Does Korea Speak English

Jon ITTT Destinations Two thirds of South Koreans aged 25 to 34 have a college degree and take mandatory English classes. Koreans are obsessed with education to enable the best future for their children and South Korea provides top salary to their teachers and has the highest average reading literacy of the OECD. This makes South Korea the ideal destination for qualified English teachers looking to make a good living while teaching abroad. English teachers with TEFL certification in Korea can expect to earn between US$1,300 and US$3,000 per month. Salaries vary enormously depending on the educational institution. Public school teachers can expect to earn around 1.5 – 3 million won or US$1,265 – US$2,500 per month. Teachers in universities can make 2.3 – 3.5 million won or...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Budget and Salary Destinations The following guide will help you answer the question: How much can I earn (and save) teaching English in South Korea? You will also find information on the local cost of living in order to figure out how much to budget for when moving to South Korea. There are many different teaching positions available all across South Korea. The salary usually depends on the type of school you work at and your qualifications. English teachers in South Korea can expect to make between 1.8 and 3 million Korean Won per month (currently $1,600 to $2,675). Those teaching at a university or international school, however, can make up to 3.5 million KRW ($3,120 USD). If you are a first-time teacher, you can expect to earn between 1.8 to 2.0 million KRW per month,...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Hi and welcome to another live session from ITTT. My name is Linda and I'm here today to talk about teaching English in South Korea. Let me just show you today's topic so that everybody who's joining knows what's happening today. Today we're talking about teaching English in South Korea and I'm so excited about this topic and it's actually been a super requested topic every time I do a live session. I've been living in Korea for almost six years and I have been teaching a few different classes. I have done summer camps and winter camps and teaching kids and teaching adults, teaching business English, teaching conversation, teaching full-time at a kindergarten and elementary school with afternoon programs and stuff like that. So I hope that...  [Read more]

  South Korea is a small but incredibly beautiful country, and during the 4 week TEFL you will have fantastic opportunities to experience the rich culture and history. Not only will you have the chance for local excursions, but based in Incheon, you will be less than an hour away from the lively city of Seoul on the express train. The first week of your program includes in-depth cultural orientations, ensuring you deeply understand the Korean way of life and culture. This includes a welcome dinner, tour of the local neighbourhood and the “Grand” Palace (Gyeongbok Palace), taekwondo class and learning South Korean cookery and language. Incheon is home to Korea’s only official Chinatown, where you can try jajangmyun (noodles with black bean sauce) at the Gongwachun restaurant and...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For this task, I have selected Korea as a choice for some students having difficulty learning. Korea is one of the countries investing a lot in the field of English education. Also, results achieved by Korean students on the TOEFL test improved by 10 points over the past six years. However, there still seems to be less proficient skills in writing and speaking in English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Heejeong K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When I taught teenage students in Korea, I watched them being reluctant or struggling to speak and write in English even though they had more than average scores in reading and listening tests. I think this problem has...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Visa and Legal Destinations South Korea is one of the most attractive locations for teaching English as a foreign language. The country has been welcoming foreign teachers for decades with lucrative salary and benefit packages, as well as the government-funded EPIK program that places qualified teachers into public schools across the country. South Korea is a great place to work whether you are a new teacher or if you have some experience in the field. However, it is important that you understand the local job market and regulations before heading off on your adventure. Currently, only citizens from the following countries qualify for a teacher work visa: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand. Therefore, non-native...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations For many people around the world, it’s their ultimate dream to go and live abroad. A TEFL certificate is one way to reach this goal as it enables you to head overseas and teach English. South Korea is one of the most popular destinations for EFL teachers for a variety of reasons, including high salaries, a vibrant culture, and breathtaking landscapes. Most teachers live in the capital Seoul or another major city, like Busan or Daejeon - but there is so much more to see in South Korea than just the big cities! If you, too, are heading to South Korea to teach English abroad, be sure to check out these 5 weekend trips you have to go on while living abroad in South Korea. Korean cuisine has a worldwide reputation for being exquisite and extremely unique....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This essay examines English education in South Korea and its socio-cultural problems. The discussion draws on my personal beliefs and experiences. First, the history of Korean education is laid out by illustrating the cultural background of Korean society. Following that, it traces the problems of learners of the English language in Korea and tips on how to improve their learning. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nayoung H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For a long time, Korea has been a country that’s been highly education-obsessed. Entry to a top university has led to prestigious, well-paying, and secure jobs; it has even led to fame. Therefore, the country...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhaoling Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. For this task I have selected Korea as a choice for some students having difficulty learning. Korea is one of the countries investing a lot in the field of English education. Also, results achieved by Korean students on the TOEFL test improved by 10 points over the past six years. However, there still seems to be less proficient skills in writing and speaking in...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations There are many great places to teach English abroad and one place that comes up a lot when researching the topic is South Korea. It's true that thousands of new teachers head to South Korea each year to pursue a career in teaching English as a foreign language for good reasons! Here are 5 reasons why you should teach English in South Korea. South Korea is one of the most prosperous countries in Asia and the world. Due to its booming economy with several Fortune 500 companies, like Samsung, Hyundai, and Kia, English language skills are now more important than ever in the East Asian nation. The English education industry of South Korea is a million dollar business and the importance of English language skills is deeply ingrained in modern society. With this...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information South Korea’s capital is one of the most important and fastest-growing cities in Asia and indeed the world. Across the city you will find some of the world's largest companies in the technology and automobile industries. On top of that, Seoul is an exciting city with lots of historic attractions, as well as modern museums, hot fashion shows, and a wide variety of music acts. Seoul is also home to thousands of foreign English teachers, many of whom are not ready to leave and have made the city their permanent home base. The population of Seoul stands at nearly 10 million people, a figure that grows every year due to the city’s vast number of job opportunities. Seoul is also among the top 30 financial centers on the Global Financial Centres...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Xiying Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Ankang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. When I first thought of teaching English as a foreign language to those who don’t predominantly speak English, my mind automatically went to the country of South Korea (The Republic of Korea). When I was in high school, my best friend and speech partner was born and raised in South Korea until he was about six years old. So, he would often share with me the...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Teachers in South Korea either work for private language institutes, called Hagwons, or public schools through the government-funded EPIK program. Both options are highly popular and offer good salaries and other benefits. However, there are a couple of distinct differences that might help you to decide whether working at a private or public school in South Korea is a better fit for you. Both public and private schools hire teachers in advance before leaving their home country. However, the majority of public school teachers are hired through the English Program in Korea, or EPIK. While you can find vacant positions at private schools throughout the whole year, the hiring process for public schools follows a set timetable, normally in April...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Having completed my Bachelor of Arts in Drama, I started my international teaching career straight out of university. What was meant to be a gap year opportunity of traveling and earning money has become a professional career in education spanning over ten years in more than five different countries. What was once a means to an end, has become a passion and a calling. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Desmond K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The first time I became aware of the ESL job market was in my third year of university when one of the alumni from the Drama department returned from a year of teaching in South Korea. At first, I didn’t think much of it,...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Zhuangtou Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Xianyang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. This essay examines English education in South Korea and its socio-cultural problems. The discussion draws on my personal beliefs and experiences. First, the history of Korean education is laid out by illustrating the cultural background of Korean society. Following that, it traces the problems of learners of English language in Korea and tips on how to improve...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Learning a second language can prove to have a variety of obstacles. Between age, time available for study, access to resources, and more, the desire to master another language must be given a strong priority to succeed. Just as individual learners will face their issues in the learning process, there are often similarities between language learners from a specific country or region. For English language learners from South Korea, where the standard college entrance exam contains sufficient English components (Kim, 2012), the necessity to learn is as high as the obstacles. Based on grammar differences, pronunciation, and a general fear of speaking English, English language learners in South Korea face issues particular to their region. This post was...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Hongkou Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Bazhong Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. As a Korean who moved to an English speaking country when I was six years old, I grew up speaking English and naturally became a native speaker. Throughout my high school days I saw many international students from Korea and was able to observe their acquisition of the English language. In this summative task I have decided to mention my findings. First of all, the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Wuzhangyuan Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Baoji Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Looking back at my teaching life, I’m very proud of the teaching experiences I’ve had. Even though my teaching experiences are limited to one culture, Korea, still they are all very special and unique in their own ways. I started my journey of an EFL teacher a couple of years ago, thinking that I could learn other languages myself. I thought that I would move...  [Read more]

Jon ITTT Alumni Experiences Looking back at my teaching life, I’m very proud of the teaching experiences I’ve had. Even though my teaching experiences are limited to one culture, Korea, still they are all very special and unique in their own ways. I started my journey as an EFL teacher a couple of years ago, thinking that I could learn other languages myself. I thought that I would move from place to place, possibly different countries, and learn different languages and get various teaching experiences in different settings. However, it turned out to be Korea only. I could soak up Korean culture and learn the language more easily because of my origin. The more time I spent teaching, the more I got to love teaching children and feeling fulfilled. I was very satisfied with the fact...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations Alumni Experiences Welcome to another live session this week and we're on at a different time this week. Usually we're a little bit earlier, but we have a special guest today, and that's because she's based in Germany. So we had to change the time a little bit. I’m Linda from ITT, you've probably seen me before, if you've watched us live and I’m here with Brit today. Hi Brit! Hi, thanks for having me, and painting your time to meet my schedule, and thank you so much for getting up early.I know it's early in Germany right now. just have my coffee and I’m good to go.That's awesome,where in Germany are you exactly? so I’m based near Trier, which is along the border with Luxembourg. So very close to Luxembourg? I had one chance to go before all of the...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Shenhe Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Ankang Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. Problems for Learners in South Korea Korean learners of the English language face numerous challenges in acquiring the language on a proficient level, although English is introduced to children at an early age. English is incorporated into the primary school curriculum from the age of four, yet only a small minority master the language on a proficient conversational...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences My teaching experience began in a whirlwind. I graduated from college a semester ahead of my class, married, lived with my husband in my sister’s basement for two months, and moved to South Korea. We had no idea what to expect. Sure, we’d read the blogs, talked to the director of our school, and even talked with people we know who had lived and taught in Korea. It still didn’t fully prepare us for what to expect, how amazing it would be, and how hard. We lived in South Korea for 19 months teaching three through seven year olds daily and first through third graders several times each week. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Sarah S. When we first moved to Korea, our head teacher had to teach us how to teach EFL. She had her certification...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Mainland China and Taiwan form a very large part of the Asian ESL market. There are obviously many similarities but also many differences. In this blog we will look at some of the major differences in job requirement in these two regions. It is said that there were around 100,000 foreign teachers working in China until recently, so that's a huge number. China is a vast country with huge demand for EFL teachers. There are opportunities at public schools, kindergartens, boarding schools, universities and international schools. However recent regulations have changed the Chinese EFL market drastically, so it's not as easy to find work as it used to be. Basically the government has placed some new regulations that make it a little bit harder to...  [Read more]

Brittany Varano Destinations Alumni Experiences For those thinking of teaching English in South Korea, the EPIK program offers one of the best job opportunities in Asia. An acronym that stands for "English Program in Korea," EPIK hires native English teachers to co-teach or lead English lessons in public elementary, middle, and high schools around the country. I got my start in the world of TEFL through the EPIK program and fell in love with the lifestyle of an EFL teacher in Asia - so much so I stayed for two years! The work was enjoyable, my EPIK salary went a long way, the benefits were hard to beat, and the expat community I met through it all helped foster lifelong friendships I hold dearly to this day. To be considered for a teaching position at EPIK, prospective teachers need to...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hi my name is Linda from ITTT, international TEFL and TESOL Training and I'm back again today for another live session. If you can hear me and see me please let me know as I'm trying out a new mic today so if that is working well it would be good to know. So please leave a quick comment to say hi and where you're watching from. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years, so for me right now it's 10:00 a.m. Friday morning. Let me know where you are tuning in from and what time it is where you are. We can get started on today's topic which is the best government programs for teaching English abroad. If you're interested in teaching English abroad then you should definitely keep watching as there's a lot of good stuff coming...  [Read more]

Do you want to be TEFL or TESOL-certified and teach in Fenghuangcheng Zhen? Are you interested in teaching English in Shuozhou Shi? Check out ITTT’s online and in-class courses, Become certified to Teach English as a Foreign Language and start teaching English ONLINE or abroad! ITTT offers a wide variety of Online TEFL Courses and a great number of opportunities for English Teachers and for Teachers of English as a Second Language. English language is being spoken internationally. It unites people across the globe. Majority of the people around the globe knows a word or two. Non-English speaking country comes to an English speaking country to learn English. They come to America, Canada, Australia or UK. Countries like India, Singapore, Philippines, Pakistan, South Africa and Nigeria a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences I decided to write about the subject I’m an expert in, my personal teaching experience. The focus will be on what I’ve gained from the last nine years as an EFL instructor. I’ll begin by telling you about my first teaching position in rural South Korea. Next, I’ll share my experience taking the TEFL course. Finally, I’ll discuss my efforts to become an independent online English instructor. I hope my experience can provide some insight into some of the many options for EFL teachers. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Karissa B. After too many hours in an airplane and another two hours in a taxi, I finally arrived at my new home. My co-teacher was there to meet me. He would become my mentor and personal guide to living in...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Before starting my TEFL course to gain a more professional basis, I worked as an English teacher in South Korea for about one year. In this short essay, I will explain some of the most prominent difficulties South Korean students seem to face when learning English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Laura M. First and foremost, the educational structure in South Korea is quite different from those of Europe or the United States. Korean kids usually start studying English from the age of three. However, the average class size of about 40 students is way too big for such young students, making any interaction between teacher and student impossible. Later on, most Korean students become very exam-conscious. In order to get into a...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Are you planning on quitting the 9-to-5 and embark on an adventure of traveling the world? The following 10 women have done exactly that. Most of them got their TEFL certificate and are teaching English abroad, while others started out teaching and are now full-time travelers. Here are 10 female travel bloggers you should be following! Jessica from @curiositytrav is from San Diego and has visited 40 countries so far. After studying International Business at San Diego State University, she also studied in Buenos Aires. After her experience in South America, she moved on to teaching English through the EPIK program in South Korea for two years and backpacked around Asia for 5 months after her contract was over. She then moved to Madrid and...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information The following eight couples have traveled the world together and either started out as ESL teachers or supported their travels teaching English in different parts of the world. Some of them are still teaching, others have started their own businesses. Either way, these 8 traveling power couples are an absolute inspiration for ESL teachers and you should follow them right now! Katie and Jake are two budget world wanderers and ESL teachers. They both share a passion for exploring new and exciting destinations across the world. Follow their blog "Untold Wanderlust" to see their very long, round the world adventure whilst teaching. Rosie and Dave are two ‘high-school sweethearts’ who have been teaching and travelling since 2015. They spent two years...  [Read more]