Teaching English in South Korea - What you need to know!
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 I'll be able to provide some good information and some insight into what it's like teaching English in South Korea.
Watch the live session here
If you have any questions about what it's like living in Korea or learning Korean or anything else, just let me know. I did prepare a presentation but you can also throw your questions at me at any time. Feel free to do that so that I'm not just talking by myself here. It's a very active crowd already, I see some questions coming in.
Mandy has asked if I teach in a public or private school or is it all private?
Currently, I am mostly teaching online because of COVID, but I also work full-time for ITTT so teaching is sort of on the side for me at the moment. I did teach full-time in Korea in my first year here. It was a private kindergarten with elementary school afternoon classes. I also have some friends who work at public schools, so I also know a little bit about that and can give you some information.
So is anybody here interested in teaching English in Korea? Is that why you're watching this live session or are you just interested in teaching abroad in general and looking at your options?
Also let me know where you are on your TEFL journey. Are you taking a TEFL course? Are you thinking about taking a course? If you're taking a course, which course are you taking? Let me know as I'm super curious to know who I'm talking to so that I can adjust my information based on what you guys are doing and what you want to hear.
I can see a lot of questions already coming in, that's awesome. Great question from Amy. Should anyone even bother looking into teaching abroad while there are COVID lockdowns in place?
A lot of people are curious about that and that's why I did a live session about the best teaching destinations for 2021 during and post the pandemic. So it really depends on where you want to go because the lockdowns are different. I know there are some very strict lockdowns happening in Europe right now, but here in Korea it's not as strict and we're not really on lockdown. There are restrictions in place, so I can tell you what it is like right now for example everything closes at 9:00 p.m. and you cannot meet with more than five people. But other than that it's pretty much normal.
So countries are still hiring and I have a couple of friends who are actually new in Korea, who got here in the summer last year and they got hired. You do have to go through the two-week quarantine, but every teacher coming to Korea already has an apartment assigned so you can quarantine at that apartment. Basically at home with no cost to you. You get this quarantine package from the government and you quarantine there and after two weeks if your tests are negative you can start teaching. Actually teaching abroad is one of the few ways that you can travel right now or go abroad, so it's definitely still happening and schools are hiring. The demand is there so don't worry about that.
I see a comment about learning Korean and I'm actually going to talk about that a little bit later, so stay tuned. I have a special slide just for that. There are a lot of people interested in teaching in Korea but thinking about teaching online first and then maybe going abroad once things calm down. A lot of people are starting to teach English online at the moment to get experience and because of COVID you can't really do much else. It’s a great way to get experience and then going abroad later that's definitely a good idea.
Mandy says, I'm interested in teaching abroad but South Korea is my ultimate place to teach. I just got done with the TEFL course and I have to finish my practicum to get my certificate.
Congratulations. So Korea is the ultimate place to teach for you, awesome. All right, before we jump into the presentation please don't forget to like and subscribe so that you don't miss any of the live sessions. We are live on Facebook and YouTube at the same time, which is really cool, so we get people from both platforms joining which is really exciting. Also, if you're listening to this as a podcast episode, thanks so much for downloading, we always turn our live events into podcast episodes. So if you're interested in audio only format you can check us out, it's called the TEFL and TESOL podcast by ITTT and it's on all the major podcast platforms. And don’t forget there will be a special offer at the end of the session, which is a 30% discount off any TEFL course from ITTT.
All right then, let me turn on my presentation. So teaching English in South Korea, let's take a look. At this point I always introduce myself for those who are new here. Like I said we are going live twice every week. I go live once a week and my colleague Liza also goes live once a week. She's a non-native English speaking teacher so that's a really great perspective as we have a lot of non-native English course takers and graduates, so if you're one of them I highly recommend checking out Liza's live sessions because she has a lot of great info for non-native English teachers. She's a very successful teacher and she does a lot of online teaching, also in-class she worked in China, so she's very knowledgeable about that.
My name is Linda and on the one hand I'm a travel writer and content creator under the name Linda Goes East, so you can find me at lindagoeseast.com. That's basically a blog website about living in Asia and a lot of information about Korea. So if you're interested in living and working in Korea or just traveling in Korea or Asia I highly recommend checking that out. I have a huge guide about teaching English in Korea filled with information about my personal experience and also other people's experience and I'm going to share the link to that in a little bit. You can also find me on social media at Linda Goes East. Feel free to reach out to me at any time with your questions about TEFL and TESOL, or Korea, or anything else.
I am from Germany/USA. I was born In Germany, my mom is German and my dad is American. I spent time in both countries and since 2015 I have been based in South Korea. Before that I also taught English and spent some time in China. I actually studied Chinese and moved to China, but then I met my now husband who turned out to be Korean so that's why I moved to Korea.
I am also a TEFL and TESOL marketing professional at ITTT, International TEFL and TESOL Training. You can find us at teflcourse.net and on Instagram at International TEFL Training. I highly recommend checking that out and giving it a like. ITTT is a leading TEFL and TESOL course provider, we have online courses, in-class courses, and combined courses for all different needs.
I just want to start off with a few interesting facts about Korea. I thought that would be kind of interesting just to get an idea of what Korea is like. South Korea is about the same size as Indiana and would fit into the USA 99 times. So South Korea is quite a small country. I love just taking the car and then just going on different road trips, it's really fun because everything is quite compact. You can drive down to the beach in an hour, there's always a beach nearby. Actually I have a map of Korea in the next slide and I can talk a little bit more about what the country is like. There are more than 3,000 islands around South Korea and I think not a lot of people know that. Jeju is the biggest island in South Korea and a popular tourist destination, especially nowadays because we can't really travel abroad so a lot of people go down to Jeju for breaks as it’s less than an hour by plane from Seoul.
Seoul is the capital city which has a population of approximately 9.7 million people, and if you include the surrounding areas, it’s actually home to around 40% of all the people in the country. It can get very crowded in Seoul and apartment prices are really high and the cost of living is a little bit higher than the rest of the country. I do not live in Seoul, I live about an hour and a half to the south. I'm gonna show you that in the next slide. I love Seoul, I go up there a lot but it can get crowded and I always feel a bit of relief when I go back home.
It's also an interesting fact that South Koreans are one year old when they are born, which is something that a lot of foreigners can't really wrap their heads around. It's kind of a strange system, but when you're born in South Korea you're already one year old and then everybody turns one year older on January 1st. For example, my husband was born in September and when he was born he was already one and then three months later in January he turned two. Even though he's actually three or four months old in normal terms. When you come to Korea as a foreigner and they ask you how old you are you will always be older in Korean age compared to American age or whatever. As far as I know this system is unique to Korea, but let me know if there is anywhere else that has a similar system.
Amy asks, does he still celebrate his birthday in September?
Nowadays the younger generation celebrate their birthday on their actual birthday, but the older generations usually follow the lunar calendar so they would celebrate their lunar birthday which is different every year. My parents-in-law celebrate their birthdays according to the lunar calendar so every year I have no idea when their birthdays actually are. It's difficult but the younger generations largely follow the western calendar.
Another interesting fact is that all men have to complete between 21 and 24 months of military service before they are 30. I don't want to get into the whole history of things, but technically South Korea is still at war with North Korea as they never signed an end of war agreement. So that's why the military power is still very strong and they are for protection and security and all that. A lot of men actually do it during university, they do one year of university then take a break to do their military service, then come back and finish university.
The last fun fact that I added in because we're very close to Valentine's day is that on February 14th it's the women that give chocolates and gifts to their husbands or boyfriends to show their love, so it's the opposite to most. Then a month later on march 14th the men give the women chocolates and gifts, so there are sort of two Valentine's days. Actually every 14th of the month has a special kind of couple holiday. Korea is a lot about couple culture, it's a huge thing for people to wear matching outfits, matching shoes, matching anything, so they love showing off that they're a couple. So every 14th of the month is a special couple holiday, I think March 14th is called White Day, then there's Chocolate Day, Flower Day, and another for jewelry.
So those are some interesting facts about South Korea, I hope you get an idea of what it's like over here and now I just want to show you guys a little bit about what the country looks like. Maybe this is too small but it’s just a little bit of geography. We already talked about the size of the country and that the US is 99 times bigger. There are nine provinces even though I know down here it says eight provinces but that doesn’t include Jeju, the biggest island that I talked about earlier. Up there is where Seoul is, next to it that's Incheon which is where the airport is. So when you arrive in Korea you're actually not arriving in Seoul, you're actually arriving in Incheon over here. The airport is kind of on this island, I don't know if you can see there's this little island here that's where the airport is.
From here you can take the train, the bus, or taxi, wherever you need to go. It's not far from Seoul, I think the airport train is maybe 45 minutes or so. Here is North Korea, so actually Seoul is quite close to North Korea. You can take tours to visit the border which is really interesting if you're into history. You can see the demilitarized zone and where the North Korean and South Korean guards face each other, that's really cool to see. I took a trip with two friends in late summer last year and we went up to about here, a city called Paju and I took my car and was driving and there was a barbed wire fence and on the other side it was North Korea and you could see scenery like mountains but no villages or anything.
I live sort of here, really in the middle of the country which is convenient for me. I like it because I have a car so I can drive anywhere. It's pretty much the same distance anywhere, so I really like that. Somebody was asking about Daegu, that is right here. You see it's a different color, so a few cities are like special cities that are not part of a province, they're sort of their own thing. There are a few cities like that, you can see here Ulsan, Busan, Gwangju, Daejeon. Here you can see some of the best known attractions around Korea, I thought it was just interesting to include them so you can see that there's a lot of variety. There's beaches, ocean islands, bamboo forests, tea fields. This is Busan, it's really nice. You could take a yacht tour there, there's a lot of historic buildings, there's also a lot of winter sports going on there.
So all of this is Korea, I think a lot of people have some sort of different opinions about Korea or they don't really know a lot about it. Again, if you're interested in learning more about traveling in Korea, you can check out my website lindagoeseast.com. I hope this is interesting, I didn't get a lot of comments so far. Anybody still out there? Let me take a sip of my tea. Korean tea by the way is actually really nice, this is probably from this area as it’s a big tea growing area. Also Jeju island down here is very pretty. I'm actually planning on going down there again this spring and I'm going to see the tea fields and the cherry blossoms, it's just so beautiful.
Thanks Amy for letting me know you're still there, I don't want to bore you guys. I'm just talking and can get carried away as I love living in Korea. If at any point I get too much off topic, just let me know and I'll shut up or go through it faster.
Johannes says, I would love to take a road trip all around Korea. I agree, my goal especially now with COVID and the lack of foreign travel is to just take my car and go everywhere around the country. Moses says hello Linda. HI Moses, thanks so much for tuning in, we're talking about teaching English in Korea.
Albert asks, is that green tea that I'm drinking?
It says it’s post fermented tea with a sweet elegant flavor of Korean pear. It's actually my first time having this tea, but this brand is really nice. You can check it out, they have some really good tea. I actually went to a tea museum on Jeju Island where they have big tea fields, But, yes South Korea mostly produces green tea. Anyway that's my tea.
Alright, now we're going to get into more about actually teaching in Korea. I just want to start off with the qualifications, because people are always asking what do I need to have?
Basically, two things are important when it comes to teaching English in Korea, your nationality and your qualifications. Generally, for qualifying for the English teaching visa which is the E2 visa you must be a passport holder from the following countries. USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand. You need to be from one of those countries. However, there are some loopholes and I'm going to talk about that in just a bit. Then you also need to have at least a bachelor's degree and a copy of that must be notarized, but that's really easy to get done. It doesn't matter which major you have, it doesn't have to be in TESOL or teaching, as long as you've completed four years of education. So that's what you need in order to get the visa.
Some other requirements that you will need to get the visa are three sealed university transcripts and a clear criminal background check. That usually takes the longest to get, especially now with public offices not really operating at full speed. You need to get your fingerprints taken and then sent in, for people from the US you have to send it into the FBI to get an official criminal background check. You also need a passport photocopy, a resume, a signed copy of the school contract, four passport-sized photos, and two letters of recommendation. So that’s the general requirements or documents that you need in order to get your visa.
Once you have all these things you can then move on to applying for a job. Once you have that they will give you the contract and then you can do the final steps of going back to the embassy and presenting all the documents and then you get your visa.
We haven’t talked about the TEFL and TESOL yet. So a TEFL certification is not required to teach in Korea or basically it's not required to get a teaching visa in Korea. However, there are a lot of schools in Korea that will still require their teachers to have a TEFL or TESOL just for their own personal preference, so it's definitely beneficial to have a TEFL or TESOL certificate even though it's not an official requirement. You will definitely get a higher salary compared to people who don't have a certificate and you will also have access to better job opportunities. A lot of schools are making it a requirement that they only hire certified people, so if you don't have a TEFL certificate you might earn less and you don't have access to all of the jobs available.
That's why we are offering 30% off today on our TEFL and TESOL courses. If you watch until the end I'm going to drop that discount link into the comment box, actually let me drop it right now. I'm just dropping this link and I'll share it again later on. So this is the link that you can use to sign up for a TEFL or TESOL course with 30% off. Check that out. I'm going to mention it again at the end of the session, but just right away if anybody's interested use that link to get your discount.
Like I said, it's beneficial to have a TEFL or TESOL certificate in Korea. Also, for example, I was teaching English in China before I came to Korea. At the time when I lived and taught in China a TEFL certificate was not a requirement but now it is a requirement, so laws and regulations change and in case it changes here you want to be ready. More and more countries are following suit and are making a TEFL or TESOL certificate a requirement to get a visa, so I can see Korea doing that too in the future.
Okay, let's talk about the money aspect. How much can you earn teaching English in Korea?
These are the typical salary ranges. Basically we have to look at what kind of school it is, it always depends on the type of school. And then also on your own background and qualifications. So we start off with public schools. Public schools typically pay the least, but it's still not bad depending on what region you teach in. We can look at that a little bit more later because public schools are involved in the EPIK Program. EPIK is a teaching program in Korea that a lot of teachers go into and then they get placed in a school. The pay scale here is only in Korean Won. So 1.8 million won to 2.7 million won sounds like a lot, you'd be a millionaire in Korea. 1.8 million is currently about $1,600 US. So starting at $1,600 up to 2.7 million won which is currently $2,425. So that's what you'll be making each month in a public school.
In private language schools which are known as hagwons, you can usually earn a little bit more. Maybe up to 3 million won, that is currently $2,700. In universities you can make even more. If you manage to get a university job where the requirements are usually a little bit higher, they usually want people with a master's degree and preferably a master's degree in teaching, or TESOL, or English. Although in smaller cities they're not that strict and if you're in Korea for a while and then you get to know people, you do a bit of networking, you can definitely get a university job because they are always looking for teachers.
Working for a university in Korea is really nice as you have very little teaching hours, you make a lot of money, you have a lot of free time, and you get two or three months paid vacation every year. The highest paying schools are international schools, that's usually how it is everywhere in every country. They pay the highest but they also have the strictest requirements. International schools typically only hire people with a teaching license from their home country. So not only a TEFL or TESOL, but an actual teaching license, so you have to go through teachers college and all those things.
When you teach English in South Korea you not only get your salary, but there's also some extra benefits. Most teachers get their housing either paid for or a housing stipend. You might get a couple of hundred dollars stipend each month or you might receive full paid housing and then you live in a teacher's apartment. You also get health insurance, paid airfares, and an end of contract bonus. There's also a pension scheme that you pay into and then when you leave Korea you get all of this money back. So depending on how long you pay into this pension scheme, you can get like a couple of thousand dollars back when you leave. This is a really good chunk of money that you can then use for when you go to a different location or back home.
All right, I have a question here. Chibi says I’ve heard that universities are extremely hard to break into.
Like I said, it depends on where you are. I imagine that in Seoul it is probably really hard, but if you're in a smaller city and you get to know people it is much easier. I was actually offered a university job at my local university, it's a really good university with lots of international students, it's very prestigious. Because I knew people, they were like hey we know you're a good teacher and you're certified, you've been here for a while, would you like to work at our university? So it just depends on networking and how long you have been in Korea, at least maybe two or three years.
Let's move on and compare hagwons, which are private schools, and public schools because I get asked a lot, is it better to work for private schools or public schools in Korea?
In my experience. I worked at a private school before so I can speak about that. I know a lot of people who work for public schools and I know their opinions and experience. So basically, in a hagwon you'll usually find more foreign teachers compared to public schools where you might be the only foreign teacher working in the entire school. That can be kind of hard if you're new to Korea and you don't really know anybody and then you're the only foreigner there. Usually you're in your own office so it might get a little bit lonely. That's just one of the things to consider.
Another one is that hagwons do pay a slightly higher salary, so you will be making a little bit more money working for a hagwon. But you will also have more working hours typically and for a lot of hagwons, depending on what kind it is, a lot of the working hours start after lunch at around 1:00 p.m. until maybe 9:00 p.m. A lot of people enjoy that they have their mornings off and then they work until nine, but some people prefer the nine to five that you get in a public school.
At public schools you also typically have more vacation days, which is really nice, compared to hagwons. At my hagwon I had 10 paid vacation days per year, 5 in the winter and 5 in the summer and you couldn't choose when you wanted them. It’s when the school has a vacation and all the teachers get that time off, that's it. It's not a flexible date thing. With public schools it's more flexible. Obviously you have vacation when the kids have vacations so it's not like you can choose your own dates, but I have a friend and she is able to take a few off days when she needs them but in a hagwon that's typically not the case.
Also for public schools, one thing especially if you work for the EPIK Program is you might end up working at more than one school. I have a friend and she's in the EPIK Program here in my city in Chengju and because it's a smaller city she actually works at two schools, and last semester she worked at three different schools. She had one main school and then she went to other schools on Thursday and Friday. It doesn't have to be a negative thing, but you're going to have different school systems to deal with, different co-workers and things like that. Her main school was pretty close to her paid house but the other two schools were kind of rural schools so she had to take a bus out into the countryside and it took like 45 minutes or so. Having said that, she really loved the experience as it's part of the Korean experience. I think it gives you a very good authentic insight into Korean life. So those are pretty much the main differences between hagwons and public schools.
Let me take a look at the comment section real quick. We have a question here from Luz. I am an accounting major but definitely good at English, is it possible for me to teach English in Korea with no teaching experience?
Like I said, it doesn't matter which major you have your degree in for teaching English in Korea, but it depends on what country you are from. For the teaching visa you need to be from an English-speaking country, there are some loopholes and I'm going to talk about that in a minute, but typically that's one of the hurdles as it depends on your nationality. But yeah the qualifications are definitely okay.
The next section is the EPIK Program and if you were watching one of my previous live streams about the best government funded English teaching programs this was on the list. So EPIK stands for English Program in Korea. It is run by the South Korean government and it is a program that places foreign teachers into schools across the country to work as English language instructors. What's great about the program is it's great for first time teachers to Korea or abroad in general, it offers competitive salaries and extra benefits like I mentioned before, and it offers the chance to live and work in a unique cultural environment. For details you can check out epik.go.kr. There are two hiring seasons, one is for February and March, that's when the school year starts. The other is for the second semester in August and September. You need to fill out your application I think six months in advance of these dates, so you need to be early with that.
The requirements are that you need to be a citizen of a country where English is the primary language. So the countries that I mentioned before. You also must have studied from at least the junior-high seventh grade and graduated from a university in one of the seven designed countries. Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, United Kingdom, United States, or South Africa. However, and this is a little loophole here, Indian citizens are eligible for positions if they meet all other requirements and hold a teacher's license in English. I get this asked a lot by Indian citizens, they really want to come to Korea and so this is a great opportunity for those wanting to come to Korea. If you meet all the requirements plus you have a teacher's license in English you're eligible for the EPIK Program.
For all other citizens, there is a working holiday visa for Korea that you can get for 12 months, but it can be extended. You can check that out if you do a search for a working holiday visa for Korea. A lot of people from many different countries are eligible. They do have some countries that have quotas, for some countries it's like 100 people or 200 people from that specific country can receive that visa each year. But many countries also have unlimited quotas, so check that out and maybe you'll be eligible. This basically allows you to work and live in South Korea and then while you're here you can explore some other visa options because there's a ton of options as Korea is really pushing for international talent right now.
Back to the EPIK, you also need to hold a minimum of a bachelor's degree so it's the same thing from before, you need to have a four-year degree and it doesn't matter which major. What's also interesting if you have an associate's degree, so a two-year degree, you can apply for the TaLk Program which is pretty much the same as the EPIK but for people with an associate’s degree and usually younger people. The TaLk Program is also a teaching program that places you into schools in South Korea. For the EPIK Program you also need to have a TEFL or TESOL certificate of at least 100 hours. So that's the difference, if you want to go through the EPIK Program you need to have a TEFL certificate, unless you have majored in TESOL or you have a teaching license.
Just a reminder, let me show you the banner here for the special offer at the end of the session. 30% off of all TEFL or TESOL courses from ITTT. Okay, I think there's one more slide about EPIK. The salary and additional info.
It's pretty similar to what I said before, but this is only EPIK. So they have this level system depending on your experience and qualifications. Also it depends on what region you work in. I guess the not so popular places outside of Seoul and Busan pay the most. You might end up working for a rural school in a small town, but you earn the most money. But even my city is actually in this category, but it's still a pretty big city of almost a million people. It's not like in the boonies or anything, but that's usually what people think in Seoul, they think everything outside of Seoul is countryside, but it's not. Just want to put that out there.
The benefits are pretty much the same as I said before, so you get a fully furnished apartment, you get paid airfare in and out of the country. One thing that is different and unique to the EPIK is you get a 300,000 Korean won settlement allowance to get you started with your life in Korea. If you have to buy some stuff for your kitchen or anything for your house, that will get you through the first month until your first paycheck. So that is about $300. You also get 18 days paid leave plus all national holidays. Like I said before, typically for private schools you get 10 vacation days but in the EPIK you get 18. You also get a one month salary bonus at the completion of the contract. That's the same with private schools as well.
Okay, here's some information about applying. Go to the official website epik.go.kr and there's all the info about how to apply, all the forms, everything you need in one place and you can also reach out to them directly. I'm not from EPIK so all of this information I have is from my own research and of course things might change so just check the actual website.
So do you need to know the Korean language before you go to teach English in Korea?
I'm going to split this question up into two categories. Do I need to know Korean to teach English in Korea? The answer to this is you do not need to know any Korean for teaching English in Korea. For example, at my school they had an English only policy, so you were only allowed to speak English to all the students and all the students were only allowed to speak English to you. If they spoke Korean, it's like hey no Korean in the classroom. So you don't need to know any Korean to get hired.
The second part. Do you need to know Korean to live in Korea?
Now that's a different story. Most of the time people living in Seoul find that English is pretty widely spoken everywhere, in restaurants and stores and that. Outside of Seoul it's a little bit of a different story. In my city I find that people speak English here and there, but it is not that common. So if you know some Korean it's definitely going to help you living in Korea. I definitely recommend learning some Korean before you go just to help you settle into your new life and to make friends and just to get around. Like going to the convenience store and buying something, if the person asks you do you want a bag? You know little things like that and just knowing how to say hello, thank you, and please, goes a long way. Koreans are very helpful, if they see you can't speak any Korean they will help you and try their best, but if they see you're making an effort it really goes a long way. I actually want to share a link for anyone who's interested in learning Korean. I highly recommend 90 day Korean and I'm just dropping the link into the comment box, you can check it out. They offer a lot of great resources and programs, you can work with a teacher or by yourself. It's a really great resource for learning Korean.
Once you are here there are many options for learning Korean, including a government sponsored program called the Korean integration and immigration program or something like that. It’s specifically for foreigners living in Korea, you basically can take free classes and you can learn Korean. They have six levels and if you go through all the levels you are actually able to change your visa to a permanent resident visa, so it's a really good program that helps a lot of people who are serious about living in Korea. I actually took this course, it's really helpful, challenging but helpful. I highly recommend it.
Moses asks, do you speak Korean Linda?
I do speak Korean. I started learning Korean before I got to Korea, I was living in China at the time and I met this girl who was Korean and she taught me some. And then when I moved here I started taking classes at the local YMCA in my city. I also started with the KIP program that I just talked about and I did all the levels there. So I can speak Korean but I wish I was better at it after almost six years, I definitely need to learn some more.
Let me answer a question from Juliana. She asks, do they have any christian schools in Korea?
Actually there are a lot of christian schools in Korea. An interesting fact about Korea is that about 50% of the population are christian and the rest are buddhist. Typically, older people tend to be buddhist and younger people tend to be christian. But definitely, there are a lot of christian private schools and international schools.
Okay, so that is the end of this teaching English in Korea session. I'm just going to open up the general Q&A session so you can ask me anything and also get the 30% discount link, let me share it in the comment section one more time. You can also scan the QR code and that will go straight to the application page. You can just check out the website first and then figure out which course you want to take and then go back to the application page and fill out your application. You can fill out your application with no strings attached, you don't have to pay right away, you can apply and then think about it for a few days. We will send you reminder emails and you'll still get the 30% off.
If anybody has any other questions about Korea, TEFL, or anything, now is your opportunity to ask them. I'll still be here for a few more minutes and then I'm going to sign off because I feel like my throat is a little bit scratchy. Let me know if you have any questions and if you found it helpful.
Mika says, thank you Linda, really helpful information. Thank you so much, I hope it was, and like I said you can reach out to me at Linda Goes East if you want to learn more about Korea, or anything at all, you can just message me and have a chat.
Maxine asks, is TEFL recommended if you want to teach English privately with families and businesses, instead of schools?
I definitely think a TEFL certificate is great if you want to teach English privately because it shows you know what you're doing. It shows them that you're serious and that you are up to date with all the current ideas and techniques of teaching. I definitely recommend it.
Jessica says, I missed most of the session, did you go over the teaching English online aspect?
So this session was mostly about teaching English in South Korea so I didn't really talk about teaching English online, but if there is anything you would like to know you can ask right now.
I'm so sorry I can't pronounce your name so I'm just going to say Chris. Chris asks, is it a plus to teach English abroad if I have the TEFL/TESOL course?
Yes, definitely a plus as more and more countries and schools are requiring a TEFL, and like I said earlier, I was teaching English in China a couple years back and at that time a TEFL was not a requirement but now it is, so regulations and rules are changing all the time. You really want to be ready ahead of the game and definitely get certified in case things change in a country where you are teaching.
Jessica asks, do most teaching English online companies deal with China rather than Korea?
There are a lot of online English teaching platforms that cater to specific countries or specific student groups. It's true that there are a lot that actually focus on China because it is so big compared to Korea. China is so huge, with so many people, so that's why there are so many companies that focus on China. China is actually the largest market for teaching English as a foreign language online or in traditional classrooms. But there are also platforms that have Korean students. There are a few Korean websites for teaching English online that hire foreigners, there are also different apps that they use here where you can apply to be a tutor and things like that. So there is something for everybody, for every region, for every kind of student.
Jessica asks, can I re-watch this live session after it's over?
Yes you can. It'll be available for replay at any time after it's finished. I see you're watching from Facebook, so it will be on our Facebook page shortly after. You can also watch it on our YouTube channel.
Okay, let me just show you guys this last slide. How to find ITTT online. Just a little reminder how you can find us at teflcourse.net and then on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Check us out, give us a follow and a like and a subscribe and all those good things. We also have a very big YouTube channel where we share a lot of really cool videos that you should check out.
Joanna has one last question. Could you tell us a bit about the job hunting process?
Sure, so you can either look for a job by yourself or you can go through a recruiter, or in the case of Korea you can also go through the EPIK Program that I mentioned earlier. If you want to go through the program, which is one of the most popular ways, you apply directly through their website epik.go.kr. You can go there and apply. You can also find a lot of vacant jobs online if you just search for teaching positions in Korea. A lot of stuff will pop up. Also check out different Facebook groups. There are groups like English teachers in Korea, ESL jobs in Korea, things like that. You can also go with recruiters, we actually work with a bunch of different recruiters.
Let me share that here. If you click on this link you'll see a list of our partners and a lot of them are actually recruiters and there's a lot of them that are focused on South Korea. You can reach out to them as we've worked with them for many years and they will help you find a job in South Korea. It is also good to know that it comes at no cost to the teacher as the school pays the recruiter and not the teacher, so you can use these services for free. I recommend you do a combination of all of those things, because you don't have to stick to just one or even just one recruiter, you can reach out to 10 of them at the same time, it doesn't matter. Just use every opportunity you have so you can pick and choose which position is the best for you.
I'm going to sign off now. You can re-watch this at any time after it ends. I see a couple of questions that I already answered earlier, so I recommend watching it from the beginning so you get all that info. Don't forget the 30% off link and don't forget to reach out to me at Linda Goes East if you have any questions about teaching and living in Korea or Asia.
I hope to see you guys again next week. I'd love to have a chat with you again. Have a wonderful day, evening, night, morning, wherever you are. It is morning here on Thursday. I am also going to put this episode up on our podcast platforms so you can listen to it as a podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe so you don't miss any other live sessions that we're doing. We go live twice a week, one time with me and one time with my colleague Liza. This was a fun session, let me know if you have any questions.
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