Things You Need to Know While Teaching English in South Korea

While teaching abroad isn’t the best thing in the world for everyone, lots of obstacles people might face and there are some rumors about teaching in South Korea around us. For instance, while a degree in education may assist you with improving your position and better salary, it positively isn’t a prerequisite.

If you have the heart and the excitement to teach English in South Korea, then you are on the right path. You’re as of now half of the way there. Take a look below and check whether you meet the other half of the requirements.

What Level of Expertise in English You Need?

Can you imagine teaching a language you weren’t familiar with yourself? Regardless of whether you’d mastered the language, you still may have a bit of an accent, or you probably won’t have a clue about a portion of the language’s natural phrases and idioms.

In this way, it’s nothing unexpected that South Korea needs to recruit just local speakers with identification from one of their approved list of English-speaking countries – the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, or Australia.

In case you’re not a local English speaker from one of these countries, the harshest reality is that you can’t teach English in South Korea. However, don’t lose hope to teach English in Korea, there are a couple of different countries, like Thailand and Mexico from where you can still teach English.

Do You Need a Degree?

Most English teaching jobs in South Korea necessitate that you have a finished four-year college degree. In any case, if you haven’t completed your four-year college education, yet you’re in your third or higher year, or on the other hand, if you have a partner’s certificate – there’s a little loophole. The Teach and Learn in Korea program, or the TaLK program acknowledges these previously mentioned competitors through an education scholarship to teach elementary-age classes in rural areas in Korea.

If you do have a four-year degree or advanced education, you have a lot more teaching alternatives. You meet all requirements to teach at Hagwon or elementary schools. You can likewise show public schools, middle and high schools through English Program in Korea, or EPIK. You can have a BA in anything but you can still teach English in Korea through the English programs.

You will hit the jackpot if you have a master’s degree with teaching experience, especially in the related English teaching field. Or you can check Korean college sites for vocation postings that you’re qualified for.

Why Need a TEFL Certification?

You don’t actually require a TEFL certificate to teach English in South Korea. However, if your certification isn’t in Education or a relevant field, a TEFL certificate is a must-have for most teaching jobs in Korea.

Some programs, like EPIK, give further specifications, similar to that your TEFL certificate should have at least 100 hours, and that assuming you need to teach in specific spots like Seoul or Busan, you may require “X” number of in-class hours (which means you can’t finish your whole TEFL certificate online). The specific requirements differ per district with EPIK, so check their Updates board to guarantee yours meet expectations.

If you have very little ideal opportunity to finish a TEFL certificate program in person, but you have your heart set on a specific district in the EPIK program, there are still a lot of extraordinary options.