Tefl in South Korea

dapto1

Cheers RadioClash, will check out those books. Would also be up for a Seoul meet once I get over there!

cavanmaniac

RadioClash wrote: »

Also, would anyone be interested in a boards meetup in Seoul some weekend? Would be good to gather a few people here for a spot of galbi seeing as this thread is going so well.

Good idea, why not?

Choccie Lover

RadioClash wrote: »

Also, would anyone be interested in a boards meetup in Seoul some weekend? Would be good to gather a few people here for a spot of galbi seeing as this thread is going so well.

That's a good idea. I'm in !

hyperbaby

Cool Running wrote: »

I used Fed Ex to send over my documents. I sent them from the office near Santry. DHL is the other option for sending docs over.

Ya mine was around 70 euro, sounds expensive but its guranteed to arrive in around 4 days. Your also given a tracking number which the school/recruiter will like to know so they can check the status of the docs.

gluck

Thanks for that, more than likely going with Fedex.
I rang UPS and I was quoted 79 euro.
I was going to use TNT through work but I don't want them finding out what I am up to until I choose to tell them.

I would be up for a Boards meet up in August/September but it would be cool if ye have one before that!

Also, I told the interviewer that I would learn the Korean alphabet before I got there so I need to get cracking on that.

dapto1

hyperbaby wrote: »

Also, I told the interviewer that I would learn the Korean alphabet before I got there so I need to get cracking on that.

The alphabet is a piece of cake, you'll get down pat it in a couple of days.

Hells Kitchen

Guys i have a couple of questions that i'd really appreciate help with. I'm seriously thinking of heading over in the next couple of months. I've no previous teaching exp and won't have done any TEFL course.

How exactly does the teaching work. Are you simply following a manual or are you making up complete lesson plans yourself? Are you expected to know all the grammer? Basically i'm worried about going over and not having a clue what to do and being completely in over my head. Any advice would be great.

cavanmaniac

Hells Kitchen...ESID. Every situation is different.

Broadly speaking though, in very generalised terms, in Hagwons there is no great emphasis placed on learning grammar because the students are supposed to learn this in school. So the Hagwons are more for improving speaking fluency and conversational ability.
It'd be quite easy to find a job where there are no huge demands placed on you for teaching grammar if you're very concerned about it. But if you are asked to teach some, it's not that hard...you'll find that you learn it yourself by teaching it, or by spending a little time preparing it before class.

Regarding lesson planning, again in general terms, in Hagwons they all tend to have their own 'systems' and ways of teaching that they expect you to stick to, so on the one hand, everything might be planned and laid out for you, but on the other, you'd have little freedom to teach things 'your way' if you wanted to get creative.

In public school jobs or at Universities, lesson planning is much more commonplace because the lessons you teach are not so pre-ordained. In the public school jobs you'd have a co-teacher and you have to prepare lesson plans and show them to your co-teacher etc. and any of my friends in Unis tell me that lesson planning is a big part of their job there too. If you want to learn about teaching, the reputable TEFL courses like Acels CELT or Cambridge CELTA (€1100-€1500 for a month long course) will give you a good grounding and take a lot of the guesswork out if for you, and make you less nervy about going into the class.

Overall, a lot of teachers come to Korea with no experience so many arrive with the same fears and worries as you, but after a period of adjustment you pick it up quickly and move along nicely. It helps if you take the time to find a job where they train you for a while before pitching you into the class though, this is something you can find out by asking former teachers and so on, before accepting any job.

cloneslad

Hells Kitchen wrote: »

Guys i have a couple of questions that i'd really appreciate help with. I'm seriously thinking of heading over in the next couple of months. I've no previous teaching exp and won't have done any TEFL course.

How exactly does the teaching work. Are you simply following a manual or are you making up complete lesson plans yourself? Are you expected to know all the grammer? Basically i'm worried about going over and not having a clue what to do and being completely in over my head. Any advice would be great.

No, but being able to spell it is always a bonus


I taught a lot of grammar to my students and the Korean teacher taught it too. If I didn't know it, then I googled it. Google is always your friend. Don't worry.

Each school is different. Some make you follow a schedule to the letter while others don't even have as much as a book for you to teach. I was somewhere in between, in that we had a schedule but didn't have to stick to it. So long as the book got finished in the time frame I could teach it how I liked, choose my own supplements and activities to go with it and my boss never interfered with how I taught.

I did have some classes where I picked the book and I decided how long I would teach it for. This was for the older classes where teaching a book was pointless as they were so advanced, so I'd spend most of my time playing scrabble, doing quizzes, making them debate various topics and generally just improving their speaking and natural vocabulary while the Korean teacher focused on their grammar and drilling a vocab book into them for their university exams.

Don't worry about it, you'll find that most people just wing it as they go along. You will most likely over-prepare for the first few weeks / months then you will get the hang of it and you'll be more relaxed and comfortable in what you do, what your classes enjoy and how to fill your class with fun, exciting and knowledgeable exercises.

virmilitaris

Regarding learning the language.

There's a great website by one of the major Universities here http://korean.sogang.ac.kr/ which is very handy indeed.

I agree with most people when they say that you can learn how to read the alphabet in a relatively short time but learning to pronounce it correctly will take much longer. The amount of foreigners here who claim to be able to read it and can't pronounce anything but the most basic syllables is astounding.

Even quite basic sounds like 다,더,도,두,드,디 can prove quite difficult for some people and thats only a simple consonant with the basic vowels. Add in vowels like ㅖ,ㅒ,ㅑ,ㅟ,ㅞ,ㅙ,ㅘ, ㅢ,ㅛ,ㅠ,ㅕ,ㅝ and you've got a lot of work ahead of you. There are sounds in Korean which are completely inaudible to most foreigners, even those who are for all practical purposes fluent, but are very important to native speakers.

Take the consonant ㄷ and the vowel ㅏ. 다 would sound like 'da' (or a soft 'ta') in English. But another constant ㄸ to make 따 sounds almost the same only more 'tense'. And yet another consonant ㅌ to make 타 again, sounds almost the same only aspirated. There are several consonants like this.

If a Korean were to speak these three sounds to you slowly you could tell the difference after a while but put them into words in sentences at normal speed and it's nigh on impossible to hear them never mind reproduce them. And if, for example, you say something like 방 (bang) instead of 빵 (aspirated bang) you are saying 'room' instead of 'bread'.

Korean is easier than Japanese or Chinese to get to an intermediate level at. But it is undoubtedly the worlds most difficult language for speakers of European languages to become fluent in.

RadioClash

virmilitaris wrote: »

Regarding learning the language.


I agree with most people when they say that you can learn how to read the alphabet in a relatively short time but learning to pronounce it correctly will take much longer. The amount of foreigners here who claim to be able to read it and can't pronounce anything but the most basic syllables is astounding.

Even quite basic sounds like 다,더,도,두,드,디 can prove quite difficult for some people and thats only a simple consonant with the basic vowels. Add in vowels like ㅖ,ㅒ,ㅑ,ㅟ,ㅞ,ㅙ,ㅘ, ㅢ,ㅛ,ㅠ,ㅕ,ㅝ and you've got a lot of work ahead of you. There are sounds in Korean which are completely inaudible to most foreigners, even those who are for all practical purposes fluent, but are very important to native speakers.

Take the consonant ㄷ and the vowel ㅏ. 다 would sound like 'da' (or a soft 'ta') in English. But another constant ㄸ to make 따 sounds almost the same only more 'tense'. And yet another consonant ㅌ to make 타 again, sounds almost the same only aspirated. There are several consonants like this.

If a Korean were to speak these three sounds to you slowly you could tell the difference after a while but put them into words in sentences at normal speed and it's nigh on impossible to hear them never mind reproduce them. And if, for example, you say something like 방 (bang) instead of 빵 (aspirated bang) you are saying 'room' instead of 'bread'.

Korean is easier than Japanese or Chinese to get to an intermediate level at. But it is undoubtedly the worlds most difficult language for speakers of European languages to become fluent in.

Regarding subtle differences in vowel sounds and aspirated consonants, yes that is a problem. I wouldn't say their inaudible to the Western ear though, and I think they present less of a challenge than tones in Mandarin or Cantonese for instance. If you have a keen ear and are a good mimic you'll do better than most. Korean is one of those languages where you can't really speak in your own accent really though. You can get away with your Irish lilt in a European language not so much in 한국어.

And yeah, people tend to plateau when learning Korean, I know I have lately and I'm tempted to go back to classes for more study to give myself an extra push.

virmilitaris

RadioClash wrote: »

Regarding subtle differences in vowel sounds and aspirated consonants, yes that is a problem. I wouldn't say their inaudible to the Western ear though,

Oh I'm sorry I didn't mean inaudible to the western ear, I said inaudible to most foreigners. Once the sounds are in a sentence spoken at normal speed they are extremely difficult to distinguish for non-native speakers even those with years of learning behind them. I know several people who are relatively fluent in the language and have been here for years and most cannot distinguish between these sounds except by the context of the sentence in most cases.

and I think they present less of a challenge than tones in Mandarin or Cantonese for instance.

Sorry mate but every source I've ever seen strongly disagrees.

http://nihongo.3yen.com/2006-08-12/which-is-harder-japanese-or-korean/

With the exception of the /z/ consonant sounds (which Koreans usually can’t pronounce), the sounds in the Korean language are a superset of the sounds in Japanese. This means that in order to learn Korean, you not only have to learn most of the sounds in Japanese but also additional sounds, many whose difference I can’t even tell. This, I think, is the strongest argument for Korean being the harder language to learn. Because anytime somebody wants to try out a Korean phrase learned from a friend, I need to have it repeated about 5 or 6 six before I can tell what he is trying to say. And even then, it’s an educated guess at best.
With Japanese, though you sound like crap without the proper pitches, you can still make yourself understood with even the worst accents (most of the time).

http://how-to-learn-any-language.com/e/languages/korean/faq/korean-vs-japanese.html

Japanese is relatively easy to pronounce correctly, whereas Korean makes distinctions between regular, stressed, and aspirated consonants which non-native speakers have a very hard time to distinguish.

Chinese appears more difficult to pronounce correctly than Korean, because of its tonal system. Korean has no tones, but makes hard-to-hear distinctions between regular, stressed and aspirated consonants. Korean also has a rythm which is very hard to catch. All things considered, one cannot say that Korean is easier than Chinese in terms of phonetics.

When compared to Chinese, Korean seems at first an easy language to pronounce, as there are no tones in Korean. However, as the student progresses he discovers that there are many, many unique sounds in Korean, and that they escape our ear. You can listen and listen for hours to pairs of contrasting consonants and hardly get the difference - not speaking of reproducing it.

I also had a link to a linguists site who did a research paper on learning Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai (from the perspective of a native English speaker) but I can't find it now. I'll have a look again for it, it's really quite interesting. His conclusions were basically as above. Korean sounds are much more difficult than any of the other languages (for native English speakers) and it is undoubtedly the king of the 4 for difficulty to become fluent.

To get to an intermediate level is harder than Chinese but easier than Japanese. To become really fluent (as in native-like level), there is no harder language for an English speaker to learn.

If you have a keen ear and are a good mimic you'll do better than most. Korean is one of those languages where you can't really speak in your own accent really though. You can get away with your Irish lilt in a European language not so much in 한국어.

+1 which is why I talked about the sounds.

ekevosu

Very interesting discussion above from the two lads so not to interupt that but one website I came across recently that would have helped me when i was starting is this one:

http://www.talktomeinkorean.com

http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/category/lessons/learn-hangeul/

I had a lecture from the guy who set it up at my orientation and he was fluent in several languages despite only picking them up later in life.

His method was first off just learn the stuff you want to say and then worry about grammar and subject markers etc....

Do_Lers

Hey there!

I would be up for a meet-up too! Been here a week and a half im teaching in a public school.

So far I love it, all is well. Sweet apartment and a a great co-teacher. There is no lesson-planning I just follow a CD-Rom program on a touch screen blackboard ( which I had never heard of) Its great! Hopefully it will stay good!

Any boardsies around Jamsil or Gangbyeon? Know of any good spots?

D

virmilitaris

ekevosu wrote: »

http://www.talktomeinkorean.com

http://www.talktomeinkorean.com/category/lessons/learn-hangeul/
.

That sites excellent. I never even heard of it before. Cheers.

kraggy

I'm in Seoul too.

So who's actually going to organise the Seoul Meet-Up?

Been here 3 weeks, so I think someone who's here longer should have to do it

virmilitaris

I'm up for it too.

I presume the meeting place will be itaewon somewhere. I'm not a fan of the wolfhound irish (american) bar but I'm not pushed either way.

What about scrooges or baby guinness In 2 weeks time?

hyperbaby

I was in baby guinness and the wolfhound amongst others last year.
It was a good night

SpatialPlanning

Howdy guys,

A few of us are setting up a GAA club in Busan for anyone who may be interested. If you are keen, or if you know anyone who might be interested, then you can send me an email - yahowho@hotmail.com - or check out the facebook page under "Busan GAA".

Cheers!

Newson123

I was quoted 60 and 70 Euro for posting over the documents too. It is cheaper if you use the An Post International Courier Service (just Google it). I cost me a little over 50 Euro. I forget exactly how much, but it was a nice bit cheaper than the other options.

They use DHL, so you get a tracking number that can be used on DHL's site.

Do_Lers

virmilitaris wrote: »

I'm up for it too.

I presume the meeting place will be itaewon somewhere. I'm not a fan of the wolfhound irish (american) bar but I'm not pushed either way.

What about scrooges or baby guinness In 2 weeks time?

Im in! So Friday May 3rd?

kraggy

Deleted User wrote: »

It must have dramatically changed.. For working 25 hours a week here, you get at least $1800 / $1900 a month with no experience and then extra part-time work for $25 an hour. I know some people getting $35 an hour. And not international schools or anything.
Nice room would be $250 and say $20 a day on food and drink which is more that I'd ever spend and I eat out every day and drink alot. Beer is a dollar a bottle or 25cents on the street and a meal costs about $2 / $3. Fags are 75cent a pack aswell.
You'll easily save $1200 / $1400 a month while living the life. That can't be much worse than Korea?

As for Korean students, I did some one on one with them in the Philippines.. Found it difficult. And as far as what I've heard from everyone else who's done both, they reckon Koreans are the most demanding students going.

Also, Vietnam uses the Roman Alphabet for their language which makes everything an awful lot easier I presume.. And again, the location is in S.E Asia which is just easier. And I just flew back here, pissed around for a while and started working within a few weeks. No hassle.


I'm certainly not saying Korea is bad, I'm just saying that more people should look into Vietnam.. It's almost like a secret that Hanoi is the highest paying place in S.E Asia while being dirt cheap.

Your numbers don't add up.

1900
- 250 (room)
- 600 (30 x 20 per day living expenses)
= 1050.

So it's not easily 1400 you'll be saving.

Also, I've been to Vietnam. You can't live the high life on 20 dollars a day. You can live on 20 a day, but no high life.

I'm still interested in hearing more though. Do you need Tefl/Celta for Vietnam?

virmilitaris

Do_Lers wrote: »

Im in! So Friday May 3rd?

I can't really do fridays but whatever the majority want. I'm usually round there on saturdays anyways.

cavanmaniac

virmilitaris wrote: »

I can't really do fridays but whatever the majority want. I'm usually round there on saturdays anyways.

I presume you mean June 3rd? I don't finish work until late so Friday is out for me as well, and that weekend I'm in Busan anyway. But by all means, crack on and I'll row in with the next one when it happens...

cloneslad

I can't do fridays, or itaewon, or seoul, or Korea for that matter.

Please feel free to cancel all events and spend your nights sitting in your apartment reading over all my posts on boards since I joined and wishing you could be close to me


Or just go out get drunk and have fun....whatever you want

kraggy

Thinking of heading to Busan for the weekend of the 3rd since we have the Monday and Tuesday off.

Can anyone suggest a cheap hotel in Busan, and a good location? Where are all the bars and restaurants?

Also, what's the deal with jimjilbangs? If you sleep in one, are the men and women separated for sleeping or is it all mixed in one big room? And are the lockers big enough to hold a bag?

Would Busan be worth a full 4 nights or just 2 or 3?

Thanks.

SpatialPlanning

kraggy wrote: »

Thinking of heading to Busan for the weekend of the 3rd since we have the Monday and Tuesday off.

Can anyone suggest a cheap hotel in Busan, and a good location? Where are all the bars and restaurants?

Also, what's the deal with jimjilbangs? If you sleep in one, are the men and women separated for sleeping or is it all mixed in one big room? And are the lockers big enough to hold a bag?

Would Busan be worth a full 4 nights or just 2 or 3?

Thanks.

Why do we get Monday and Tuesday off?? I've never met you but you're way more informative than my co-teacher! :rolleyes:

For hotels to stay in - I think you are better off with a love motel (will cost you approx. 60-80 per night), a hostel (20-35 per night) or a Jimjilbang (6-14K depending on how long you stay). Not all jimjilbangs are open 24 hours a day so you had better be careful with that. I do know one fantastic one near PNU, a place called Oncheonjang (sp?). It's supposedly one of the biggest in Asia and I would highly recommend it. When you are bathing you will be seperated but when you sleep you will be in a common area.

If I was you I'd go for a hostel. There are plenty of them in good locations and they are pretty cheap. I can give you a website for one or 2 if you are interested?

As for locations - I'd definitely stay in either KSU (stop 112 on the green line) or Gwangali (stop 107, I think, on the green line). KSU is the main party area and Gwangali has tons of good bars and most of them are overlooking a cool bay with a beach and bridge that is lit up at night. If you are in either of these places then you are only a reasonably short taxi ride to the other main going out places - Haeundae and Seomyeon. Personally I'd go for Gwangali because I go to KSU almost every weekend but for your first trip here KSU is a pretty good base.

virmilitaris

SpatialPlanning wrote: »

Why do we get Monday and Tuesday off?? I've never met you but you're way more informative than my co-teacher! :rolleyes:

I don't know what days you working people get off because it doesn't impact me but it's always good to look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_South_Korea. The 6th of June is a public holiday (apparently). I won't get it off though.

kraggy

kraggy wrote: »

Your numbers don't add up.

1900
- 250 (room)
- 600 (30 x 20 per day living expenses)
= 1050.

So it's not easily 1400 you'll be saving.

Also, I've been to Vietnam. You can't live the high life on 20 dollars a day. You can live on 20 a day, but no high life.

I'm still interested in hearing more though. Do you need Tefl/Celta for Vietnam?

You think I'm such a retard that I made a mistake on the maths.?!
I said extra work for $25 an hour.. So if you want to actually save money, do an extra 4 hours per week of private and you're at 1400.
It would have been easier for you to reread my post than do a maths nazi post.

$20 a day... That's 10 beers in a bar and 2 really nice $5 meals in a day. That's sounds like a high life for me.? And my new room is really nice and is only 190 a month, not 250 like I said.

As for the Telf/Celta, if ya want a secure job with a contract and bonus.. It's advisable. You can easily get away without one but it's just a bit messier and less likely to get good money.

virmilitaris

Deleted User wrote: »

I said extra work for $25 an hour.. So if you want to actually save money, do an extra 4 hours per week of private and you're at 1400.

In fairness if you worked 4 hours a week part-time in Korea you could easily make $200 or more so if you include extra work than you could save a lot more in Korea than in Vietnam for less work.

Edit: Out of curiosity I'm sitting beside a Vietnamese student (in Korea) at the moment and when I asked him about wages for teaching English back home he threw back numbers of $1000 to $1200 for private institutions and $15 to $20 an hour for private tutoring. Not saying your wrong and he's right but where are you living ? Is it a rich area ?

cloneslad

I may or may not have been getting $50 hour for a private lesson I may or may not have taught an ex student of mine.

If I did teach that class privately, which I'm not saying I did, I would have been gettin and extra $100 a week / $400 a month or when he was on vacation I may or may not have taught him two hours a day on tues/thurs getting $200 a week / $800 a month.

Couple that with my normal wages and during the vacation period i also taught an extra 3 classes a day for 4 weeks in my school, netting me and extra $1,300 for the month ($2,100 extra on top of my usual salary...if I taught the private class).

but of course teaching a private class is illegal on an E2 visa so I would never do such a thing. I did choose not to teach any other privates though, despite being asked to do so on a number of occassions, without ever advertising or looking to do them.