30 Years Ago, I wrote this Teaching Guide...

Back in May 1996, I graduated from the University of Ottawa's Faculty of Education with a crisp, new Bachelor of Education and an Ontario Teaching Certificate, allowing me to teach in Elementary and Middle schools. However I was terrified at the prospect of teaching French in a Canadian classroom, not having had a great experience during my month-long spring teaching practicum in a Grade 8 classroom in a Catholic school. So I decided to head to Asia to teach English and had sent my CV out to various organizations and private schools in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, who were all looking for university graduates to teach English to local students. The fact that I was a certified language teacher really helped me gain attention. One day just a couple of weeks into my search, I received a postcard from Sandy in Korea, asking me to call her at an English academy in Puchon (between Incheon and Seoul). After a short interview over the phone, I verbally confirmed that I would accept their offer of a one-year contract as an ESL teacher. The next day, they wired me the money to buy an airplane ticket to Seoul, and a few days later, I was packed and on my way!

A couple of enjoyable months into my first year of teaching ESL from 3-10pm Monday to Friday to K-12 students, I received an email from a Canadian university student who wanted to know more about what teaching in Korea was like. So I wrote down my thoughts one Saturday afternoon at my regular Internet Café and sent them off. Afterwards, I realized others might get some help out of it, so I posted my Brief Guide to Teaching in Korea on a Geocities website that I had at the time. An ESL job portal saw my article and asked if they could copy it on their site for their readers, and that's why it's still kicking around the internet, some thirty years later.

Little did I know at the time, that first year of teaching overseas would develop into an international education career of nearly 30 years! I have a lot to thank for that random Korean postcard coming into my life...

So without further ado, I give you the completely unedited guide (along with all the sideways smiley faces) that I wrote back in July 1996:

"Brief Guide to Teaching in Korea"

The first big surprise about teaching in Korea is the students. I came over (as many others did) with the expectation that they would be in uniforms, in rigid rows, and quiet as mice. Ha! :) They're a boisterous bunch at their best.  Discipline is key, or you're dead in the water. The fact is they are well-behaved in their regular schools, but language schools (where you most likely will be teaching) are like a mini-holiday for them, where they can let loose. So the schools' administration encourages a firm-yet-fun approach when teaching them... This is easier said than done -- but after 3 months here, I'm very happy with my job and my students. They know my limits for noise and behaviour and suffer the consequences (yelling at them in English, or a cold stare til they're quiet) when they surpass those limits. You'll soon realize that teaching for a private school is in no way like teaching
anywhere else -- you have to make the learning fun and enjoyable so that they won't leave the school to study elsewhere. Most of us ignore this "pressure" of keeping them entertained, and just do our jobs to the best of our ability. You'll always lose the occasional student, and if you're lucky, it'll be a shitty student. :) 

Next thing is: Leave the suits at home. I wasted all kinds of precious room in my (no pun intended) suitcase bringing over suits.  Everyone wears proper clothing, but relatively casual. Polo shirts, golf shirts, right down to jeans and t-shirts. Shorts in the summer time are accepted, thank God, or else we'd croak. Even those thong shoes (don't know what they're called cause I don't have a pair!) So bring comfortable wear.

Bring plenty of deodorant to last you the year, as it's virtually impossible to buy here. Shampoo, toothpaste, soap, etc. are no problem at all to buy -- not the same brands, but similar-looking ones are available.

Don't come over expecting to be able to save anything like 50% of what you earn -- it just won't happen. Korea is expensive, as opposed to what it says in the guidebooks and other information out there.  It's nothing like Japan -- but it's nothing like Canada/US either. The only things that are cheaper here are transportation (buses, taxis, subway) and local phone calls. Everything else is more expensive. Even so, it's possible to save quite a bundle by the end of the year, because your apt. is usually paid for. All
you're left with is food, utilities, and entertainment costs. One of my colleagues has been able to save $10,000 CDN after a year -- of course, he was working on the side, as well as his contract job; something illegal but rampant and inevitable. Working 30 hrs at a school leaves you many hours in the week to work elsewhere (private tutoring, other schools, businessmen classes in their workplace, etc.), usually in the morning or late at nights. For this reason many teachers own beepers -- no, they're not drug dealers, much as I thought when I first got here -- so that they can be contacted
anywhere during their busy days. I myself am enjoying a leisurely 27-hr schedule and therefore have lots of time to myself. I just came out of a 5-yr stint in university and I need a break. This is definitely a working holiday, and a thoroughly enjoyable one.

As for the culture shock, I didn't have one thanks to reading a book called "Ugly Americans, Ugly Koreans". I highly recommend it, no matter how much you have travelled -- it tells you most of the differences between the two cultures -- thus you are not surprised when they come up. And it's especially helpful because it tells you the habits that Koreans find disgusting or offensive, making your stay here more pleasurable and less rocky. 

If you're a light sleeper, bring ear-plugs because the streets are very noisy with women and children, trucks with megahorns selling vegetables, and drunken men at night. The noise usually stops between 1am-6am; at all other times, anything goes. 

There are some bad schools and there are some good schools.  Fortunately, I work for a great school which deals with its employees fairly and honestly. But they -- bad schools -- do exist; in fact, there's a white list / black list at <now non-existant website> of schools that are good or bad. 

Reading their alphabet, hangul, is as easy as everyone tells you it is. I learned it in 2 afternoons. This will allow you to read menus and start recognizing stores that have English names but in their alphabet -- such as "Bee-dee-oh" for the video store. :) Learning the language itself is a challenge -- some are interested in learning it, and others aren't. Personally, I can't believe that you can have a great time here without learning it. I bought a book on beginning Korean with cassettes at the largest book store in Seoul -- Kyobo Book Store, which sells English, French, German, etc.  books as well as Korean books -- and it's proven to be quite helpful.

The key words and expressions you need to know right off the bat are:
- hello (good morning, afternoon, etc): ann-yong hah-say-yo 
- thank you: kam-sam-nee-dah
- please give me: choo-say-yo 
   as in, please give me rice: pap choo-say-yo
- goodbye: 1) you leave, they stay: ann-yong he-kaY-say-yo
         2) you stay, they leave: ann-yong he-kaH-say-yo
- How much is this? ohl-my-yo?

You'll learn other expressions along the way, just by hearing them over and over.  You won't find many people who speak English, even in downtown Seoul. They are, however, very friendly -- and even more so when you make an effort to speak their language. They do stare, and small children point and yell "hello", but I have had no harassment of any kind (getting touched or yelled at, etc.) They are simply curious about our different appearance, and therefore take some pretty long looks. :) Naturally, the farther you travel
away from Seoul, the longer and more frequent the looks are. You'll get used to the stares and may actually miss them when you don't get them -- you can start to feel like a celebrity, believe me!

There's so much more I could tell you, but you'll discover it all in little time. That's the great thing about travelling to another country -- it's so different from your own! Every minute is an adventure! If you have any further questions, don't hesitate to ask me via e-mail or snail mail! Who doesn't love receiving mail?!? :) 

The 2027 recruitment season is about to start, in fact for some admin positions such as Head of School and Principal, I have already started to see job ads on LinkedIn. If you're thinking that this coming year is your last at your present school, there's no better time than now to get ready for the Fall start of recruiting. And I can help you. I have both Do-It-Yourself and Full Support options for teaching singles and couples. You can see all my services here: https://www.jpmintconsulting.com/book-online