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There are a lot of native English speaking teachers in Korea, and that has been the trend.
But recently, from what I've been reading alot in Korean portals and netizens, the negativity is massively growing, and a lot of the schools seems to have petition to not hire English teachers in school, but instead use Korean-American teachers.
Just heads up to people planning to go there as a teacher. I know TL has a lot of great people teaching there, but the negative image made by certain teachers there have really shat on the image and reputation, and a lot of the Koreans seem to be infuriated. It seems that more and more Korean-American or Korean-Canadians are going there to teach English and they prefer it because of culture and respect. There are government programs that does this and my gf's little sister went to Korea as a teacher too. But all in all, i don't blame foreigners for banging whores at Hongdae, but certainly that has set a bad image for Korean women... (And Korean men they like to get their heads in on everything, even though those women have ntohing to do with them..)
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On December 14 2011 00:08 mizU wrote:
Honestly. If any of you ever get the chance to study abroad, even if it's not in Korea, do it.
I think that's the most important sentence for all the readers. If you're doing your studies right now or will do them in future, make sure you somehow manage to go abroad. Doesn't matter where or how long (well, 6 months should be minimum) - just do it.
I envy you, mizu, for having had the chance to go to Korea. I only made it to Paris, but Asia has always been my dream. I'll try to follow in your footsteps.
Loved the blog. 5/5.
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You do not need to know Korean, it's a bad habit to spread misinformation on subjects you clearly don't know Frus. The way it generally works is that classes are split between a Korean teacher who speaks both language and who would generally teach grammar and writing, and a foreign teacher whose class is full English immersion and would teach dropplets of everything with emphasis on speaking, listening, and reading.
The kids certainly do gain from it, since even the Korean teachers don't have particularly good speaking skills and hearing natural pronunciation at a young age can really help in the long run. Developing natural speaking skills at an older age is notoriously hard.
Not sure why this would be considered dumb or inefficient, since most good learning programs encourage language immersion.
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On December 14 2011 01:54 TheKwas wrote:
You do not need to know Korean, it's a bad habit to spread misinformation on subjects you clearly don't know Frus. The way it generally works is that classes are split between a Korean teacher who speaks both language and who would generally teach grammar and writing, and a foreign teacher whose class is full English immersion and would teach dropplets of everything with emphasis on speaking, listening, and reading.
The kids certainly do gain from it, since even the Korean teachers don't have particularly good speaking skills and hearing natural pronunciation at a young age can really help in the long run. Developing natural speaking skills at an older age is notoriously hard.
Not sure why this would be considered dumb or inefficient, since most good learning programs encourage language immersion.
I shall retract that part of my statement then, - It was just the impression that I have gained in Daejeon. Cannot tell if it's because there is a difference or not, but based on what I've learned talking to english teachers and people living here.
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As a counter-point to Exceed-Dream: he's totally correct that there is some backlash against foreigners in Korea, fueled partially by sterotypes about foreigners, numerous publicity nightmares due to military soldiers actions (high-publicity rape cases), and old-fashion racism. However, on the whole you live like a rock star in Korea and generally Koreans treat you very well (VERY WELL). Since in many areas, foreigners are still something of a novelty, expect to get lots of attention and random Koreans wanting to talk to you.
Just today, during my workbreak I was crossing the road to a store and 2 girls and 1 guy started talking to me and ended up asking if they could take a picture with me. I also remember one time at a bus depo, me and my 2 friends were appoarched by 3 separate groups of roughly 6-7 middle school students asking if they could have a group photo with us within an half-hour time period. Since that was near the beginning of my Korean adventure, I couldn't help but wonder if maybe they mistook us for someone else: nope we were just friendly looking, handsome foreigners.
I shall retract that part of my statement then, - It was just the impression that I have gained in Daejeon. Cannot tell if it's because there is a difference or not, but based on what I've learned talking to english teachers and people living here.
There are quite a few foreigners that might agree with what you said, I'm just not one of them.
I can only speak from my experience, and clearly there's plenty of students who don't gain anything from it (it doesn't matter how much you teach someone if they don't want to learn)
One thing that IS true, however, is that our biggest utility to our employers (well, maybe not mine but to many small private schools) is that we act as basically "white people mascots" to impress parents. The private schools typically don't care so much about teaching english as they do about creating the impression to parents that they are teaching english,
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On December 14 2011 02:05 TheKwas wrote:Show nested quote +
I shall retract that part of my statement then, - It was just the impression that I have gained in Daejeon. Cannot tell if it's because there is a difference or not, but based on what I've learned talking to english teachers and people living here.
There are quite a few foreigners that might agree with what you said, I'm just not one of them. I can only speak from my experience, and clearly there's plenty of students who don't gain anything from it (it doesn't matter how much you teach someone if they don't want to learn) One thing that IS true, however, is that our biggest utility to our employers (well, maybe not mine but to many small private schools) is that we act as basically "white people mascots" to impress parents. The private schools typically don't care so much about teaching english as they do about creating the impression to parents that they are teaching english,
The last part definately sounds plausible 
In general, Daejeon seems a lot less internationalized, people are generally a lot worse at english than in Seoul, and there is pretty much zero foreign cars for instance
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Even within the Seoul areas, there's pretty big fluctuations in english-ability/internationalization. My area is basically foriegner-free, minus my co-workers. Finding a Korean that speaks good English is extremely difficult (and when I do find them, I tend to befriend them right away). I don't mind it tho, since my Korean is passable for most important things and causal conversation.
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Now i wanna realy do an exchange year in south korea!
here some questions
1. Why did you stayed only 1 semester and not a year ?
2. How much did you spend overall ?
I would guess you need atleast 1k € (1,3k USD) a month, with rent and so.. so im curious!
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On December 14 2011 03:45 chiboni wrote:Now i wanna realy do an exchange year in south korea! here some questions 1. Why did you stayed only 1 semester and not a year ? 2. How much did you spend overall ? I would guess you need atleast 1k € (1,3k USD) a month, with rent and so.. so im curious!
The program I did was only for a semester.
Actually, I got really lucky. The school I stayed at and studied at, took care of my housing and food. I just paid tuition.
Also I got really cheap airfare, and they gave us an airfare stipend of 1400, so I had a good amount of spending money. I think I spent around a grand on miscellaneous shopping, bars, etc. I love to treat friends, so that's partially why it was so much.
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Sounds like you had a really awesome time. I so badly want to study abroad in Korea for a summer or something. I'm so envious! T.T
So how much luggage/packing did you need to bring over there for the semester? And do you have a separate bag for souvenirs or did you mail those back home?
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United States7639 Posts
T___T
I'm going to miss it here too. Korea's become a home.
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Why french unis have litterally 0 links with Korea T_T
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Serious? Korea Uni? Omg I use to stay near there LOLOL
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On December 14 2011 09:20 EchoZ wrote:
Serious? Korea Uni? Omg I use to stay near there LOLOL
Jochiwon campus though.
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Great blog, amazing that you had great time while living there!
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awesome man, i'm going next year :D can't wait! blog was a good write up! I want to read about this more! and pictures :D
You can kaokao talk on android also 
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On December 14 2011 06:09 sAsImre wrote:
Why french unis have litterally 0 links with Korea T_T
Out of the europeans here at KAIST (not in Seoul), there is by far the most french people. So it's definately not a general thing. You might just be unlucky with your university x_x
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Why not 이문세's original version of Sunset glow? T_T;;
EDIT: though I'm attending University in US at the moment, I think I'll move to Korea to get a job there. I grew up in Korea back in the 90's, and though US is nice and all, it doesn't feel 'right' or 'suitable' for me.
I mean, come on. As soon as I arrived in Korea, I started eating less and became more active. In US? Sitting at home all day long.
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On December 14 2011 11:09 supernovamaniac wrote:
Why not 이문세's original version of Sunset glow? T_T;;
Great song, original too trotty for me though.
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EPT
