at a polytechnic university and we had find material and books that were technical English (not easy). My privates, through a school, used British English books. Again, I taught English.