Teaching English in South Korea part 1

I know that many people who want a taste of what teaching will be like before committing to it as a full time career are looking into teaching English abroad, so let me share my experiences teaching English abroad in South Korea. I taught in South Korea for 2 years from 2010 to 2012. 

My high school 3rd year students posing on the last day before winter break.

Let me preface this by saying that I went to Korea through the English Program in Korea (EPIK) program which works with the provincial board of education to station native English teachers at schools throughout South Korea. I myself was placed in a more rural area of Gyeongbuk province. This was not uncommon. People being placed at schools through EPIK oftentimes receive very little information about where they will be placed beforehand other than a general sense of to which province they will be assigned. But I do have to say that I lucked out. The area was beautiful and only an hour bus ride away from a decently sized city. And most of all all the teachers and students were kind and eager to help me settle down.

I was fortunate enough to be placed 20 minutes from Ju Wang San  National Park, a tourist hot spot in the fall when the autumn foliage started coming in. 

Those who'd rather be in a more metropolitan area might do better in seeking spots at a private academies or a hakwon in the city areas or applying directly to GEPIK (Gyeonggi-do's version of EPIK). Gyeonggi is the province surrounding Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and is much more metropolitan. If you think you'll have difficulty living in an area where you and perhaps only a few other English teachers are the only foreigners, you may do better in a more metropolitan area where foreigners and English speakers are more common. That said, there are advantages to being in a more rural area. The students are oftentimes less jaded than their city counterparts. Whereas many students in Korean cities have opportunities to meet native English speakers either as instructors at their schools or private academies and some even take their breaks abroad to learn English, most students in the countryside don't have these same opportunities. They will be fascinated with meeting someone so different and so new. 

However, don't think that you can get by on your 'newness'. Students may be fascinated by you at first but as the weeks pass on that will mean less and less and you will have to find something else to catch your students' interests and motivate them to learn. 

How English Sounds to Non-English Speakers

In case anyone is curious about how English may sound to non-English speakers, someone's actually made a clever short movie about it. The intonation is so natural that I listened spellbound and convinced that I should be able to understand every word. It reminds me of the time I caught my Korean students playing around and speaking fake English to each other.