All About South Korea

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...  [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...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Alumni Experiences American and German Augsburg, Germany 26 Bachelor’s of Science in Management Yes. Growing up in Europe with a German mother and an American father I had the opportunity to travel around Europe and the US. After studying Mandarin, I also spent some time in China. San Diego, California Being able to explore the world and making use of my foreign language skills in Chinese. I was concerned about the language barrier, especially in China where English is not widely spoken. Even though I studied Mandarin, I was worried that my language skills wouldn’t be good enough to be able to live in China and get by alone. However, everything went very well and I was able to improve my Chinese language skills immensely during...  [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...  [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...  [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]

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...  [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...  [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...  [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...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information With teaching English abroad being one of the hottest career paths in the 21st century, there are also a lot of myths surrounding the topic. Here are seven misconceptions about TEFL uncovered! Linda Dunsmore Destinations Are you interested in teaching English abroad? Here are the 12 most affordable countries for teaching English overseas to inspire you to pack your bags! Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Check out these 10 female travel bloggers you should be following right now to find out how teaching English abroad can lead to exciting careers around the world! ...  [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...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas Hello everybody and welcome. We're actually also going live on Instagram today, so I'm going to check that out as well as the usual Facebook and YouTube. Hopefully everything will work fine. I hope everybody can hear me well and can see me. This is the first time that we're actually live on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube at the same time, so I have a lot of screens here in front of me. Hello there, I see somebody tuned in on Instagram and we have a few people here on Facebook and YouTube already. I hope everything is going well today. Unfortunately, if you're watching on Instagram you won't be able to see the screen and maybe some of the...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Alumni Experiences TEFL Reviews & TESOL Reviews For ITTT, our community of students and alumni is the most important to us. That’s why we’d love to share what our course grads have to say! This will not only have others make a better decision in whether TEFL/TESOL is for them, but it will also help the ITTT community grow bigger and stronger! The below answers were given from real ITTT alumni who have agreed to share their thoughts for our blog section. Zac Robertson I am from Pretoria, South Africa. To become an English Teacher abroad, ITTT was highly recommended to me by a friend. Video Lessons and comprehensiveness of course units. I hope to become an English Teacher in South Korea, to assimilate to...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Teaching Ideas English to me and I'll answer them to the best of my ability. We have a first time watcher Sebastian watching from Cameroon and it is 2:00 a.m. there, wow thanks so much for staying up and watching our live stream, that's awesome. We are actually streaming live on Facebook and also on YouTube at the same time, so wherever you're watching from you can throw your questions at me at any time and if you don't want to miss out on any of our live streams don't forget to like and subscribe so that you always get notifications. I go live every Friday morning my time, depending on where you're watching it might still be Thursday, and then my colleague...  [Read more]

Lulu Johnson Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences The Fulbright program is a great way to travel abroad and work as an English language teacher in an exciting new country. It allows you to experience a new culture, meet lots of new people and discover something new about yourself. This article will go over what Fulbright is, their English teaching program, and how to apply to Fulbright in this blog post. My name is Lulu, and I am currently a Fulbright recipient in South Korea for the next year (2021). A little about me: I was originally born in China but was adopted into a USA family. I grew up knowing I wanted to become a doctor and went to college in the Midwest and majored in Nutritional...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Women from all backgrounds are intrigued by the thought of living and working in a different country abroad. ✅ However, many of them feel reluctant and ask “Is it safe for single women to teach English abroad?” The answer is: Absolutely - and this live event we explore some of the best countries for solo women to teach English abroad. Christian Davey Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences As with any country, there are certain pros and cons about teaching English in Taiwan. ✅ If you consider the following points and do your own...  [Read more]

  This TEFL review is from Paavani. She is from Ohio, USA, but just moved to South Korea where she will work as an English teacher. As this will be her first full-time teaching position, she decided to take our online TEFL/TESOL program to get the best possible foundation in teaching before starting her new position. After completing the course, she feels ready and prepared to teach Korean students in her own EFL classroom and she recommends this course to other new teachers. Below you can read feedback from an ITTT graduate regarding one section of their online TEFL certification course. Each of our online courses is broken down into concise units that focus on specific areas of English language teaching. This convenient, highly structured design means that you can quickly get to...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information The international EFL market is increasingly looking towards hiring seniors. This means it’s a now-or-never chance for many people of 50 and older around the world to change their lives completely. Take a TEFL course in an exotic location (or at home online) and start your teaching career abroad. Yes—You can teach English abroad when you’re 50’s+ Years of career and life experience is an incredibly valuable asset and many EFL employers worldwide prefer to hire teachers who have plenty of knowledge to share with their students. While it’s true that a lot of programs target those fresh out of college, there are no age restrictions for teaching English overseas. All you need...  [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...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information oday’s exciting topic is the top hiring seasons for teaching English abroad. We're going to go over different countries on different continents and what their hiring seasons are, so when's the best time to go job hunting. Also there will be some tips for job hunting in those places as sometimes you need to get hired in advance when you're still in your home country and you can do online interviews, but in some countries you need to apply in person. So we're going to talk about that as well. Thanks so much for tuning in and as always please don't forget to like and subscribe so that you never miss a live session. We go live twice a week, one time with me on Fridays, or Thursday...  [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...  [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...  [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...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Hi everyone, here's Linda again from ITTT. Today we're talking about something really interesting and exciting, teaching English in Asia. Also, all you need to know about how to get to Asia, the countries in Asia with the highest demand, and also the best sort of recruiters and teaching job platforms where you can find the best jobs for teaching English in Asia. I'm super excited about this topic today as I have been pretty much based in Asia since 2012. I spent some time in China and I am now in South Korea where I've been for the last six years. I'm so excited to share my experience with you guys and hopefully maybe some of you can also share your experience, if you have experience...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations TEFL Information Welcome to another live session. My name is Linda from ITTT and you can find me on social media at @lindagoeseast. Thanks for tuning in, let me just see that everything's working. If you can see me and if you can hear me, please leave a comment as always. I have been living in South Korea for five and a half years. I am about an hour and a half South of Seoul in a city called Cheongju. It's kind of in the center of South Korea. We are the only province that doesn't border the ocean but it's really great and it's actually snowing right now. I’m excited to be here today as you probably already know what the topic is going to be about today the best countries for teaching English in...  [Read more]

Federico Riva TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hello everyone, how are you doing? Linda from ITTT, back again with another live session. I’m super excited to be here today to talk about this exciting topic, teaching English abroad and how it enhances your career prospects. I'm just going to wait for a couple more people to join, you know how it usually works. Once we are a good sized group of people we can start diving into this topic. If you can hear me and if you can see me please leave a comment. We are live on Facebook and on YouTube at the same time, so wherever you're watching from just leave a quick hi or hello in the comment section and also let me know where you are watching from. I am in South Korea about an hour...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations So, you love to travel and want to teach English abroad but you’re also a vegan? The good news is that you won’t have to choose between your dietary needs and your dream of exploring the world. The following places are vegan-friendly destinations ideal for teaching English abroad. Due to its significant Buddhist population, Thailand has plenty of vegan food options to choose from. There are vegan eateries all over the country, and you’ll also find healthy salad bar concepts, organic farm-to-table, Japanese macrobiotic and all sorts of other vegan eateries here. Even your regular restaurants often have meatless pad Thai, tom yum soup, coconut milk-based curries and salads on their menu. What’s specific for...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Teaching English in 2021. A few people have told me about their teaching journey already, so keep letting me know what your plans are in terms of teaching English abroad or teaching English online. Somebody said they're interested in teaching online, so that's really cool. Someone new has just joined us from Laos, hi there. We have Margaret who is also teaching online, very cool. I’m going to talk a little bit about teaching English online in this presentation. Juliana says hi, I think you've watched before as I recognize your picture, thanks for tuning in again. It's really good to see new faces and old faces in our TEFL family today. I have prepared some visuals that I'm going to...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Destinations TEFL Information Alumni Experiences Hi guys, my name is Linda from ITTT, nice to see you again. If you can see me and hear me just say hi in the comment section, it would be really nice. Yeah, back this week with another exciting topic, how much money can you really make teaching English? Very interesting topic as we all need to know how much money we can make if we want to go and teach English abroad. I'm also going to cover how much money you can make when you teach online, so very important topics that we are covering today. If you are listening to this as a podcast episode, thank you so much for the download. As you might know we always turn our live sessions into podcast...  [Read more]