I really appreciate the guy who said “you'll spend more than you make." I WISH someone would have said that to me before I decided to go and teach there. Teaching English in Korea is cool if you just graduated from college, not as a 30 year old adult who has to send money back home for bills.
Yea it used to be about the same salary 15-20 years ago and Gimbap was only 1,000-1,500 won. Now food and everything is much harder, mind of impossible to save.
Hi! Do you have any advice about teaching in Asia as a 30 something year old? I’ve been really contemplating doing it since I don’t really have anything tying me down but most people I see doing this are fresh college grads/people in their 20s🥲
@@tayajaycam I think teaching in Asia can be lucrative; I just wouldn’t choose Korea because you won’t make enough money. I’m moving to China in August to teach literature, and the salary/benefits package is amazing. As an almost 30 year old woman with bills and as someone who also wants to enjoy life, I need to be making real money.
great video, lots of insight. I teach in Vietnam and Korea was always a dream, however I'm hesitant about giving up my 15 hour work week for something more demanding. Please keep more interviews coming asking foreigners what its like living there, their experiences etc. Great work!
Thank you! I will say that the pay is likely much higher here also. And in terms of the lifestyle, if you like to party, Seoul has a lot of fun things to do! But yea the 40 hours with limited prep time and break takes a toll for sure.
If you can survive on 15 hours a week in Vietnam, you can perhaps add on a couple of teaching hours if you want more money. In South Korea, a lot of teaching jobs are teaching small children from 9 to 6, or longer.
Advice for first-year teachers: teach the RICHEST kids you can. Those kids (even if they now have no interest in English or even actively hate English) have had 10s of thousands of $ worth of English education shoved into their brains since they were a baby, so there is SOMETHING there that you can build on (especially if you have a good rapport with kids). Not too rich tho. Not Gangnam rich. Those moms’ standards and expectations are ridiculous. Aim for a sindosi 신도시 (new town) area with wealthier families trying to get away from the city life and a good deal on a first home. The kids have had plenty of education resources their whole lives, but the parents aren’t old money or 2nd gen wealthy. Not to knock poor/working-class kids, but they often have had no auxiliary English education up until the day they walk into your classroom.(And they have no aptitude or interest in it at public school.) And they get grouped by age- NOT level, so even if they’re preschool level, if they’re 1st grade- they go with the other first graders where they can’t keep up at with the material and act up in class out of boredom/frustration. Once you have a couple years of experience and Korean language under your belt, you can bridge the gap in any academy, but if it’s your first year then trust me, just make it easy on yourself and teach rich kids. 😂
I wish there was a parttime (summer time) position for teaching. I would go on my summer break and teach. I'm 46 and work in school un the USA. I have a friend in a private school full time. Lots of work!
Okay the lady that had the barking student, parents in the US are exactly the same. I had a second grade mom cuss me out and accuse me of hating her kid because he didn’t win a students council position (that was vote based). Mind you I was 5 months pregnant with complications and she clearly didn’t care. Parents are the same when it comes to their kids. Crazy
What if the lady with the barking student had recorded the barking, and shown it to the child's mother? The hagwon had most likely recorded it all but was terrified to show it.
But I would say that here you would have more staff support. At one school where I was doing a long term sub I wrote a student up for harassing girls in class. He got suspended and could only come back with approval after interviews. The mother came to the principal and complained that I ( this might have had some racial tones as I am Caucasian and she was African American). She insisted I picked on her son all the time that he was a good boy. He was only there because he missed school. He actually was truant. But the principal stood up for me and told the woman that she knew that I would never do the things. The woman accuse me of, and then I agreed to let the boy come back into my classroom as long as he behaved and left the girls alone.
But I would say that here you would have more staff support. At one school where I was doing a long term sub Iwrote a student up for harassing girls in class. He got suspended an could only come back with approval after interviews. The mother came to the principal and complained that I ( this might have had some racial tones as I am Caucasian and she was African American). She insisted I picked on her son all the time that he was a good boy. He was only there because he missed school. He actually was truant. But the principal stood up for me and told the woman that she knew that I would never do the things. The woman accuse me of, and then I agreed to let the boy come back into my classroom as long as he behaved and left the girls alone. anyway.
I think a problem in Korea is that they still work on the old system left over from the days of the kingdom of Nobles, commoners ,and slaves. They still have that mindset. Only today, it’s based on who makes the most money. It’s too bad because I’ve always liked the Korean people I’ve met. I have heard in Korea that in small churches of my denomination they’re a little bit stand offish to visitors and that is because a lot of of them are pretty much churches built with or by members of one or two families. So they’re a little insular. We don’t have that kind of problem very much with small churches here in America. It particularly makes me sad because it means that they have not been able to separate themselves from the old way of thinking and that is a major problem if you want to act as a Christian. Although, I have heard or at least read some comments from some who had visited some American Korean churches and they weren’t very,maybe the word is hospitable. I’ve been meaning to visit some to see what my experience was. Maybe it just depends here in America on how long they’ve been here. As far as Koreans go in Korea, maybe it will just take much longer time for society to change. I’ve always had a desire to go to Korea and teach English to children, but this video and another have convinced me that maybe I’m too old to put up with the nonsense that the younger people have to put up with because for sure they’d probably deport me because I would stand up for the right thing. Actually, I think the Korean films depict the society pretty much correctly.
I think a problem in Korea is that they still work on the old system left over from the days of the kingdom of Nobles, commoners ,and slaves. They still have that mindset. Only today it’s based on o who makes the most money. It’s too bad because I’ve always liked.Korean people I’ve met. I have heard in Korea that in small churches of my denomination they’re a little bit stand off to visitors and that is because a lot of of them are pretty much churches built with or by members of one or two families. So they’re a little insular. We don’t have that kind of problem very much with small churches here in America. It particularly makes me sad because it means that they have not been able to separate themselves from the old way of thinking. Although I have heard or at least read some comments that they had visited some American Korean churches and they weren’t very, Maybe the word is hospitable. I’ve been meaning to visit some to see what my experience was. Maybe it just depends here in America. on how long they’ve been here. As far as Koreans go in Korea, maybe it will just take much longer time for society to change.
I’m currently teaching at a hagwon, and a parent Said she would call the police on me because I emotionally abused her child .... I simply asked him to sit down because he wouldn’t Sit still.
When I taught in South Korea at a hagwon, I was reprimanded when I saw my students go above and beyond. The students asked me if they could go ahead in class because they really wanted to learn English, so I told them that they could. Then their parents got mad, and then my director got mad at me. Sorry, I'm just trying to let them learn as much as they can.
I worked at a hagwon and it was wonderful...until they decided to expand. Suddenly the students and teachers were no longer the priority, it was all about money and funding and building onto the school. It was a hell like no other. Completely ruined my love of teaching and I left the moment my contract was up, heartbroken and burnt out.
Based on what the woman in the pink sweater said, it sounds as if some hagwon directors have the gnomes’ underpants problem that has been described in South Park.
There is a unit in the speaking tree series about manners. The unit always takes kids two weeks to do as they have to have ideas presented from videos. They have no concept of manners.
Hello...that was a very informative video thanks for sharing with us. If someone is seeking for teaching eng job in Korea how can they get it??? Plz share it.
Does Epik even conduct an interview before they hire these unqualified teachers from the states? I’m going to change this one day and hire only teachers with a degree in teaching
You likely won't find a US certified teacher willing to work for the extremely low EPIK salary. Most US teachers earn $50k and up, not the $23k often paid in Korea
Your stupid reasoning is one of the reasons my state has a chronic teacher shortage and still ranks among the lowest in the country. Extra qualifications are fine. Having a dedicated "education" major is one of the reasons the American educational system started to falter.
plus they hire people that say things like 'we are learned'. i knew a guy. we got along. he admitted to me that he was in prison for some gang activity. i didn't hold it against him but still...
They hire virtually anyone. You just have to hold a foreign passport or look foreigner. No diplomas, no experience... no good English either. In one hagwon I know the teachers were Polish, Russian and Kazakh 🤣🤣🤣
Korea only allows people from specific countries to teach English. There are probably more people from the US going there for teaching, especially considering Korea's close relations with the US (also many Korean's wish to go to the US so they favour that accent)
@@exploring_k1254 Not really. There're hagwons in smaller cities that would hire any white foreigner to teach English (Polish, Russian, you name it...)
Ugh here we go again. Making hate videos about Korea is getting so old. Obviously it's click bait and gets the RUclips personality a lot of views, but it's a crappy thing to do.
I have a strong sense you didn’t watch the entire video 😂. I asked many questions about the positives of Korea and the difference in culture. Please watch the video to the end, thanks!
Lots of people from the West want to spend some time teaching abroad and it's good to be informed about it. Hagwons are known to be crappy so it's also interesting to know what to avoid. Only thing I found is that the school comments are the same as in the West. All the things they moan about are things you'd encounter with parents and kids in Western schools. The Western school system is even more strict in what input teachers and assistants can have and discipline is out of the window. Also Hagwans prioritise profit? Western schools prioritise league tables and being the school with the highest results in the area.
Yea definitely similarities as they are both part of an education system. The biggest difference is prioritization of profit, but it’s also the parent’s fault. I noticed in Korea the parents care more about the prestige of their child’s level. The hagwon cares about profits, but the parents are the customers. As a teacher, sometimes you can feel hopeless. I had a students who was consistently in a level too high for her, and she learned nothing. I tried to help her get up to speed, but the gap of her level was too big.
@ryanasksaround it's all swings and roundabouts. I worked in UK schools where parents and kids are king and the my little prince/princess attitude also applies. I'm sure there are marked differences though. However, you may find children in a higher level class than they can manage, but that also happens in the West with severely neurodivergent children thrown into mainstream classes they cannot cope with and parents insisting on the child staying in an unsuitable school.
5 месяцев назад+4
Are you sure? there are people who have terrible and awful experiences in Korea with children who should have psychological evaluation and some terrible rich parents who felt they are God's gift, who have made teachers kneel and bow down to them and their children. I also saw where they said some females have been sexually assaulted and there are no punishment. I think you all are sugar coating what the actually life experiences in the schools are like. Heck don't forced people to drink ETOH, because not everyone drink alcohol, I. understand that you have to sugar coat your experiences. Not telling the truth because you are still there.
I really appreciate the guy who said “you'll spend more than you make." I WISH someone would have said that to me before I decided to go and teach there. Teaching English in Korea is cool if you just graduated from college, not as a 30 year old adult who has to send money back home for bills.
Yea it used to be about the same salary 15-20 years ago and Gimbap was only 1,000-1,500 won. Now food and everything is much harder, mind of impossible to save.
Hi! Do you have any advice about teaching in Asia as a 30 something year old? I’ve been really contemplating doing it since I don’t really have anything tying me down but most people I see doing this are fresh college grads/people in their 20s🥲
My friend at school started teaching English at 35, so no prob. I think as long as you are under 40 its pretty easy
@@tayajaycam I think teaching in Asia can be lucrative; I just wouldn’t choose Korea because you won’t make enough money. I’m moving to China in August to teach literature, and the salary/benefits package is amazing. As an almost 30 year old woman with bills and as someone who also wants to enjoy life, I need to be making real money.
@@ryanasksaround thank you!
great video, lots of insight. I teach in Vietnam and Korea was always a dream, however I'm hesitant about giving up my 15 hour work week for something more demanding. Please keep more interviews coming asking foreigners what its like living there, their experiences etc. Great work!
Thank you! I will say that the pay is likely much higher here also. And in terms of the lifestyle, if you like to party, Seoul has a lot of fun things to do!
But yea the 40 hours with limited prep time and break takes a toll for sure.
do you have any direct links to job for someone in UK with a degree in Education?
If you can survive on 15 hours a week in Vietnam, you can perhaps add on a couple of teaching hours if you want more money. In South Korea, a lot of teaching jobs are teaching small children from 9 to 6, or longer.
Great video! I am realizing now that I talk with my hands SO MUCH 🤣
Haha I think everyone kind of has that habit
Advice for first-year teachers: teach the RICHEST kids you can. Those kids (even if they now have no interest in English or even actively hate English) have had 10s of thousands of $ worth of English education shoved into their brains since they were a baby, so there is SOMETHING there that you can build on (especially if you have a good rapport with kids).
Not too rich tho. Not Gangnam rich. Those moms’ standards and expectations are ridiculous. Aim for a sindosi 신도시 (new town) area with wealthier families trying to get away from the city life and a good deal on a first home. The kids have had plenty of education resources their whole lives, but the parents aren’t old money or 2nd gen wealthy.
Not to knock poor/working-class kids, but they often have had no auxiliary English education up until the day they walk into your classroom.(And they have no aptitude or interest in it at public school.) And they get grouped by age- NOT level, so even if they’re preschool level, if they’re 1st grade- they go with the other first graders where they can’t keep up at with the material and act up in class out of boredom/frustration.
Once you have a couple years of experience and Korean language under your belt, you can bridge the gap in any academy, but if it’s your first year then trust me, just make it easy on yourself and teach rich kids. 😂
This is true
I wish there was a parttime (summer time) position for teaching. I would go on my summer break and teach. I'm 46 and work in school un the USA. I have a friend in a private school full time. Lots of work!
New subscriber here. Thank you so much for this great video. Warm regards from Indonesia, Ryan...
Okay the lady that had the barking student, parents in the US are exactly the same. I had a second grade mom cuss me out and accuse me of hating her kid because he didn’t win a students council position (that was vote based). Mind you I was 5 months pregnant with complications and she clearly didn’t care. Parents are the same when it comes to their kids. Crazy
What if the lady with the barking student had recorded the barking, and shown it to the child's mother? The hagwon had most likely recorded it all but was terrified to show it.
But I would say that here you would have more staff support. At one school where I was doing a long term sub I wrote a student up for harassing girls in class. He got suspended and could only come back with approval after interviews. The mother came to the principal and complained that I ( this might have had some racial tones as I am Caucasian and she was African American). She insisted I picked on her son all the time that he was a good boy. He was only there because he missed school. He actually was truant. But the principal stood up for me and told the woman that she knew that I would never do the things. The woman accuse me of, and then I agreed to let the boy come back into my classroom as long as he behaved and left the girls alone.
But I would say that here you would have more staff support. At one school where I was doing a long term sub Iwrote a student up for harassing girls in class. He got suspended an could only come back with approval after interviews. The mother came to the principal and complained that I ( this might have had some racial tones as I am Caucasian and she was African American). She insisted I picked on her son all the time that he was a good boy. He was only there because he missed school. He actually was truant. But the principal stood up for me and told the woman that she knew that I would never do the things. The woman accuse me of, and then I agreed to let the boy come back into my classroom as long as he behaved and left the girls alone.
anyway.
I think a problem in Korea is that they still work on the old system left over from the days of the kingdom of Nobles, commoners ,and slaves. They still have that mindset. Only today, it’s based on who makes the most money. It’s too bad because I’ve always liked the Korean people I’ve met. I have heard in Korea that in small churches of my denomination they’re a little bit stand offish to visitors and that is because a lot of of them are pretty much churches built with or by members of one or two families. So they’re a little insular. We don’t have that kind of problem very much with small churches here in America. It particularly makes me sad because it means that they have not been able to separate themselves from the old way of thinking and that is a major problem if you want to act as a Christian. Although, I have heard or at least read some comments from some who had visited some American Korean churches and they weren’t very,maybe the word is hospitable. I’ve been meaning to visit some to see what my experience was. Maybe it just depends here in America on how long they’ve been here. As far as Koreans go in Korea, maybe it will just take much longer time for society to change. I’ve always had a desire to go to Korea and teach English to children, but this video and another have convinced me that maybe I’m too old to put up with the nonsense that the younger people have to put up with because for sure they’d probably deport me because I would stand up for the right thing. Actually, I think the Korean films depict the society pretty much correctly.
I think a problem in Korea is that they still work on the old system left over from the days of the kingdom of Nobles, commoners ,and slaves. They still have that mindset. Only today it’s based on o who makes the most money. It’s too bad because I’ve always liked.Korean people I’ve met. I have heard in Korea that in small churches of my denomination they’re a little bit stand off to visitors and that is because a lot of of them are pretty much churches built with or by members of one or two families. So they’re a little insular. We don’t have that kind of problem very much with small churches here in America. It particularly makes me sad because it means that they have not been able to separate themselves from the old way of thinking. Although I have heard or at least read some comments that they had visited some American Korean churches and they weren’t very,
Maybe the word is hospitable. I’ve been meaning to visit some to see what my experience was. Maybe it just depends here in America. on how long they’ve been here. As far as Koreans go in Korea, maybe it will just take much longer time for society to change.
I’m currently teaching at a hagwon, and a parent
Said she would call the police on me because I emotionally abused her child .... I simply asked him to sit down because he wouldn’t
Sit still.
So what we watch in K-drama is all real.
Somewhat 😅
Except for the good romantic parts 😬
Very informative!
Thank you!!
That's why being an ESL and a private tutor rules.
They're literally describing teaching at middle schools in The Netherlands 😂
When I taught in South Korea at a hagwon, I was reprimanded when I saw my students go above and beyond. The students asked me if they could go ahead in class because they really wanted to learn English, so I told them that they could.
Then their parents got mad, and then my director got mad at me. Sorry, I'm just trying to let them learn as much as they can.
Yea, very frustrating to experience as a teacher
I worked at a hagwon and it was wonderful...until they decided to expand. Suddenly the students and teachers were no longer the priority, it was all about money and funding and building onto the school. It was a hell like no other. Completely ruined my love of teaching and I left the moment my contract was up, heartbroken and burnt out.
Based on what the woman in the pink sweater said, it sounds as if some hagwon directors have the gnomes’ underpants problem that has been described in South Park.
There is a unit in the speaking tree series about manners. The unit always takes kids two weeks to do as they have to have ideas presented from videos. They have no concept of manners.
Hello...that was a very informative video thanks for sharing with us. If someone is seeking for teaching eng job in Korea how can they get it??? Plz share it.
You need a TESL certificate, Bachelor degree of any kind, and be from an English speaking country
@@ryanasksaround thank you so much for responding...is it compulsory to be from an English speaking country ?
You get abused and fired for nothing.. The teachers spy on you and gaslight you..
Preach!!!
Detailed truths yes
Does Epik even conduct an interview before they hire these unqualified teachers from the states? I’m going to change this one day and hire only teachers with a degree in teaching
You likely won't find a US certified teacher willing to work for the extremely low EPIK salary. Most US teachers earn $50k and up, not the $23k often paid in Korea
@@happycook6737 I heard EPIK covers your housing expenses. How is it possible to still be struggling financially??
@@TheseEyesSeeDarknessClearly7because everything else is expensive
@@TheseEyesSeeDarknessClearly7 Korea is expensive and the pay is not so great even if they cover housing
Your stupid reasoning is one of the reasons my state has a chronic teacher shortage and still ranks among the lowest in the country.
Extra qualifications are fine. Having a dedicated "education" major is one of the reasons the American educational system started to falter.
plus they hire people that say things like 'we are learned'. i knew a guy. we got along. he admitted to me that he was in prison for some gang activity. i didn't hold it against him but still...
They hire virtually anyone. You just have to hold a foreign passport or look foreigner. No diplomas, no experience... no good English either. In one hagwon I know the teachers were Polish, Russian and Kazakh 🤣🤣🤣
It's so true what the teachers are saying.
Only tip you should hear from people: don’t do it.
Sounds like it's getting worse with time
Why are they only interviewing westerners with North American accents?
This this show only catered to North Americans?
Only native speakers are hired I heard. As a non native speaker you cant get the english teaching visa
Malaysia, Brunei, etc. prefer non- Canadian Commonwealth accents. Korea tends to be more North American accents.
Korea only allows people from specific countries to teach English. There are probably more people from the US going there for teaching, especially considering Korea's close relations with the US (also many Korean's wish to go to the US so they favour that accent)
Canada is part of the Commonwealth
@@exploring_k1254 Not really. There're hagwons in smaller cities that would hire any white foreigner to teach English (Polish, Russian, you name it...)
Ugh here we go again. Making hate videos about Korea is getting so old. Obviously it's click bait and gets the RUclips personality a lot of views, but it's a crappy thing to do.
I have a strong sense you didn’t watch the entire video 😂. I asked many questions about the positives of Korea and the difference in culture.
Please watch the video to the end, thanks!
The teachers and people like myself, don’t hate Korea. It’s hagwons and the education system that we dislike.
Lots of people from the West want to spend some time teaching abroad and it's good to be informed about it. Hagwons are known to be crappy so it's also interesting to know what to avoid. Only thing I found is that the school comments are the same as in the West. All the things they moan about are things you'd encounter with parents and kids in Western schools. The Western school system is even more strict in what input teachers and assistants can have and discipline is out of the window. Also Hagwans prioritise profit? Western schools prioritise league tables and being the school with the highest results in the area.
Yea definitely similarities as they are both part of an education system. The biggest difference is prioritization of profit, but it’s also the parent’s fault. I noticed in Korea the parents care more about the prestige of their child’s level. The hagwon cares about profits, but the parents are the customers.
As a teacher, sometimes you can feel hopeless. I had a students who was consistently in a level too high for her, and she learned nothing. I tried to help her get up to speed, but the gap of her level was too big.
@ryanasksaround it's all swings and roundabouts. I worked in UK schools where parents and kids are king and the my little prince/princess attitude also applies. I'm sure there are marked differences though. However, you may find children in a higher level class than they can manage, but that also happens in the West with severely neurodivergent children thrown into mainstream classes they cannot cope with and parents insisting on the child staying in an unsuitable school.
Are you sure? there are people who have terrible and awful experiences in Korea with children who should have psychological evaluation and some terrible rich parents who felt they are God's gift, who have made teachers kneel and bow down to them and their children. I also saw where they said some females have been sexually assaulted and there are no punishment. I think you all are sugar coating what the actually life experiences in the schools are like. Heck don't forced people to drink ETOH, because not everyone drink alcohol, I. understand that you have to sugar coat your experiences. Not telling the truth because you are still there.