Hi everyone,

Whoa! I've been doing some research about the intricacies of ESL teaching in Korea and Japan the past couple of weeks and one theme keeps occurring again and again: avoid south korea like the plague
I was going to include some selected links of the various "Blacklists" created by the posts of current and former foreign teachers in Korea (but soon figured out there are so many) and I am shocked and completely freaked out by what I am reading---every injustice and nightmare seems to make its way on at least one post on these lists. They include as you might imagine:

-Being sacked from you job without warning, blacklisted by your shady employer and having to leave Korea within fourteen days...or facing major fines.

-Being sacked by your employer just weeks short of fulfilling your contract and thus being denied your severance pay and flight back home.

-Being paid in sporatic and less than promised sums of money.

-Being made to work akward, constant/split shifts without adequate time to prepare a lesson plan/out of the blue.

-Contracts---legal or whatever---don't seem much.

....and what I consider to be the papa bear of all reasons.....

-Foreign teachers don't seem to have much legal recourse or forms of protection from sketch teachers and and employment practises; the very idea (though familar--since I've lived in India) that a person running the school could lie their head off/bribe and seem just for denying a teacher of their rights and get away with it is scary.

*****

From what I've sussed out teaching in S.Korea is a gamble, but avoiding these "Hogwans" seems to be a good step. It also seems the one should never ever contract themselves to a school with a high turnover rate and/or one that won't let you speak with several of the foreign teachers first. Yet seriously, I am about to even stop considering Korea and just concentrate on Japan (and I can't say I've the best things about opportunities there.)

I know there are some people here who are/did teach in Korea have you had similar experiences or is there is there something redeeming and/or positive I should watch out for?

Cheers,

Samantha***
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This is the other side of you post in the Saudi section - so I'll bite here too!

I worked a total of six years in Korea. There are some problems in the EFL market there - but they are largely absent if you are careful and do your research before you go.

Because you expressed interest in Saudi I was assuming you have a graduate degree? If not - cancel Saudi anyway - and the hogwan route in Korea may be your best path.

Do your research - check on TEFL Daddy (below) how to do it.

maybe i'm crazy... but none of those reasons strike me as reasons i would rule korea out. get kicked out of country, whatever, go somewhere else. not getting severence would be a pain, but life goes on. the rest, just quit if it's that bad.

others have said that it's easy to basically show up and find work (look for fliers, ask around, etc) which means that you could probably find another job if the one you pre-arrange ends up being trouble. this might be too much of a risk for some, but doesn't worry me too much for some reason.

gtrob:

You wouldn't avoid a place where a huge number of teachers have been cheated out of their pay?

Also, I'm pretty sure that in Korea your work Visa ties you to that one employer. You don't have the option of looking around for a new job. You stay with that employer or you leave the country. Employers exploit this fact in order to exploit their workers.

I'm not sure the number is "huge" though I would agree to significant! And, upset people can be quite vocal on the net. The happy people (of which I am one) don't as often hang out on the net - they are out enjoying their lives.

But . . . the real issue is research. The people who had problems did not check on their new employer. They didn't ask for contact numbers and interview the other teachers who work there to see if the employer followed the contract, to see if housing, work conditions, and life in general were as represented.

When you commit to a year in ANY country - it is only smart to check out all the angles - and the employer.

The Research - A long list of questions to ask to check out a potential employer are at: Questions to Ask BEFORE Accepting a Job and TEFL Employers and Contracts.

Follow that guidance and you'll have a far better chance of a better experience - in ANY country.

I taught in Japan for AEON and I have to say that Japan is no safe bet if you are looking for a honest contract. I was moved into a filthy apartment, was scheduled to work far more hours than I was contracted for, we were asked to pay for mandatory school "parties" and much more. Despite all of those problems, the teaching was an amazing experience. My advice is-read up as much as you can, then go for it. If it is awful, leave.

If you are so worried about Korea, then why work there? Contrary to the poster above, I had a fantastic experience at AEON in Japan, twice as a matter of fact, at two different schools, and my boyfriend worked at a different AEON school and he loved it also. I'm not saying it was always perfect--what job is--but the chance to live in another country, have a regular paycheck and much more vacation time than I ever had at a US company...it was perfect for me at that time in my life. I never saw a horrible apartment but I will admit they are very small and basic compared to US standards. (My apartments in NYC were much worse than in Japan.) In my second school, my manager and I had some difficulties working together but we managed to work them out fairly well. Yes, you have to go to school functions and often without pay BUT you get to know your students and in turn they invite you to share in incredible experiences like New Years Day with their family, cherry blossom picnics, weekends at a spa retreat as their guest...etc...
I can't comment on Korea, but teaching in Japan (adults) was an excellent experience for me and I was able to save up money to pay off some debt and travel for 3 months afterward.

my cousin is currently teaching ESL in Korea and I'm looking into doing it for next year. I've been in contact with her a lot about doing this and she has had nothing but good things to say. She went through an agency and her boyfriend just moved over there and arranged a job himself. He had a much harder time securing a job but she hasn't heard any horror stories and is very much enjoying her time there, for what its worth. I'm sure there are bad employers there, just like everywhere else in the world, but if you do your best to avoid them, do a little research, sounds like you should be fine.

I worked for 3 years in Korea. I had two great schools and two horrible ones. It really is a crap shoot, but trust when I say the ESL market is dodgy in just about every country in the world. The reason Korea gets so much play is their ESL market pays well and offers free round trip tickets. This has caused a veritable flood of college grads over the years.

Most complaints come from those same grads who by all accounts may have well contributed to a great deal of their own discomfort whilst teaching in Korea. That isn't to say that all of them screwed their gigs up, but it is highly possible that more than a few did.

Look, Korea is a hard place to live and work as a foreigner. It is. That doesn't mean that every job is bad, and it certainly doesn't mean that everyone who has negative things to say about their experience should fix their attitude. I did 2 years in Korea at separate times. One job was horrible, one was just regular Korea bad. My experience was a mix of work and whatever I could make out of the rest. I managed. I saved a reasonable amount of money and I traveled a lot because of my time there. And I will certainly never consider another job in Korea. Maybe it's something you can work with and still make a satisfying life and maybe it isn't. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that in a heavily-educated west with a huge unemployment rate (over 10% in the USA right now) the jobs will be fewer and the employers will exploit the supply of "qualified" applicants in the market.