Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Freaka]

I'll be arriving in Seoul on July 29th with an F4 visa, a degree from a highly reputable university in the US and no teaching experience. Yes, I'm admittedly a newbie! I'll be staying with relatives in Gangnam, and I'm hoping to find some local students to privately tutor. If I can find at least 5 students to tutor twice a week at 60,000 won per hour, that's 10 hours per week = 40 hours a month = 2.4 million won a month. Throw in prep and travel time, and I'm looking at about 20-30 hours per week.

I'm also hoping to work with a broker who can send me out on teaching gigs to companies such as Samsung and LG. (A family friend has offered to hook me up with his old broker.) If I can negotiate 70,000 won per hour and work an additional ten hours a week on top of my tutoring, that's another 20 hours per week and 2.8 million won a month.

My monthly salary = 5.2 million won.

Hours worked including prep and travel time = 40-50 hours per week.

The above would be "an ideal" scenario for me. But how realistic is it? Is it doable? Or am I living in La La Land? Of course, I realize that my success as an English teacher will be highly dependent on my ability to teach English, but I have no doubt that I will make a great teacher, so let's not even go there. (ha ha)

Will I burn out? I'm a workaholic and here in Los Angeles, I worked 80+ hours a week for nearly two years when I owned my own restaurant and 60+ hours a week for many years while working in the Entertainment Industry, so believe it or not, 40-50 hours a week sounds very reasonable. And I don't mind working evenings and weekends.

[Wondering]

I'm assuming you are eligible to teach privates legally.

All I can say is that traveling from job to job might take more time than you are alloting. Great public transportation, but LOTS of traffic and it's very, very crowded.

Also, if you are finding students on your own, that could take time. If your family is setting them up for you, the students might be wanting a discount on your rates because they are family or friends of family, or co-workers of family or whatever. And if you are living rent-free with your family, they might expect you to give discounts for that reason. If you plan to live on your own, then housing expenses are really going to eat into your money.

Well, that's all the bad news I can think of for now.

EDIT: Oh, as for burnout, you still might get that. Teaching is very different from your other jobs. It might be much easier and more restful and it might not. It can also depend on your students. Personally, if I had to teach adults full-time, I'd burn out within two weeks. But full-time kindergarten? Not a problem at all.

[Freaka]

Hey Wondering,

"I'm assuming you are eligible to teach privates legally."

You are correct.

"All I can say is that traveling from job to job might take more time than you are alloting. Great public transportation, but LOTS of traffic and it's very, very crowded."

Yes, it will be quite an adjustment for me since I currently live in Los Angeles and have always had a car here. Thank goodnesss for Seoul's great public transportation system!

"Also, if you are finding students on your own, that could take time. If your family is setting them up for you, the students might be wanting a discount on your rates because they are family or friends of family, or co-workers of family or whatever."

I expect to find most of my clients on my own. And you're absolutely right - anyone that is referred to me by a family member will be seeking a discounted rate. This is something that I will need to consider if and when it comes up.

"And if you are living rent-free with your family, they might expect you to give discounts for that reason. If you plan to live on your own, then housing expenses are really going to eat into your money."

I'll be living with my cousin, and she doesn't have any children, so I won't be expected to tutor her kids, but I'll gladly give her free English lessons over dinner! (lol)

"EDIT: Oh, as for burnout, you still might get that. Teaching is very different from your other jobs. It might be much easier and more restful and it might not. It can also depend on your students. Personally, if I had to teach adults full-time, I'd burn out within two weeks. But full-time kindergarten? Not a problem at all."

Any job has to be "easier and more restful" than babysitting a bunch of whining celebrities who make too much money and can't wipe their own butts! Running my own restaurant was no cakewalk either!

So you prefer teaching the kiddies to the adults? Why is that? Any words of wisdom or advice is much appreciated! Thank you!

[Wondering]

There is no way to predict if you will prefer teaching children or adults. I came here intending to teach adults...had signed on to teach adults, and was thrown in a kiddie hagwon. It took a while to figure out what I was doing, but it turned out that I am FAR better at teaching children than adults and I am especially good with total beginners. Other people far prefer adults and would rather rip out their own fingernails than teach kindergarten. Some prefer advanced students. That's one good thing about starting out in a hagwon; you get exposed to LOTS of ages and levels and can figure out what you like best.

Not having a car is harder than you think. You are probably thinking, hey, I can just take a bus or the subway everywhere, right? Well, don't forget that if you want to go shopping, you'll be hauling it ALL with you until you are finished shopping...transferring on the subway can be a real pain in the neck when you are loaded down. If you stock up on food at a supermarket, you will likely have to take a taxi, especially if you live far from the subway/bus stop. Public transportation means traveling only along the routes that they take...no deviating unless you are shelling out for a cab, which, I've heard is FAR cheaper than in the States, but I wouldn't know because there were no taxis where I'm from. No public buses either...or subways for that matter...pretty much HAD to have a car. I miss my car, but certainly do not want to drive here.

[Freaka]

Hey Wondering,

As far as hagwons go, what do you think about CDI? Just curious...

Thanks!

[Wondering]

I haven't worked for that hagwon, so I can't give an educated opinion. However, if you run a search on CDI, you'll come up with a lot of threads about it and can find people who HAVE worked for them. I find their salary attractive, but not their work conditions.

[Freaka]

[bellum99]

If they take you....they usually take people who know nothing and are willing to believe every idiotic thing that they call company policy. The biggest mutton heads are there long term..anyone with a brain is not. They want people who will do exactly what they are told and will believe what they are told.

[kprrok]

I'm just curious what you plan to offer that is so special and worth 60,000 per hour with no experience?

KPRROK

[The Bobster]

[Freaka]

[Freaka]

[Sody]

I don't know anyone who can do what you are planning and most of the teachers I have met here have more than 4 years ESL experience. But unlike them, you can tutor legally so perhaps it may be possible.

I respect your hard work ethic and your plan to be productive but I will give you two things to think about. I have met and been close friends with more than 10 teachers in Korea and none of them have successfully found students to tutor. Most Korean parents or adults don't trust dealing with an individual because the media sometimes portrays English teachers/foreigners as untrustworthy. Also, you will be competing with English hagwons (private academies) so your chances of getting serious students from them is very difficult. I say "serious" because that is the only type of student you can hope to get for your plan. The majority of Koreans are NOT serious about studying English and once they realize how difficult it is will give up. Most students and their parents will not pay what you are thinking of, not even close. If you've never been to Korea before, then you will be in for a huge shock about the hagwon industry. It is probably the largest industry in Korea and that is tough to compete against. If these companies have a hard time getting paid on time by their customers you should expect the same or worse.

Secondly, your plan doesn't take into account the prep time needed to tutor your students. I tutored in Japan and it's a lot more difficult to prep for one student than it is to prep for a class of 40 students.

I've seen some people on this board posting about how they got paid to teach in the military and also for big international corporations like Samsung and LG. I think what they failed to mention was that many of these highly paid tutoring sessions were with employees who already worked with the company. I knew of one such tutor who wasn't a teacher but an employee working with sales and he tutored only for a short time. The majority of companies will simply send their employees to a hagwon. It is cheaper and most time effective.

BoL whatever you decide.

Sody

[wylies99]

Don't believe even half of the BS some people post on this board about salaries. Many are recruiters trying to make teaching in Korea sound like "Candyland" with free money all over the place. The reality is quite different.

[Jizzo T. Clown]

I haven't taught privates in Korea, but have in China, Japan, and the US (the first two were paid!).

You'll likely get some higher-level students who just want "conversation." These will either be blessings or a pain in the a s s, as far as prep goes. The first few classes may seem to go well, then suddenly the material is "boring" or "too easy." Not only must you teach them English, you must read their minds and be entertaining as well--a little harder to do in a 1-1 situation than a classroom. Still, this can be accomplished by doing a detailed needs analysis for each new student. This of course presumes their level is high enough to complete a questionnaire. If not, I hope your Korean is pretty good.

Your ability to speak the language WILL come into play if you are targeting all levels--how do you plan on attracting business? Flyers? Business cards? What will you say /do when a student calls?

Also keep in mind that since you're charging such a high rate, the students will expect results much sooner than they will likely see them. This is where careful planning comes into play, and I think you may be a little unrealistic about your prep and travel time, unless you were planning on using the same lesson for every student.

Not trying to discourage you, but to paint a realistic picture.

There are posters on this board who probably have more experience tutoring (and in Korea), but that's my two cents'.