Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

Employers Want English, not Korean
While most Korean employers set exacting standards for the English proficiency of job applicants, hardly any care how good their Korean is.

Moon Byung-ho of the ruling Uri Party said analysis of requirements in job vacancy ads showed that 37 percent of big corporations and 65 percent of public corporations required high English scores on tests like the Test of English for International Communication (TOEIC), Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) and Test of English Proficiency (TEPS). Thus Samsung Electronics asks for a score of at least 730 out of 990 in the TOEIC, 201 out of 300 in the TOEFL and 630 out of 990 in the TEPS. LG Electronics requires at least 700 in the TOEIC, 210 in the TOEFL and 600 in the TEPS. Hanjin Group, GM Daewoo Auto and Technology Company, Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering, KCC, and Hansol all require a minimum TOEIC score of 700.

Many of the 85 public corporations surveyed also required a TOEIC score of 700 to 750. This was the case for Korea Highway Corporation in recruiting level five officers, and the National Pension Service, Korea National Housing Corporation, KEPCO and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry for level six officers.
Chosun Ilbo (October 9, 2005)
http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200510/200510090009.html

[Real Reality]

If employers want English, then are they paying for it? If English is important to jobs, then does this reflect in the training and quality of English teachers? Are English teachers paid better than teachers teaching other subjects?

Today's Bonus
Mandarin not quite eclipsing English yet
Professors and students refute idea that Mandarin will soon overtake English.... "It's a cycle," Quadrini said. Right now English is the most important language internationally, so people have an incentive to learn it. Then, as more people communicate using English, more and more people will have an incentive to learn English and the cycle will continue.
By Kim Holmes, Daily Trojan - News (March 25, 2004)
http://www.dailytrojan.com/media/paper679/news/2004/03/25/News/Mandarin.Not.Quite.Eclipsing.English.Yet-641212.shtml