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I am considering moving to Asia to teach English because of the current state of the U.S. economy. I have found a number of schools / recruiting companies that only require a Bachelors degree which I currently have. The only downside is I don't personally know anyone that has taught English in Asia before. I would like to speak with someone or hear their thoughts on what it was like teaching English in Asia. At first I thought I would like to live and teach in Thailand or Vietnam. But it appears that South Korea pays the most and has the best benefits for teachers. I wouldn't mind China or Japan but I've heard that you can't save much money in either of those places. Has anyone taught English overseas in Asia before? If so where at and what did you think of the overall experience? Also what are some reputable companies to go through to teach? So far I've come across some schools in South Korea willing to pay around 2 million won per month which comes to around $24,000 USD per year. They also are willing to provide free housing and airline tickets which are huge costs. So when you factor in the housing and airline tickets, its probably around $35,000 - $40,000 USD. Like I said I'm having a hard time finding a job right now and it appears I can get a job teaching English. I think it would be a good experience for me and allow me to travel all over Asia which I've been wanting to do for some time. I'd love to hear from anybody about their experiences and opinions on this subject. Specifically what country to go to and a reputable company to go through.
My sister-in-law is teaching English in South Korea. She is currently at home in the states visiting and is about to return. Here are some things that I know. She was in South Korea for 2 years before she got to come home to visit. She never has enough days off in a row to visit and can't afford to come on her own. The only reason she got to come home this time was that she quit her job teaching at the university (so she got a plane ticket home) and will be teaching at a public school (plane ticket to Korea). At the university, she had to be at work at 6:30 am and got off work at 10:30 pm. She had a few down hours during that time but never enough time to do much. South Korea students go to school from 7am to 10 pm. She'll have better hours in the public school because she has day shift and other teachers have night shift. She likes it there but reports that things go on there that never gone on here. You can be fired for being too over weight. She reports that most people in Seoul are bulimic (the public restrooms reek of vomit). The women wear dress sizes there that don't even exist here so she can't shop there. When she walks into a clothing store (because her daughter can wear the clothes), women scream "no size for you" and literally push her out the store. Korean beds have no springs so she sleeps on the floor (they have sleeping mats). On the up side, she has saved a lot of money. Her apartment is paid for and furnished. Prescriptions are the equivalent of 2 or 3 dollars. Most people smoke and she likens Korea to US in the 70's before we started taking care of pollution, so if you have asthma it would not be a good fit. My SIL loves Japan but says that it is very expensive.
I taught English for one year in China (1989-90). I have spent the past 13+ years teaching in Malaysia, one of those years teaching English. For the rest of my time in Malaysia, I have taught content subjects IN English (e.g., finance, U.S. History), and engineering subjects in Malay.
With a bachelors degree and no (or little?) experience, you should consider South Korea as a good place to get started. Yes, the hours might be long, but TESL/TEFL is like any other craft that must be worked at in the early stages to get the experience and wisdom to move up into better positions.
I have participated in online forums discussing TESL/TEFL in Asia and the general consensus is that the experience that you get out of the job depends a lot upon personality and what you put into the job. TESL/TEFL is no longer for slackers who just want to hop around the world, teaching a little here and there. Schools are a lot smarter than they used to be and know about the various certifications and qualifications available.
If you are serious about long-term prospects, you should consider picking up one of those 4-week certifications, such as the Language House/Cambridge U. Cert. in Teaching English as a Foreign Language to Adults (CTEFLA). There are several places in the USA that provide that qualification training.
My brother speaks fluent Korean and taught English in S. Korea for two years. He liked it at first (probably because he really fit in with the locals, language-wise) but after a while got tired of the kids misbehaving. Well duh, kids are kids no matter what the culture. Some people just aren't meant to teach.
So I guess that means that if you are a natural teacher and speak fluent Korean, you will be happy and can stay there as long as you want.
My brother never said anything about having to work 16 hours a day. That may be because he was already well above the other English teachers in terms of "likeability" by the school administrators because he could speak to them in their native tongue.
Apparently teaching English in South Korea is a very easy job to get. I went to a job fair in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex a few months ago and was sorry I wasted my time. There were tons of job seekers and the jobs consisted of:
selling make-up
selling insurance
patrolling the city buses and trains (no gun, just a referral to the Dallas Police if there's serious trouble)
medical debt collector
teaching English in South Korea
My brother speaks fluent Korean and taught English in S. Korea for two years. He liked it at first (probably because he really fit in with the locals, language-wise) but after a while got tired of the kids misbehaving. Well duh, kids are kids no matter what the culture. Some people just aren't meant to teach.
Apparently teaching English in South Korea is a very easy job to get. I went to a job fair in the Dallas/Ft Worth metroplex a few months ago and was sorry I wasted my time. There were tons of job seekers and the jobs consisted of:
teaching English in South Korea
hmmm....
Yes, my understanding is that there is a type of school (called hagwon) that is private and is mostly for after-school and after-work learners. This might be considered to be at the lower end of the desirability scale. But, the more educated and experienced one gets, the farther and faster up the scale one moves.
With masters degrees and teaching experience, I landed fairly cushy jobs teaching college-age students (18-25), who are certainly more attentive than 5- and 6-year-olds. Not all TESL/TEFL will be crowd control of children.
South Korea is known for its prevalence of jobs teaching children (thus the high turnover), but that should not dissuade someone from using that job as a stepping stone to a better position.
You might also try to search for expat websites for Americans in Asia, where people may be discussing living and working in Asia. My sibling taught in China, South Korea, and Taiwan, ranging from college to younger kids schools (after school type programs). Spouse had a Master's and could teach at corporate Korean companies. I believe the TESOL Convention (they went to) has some kind of job fair, but you can probably look online for information about it.
Japan is where you want to go. They pay the best and unless you are going to go out partying all the time you should be able to save quite a bit of money. The english school business is also a lot more honest there than it is in Korea.
I did teach in Korea for a while, but this was back in the mid-1990's and since I haven't been hearing as many complaints as I used to (especially some of the stuff I have personally dealt with) they must have cleaned it up at least to some degree.
Here is some general advice:
1. Do not go over there without a work visa. Unless, of course, you want to end up in a Korean jail. The school I worked at got raided twice and three teachers were arrested (I went over on a work visa, so no problem) and put in the slammer. They got out a couple days later, but I think there was some bribery involved in that.
2. Demand to know which school you will be teaching at and what city it is located in. If it a chain, ask what branch of that chain you will be assigned to. Do not allow yourself to be subcontracted out to another school for any reason!
3. Your work visa will specify that you are allowed to teach at the school that got you your visa. If your school owner/headmaster asks you to teach an occasional class at his "friend's" school, that is illegal. Moreover, there is nothing friendly about such arrangements, the school you are being lent out to is paying your original employer money under the table. Also, ask about your living acommodations. They should provide this or at least subsidise your living arrangements. You wil probably end up living in a high rise apartment building.
Also, ask about health insurance. They are stipulated by law to provide it to you. If they won't, leave.
4. Within a few days of landing in Korea, you will need to go to the immigration office to get your foreign registration card. You will be required to hand over your passport to the immigration police, who will return it to you when your card is ready. DO NOT EVER, EVER, EVER HAND OVER YOUR PASSPORT TO ANYONE AT YOUR SCHOOL! Hand it yourself to the immigration officer. And then pick up your card yourself.
5. You are required to carry your foreigner card everywhere you go and you may be asked for it by the police (I never was, but it can happen).
6. Koreans are hyper patriotic, especially when it comes to the rivalry with Japan. Stay away from discussing politics!
7. The schools do not want their teachers doing private lessons (it may also be illegal). You will have people hitting you up in restaurants wanting to practice their english with you. Don't do it! Also, some of your students might want to have post-class sort of spontaneous teaching sessions. Not allowed.
8. Do not hold hands or display affection to Korean women in public. You may get jumped. Keep your relationships private. Do not tell your school owner about your personal life or the personal life of any teacher!
9. Koreans do not like black people thanks to the violence against Korean store owners and their employees by blacks in L.A. So expect some really bigoted questions or assertions about blacks. Sad, but true.
10. Korean kids are great, as are the adults you will teach if your school has adult classes. You will probably do double shifts, the first one starting at 6:30 a.m. and ending around 8:30-9:00 a.m. and then another shift starting around 4:00 p.m. and ending around 9:00 p.m. If you go home and sleep during the break, like I did, don't answer the phone because it is probably the school owner wanting to lend you out to another school.
11. Most of the schools have a couple of Saturday classes in some form or another. Often times those are adult classes. Try to get out of doing them unless you want the extra money.
12. This is important, so tattoo it on your forehead> Bring enough money with you to return to the U.S. if your owner turns out to be a scumbag. Yeah, they may try to stiff paying you or delay paying you. Also, there are so many problems with these schools that the Korean police have just given up trying to keep a lid on their shenanigans. So you are likely to not get much help from them.
13. The tap water in Korea is undrinkable because it is ful of heavy metals dating back to the Park Chung-hee days. You will have to take a large plastic water bottle to a local artificial well and get your drinking water that way.
14. To get around, you will be using buses and taxis. Your school should pay your transportation expenses. And to cal a taxi, stick your hand straight out and flap your hand toward the ground. Do not use the "come here" fingers toward your face gesture we do here in the U.S. In Korea, that is for animals.
15. I recommend you learn to read Hangul, the Korean alphabet. It is only about 50 characters and you can learn it in just a few days. And, of course, get yourself a Korean phrase book. Or even better, learn Korean. Korean and Japanese are very similar structurally, so if you later go to Japan, you should be able to pick Japanese up faster than somebody without your experience.
16. Korea has currency laws enumerating how much you can take out of the country at any one time. Discuss this with your school owner because I can't remember what the limits are.
17. Unless you go to Seoul (or, and this is a presumption on my part, Pusan or Taegu), you will not be able to get english language books and magazines at the local bookstores.
18: About the taxi drivers: driving a taxi in Korea is considered to be the most degrading job you can have there. The drivers are largely comprised of guys who have gotten laid off for one reason or another from the businesses and corporations they were working in. Do not give them any crap. They are good people (some may even try to speak english to you) who already have enough stuff to deal with.
19. It keeps getting cold in Korea until about 9 a.m. and zero degree temperatures aren't uncommon in winter (summers are hot and sticky and sometimes you get sand particulates blowing in from China). Bring winter clothing, you will need it, including face masks.
20. The food is non-stop spicy. Korean food rocks (with a couple of exceptions), but if you can't hack spicy food you should live elsewhere else.
21. If you decide to leave before your contract is up without your employer's permission, you will not be allowed back in the country for a period of time, but I can no longer remember what that is.
Also, remember that in Korea you have no rights (this is true in Japan, too) vis a vis criminal matters. There is a reason they have a low crime rate, you know what I mean? And the U.S. consulate is not going to interfere in internal Korean matters to help you. So don't do anything stupid!
I'm sure I'm forgetting things, but this is all I can remember to bore you with right now.
Good luck. Korea is a great country and I have a heck of a lot of respect for how hard those folks work over there. I hope it works out for you.
From what I know the best place to save money while teaching English in Asia is South Korea. But as mentioned in South Korea one is expected to work long hours. Japan has a high cost of living so although the salaries are high there, but one needs every penny of what earns in order to live there. China has many jobs and usually teachers get paid enough to live there without problem, but it is low by American standards so one can't pay off any debts in the USA or save any money while there.
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