Tefl in South Korea

virmilitaris

lordwilmore wrote: »

My question is with the experience and the CELT, what kinda money should i be looking at?

starting off, i was on 2.2 million. is a pay rise unreasonable considering the years experience and celt? ive been offered a few place and they're only offering 2.2.

advice/ opinions welcome

Where is it?

I'm in korea but not working in esl anymore. With a years experience you should be looking at trying to get at least 2.4 for a 'fulltime' job. Why not consider applying for a uni position? Ignore the masters phd requirement. The vast majority of them will take a bsc with a years experience.

Id also suggest working ij an adult hagwon instead of one for kids. Pagoda and ybm are both ok and the pay is reasonable. Wall st are more picky but better pay.

RighteousDude

Hey everyone. I just arrived this week in Korea. Teaching in a highschool in Pyeongtaek. Im just over an hour south of Seoul on the motorway. If anyones got any info for me about the place i'd love to hear from ya.

virmilitaris

RighteousDude wrote: »

Hey everyone. I just arrived this week in Korea. Teaching in a highschool in Pyeongtaek. Im just over an hour south of Seoul on the motorway. If anyones got any info for me about the place i'd love to hear from ya.

There's a lot of yankees there ...

Sorry man, what info are you looking for ? My brother in law lives there so I know a little about it.

RighteousDude

yep, i know. camps either side of the city.thank god for my distinguishing curly locks.

i was quite vague there in my last post, excuse me. i suppose i'm wondering where all the westerners are cos i havent laid eyes on one yet. Where in pyeongtaek would they venture to on the weekend to socialise? Thanks in advance virmili.

virmilitaris

RighteousDude wrote: »

yep, i know. camps either side of the city.thank god for my distinguishing curly locks.

i was quite vague there in my last post, excuse me. i suppose i'm wondering where all the westerners are cos i havent laid eyes on one yet. Where in pyeongtaek would they venture to on the weekend to socialise? Thanks in advance virmili.

I know theres a bar called Indian camp or something like that near New Core Outlet if you know it but I've never been there. There's no other foreigners at your school ?

Try near the train station or near the American bases.

livinginkorea

lordwilmore wrote: »

cant believe the thread i started is still going strong. nice.


anywho. i did a year in korea and have just completed a CELT course.

My question is with the experience and the CELT, what kinda money should i be looking at?

starting off, i was on 2.2 million. is a pay rise unreasonable considering the years experience and celt? ive been offered a few place and they're only offering 2.2.

advice/ opinions welcome

Location is definitely important. In and around Seoul would be 2.4 as virmilitaris but depends on the school. I was making 2.8 a few years ago but taught everything (companies in the morning, kids in the afternoon, adults at night). If you are willing to work in some of the bigger hagwons that can offer extra hours then you can always make some more money.

To be honest, getting a univ job is getting harder and harder especially in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do. The ones that had one year experience teaching that got uni gigs had MAs or lawyers (isn't it JD for them?). It is very hard but not impossible. It might be better to go out into the sticks for some low-level college and do a year or two there. Then work your way up and up. Takes years but worked for me.

livinginkorea

RighteousDude wrote: »

yep, i know. camps either side of the city.thank god for my distinguishing curly locks.

i was quite vague there in my last post, excuse me. i suppose i'm wondering where all the westerners are cos i havent laid eyes on one yet. Where in pyeongtaek would they venture to on the weekend to socialise? Thanks in advance virmili.

Ask your co-teachers. I am sure there is a foreigner district that everyone hangs out that Korean know about, especially at the weekend.

Maybe check up on eslcafe. I am sure others are in the same boat as you with the school year just starting.

livinginkorea

conbob wrote: »

Is it 9am-6pm 5 days a week?

Probably be there in the school for that amount of time but teach a couple of hours less than that (factoring in lunch time, breaks and prep time).

virmilitaris

Sorry lads but I am the bringer of bad news. No free booze for this years Paddys day.

Cool Running

virmilitaris wrote: »

Sorry lads but I am the bringer of bad news. No free booze for this years Paddys day.

NNNNNOOOOO

Where did ya hear this virmilitaris? Cant wait for the day, ya heading into the parade in Seoul for it?

kraggy

Hi guys,

My girlfriend has an interview in the morning with a public school. I will be having one in a couple of days hopefully. It's in Masangu, which I presume means Masan-gu? It's near Changwon.

Can you tell us some typical questions? Anything at all?

We only found out today. Delighted to see some progress.

Any help would be brilliant!

And how long do they usually last?

Thanks,

K.

Ps What's the difference between, say, Masan and Masan-gu? What do gu, si, ri etc mean after a placename?

Cool Running

kraggy wrote: »

Hi guys,

My girlfriend has an interview in the morning with a public school. I will be having one in a couple of days hopefully. It's in Masangu, which I presume means Masan-gu? It's near Changwon.

Can you tell us some typical questions? Anything at all?

We only found out today. Delighted to see some progress.

Any help would be brilliant!

And how long do they usually last?

Thanks,

K.

Ps What's the difference between, say, Masan and Masan-gu? What do gu, si, ri etc mean after a placename?

Well I did around 5 or 6 phone and skype interviews before I got my position

The main things I seemed to be asked was

Am I a flexible person? This is very important as the schedule in schools can change frequently and everything can change so quickly so have a few examples of being flexible

Do you work well with kids? Ya this is pretty obvious it would be asked so just talk about how you have worked with children before or how you would be good at it. They might ask how you would deal with problem children, I usually said I would stay calm and try resolve the problem

What makes a good teacher? For this I usually said good communicator, good with people etc and also mention being energetic. In my job I have to play a lot of games with the children so in the interview they asked if I was an energetic person

They will probably tell you that as its a public school you will work with a Korean teacher most of the time, so have examples of how you have worked with other nationalities etc

Oh one major thing I would say is to speak clearly. This is very important, some of my recruiters even told me to try sound American as it's what the majority of schools seem to want.

That's about it so, if it's a Skype webcam interview it's no harm to wear a shirt and tie to look professional. Make sure to research the public school system, Korean culture, examples of being flexible and speak clearly

Sorry cant answer your other question, not really to familiar with Korean place names yet

Best of luck with it

livinginkorea

kraggy wrote: »

Hi guys,

My girlfriend has an interview in the morning with a public school. I will be having one in a couple of days hopefully. It's in Masangu, which I presume means Masan-gu? It's near Changwon.

Can you tell us some typical questions? Anything at all?

We only found out today. Delighted to see some progress.

Any help would be brilliant!

And how long do they usually last?

Thanks,

K.

Ps What's the difference between, say, Masan and Masan-gu? What do gu, si, ri etc mean after a placename?

It's means the number of people in a certain area. There are two systems; one for the country and one for the city. You can see them on every address.

1) City - si 'city' which has a few gu each of which comprises of a few dong,

2) Countryside - gun, eup, myung, and then the smallest is ri

Basically the lower down the scale you go then the smaller it is. If the address is given as ri and not dong then you know is a less populated area.

Definitely speak clearly in the interview. Don't be afraid to ask a couple of questions back. Build up a rapport, these are the people you could be working with in the future. Have them coming away from the interview saying 'he/she seems nice.' Works wonders.

kraggy

Cool Running wrote: »

Well I did around 5 or 6 phone and skype interviews before I got my position

The main things I seemed to be asked was

Am I a flexible person? This is very important as the schedule in schools can change frequently and everything can change so quickly so have a few examples of being flexible

Do you work well with kids? Ya this is pretty obvious it would be asked so just talk about how you have worked with children before or how you would be good at it. They might ask how you would deal with problem children, I usually said I would stay calm and try resolve the problem

What makes a good teacher? For this I usually said good communicator, good with people etc and also mention being energetic. In my job I have to play a lot of games with the children so in the interview they asked if I was an energetic person

They will probably tell you that as its a public school you will work with a Korean teacher most of the time, so have examples of how you have worked with other nationalities etc

Oh one major thing I would say is to speak clearly. This is very important, some of my recruiters even told me to try sound American as it's what the majority of schools seem to want.

That's about it so, if it's a Skype webcam interview it's no harm to wear a shirt and tie to look professional. Make sure to research the public school system, Korean culture, examples of being flexible and speak clearly

Sorry cant answer your other question, not really to familiar with Korean place names yet

Best of luck with it

Great stuff Cool Running, thanks for that.

Just wondering what you mean by "research the public school system, Korean culture"? We've been looking up stuff regarding food, and we know a little about the development of the country since the Korean War but not much else besides that.

What aspects of the school system?
What main areas of Korean Culture do you mean?

Thanks again, great info.

K.

Marsipanss

SpatialPlanning wrote: »

Hey. I live in Saha gu, 2 stops from Saha itself. I'll ask around about the school and get back to you in a day or two. The area itself is pretty far out from the city centre which means that you will be doing a lot of travelling during the year but it's a decent spot. Plenty of foreigners living out here. There's another guy on this board that lives in Saha too. If you need to know anything specific about the area feel free to PM me and I'll be happy to answer your questions.

Thank you so much, that would be great. I still cant decide what to do but just want to get to Korea as soon as possible.

Are there many places to eat, bars etc nearby?

Aramicon

Ooh, I'm aiming for Busan too and have seen a good few jobs in Saha, but I'm trying to stay further east as I have connections there. It is tough going, I did one interview for an SLP school but then found some awful reviews and the sample contract looked a bit much. This looks interesting http://koreabridge.net/jobs/busan-global-village-looking-fun-teachers-miju-lee-1 but again, it does not seem to have a good reputation! Any Busan-based-body on this here super thread know anything about the place? How much weight should be put on 'blacklistings' anyhow- there seems to be a lot of them, and scant positive alternatives.

Choccie Lover

Cool Running wrote: »

NNNNNOOOOO

Where did ya hear this virmilitaris? Cant wait for the day, ya heading into the parade in Seoul for it?

So where/when is the parade, then?

virmilitaris

Cool Running wrote: »

NNNNNOOOOO

Where did ya hear this virmilitaris? Cant wait for the day, ya heading into the parade in Seoul for it?

Well I was when I thought there was gonna be free Guinness. Not too sure now.

virmilitaris

Choccie Lover wrote: »

So where/when is the parade, then?

http://www.meetup.com/Seoulite/events/16599145/

Sat 19th in Insadong.

I've gotten no emails this year but I'm assuming that the usual Paddys day party in gangnam will be happening. 50,000 won for as much guinness / cass / hite as you can drink including free finger food (not bad). That's in the Dublin Terrace in Gangnam.

I also know of another bar having an Irish band with Irish music both on Paddys day itself and possibly on the weekend in Bucheon if anyone lives out here or in Incheon.

Here's the website of the Irish association of Korea http://www.iak.co.kr/ But no updates for this year as of yet. I've also heard nothing from the embassy which is quite strange.

Anyone need directions or wanna join give me a pm and I'll give ya my number. I'll more than likely be heading to the parade and the party in Gangnam afterwards with the wife and another paddy or two.

Undercover Brother

Hey everyone, as I've mentioned before I've sent all my docs over to Korea to be processed by immigration and am now waiting for the visa no so I can arrange a meeting at the embassy here. I've just realised I didn't make photocopies of the docs I sent, I actually do have copies of most of the stuff but not of the up to date police check. Is this going to cause problems at the embassy meeting? I thought I just had to produce my passport and passport photos but some people on Daves ESL seem to think you need to take photocopies of everything to the embassy here. I would have thought that by Korean immi issuing a visa number meant that everything was in order and the embassy just had to stamp the passport.

Choccie Lover

Undercover Brother wrote: »

Hey everyone, as I've mentioned before I've sent all my docs over to Korea to be processed by immigration and am now waiting for the visa no so I can arrange a meeting at the embassy here. I've just realised I didn't make photocopies of the docs I sent, I actually do have copies of most of the stuff but not of the up to date police check. Is this going to cause problems at the embassy meeting? I thought I just had to produce my passport and passport photos but some people on Daves ESL seem to think you need to take photocopies of everything to the embassy here. I would have thought that by Korean immi issuing a visa number meant that everything was in order and the embassy just had to stamp the passport.

No, don't worry about it. All you need is your passport, one passport photo and forty euros. You just fill out a form when you are there. Just remember to have your visa issuance number on you. Also ,know the address and tel. number of your school (I hadn't this on me and had to call my brother to go rummaging through my e-mail to find it). All the other details are just standard name, address etc etc....

Choccie Lover

virmilitaris wrote: »

http://www.meetup.com/Seoulite/events/16599145/

Sat 19th in Insadong.

I've gotten no emails this year but I'm assuming that the usual Paddys day party in gangnam will be happening. 50,000 won for as much guinness / cass / hite as you can drink including free finger food (not bad). That's in the Dublin Terrace in Gangnam.

I also know of another bar having an Irish band with Irish music both on Paddys day itself and possibly on the weekend in Bucheon if anyone lives out here or in Incheon.

Here's the website of the Irish association of Korea http://www.iak.co.kr/ But no updates for this year as of yet. I've also heard nothing from the embassy which is quite strange.

Anyone need directions or wanna join give me a pm and I'll give ya my number. I'll more than likely be heading to the parade and the party in Gangnam afterwards with the wife and another paddy or two.

Thanks for the update. Much appreciated:D

kraggy

Hi again guys,

My girlfriend passed her interview this morning with a school in Masan near Changwon, which itself is near Busan.

So, what's the best way to consider whether or not to take the job. Don't think talking with a foreign teacher in the school is possible as there is just one, which means it would be my gf when she starts.

So what questions should she ask?

Anyone know anything about Masan? We know it's not great but it's near Changwon which is supposed to be decent enough and both are within an hour of Busan so that's a positive.

I'm having an interview in a few days and they are trying to delay the start of my gf's job so that we can enter Korea together.

It's very tempting to take the jobs because we're desperate to get out of Ireland but because it's our first offer we're somewhat hesitant too as we feel we might be rushing into it.

So, what way could we decide whether or not to take the jobs? What could we ask to help us sway one way or the other?

Many thanks,

K.

Undercover Brother

Choccie Lover wrote: »

No, don't worry about it. All you need is your passport, one passport photo and forty euros. You just fill out a form when you are there. Just remember to have your visa issuance number on you. Also ,know the address and tel. number of your school (I hadn't this on me and had to call my brother to go rummaging through my e-mail to find it). All the other details are just standard name, address etc etc....

Thanks Choccie Lover, I thought that was all I needed but just thought I'd make sure

Cool Running

virmilitaris wrote: »

http://www.meetup.com/Seoulite/events/16599145/

Sat 19th in Insadong.

I've gotten no emails this year but I'm assuming that the usual Paddys day party in gangnam will be happening. 50,000 won for as much guinness / cass / hite as you can drink including free finger food (not bad). That's in the Dublin Terrace in Gangnam.

I also know of another bar having an Irish band with Irish music both on Paddys day itself and possibly on the weekend in Bucheon if anyone lives out here or in Incheon.

Here's the website of the Irish association of Korea http://www.iak.co.kr/ But no updates for this year as of yet. I've also heard nothing from the embassy which is quite strange.

Anyone need directions or wanna join give me a pm and I'll give ya my number. I'll more than likely be heading to the parade and the party in Gangnam afterwards with the wife and another paddy or two.

Sounds good, there is a facebook on it here but ya have to be logged in I think
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=182845968423553

Ya strange there is nothing on the IAK website, they had a serious Christmas party in Itaweon. Anyways Im sure ill see ya and a few other paddys floating about on the day:)

Undercover Brother

Hey everyone, I have my interview at the embassy tomorrow, I was just wondering, should I wear a shirt and tie, or is it a casual kind of thing? What kind of questions will they ask?

ARGINITE

I think I wore a shirt a tie would be over kill.
You will be asked a few questions regarding why you want to teach in Korea. Nothing to worry about.

RighteousDude

i didnt get asked any questions myself. so between my experience and arginite's i think its safe to say its pretty informal and straightforward.

squeakyduck

Hi,
I was just looking at EPIK applications for Fall 2011. For the application it says you need 2 letters of recommendation from a professor/supervisor/director. Could I use an area manager from my last job for this? I plan on using my thesis supervisor as well.

Has anyone applied through EPIK recently? I'd love to chat with someone about it, as it just seems vague to me at the moment!

conbob

squeakyduck wrote: »

Hi,
I was just looking at EPIK applications for Fall 2011. For the application it says you need 2 letters of recommendation from a professor/supervisor/director. Could I use an area manager from my last job for this? I plan on using my thesis supervisor as well.

Has anyone applied through EPIK recently? I'd love to chat with someone about it, as it just seems vague to me at the moment!

Hi. I'll be applying myself for the fall aswell, might be able to help a little. They say you can get 2 academic references or 1 academic and 1 work related reference so I couldn't see a problem with it. The recruiter I use is friendly enough so it would be best to send your one an email just to clarify.