The Reality Of Being an English Teacher In Korea

As much as I enjoyed teaching in Korea, the worst experiences were dealing with the parents. I vividly recall a time when a parent came up to me and said that her child really enjoys my class and had learned a lot from me as I make my classes very fun. I was very flattered and then all of a sudden she went from a smile to a stern expression. Abruptly expressing her dissatisfaction and complaining that she didn’t pay money to enroll her child in an institute to have fun.”

I’ve been doing it a few months and I think I really lucked out. I love it. I got the area in Seoul I wanted and the salary. The kids are great, my coworkers are great. I’m very fortunate.

Great to hear their viewpoints and experiences! I taught in Korean previously (five 1-year contracts) mostly with public schools, but did a private academy my 5th year. The public school lunches were AMAZING, but with a private academy, I like the independence of teaching a class on your own, the smaller class sizes, and the ability to communicate with the school directly to get hired. You also have the option to work an afternoon - evening shift, which leaves your mornings open to run errands or sleep in a little bit. I think if you're new to teaching in Korea, a public school can be a good place to start to understand the culture of the classroom, developing your teaching style, and to receive support by teaching alongside a co-teacher. By my 5th year, I was ready to get away from the co-teacher partnership because by then I felt I had enough confidence to teach on my own. The biggest key difference that made private stand apart from public was that they are a business first, so they are driven to meet numbers and ensure they can stay in business and continue attracting students. That's not a bad thing per say; it's all about how the academy approaches their goals to provide a great experience for students while also considering what they bring to the teaching market. I would say I never graded tests or homework or did progress reports until I started working in a private academy. I actually felt like I'd really leveled up in that way compared to the public school where it was the Korean co-teacher who was responsible for grading and administering tests. Overall, I feel starting off as an English teacher is a great way to get your foot in the door to working in Korea with the E-2 teaching visa (provided you're from one the countries that they prioritize for hiring native English speakers). I would say though, there are salary caps for how much you can make as an English and I think unless you plan to make English teaching your only option, to stay long-term in Korea, it'd be beneficial to start a business and transition over to a resident visa. It's good to give yourself options and not strictly be confined to only teaching English. By the way Jerry, would you mind doing another video spotlighting foreigners who've started businesses in Korea? You do a great job in all your interviews! Also, how about a video about how to build friendships with Koreans as a foreigner?

I've been teaching in Korea for almost a year now. The biggest problem with the Hagwons in Korea is they care more about money and pleasing the parents than the kids learning, and the parents just want their kids to be at a high level (even if they haven't learned anything or should be at that level). The hagwon happily puts the kids in the wrong level they want to keep the parent's money, but it causes the kids to struggle to learn any English. The parents and the education system put all this pressure on test taking and getting good scores, but so little emphasis on actually learning. As a teacher, when we try to incorporate fun activities that will actually make them learn, I have found we are always shut down.

4:23 She's beautiful damnit.🤗

Not hiring non-native teachers is a big turn off for me personally. My English is at the C2 level and my pronunciation isn't distinguishable from native speakers (I have native friends) and I have like 13 years of teaching experience, so yeah... That sucked

Haha, I love the bearded dude's attitude. I'd kick it with him if I lived in Korea. 🤙

Great video, full of diverse experiences....it's dabbling on quite a range of complexities, that each of them are privy to ...nice. 👏

As a mid-40s scientist who’s been studying Korean for fun for a couple of years, this made me wonder if teaching at a Hagwon was something I could do after retirement. Everyone here seems young. Do they take older people with a stack of diplomas?

The interviewer is always very cool! I love your style 🎉🎉🎉🎉

This is an absolutely amazing video. My current career interest is to be an English Teacher in South Korea ❤

❤ Great interviews as usual! You are an awesome interviewee / host. We appreciate you. ❤

This was very informative, thank you

the last piece of advice is honestly the most important. it's so important to reflect on "how is your mental?" "Are you ready to be far from home?" "Are these hours and job for you, actually?"

Like your videos as they always show the full range of people's experiences.

I love the white eyelet shirt. Looks sophisticated, cool, & sexy 😍

There's a parent Karen culture in korea which makes teaching miserable tbh. Besides that, it would be fine

New Channel and I’m enjoying many of your videos this quiet Sunday Morning 😊😊😊 Thank You for Sharing… Namaste

Yo, so heavy on that final comment about don't come to Korea if you don't like kids. I've been here 3 years and the worst experience with coworkers have been teachers who came here just to vacation, don't like kids, OR had nothing better to do. Like for real, stay home if you're not here to work with kids. You're wasting their time, other teachers' time and yours. Also, don't come here if you're unhappy. Coming here won't suddenly fix all your problems.

love your videos friend! BY the way, I notice you say 'you made mention' a lot. To me as a native speaker it sounds very odd, just fyi. I would just say 'you mentioned that...'