ESL / English Teaching Jobs in
South Korea.

• CURRENT JOBS LIST - Seoul and other parts Private and Public Schools (More details / See Job List)

Most Jobs offer salary of 2.0 - 2.2 million won each month (Currency Converter here), free housing (single or shared apartment), free airfare (round trip) and a very fun time! Our Mission is to help ensure our teachers enjoy the best time possible in Korea.

• Our ESL Jobs Application Process
• ESL Job Postings (Note - jobs come in daily and not all options are posted here - if teachers send their applications we will find a match usually within a day or two).
• Korean City Links (Research about Korean cities here).
• Seoul Subway system
• Sample teaching Contract

Jobs - Working in Korea is quite easy and the demands are very limited for western teachers. You will be expected to teach classes about 25 - 30 hours each week and the rest of the time is for you to do what you like.

Most jobs are at private study schools called "Hogwans". Koreans place much value on learning English as a way of helping the whole country compete globally. They also start from a young age, much like the way we study French in school, but in Korea most also attend the after school study institutes to get extra study from a native English speaker.

You will be expected to teach mainly English conversation. In most cases you will be provided with a program to follow and you will sometimes get some input in to which books should be chosen for the program.

Level - Most schools will have different levels of classes such as beginner, intermediate, advanced.

Students - The majority of jobs are teaching childrens classes, but there are also many teaching adults.

Weekends - There are usually no weekend classes, but sometimes there will be Saturday mornings. You will know your working hours well in advance of accepting the job.

Holidays - You will get about 15 days of national holidays and depending on your contract up to a couple of weeks extra.

Qualifications - To qualify you need a university degree in any discipline. Some employers request specific courses of study, but most will accept any degree which is the minimum requirement to obtain a visa to teach English in Korea. You also must be a native English speaker from Canada, USA, UK, Australia, New Zealand or South Africa. Korean immigration officials will not issue a visa to teach English if you are not a native English speaker from one of these countries.

Work Experience - Experience teaching English is preferred, but every teacher must start somewhere. Teachers with experience teaching, education degrees, master's degrees in English, Linguistics, Education, etc, experience living and teaching in Korea, etc, will have more choice at getting a better job than others, but in most cases the minimum requirements will be sufficient.

Pay - Most jobs pay an average of 2.0 - 2.2 million won per month & sometimes more. This equals about $2500 Canadian dollars depending on the exchange rate. Your income tax is very low (about 4%) and you will also pay about 20,000 won medical insurance. Your take home pay each month will be easily over $2200 - 2400 Canadian dollars in almost every case (minimum).

You will also enjoy rent free housing in either a single furnished apartment or a shared apartment with another teacher at your school. Single housing is becoming more common these days for English teachers.

Bonus - At the end of each year you will be paid a bonus of 1 month's salary. You get this only if you finish the contract of 1 year. This is a requirement by law and everyone must receive it, but only if that 1 year is completed. You will get this for each year of employment.

Airfare - your airfare to Korea will be paid by your employer, in most cases they will pay round trip airfare and the return portion will be paid at the end of your work period with them.

Click for: Sample Korea Job Contract

About Teaching

Have you taught a language before? This section is devoted to teaching resources. Most ESL teachers have began their careers with little to no experience and training in ESL. You can find many great teaching Tips and Insights here.

The teachers we place in Korea and other countries all come from different backgrounds, but they all take comfort in knowing that we prepare them well before they go overseas to teach with in depth information about teaching and the country they are going to.

Teaching: In Korea you will start teaching either children or adults in a private or public school. The main reason native English speaking teachers are needed in Korea is for conversation. You will have to have some basic knowledge of grammar, but for the most part in most jobs you will be teaching them to speak.

How do you teach them to speak? Well getting them to speak can be the hard part. You will notice that the majority of your students will be a bit shy. You will get some students who are good speakers and willing to talk, but for the most part you had better be ready with some good ideas and activities to get them speaking.

Be dynamic: If you have a large class make sure you move around a lot and involve everyone in the lesson. Don't focus on one or two students, the rest will be bored and you will not be doing your job properly. If you get someone who is dominating the class know how to get the others involved and engaged. If someone is a problem politely talk to them after class in a way that will not discourage them. Ask other students to comment on one this person's opinion or ask this student to engage others him or herself.

Plan your lessons: Don't ask, "What did you do yesterday?" You can ask sometimes, but don't try to base your lesson on this question. This shows a lazy, un-prepared and inexperienced teacher. Plan your lessons. Take some time before class or the evening before to review what you will teach the next day and try to plan an interesting lesson from it.

A lesson plan should have goals. What is it that you want students to take away from the lesson that they did not bring in? Your plan should include your delivery of the lesson.

Easy Planning: Tell the students at the beginning of the lesson what the goals are, "Today we will be ...." Next you will teach it. Then you will model it and then practise it in small groups (if available). Finally you can have them model the structure they just learned in front of the group or use some sort of drills or exercise that makes it more concrete. You can also take them in to an environment for live usage of what they learned. You can create this in many ways like a presentation, video recording, audio recording, small mock play, game, contest or something else which creates a scenario in which they will have to use the language. At the end of the lesson wrap up by stating again what the goals were and what they DID in fact learn today.. Maybe now you will give them a hint of the nest lesson's goals to keep them excited and many will try to prepare for this as well. A well prepared teacher will enjoy his or her job. Use your creativity and learn from other teachers as well.

Bluffing: Don't do it. If you don't know the answer just tell them you are not sure and that you will get the answer for the nest class. If you try to make up an answer you will be caught. Do ensure you get the answer for them, this will ensure you maintain your credibility and gain their respect. No one knows everything and you are not expected to either, be honest, true and give your best effort. This will really pay off in the long run.

Curriculum: Most schools you will work at already have a program chosen and books. Many will even have a orientation or training session from 1 day to a week for you to learn how they approach the language lessons.

Here are Some Resources for Lesson Ideas / Plans:

You can find many great teaching Tips and Insights here.

• http://breakingnewsenglish.com/
• http://www.5minuteenglish.com/
• http://eleaston.com/
• http://iteslj.org/links/TESL/Lessons/p2.ht

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