Obiaks Blog

How is EFL Teaching perceived in Korea?

"Apart from their history, Korea has a lot to boast about. Of all the countries, Korea is one country that boasts of an abundance of natural resources. Most importantly, it is their technically skilled people that have added a lot of wealth to the ever-growing Korean economy.
More than people, it is the diversity of Korea that makes EFL Teaching jobs all the more credible. One on hand, Korea boasts of cities like Seoul and Pusan, whereas on the other hand you would note villages like Taedon etc. Pertinently, the English speaking population is somewhat acceptable in the cities. When you turn yourself to the villages you would note that the English speaking and English understanding population dawdles down to the minimum.
So, where do you head to? If as a teacher, you want to be in the most challenging situation, you should immediately head off to the villages to start teaching English as a second language. Ideally, let me assure you that people in the villages would never have heard of English. Hence, if you have a school that is being run in the villages, your job is a little easier. In your stay in the school village, you must make a lot of efforts to learn the local dialect. As it is, people would not understand anything being spoken in a foreign language. Hence, you got to walk the extra mile to make them understand “Hello” and “Thank you” in English.
The chance for your success as an EFL Teacher is next to zero. At least that is what the indications are with past experiences of many English Teachers counting. That leaves you with the next best alternative – head to the major cities. The major cities in Korea have a decent size of foreigners and hence you would be able to make sense either ways to them.
The major cities of Korea also have a largely active workforce like the students and the working. These are the guys who would be more susceptible to learn English. As it has turned out in the past, these guys are the ones who want to learn English. Your efforts of teaching English in Korea would be more fruitful if you go to the major cities of Korea.
Korea is known to be one of the most Xenophobic countries in the world. The popularity of English is not as widespread as you would find in a China or in a Japan. That said, there has been an increase in ESL Teaching jobs in Korea. If you are looking for the ultimate challenging Job as a teacher of English as a foreign language, you must head off straight to any major city in Korea. If you are skilled and more importantly, if you are hardworking, you would get due rewards in due course of time."