Teaching Jobs In Korea: What You Must Know

Teaching in Korea can be an excellent way to "get away from it all" in a foreign land. Teaching jobs in Korea will provide you with the excitement of trying to negotiate life in a foreign country, accompanied by the stability of regular lodgings and employment. With just a little planning, you can create a sustainable life for yourself in a country that you do not, initially, know.

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If you're an adult fluent in English, you can acquire a visa to live and work in Korea, and find a willing employer in as little as two months. Neither acquiring the visa, nor the job, should be particularly difficult.

Acquiring the visa, of course, is the simpler, yet more monotonous process. You'll have to find the location of your nearest Korean embassy. If you're an American and don't live in one of the major US cities, be prepared to go on a long road trip. You will just have to make a day of it. Wake up at 4 or 5 in the morning, get to the embassy right as it opens at 8 or 9, and sit in line for a long time. Be prepared to talk to bureaucrats. If you do everything you're supposed to, and pay the fees, your visa should be ready in a few months.

Getting that teaching job is somewhat more complicated. However, it requires less mindless work of you, and, best of all, it does not require you to leave your computer or your favorite chair. You can find jobs teaching in Korea all over the Internet. In addition to job postings, there are a surprising amount of forums out there, in which current and former English teachers discuss their experiences and share tips on living abroad.

What qualifications do you need for most English teaching jobs in Korea? You need ot simply be fluent in English, and to come from one of the countries where English is the dominant spoken language. You can come from America or New Zealand, Ireland, or Australia; most Korean English schools do not care. You don't need a teaching certificate, or even a college degree--which makes this job a favorite among undergraduates looking for "real world' experience before they finish their degrees.

In Korea, English teachers are needed at all educational levels, from elementary schools to universities. Korea has many private schools that specialize in teaching English. These tend to have the lowest qualification requirements, and the greatest demand for English teachers.

What does a typical native English-speaking teacher in Korea do? Surprisingly, you won't have to teach grammar. That is why knowledge of Korean is unnecessary. You won't be explaining complicated theoretical ideas about the English language. Rather, your job will probably be simply to speak English to the students, to get them to learn vocabulary and improve their listening comprehension. Most English teachers start out at private institutions and move on to other teaching jobs in Korea.