Tefl in South Korea

virmilitaris

dapto1 wrote: »

-Police Certificate (does this need to be notarised?)

AFAIK yes. I got mine done in the embassy here in Korea.

-Getting a copy of my degree apostilled. Although I read on the previous page it needs to be in English, so I need to contact NUI about that (mine is in Latin)

Yes.

- Contacting recruiters

Or search for a job yourself.

http://www.worknplay.co.kr/
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/
http://www.eslagent.net/english/main.php
http://englishspectrum.net/korea-teaching-job
http://www.eslkorea.net/
http://hiteacher.com/
http://www.hibrain.net/ (No English but lots of good jobs, especially Uni positions)
And of course craigslist. http://seoul.craigslist.co.kr/jjj/

Am I missing anything obvious there?

Medical check. And you need to interview with the Korean embassy AFAIK.

Also, do I need to get a copy of my ACELS Certificate in English Language Teaching apostilled/notarised?

No.

And finally, I read that there are different ways of getting something notarised... Would these be the right ones to contact? http://www.notarypublic.ie/finding_a_notary.html

Yes.

감사합니다 (I hope that's right...)

Yes.

cloneslad

dapto1 wrote: »

Hi guys, this thread has been really helpful. I've decided to look for a public school job in Korea, hopefully starting in the summer.

I already have plenty of copies of my transcripts, so would I be correct in thinking the following should be my next steps?:

-Police Certificate (does this need to be notarised?)

-Getting a copy of my degree apostilled. Although I read on the previous page it needs to be in English, so I need to contact NUI about that (mine is in Latin)

- Contacting recruiters


Am I missing anything obvious there?

Also, do I need to get a copy of my ACELS Certificate in English Language Teaching apostilled/notarised?

And finally, I read that there are different ways of getting something notarised... Would these be the right ones to contact? http://www.notarypublic.ie/finding_a_notary.html

Thanks in advance, sorry for all the questions!

감사합니다 (I hope that's right...)

Pretty much everything that has been said above.

You will your degree needs to be signed & stamped by a commissioner of oaths then stamped by the dept of foreign affairs.

Your Gardaí background check needs only be brought to the dept of foreign affairs to be stamped, as he signature from the superintendent who issues it is enough prior to that.

You don't need a medical check in Ireland. That happens in Korea. What you do need is to sign a medical form, just print it from this link and fill it out and send it off to korea with your documents.

http://www.gone2korea.com/document-downloads/Health-Statement.pdf


your Korean, though I assume copied and pasted from the internet is already a good 2 steps ahead of some of my mates here

virmilitaris gave you a good list of places to look for jobs. Be sure to conduct as much research as possible on location and on your school as you can. You are starting off looking for a public position but things may change when you see the money on offer between public and private school. If it does, be sure to contact current teachers at the provate school, I would even suggest doing the same at the public school if you can get their contact details.

Cool Running

dapto1 wrote: »

Hi guys, this thread has been really helpful. I've decided to look for a public school job in Korea, hopefully starting in the summer.

I already have plenty of copies of my transcripts, so would I be correct in thinking the following should be my next steps?:

-Police Certificate (does this need to be notarised?)

-Getting a copy of my degree apostilled. Although I read on the previous page it needs to be in English, so I need to contact NUI about that (mine is in Latin)

- Contacting recruiters


Am I missing anything obvious there?

Also, do I need to get a copy of my ACELS Certificate in English Language Teaching apostilled/notarised?

And finally, I read that there are different ways of getting something notarised... Would these be the right ones to contact? http://www.notarypublic.ie/finding_a_notary.html

Thanks in advance, sorry for all the questions!

감사합니다 (I hope that's right...)

Ya it seems like you're on the ball and know what's required

Here is the info on getting police check and degree copy apostilled
http://www.dfa.ie/home/index.aspx?id=268

If you don't want to head to Dublin you can post documents up to them to apostille with a postal order but if tight for time head up to Stephens Green and they will apostille the documents in around 30 minutes.

One other thing I would say is getting your CV suited to TEFL teaching. Basically include a recent photo with you smiling, your age and emphasise any teaching or working with kids etc and narrow it down to a page. Their is plenty of good advice about it on the net

kraggy

cloneslad wrote: »

It is recognised. I've been driving around on mine. (rented car, not a privately owned one) You will need to have an international driving licence too though. You get them from the AA in Dublin (in person) or post your application tho them. It costs about €5 for a one year international licence.

Whenever I rent a car, they look for my international licence. They almost dismiss my irish licence with a sense of 'what the f**k is he doing with a pink paper licence??'.

Apparently you can also trade in your irish licence for a korean one at the licence department place. Be cautious that when you trade it, they take your irish one off you until you give the korean one back and they will probably end up losing your irish licence.

If you are going to get a scooter or bike under 125cc then you don't even need a licence or insurance to drive it.

That's brilliant! Really, no insurance or license needed? I used to drive bikes here. Def wanna get back into driving over there if that's the case.

How much would a new or a good second-hand 125cc be?

Also, would an Aib Maestro card with the usual Plus/Cirrus markings on it not work in Korea? Was planning on just taking money out from the ATM for the first month.

And would public schools pay you with a wad of cash? I've read about some hagwons paying you in cash..

What's the average waiting time to get reimbursed for the flight with a public school?

virmilitaris

kraggy wrote: »

That's brilliant! Really, no insurance or license needed? I used to drive bikes here. Def wanna get back into driving over there if that's the case.

I seriously recommend that you come here for a few weeks and have a look at what the traffic is like here before deciding to drive a bike. I've done it myself but the roads here are bloody nuts at the very best of times. The amount of times I've been seconds away from an early grave is frightening.

The only thing more dangerous than the Korean taxi drivers are the Korean bus drivers. Red lights mean almost nothing and indicating happens only irregularly.

How much would a new or a good second-hand 125cc be?

Can't imagine it would be more than 300-400 euro.

Have a look at this forum. http://www.worknplay.co.kr/ForumList.php?sect=4&id=forum&cateCode=,I2V,A2Y

Also, would an Aib Maestro card with the usual Plus/Cirrus markings on it not work in Korea? Was planning on just taking money out from the ATM for the first month.

AFAIK you'd be incurring huge fees. Just carry the cash on you. 500 euro should be enough to last you for the first month if you don't go crazy.

And would public schools pay you with a wad of cash? I've read about some hagwons paying you in cash..

I can't imagine why. It's just more effort for them.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

That's brilliant! Really, no insurance or license needed? I used to drive bikes here. Def wanna get back into driving over there if that's the case.

How much would a new or a good second-hand 125cc be?

most 125 bikes I've seen (on the island) are daelims or hyosungs. They look pretty cool, but are heavy as hell and you'll not get much more than 85km/h out of them. They are pretty cheap to run though. My mates are all selling theirs now for prices between 300-500k won (€180-€300 approx). Some others had daelim /hysong bikes that were lighter and faster which go for more. something like this one

As has been said above. They are crazy drivers here, you have to watch out for them because they don't watchout for themselves. Indicators only go on when they are halfway across the lane they are going into (that's if they go on at all).

On sunday i was driving with my mates to go play football and I slowed down because there was two cars infront of me (6 lane road / 3 going in each direction). They had crashed into each other as they both tried to turn left to do a U-turn to go back towards town. It's a crash that could never happen at home because at least one person would see the other and stop what they were doing, but not in korea. In korea it's a game of beep the horn loudest to see who wins. The break is an after thought.

Also yesterday I saw three cars crashed into eachother, on a straight road, going into the main town. There was no intersection nearby or anything, just a combination of people tailgating and cars braking suddenly when they decide they want to stop now and not when it's safe to do so.


I also saw a 5 vehicle crash outside homeplus department store one night. All 5 vehicles were motorbikes / scooters....how is that even possible??

Now, in saying all this. I've been driving my mates car for the last two weeks and nothing has happened it, I also drove a 9 seater starex to Boryeong mud festival and a Tosca up and down the east coast for 5 days during chuseok not to mention having a scooter too and I haven't had any crashes, though that has involved lots of heavy braking to avoid idiots infront of me.

your other questions were well answered above. You do get raped on the bank charges for your card. If you don't want to carry cash, take your card, take out money at the airport, exchange it and be until you get paid. €700 should be more than enough to last you until your first pay cheque.

I don't know anyone to get paid in cash, public or private. The only cash payments I get are bonuses / gifts from my boss for holidays.

dapto1

virmilitaris, Cool Running and ClonesLad thanks a million for your replies I really appreciate it.

Really getting excited about it now, even though it won't be until at least June!

Thistle pin

Hey all,
I have just finished my TEFL and am travelling to Dalian, China. Has anybody been there before? Do you have any advice?

Thanks,
TP,x

livinginkorea

I got an email today from a recruiter about GEPIK jobs starting in March, April, May and June so there are definitely positions still available. If anybody is interested I could post the email here or PM me (is it acceptable to post the email here? - I'm not a recruiter!).

I thought this part was useful in posting here for comments:

It would be helpful for you to get a public school position with quick process if you let us know below

1. If you are serious and qualified teacher.

2. If you have all documents to get an E-2 visa or have a release letter from your current school for transferring.

3. Send us your resume and photo immediately if you are interested in it.


It would be helpful for us to process when you apply the position with..

1. Sending us Your resume and photo

2. Good Reference


Here are the situations you might get rejected.

1. The people Who didn’t complete a year contract before.

2. The people who have bad references.

3. The people who used to have problem with immigration office and their names are on the record.

So jobs are definitely out there for public schools after March. All have 20 days vacation and some are after school programs too.

ibbie

Hi all,


I had an interview with a school in Seoul last night 'Docs Edu' anyone have any info about them, they are located in Jungnang-gu. The hagwon was called 'Herald School' but the name was changed to 'Docs Edu' since 2009. Nothing on google about Docs Edu but a good bit on Herald School all mixed reviews really.

So firstly the salary they offered is 2.1 mil, I'm going to try and get them up to 2.2mil.

There is one section in the housing part of the contract that I want to know if it is the done thing over there-

"The Employer will provide furnished housing (bed, closet, refrigerator, telephone, TV, TV cabinet and microwave oven) for the employee with the rent at the Employer’s cost.
The employee will pay the running cost of the accommodation (including electricity, gas, water bills, apartment management fee, telephone and other utility charges) other than the rental of the housing.
The Employer will deduct 200,000 Korean Won from the Employee’s monthly payment for three months to make 600,000 Korean Won in total as a housing management deposit. This deposit is to cover unpaid monthly service, utility, and telephone charges which will be billed within 2 months after the Employee’s contract period."


Any info / advice greatly appreciated

cloneslad

ibbie wrote: »

monthly payment for three months to make 600,000 Korean Won in total as a housing management deposit. This deposit is to cover unpaid monthly service, utility, and telephone charges which will be billed within 2 months after the Employee’s contract period."


Any info / advice greatly appreciated

If you post that on davesesl, you'll get the usual people claiming that it's illegal to do such a thing, run away as fast as you can, the school is going to rip you off etc etc.

Those people are idiots. The school has just spent a fortune getting you to Korea, and the bills are in their name so if you do a runner, the least the should get back is a bit of money to cover the expense you left behind.

My school took the money out of my salary when I first came here over 4 years ago. I thought it was fair enough, you have to pay a deposit for a house in Ireland, why not here? I got it back with my final paycheque before I left. It's great because you get a bonus 600k (although it's really yours it feels like free money because it was so long ago that you paid it).

When I came back to my school again last year they took the money out again. Even though they knew I wouldn't ever run away in the middle of the night or leave unpaid bills, I think it's only fair I should pay it if the other teachers are paying it, and that's how they feel too.


I would make sure to get the money off your school prior to leaving though. Don't let them keep it and tell you they'll send you the balance. You'll end up losing money on the cost of the bank transfer (if you get it at all) I did before, and I will again, leave money here with my boss when I leave so as that the bills are covered for my last month (feb) when they arrive midway through March and I'm off travelling around.

Don't know anything about the school you interviewed for.

ibbie

cloneslad wrote: »

I would make sure to get the money off your school prior to leaving though. Don't let them keep it and tell you they'll send you the balance. You'll end up losing money on the cost of the bank transfer (if you get it at all) I did before, and I will again, leave money here with my boss when I leave so as that the bills are covered for my last month (feb) when they arrive midway through March and I'm off travelling around.
.

Hi Cloneslad, thanks for the reply.
Just heard back from my recruiter and you're right she said "The 600 thousands won is total money for deposit. This money will be wired to you after they deduct the last month bills of your utilizes. ( Utilizes come out after you use so the bill come out after you are not in Korea)." so I guess I'll have to sort that out.

Just wondering also, the salary being offered is 2.1 as I mentioned earlier. I asked the recruiter if there is room for negotiation on this and basically told that that is what most people with 0 years teaching experience in Korea get. Is this the case?

Thanks again

cloneslad

ibbie wrote: »

Hi Cloneslad, thanks for the reply.
Just heard back from my recruiter and you're right she said "The 600 thousands won is total money for deposit. This money will be wired to you after they deduct the last month bills of your utilizes. ( Utilizes come out after you use so the bill come out after you are not in Korea)." so I guess I'll have to sort that out.

Just wondering also, the salary being offered is 2.1 as I mentioned earlier. I asked the recruiter if there is room for negotiation on this and basically told that that is what most people with 0 years teaching experience in Korea get. Is this the case?

Thanks again

I'd be sure to sort that out with them, you'll lose about 50k or so in the bank transfer alone, plus you'll never see the bills so they could pick a number out of the sky and tell you it's what you owe....though they might not, I don't know the school

Public school teachers with 0 experience get 1.8million as far as I know. Hagwons will usually start at 2million and work up to whatever you can negotiate. Some of my mates with no experience started on 2.1, the guys in my school started on 2.2 but I know some south africans who get screwed by their boss and work for 1.7 or something stupid like that.

2.1 million is good enough for a first timer, unless you are very lucky or work crazy hours you'll not find anything more than 2.3-2.5 million a month especially with no experience of either korea or teaching English.

Superhans87

Hey Guys, I just joined boards there I seen ye were pretty helpful to others with info about Korea. Me and my girlfriend are heading over hopefully in March we've began interviews and got a few offers but there all out in the country side. We have our hearts set on Busan or Daegu and obviously Seoul. Im just wondering could you suggest any good area in Seoul for us to look. Id like somewhere not too bang in city but somewhere out a bit yet still some western influence and nice places to eat. Im going to enjoy myself and I enjoy food most of all so I plan on eating out alot. Id also like a place that would be pretty safe as we dont plan on teaching in same school so I'd hope it would be safe for my girlfriend to walk home by herself. Although I could be wrong and not every street in Korea could be dodgy like Ireland. I would be grateful for any suggestion, everyone seems to think Seoul is brilliant so hopefully well get somewhere there. Weve all our documents and are ready to get out of Ireland ASAP before she sinks.
Any response would be much appreciated!

cloneslad

Superhans87 wrote: »

Hey Guys, I just joined boards there I seen ye were pretty helpful to others with info about Korea. Me and my girlfriend are heading over hopefully in March we've began interviews and got a few offers but there all out in the country side. We have our hearts set on Busan or Daegu and obviously Seoul. Im just wondering could you suggest any good area in Seoul for us to look. Id like somewhere not too bang in city but somewhere out a bit yet still some western influence and nice places to eat. Im going to enjoy myself and I enjoy food most of all so I plan on eating out alot. Id also like a place that would be pretty safe as we dont plan on teaching in same school so I'd hope it would be safe for my girlfriend to walk home by herself. Although I could be wrong and not every street in Korea could be dodgy like Ireland. I would be grateful for any suggestion, everyone seems to think Seoul is brilliant so hopefully well get somewhere there. Weve all our documents and are ready to get out of Ireland ASAP before she sinks.
Any response would be much appreciated!

There is no real centre of seoul. I've had a few people PM me asking about getting a position in the centre or close to it. Seoul is huge, it is not so much one massive city with a centre, as it is several quite large cities spread out across a huge area to make one massive city.

Itaewon, Gangnam, Hongdae, Jamsil, Jongno, Dongdaemun etc etc etc, these are just some of the big areas in seoul that we would prob call cities in themselves if they were back home. Most of them have the same restaurant chains, bars, stores etc.

Itaewon would be the most westernised place in seoul due to the U.S. army being stationed nearby for such a long time. It's not like Korea at all, it's full of Eastern and western European, North American and African influenced bars, stores, restaurants etc. It's where the vast majority of westerners go to hang out on the weekend.

I would also suggest eating Korean food, not just sticking to western restaurants when you are here. Not only is korean food about 3-4 times less expensive than western ones, but, for the most part are much nicer and more filling.

As for the safety issue, Korea is pretty safe. You shouldn't have too much trouble with walking anywhere alone. Though in saying that, it's not free of crime and as a female on her own, she should not just assume that because 99.9% of the country is safe, that some are not going to attack her. Sex crimes do exist in Korea, but it's not very common to happen to western women (though it does happen from time to time)

virmilitaris

Superhans87 wrote: »

Hey Guys, I just joined boards there I seen ye were pretty helpful to others with info about Korea. Me and my girlfriend are heading over hopefully in March we've began interviews and got a few offers but there all out in the country side. We have our hearts set on Busan or Daegu and obviously Seoul. Im just wondering could you suggest any good area in Seoul for us to look. Id like somewhere not too bang in city but somewhere out a bit yet still some western influence and nice places to eat.

The concept of cities you have such as London, Paris, etc is completely different to cities here in Korea. There is no real centre and there aren't any real quiet areas.

I'd recommend Bucheon or Incheon if you want to be close to Seoul but still with easy quick access to it if you want to go there.

As for western influence what do you mean ? what are you looking for ?

As for nice places to eat, unless you eat the local food or live in itaewon you'll have to travel to find good western or non-korean restaurants. The Korean food is great but I don't know if that's what your asking.

Im going to enjoy myself and I enjoy food most of all so I plan on eating out alot. Id also like a place that would be pretty safe as we dont plan on teaching in same school so I'd hope it would be safe for my girlfriend to walk home by herself.

Very safe country but attacks on women on their own do happen.

The most dangerous place in the entire country (forgetting the DMZ) is Itaewon because of the foreigners.

cloneslad

virmilitaris wrote: »

The most dangerous place in the entire country (forgetting the DMZ) is Itaewon because of the foreigners.

This...and you can probably include the DMZ and Itaewon would still be worse

Superhans87

cloneslad wrote: »

There is no real centre of seoul. I've had a few people PM me asking about getting a position in the centre or close to it. Seoul is huge, it is not so much one massive city with a centre, as it is several quite large cities spread out across a huge area to make one massive city.

Itaewon, Gangnam, Hongdae, Jamsil, Jongno, Dongdaemun etc etc etc, these are just some of the big areas in seoul that we would prob call cities in themselves if they were back home. Most of them have the same restaurant chains, bars, stores etc.

Itaewon would be the most westernised place in seoul due to the U.S. army being stationed nearby for such a long time. It's not like Korea at all, it's full of Eastern and western European, North American and African influenced bars, stores, restaurants etc. It's where the vast majority of westerners go to hang out on the weekend.

I would also suggest eating Korean food, not just sticking to western restaurants when you are here. Not only is korean food about 3-4 times less expensive than western ones, but, for the most part are much nicer and more filling.

As for the safety issue, Korea is pretty safe. You shouldn't have too much trouble with walking anywhere alone. Though in saying that, it's not free of crime and as a female on her own, she should not just assume that because 99.9% of the country is safe, that some are not going to attack her. Sex crimes do exist in Korea, but it's not very common to happen to western women (though it does happen from time to time)

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it the same with everwhere so, its safe but never 100% safe. SOrry if I came across as wanting to go to a western-ised place what I really meant was were looking for a nice place in Seoul where its not too busy and the cost of living is not too high. Were Galwayweigans so we wouldnt be used of the big city life. We just want somewhere we can experience Korea for Korea but also somewhere where people will understand us and we wont be out too remote. Can you name places in Seoul that you've experienced or have heard that area really good and has some nice places to eat out in the evening? The amount of place names in Seoul is overwhelming, loads of recruiters have offered us jobs but there out too remote. Thanks again for the help! Much appreciated!

cloneslad

Superhans87 wrote: »

Thanks for the reply. Yeah it the same with everwhere so, its safe but never 100% safe. SOrry if I came across as wanting to go to a western-ised place what I really meant was were looking for a nice place in Seoul where its not too busy and the cost of living is not too high. Were Galwayweigans so we wouldnt be used of the big city life. We just want somewhere we can experience Korea for Korea but also somewhere where people will understand us and we wont be out too remote. Can you name places in Seoul that you've experienced or have heard that area really good and has some nice places to eat out in the evening? The amount of place names in Seoul is overwhelming, loads of recruiters have offered us jobs but there out too remote. Thanks again for the help! Much appreciated!

where you're located in seoul is not too much of a worry. Just check where it is on the subway map, and add about 2 minutes to each stop to see how long it takes you to get to your destination. The subway and buses are good in seoul so you can get around easily enough, though the subway does stop quite early at night.

Outside of seoul, I would suggest Daegu, Busan, Incheon, gwangju, Suwon as pretty good places to live. Obviously suwon and incheon are pretty close to Seoul so they are their own cities but also close enough to seoul.


Busan, Daegu and Gwangju are all large cities. Busan is the 2nd largest, daegu the thirs and Gwangju the fifth (i think) in korea. I really liked Daegu, it's very modern, has lots of western restaurants and bars too. Same with Busan.

Choccie Lover

Hi all.

I'm finally heading off to Korea in a week or so, after a few changes of date/plan etc. Thanks to everyone for all the feedback here:)

Anyway, I need some advice regarding eyecare in Korea. Does anyone know about the cost of buying daily disposable contact lens in Korea? Is it cheaper to purchase them over there rather than Ireland? I do remember that buying glasses was really cheap, but never bought lens the last time I was there. Also can anyone recommend any good (preferably english-speaking) optician's in the Seoul area?

Cheers.

virmilitaris

Lenses are much cheaper here. Don't know about an english speaking optican though sorry

cloneslad

If you bring your prescription you won't need to worry too much about their English level. You'll find most will have enough English to sell you stuff and make some money.

My first year over here I brought my prescription and they just copied out my lenses (on frames) exactly as was to be done. A few months ago I got my eye test done in an optician close to my school and bought another2 pairs of glasses.

Glasses are getting more expensive here now though. Of course if you just want plastic frames then it's quite cheap but if you want stronger ones it'll set you back almost as much as back home. I think I paid 350,000 or so for two pairs at christmas. (well, my g.f did) I only like glasses that have no frame at the bottom of the lense, these seem to be more expensive than the others.

I am going to go into him again with a couple of pairs of glasses I bought in China and Korea a few years ago and get him to put new lenses in them. They are only 30,000 for the new lenses, much cheaper than back home I would imagine.

conbob

Hey everyone. Been reading this thread for a while now and find it great. Loads of handy information. I can't remember though, if you are teaching in a public school program over there, EPIK, TaLK, GEPIK etc., are you allowed to teach private English lessons outside of school hours in your free time or is it discouraged?

cloneslad

conbob wrote: »

Hey everyone. Been reading this thread for a while now and find it great. Loads of handy information. I can't remember though, if you are teaching in a public school program over there, EPIK, TaLK, GEPIK etc., are you allowed to teach private English lessons outside of school hours in your free time or is it discouraged?

Private lessons are illegal, no matter who you work with.

You can only teach your lessons in the place of employment attached to your Alien registration card. You can have more than one place of employment listed, such as one public school and one hagwon. The thing you need is for the 2nd school to be allowed to hire a foreigner and to also pay tax / insurance / pension contributions too.

You can not just meet Koreans in a coffee shop, their apartment etc and teach them then get paid cash by the hour. This is illegal and will result in you being fined and deported should you be caught.



*This is not to say that it isn't done. People do it, most don't get caught. If you choose to do it, don't tell a single Korean and only tell as few foreigners as possible about it.

livinginkorea

cloneslad wrote: »

Private lessons are illegal, no matter who you work with.

You can only teach your lessons in the place of employment attached to your Alien registration card. You can have more than one place of employment listed, such as one public school and one hagwon. The thing you need is for the 2nd school to be allowed to hire a foreigner and to also pay tax / insurance / pension contributions too.

You can not just meet Koreans in a coffee shop, their apartment etc and teach them then get paid cash by the hour. This is illegal and will result in you being fined and deported should you be caught.



*This is not to say that it isn't done. People do it, most don't get caught. If you choose to do it, don't tell a single Korean and only tell as few foreigners as possible about it.

I've also heard that if somebody reports to the authorities about private teaching, they get paid for snitching. I can see this happening in a big, busy apartment building when Minsu's mom is showing off to her neighbors about how great Minsu's English is improving once he started private tutoring and a neighbor gets jealous!

It's also illegal for Koreans to do private teaching too much like it is illegal for us to teach English on the side to non-native speakers back in Ireland. However, Koreans can get a cert or two to allow them to tutor privately but for foreigners I think you have to be married to a Korean or have a resident visa to even apply for that tutoring cert. Even then it is restrictive to who you can teach - kids not adults I think.

Anyway, the short answer is try not to do it unless you are sure it will be safe. All it takes to get caught is one phone call and you end up with a huge fine and a one-way ticket out of here.

LimerickJoe

Hey guys,

I hope everyone is keeping well. I had a big long message written and it didn't manage to go through, I hate when that happens. Anyhow, I'm loving it here in Korea. Been here just shy of 4 months now, living in Yeongcheon near Daegu. Everything is going well. I like the job and the people are awesome.

We have 2 jobs available at my school at the moment, it's a public school. Its a great gig here. Starting beginning of March. Not much time to think about it but if ya get on to me I will fill you in on the details and talk to my boss for you. joseph_barry@hotmail.com

Talk soon !
Joe

virmilitaris

livinginkorea wrote: »

I've also heard that if somebody reports to the authorities about private teaching, they get paid for snitching.

Indeed, it's about 500,000 won as far as I know.

It's also illegal for Koreans to do private teaching too much like it is illegal for us to teach English on the side to non-native speakers back in Ireland. However, Koreans can get a cert or two to allow them to tutor privately but for foreigners I think you have to be married to a Korean or have a resident visa to even apply for that tutoring cert. Even then it is restrictive to who you can teach - kids not adults I think.

Koreans can do private tutoring without a cert but they must pay tax. If they wish to set up a small business where they offer one-to-one tutoring or small classes then they must prove they have an English qualification to their local tax office in order to get the business license.

There's no restriction regarding the age of the students.

Anyway, the short answer is try not to do it unless you are sure it will be safe. All it takes to get caught is one phone call and you end up with a huge fine and a one-way ticket out of here.

+1 but I would say that if you do teach privates to teach adults. In my experience it's much more likely to be safe than if you were to teach kids.

LimerickJoe

Ok guys ,

I just talked to my boss right now. There is an excellent opportunity at my school for anyone who is looking for a job at the moment. We have 2 positions available here. You will need to be ready to start work here on March 7th.
So that means you should have your documents gathered or get them in the next few days. We are looking for 1 guy and 1 girl. He will take Irish applicants which is great. Because he wont take British or Australian for some reason to do with accents.

I am working here 4 months now and is a really nice job. I will be staying at this school a second year most likely. It's a public school which means 20 days + vacation. Loads of desk warming days when you don't teach. Half the teaching time you do at hagwons. Average of around 17 -18 hours. We have overtime opportunities. You can earn up to 2.5 milllion a month here. Class sizes are nice and small too.

Ok now for the negatives. There not really an issue for me but they might be for you.
1. It's not Seoul!! but were 30 mins away from Daegu on the train which is the 3rd biggest city.
2. It's a rural area but it's still a city with loads of restaurants and pubs. You get an extra 100 k a month for that. You also get an extra 100 on top of that for a taxi allowance which takes you too and from work.

It's an English town which means most days except Wednesday you teach situational English. i.e each room in the school is set up like a real life place, we have an airport, a clinic etc.. It's really cool. Negative side , it can get monotonous but we change rooms as often as possible and there is 12/13 different topics.
So you teach 10 - 11 year old kids 4th - 5th grade elementary.
And we have adult classes every Wednesday so it's a nice mix.

We have agreed to teach an extra class every wednesday evening, which I personally think is awesome as it is handy overtime, and 1 saturday morning a month. We are getting paid good overtime for all of that bringing my wages up to 2.520,000 kw a month, consider the cost of living is so cheap and your accommodation is free.

One other negative. we do have to be in school from 8.30am - 5.30pm , 4.30pm on fridays. However the bulk of that time is desk warming and chilling out.

Minimal lesson planning required , Great money, I think it's an awesome job for anyone lucky enough to snap it up out there. Contact me ASAP and I will tell you anything you need to know. I'd only love to help an Irish person or two get these positions! It's a really sweet gig guys.

My details are joseph_barry@hotmail.com thats the underscore symbol . My skype is josephbarry331952. Get in touch and I'll be delighted to help.

cloneslad

Can't believe it's been more than 4 months since you were back in Ireland looking for help getting a job. Glad to see it's working out for you.

We have one of those English villages on our island. One of the guys working there was telling me all about it, he thought the same as you, fine for the most part, but you teach the same thing over and over again because you keep getting new students each day.

Hopefully someone on here looking for a job will see this and apply, it's pretty good money and not to bad schedule wise.

LimerickJoe

Hey Cloneslad!! ,

Ya man I have no complaints at all. I totally lucked out with this job. It's sochilled, great ambiance and the people I've met both Koreans and other English teachers I know here are superstars. If there is any Irish person at home looking for a job in Korea at the moment or even a couple, this is such a sweet job to walk into. I know a few friends of mine working in Hagwons and they'd kill for my job. So hopefully somebody will benefit from my post and get in touch with me joseph_barry@hotmail.com .
We'll have to meet up buddy. Thanks for your kind regards and all the help and advice when I was back in Limerick 4 months ago!!:)