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It’s long been a very attractive program for many reasons: high pay, an exciting range of financial benefits and the opportunity to work in one of the world’s most high tech and highly connected countries. Now teaching English in South Korea got a whole lot more appealing!
Interested in Teaching English in South Korea? We’ll send you more info!
English teachers in South Korea learn Korean during their weekend cultural orientations
TESOL course now offered in South Korea
For a long time now, if you were wanting to teach in this exciting country, you’d first have to do your TESOL course online or do a TEFL/TESOL in-class somewhere else before being able to interview for your job. These are still great options, allowing you to get a head start on your job application process while you’re still at home. But, starting 22 January 2018, you’ll be able to do your TESOL course in South Korea’s high energy capital: Seoul.
Why is this a great option? Well let’s run through the benefits:
- The course is run by experienced instructors who’ve taught abroad before
- It will be tailored to teaching in South Korean classrooms
- You’ll get practicum time as part of the course so that your first steps as a teacher are taken in front of a live class with your instructor present
- Schools in Korea are increasingly seeking out applicants with in-class TESOL/TEFL qualifications, having a Korea-specific course can boost your career in the country further
- You’ll get to ease into life in what’s a very different culture to yours back home, instead of diving into the deep end on your own from day 1 as the course takes place over a few weeks
- You’ll get the opportunity to meet fellow teachers to build a support network for everything from classroom pointers, to travel buddies to just plain moral support while you work abroad
TravelBud’s Grace Martens, trying on traditional Korean Hanbok during her cultural orientation
In-country cultural orientation
Another big plus to doing your TESOL course in South Korea is that your cultural orientation will be conducted in Seoul before you start your course. This means you won’t be learning about Korean culture remotely but will have a hands-on experience as you whizz around the city’s many exciting sights and take in the culture, history and language lectures with your colleagues.
Is there anyone this won’t be right for?
Well, if you’re looking at being guaranteed placement at a public school, it might be better to do your TESOL before hand, online. Participants using the in-country TESOL course will more likely be placed at private language centers which operate on different schedules to the public schools as they provide after-school lessons.
Taking the in-class TESOL will also mean your interview process will start once you’re in Korea, rather than before you depart as employers will need to see that you have begun your course before they can consider you seriously. So if you’re more after having everything sorted before you leave, this option might not be right for you.
China’s cities are epic and well worth exploring on foot. Pictured here is Hong Kong, one of China’s biggest draw cards, especially for teachers in South Korea doing visa trips.
Added bonus: take a side-trip
The course will also sometimes require a different visa arrangement which might end up being a big bonus for you. For those of you signing up closer to the start date for the course, you’ll be entering Korea before being offered a job, you’ll need to take a side trip once there to have your work visa processed. If, however you give yourself enough time, usually about 4-5 months+, you can be offered a position prior to arriving in-country.
If you have to do the visa trip, we suggest choosing between a trip to funky and fascinating Japan or bustling and hugely exciting Hong Kong (especially for our South African applicants) as destinations to spend a couple of days while you apply for and process your work visa before returning to Korea for employment. Just remember to budget a bit extra for this trip, you’ll almost surely want to splash out a bit on some fun sightseeing and activities while there.
Interested in Teaching English in South Korea? We’ll send you more info!
Hi there. I’m Interested in teaching English in South Korea. Please advise on application process.
Hi, thanks for reaching out. You can view more on teaching English in South Korea here. If you’d like to get started, your next step will be to get in touch with our enrolments coordinators here. You’ll then get the opportunity to chat to them or complete your application if you appear to meet the eligibility criteria. Once that’s done, you’ll have a short interview over the phone before they can confirm if you’ve been accepted onto the program. You’ll then pay your enrolment fee to secure your spot and we’ll begin walking you through all the rest of the steps to getting you over to South Korea to teach.