Do South Koreans Speak English

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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences This essay examines English education in South Korea and its socio-cultural problems. The discussion draws on my personal beliefs and experiences. First, the history of Korean education is laid out by illustrating the cultural background of Korean society. Following that, it traces the problems of learners of the English language in Korea and tips on how to improve their learning. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Nayoung H. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. For a long time, Korea has been a country that’s been highly education-obsessed. Entry to a top university has led to prestigious, well-paying, and secure jobs; it has...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Many students of English as a Second Language (ESL) find that, of the many struggles they have with the language, pronunciation is the most difficult to master. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Sophie M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Pronunciation is an extremely important ability to have to sound more fluent in English. By gaining the knowledge and skill of proper pronunciation, an ESL student can come across at a much higher level of English ability and intelligence. However, this is easier said than done. In South Korea, for example, certain sounds aren’t used in their language but are used in English. Because these...  [Read more]

Linda Dunsmore Destinations Alumni Experiences Korean learners of the English language face numerous challenges in acquiring the language on a proficient level, although English is introduced to children at an early age. English is incorporated into the primary school curriculum from the age of four, yet only a small minority master the language on a proficient conversational level. Unfortunately, the reasons seem to stem from cultural and social differences, the significant differences between the two languages; Korean and English, and the Korean Educational System is also a contributing factor. This post was written by our ITTT graduate Beatrix N. To begin with, cultural differences seem to be a central reason why Koreans...  [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]

  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]

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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences Koreans take education very, very seriously, yet there are many problems for learners in South Korea. Society deems those who are not good at studying as lazy, and good for nothing, therefore most students study to death. Literally. They go to school extremely early, finish around noon, and then stay at a cram school until late at night. They repeat the same routine over and over again every single day. They even have to study during vacation. This results in students that do not study because they are motivated or because they want to, but simply because they are forced to, and if they do not, they can’t enter the college they want or land the job they’ve always dreamed of. Studying until 2 or 3 am has...  [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]

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]

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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I have had the opportunity to study several foreign languages, some in a formal setting, some self-taught. Through my personal experiences learning other languages, I have developed some insights into language learning. I would like to describe some of my experienc| ITTT | TEFL Bloges, and some of my thoughts on what I have learned from them, and from this course. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Kim T. My first experience in language learning began at age fourteen with French; by the time I graduated high school I had studied French, German and Spanish as part of my curriculum. The method in use then was ALM, so as a result, I learned language patterns very quickly. However, the only...  [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 In all, English has official or special status in at least 75 countries (with a combined population of two billion people). It is estimated that one out of four people worldwide speaks English with some degree of competence. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Karen B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. Having lived in Asia for over 19 years, I have seen changes in the perception of English as a global language. There have been government interventions to curtail English usage in schools – in Malaysia, India, China, and Hong Kong for example. In 1908 Mahatma Gandhi, when talking of colonialism in India, said: “To give...  [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]

Linda Dunsmore TEFL Information Teaching English abroad is one of the most interesting career paths one might take up. You get to move to a new country and even get paid for it! However, too many people are unsure whether teaching EFL is right for them. This article highlights 6 things you will miss out on if you don’t teach English abroad. When routine becomes a ball and chain, you know it’s time for something new. Moving to a new country to teach English is the perfect opportunity to discover a whole new world. Whether it’s cherry blossom season in Japan, Chinese New Year festivities in Taiwan, Christmas markets in Germany or the Carnival in Brazil - there are new experiences ahead of you on every corner! It’s not only large cultural...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences I’ve always wanted to be a teacher. In high school, I was inspired by my English teachers and the way they were able to make material interesting and motivating. I remember telling myself that I would not be the person who changes the world, but perhaps as a teacher, I would be able to inspire the person who would. From the beginning, my motivation was to help others in a meaningful way. My goal was to improve the lives of others. When I entered university, I found myself studying philosophy to become a professor in the future. However, the reality of being a university professor was a lot of presenting and publishing, with very little teaching. Because teaching was my goal, I decided to leave my Ph.D....  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Being a teacher takes great responsibilities and in order for one to because a business English teacher takes a number of factors to be considered such as who will you be working for and what they expect from you, the type of environment in which you will be teaching as different places have different cultures and it is every teacher’s duty to know the dos and don’ts of an environmental culture you in and in this essay, I will talk about the teacher’s roles in teaching. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Albright M. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. As a teacher, ones bears much responsibility that goes with the contract one...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences To finish the TEFL course, I would like to write on a topic that worries many EFL high school teachers in Spain: the lack of motivation, improvement, and participation of their students in the classroom. This is a topic that was widely discussed during my MA in Foreign Language Teaching. For this reason, I would like to take this opportunity to do some further research on this since I believe it's a topic of ultimate importance to all EFL teachers working in Spain. I will discuss how to solve this issue through the use of IT created to facilitate school exchanges. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Ana Maria Serra C. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the...  [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]

Elizaveta Pachina Alumni Experiences For this task, I have selected Korea as a choice for some students having difficulty learning. Korea is one of the countries investing a lot in the field of English education. Also, results achieved by Korean students on the TOEFL test improved by 10 points over the past six years. However, there still seems to be less proficient skills in writing and speaking in English. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Heejeong K. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. When I taught teenage students in Korea, I watched them being reluctant or struggling to speak and write in English even though they had more than average scores in reading and...  [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]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Teachers play an essential role in educating their students. While teachers are known for this, they also serve many other roles. Teachers set healthy environments for the classroom, motivate students to perform well, can provide cultural expertise outside of the student’s traditions, and have a greater understanding of the general difficulty in learning English as a second language. The role of the teacher is to guide the student, allowing them to perform to the best of their ability. This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Micheal S. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT. The teacher is responsible for creating a nurturing environment...  [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]

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]

Prachi and Morgan from AlienEating Destinations Alumni Experiences Teaching. It's frustrating, exhausting, and a whole lot of kid wrangling. It's also rewarding, eye-opening and will give you more patience than you ever thought possible. I had no idea how much went into this job. One day when I'm in Forbes 30 Under 30, I'm going to personally send a tower of Ferrero Rocher to every teacher in the world. This job is a huge responsibility and it's more difficult than I ever imagined. I urge everyone to dip a toe into the teaching world at least once. I've taught English in South Korea for two years now in both the open countryside and bustling city. It may not seem like there's too much of a difference, but there are a few things...  [Read more]

Elizaveta Pachina Teaching Ideas Change is coming to the way that English is taught in Japanese public schools. The changes to the curriculum by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) increase the teaching of English at all levels of schooling. The goal of this change is, in the words of Ikuko Tsuboya-Newel, founder and chair of Tokyo International School, “The government has decided that beginning in 2020 all high school graduates must achieve a level of English equivalent to B1” (“Why do Japanese have trouble learning English?”, The Japan Times, October 29, 2017). To achieve that goal, high school entrance exams are expected to include more testing of productive skills in English. Therefore, junior...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Budget and Salary TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Hi guys, Linda here from ITTT with another live session. Super excited to be here again, thanks so much for tuning in today and if you're listening to this as a podcast episode thanks so much for the download, we really appreciated it. We turn all of our live sessions into podcast episodes and you can find them on all major podcast platforms like iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. Just search for the TEFL and TESOL Podcast by ITTT and you will find all our episodes there. Hi Tiana, thanks so much for tuning in today. How are you? I'm so excited to be here again and I think today's topic is going to be really interesting for people who want to...  [Read more]

Federico Riva Budget and Salary TEFL Information Teaching Ideas Today, we are going to talk about the “biggest misconceptions about TEFL and TESOL and teaching English abroad”. We get a lot of questions here at ITT, and a lot of people are confused and I just want to clear a few things up, some myths here and there, and I think I've narrowed it down to eight misconceptions that we're going to look at and you can throw your questions at me at any time. I would also really like to know where you are like in your TEFL journey, are you currently taking a TEFL or TESOL course? Are you thinking about it? Are you already certified? Or are you already teaching abroad? Let me know, that would be interesting to...  [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]