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English teacher in South Korea : ESL JOB Information

Hiring Institutions & Working Conditions :

Most English instructors teach in private foreign-language institutes ( hakwons in Korean). There are, however, positions available in several other types of organizations:

Private language institutes are found all over Korea but the majority are located in Seoul . Some are well known and have many branches, while others are small-scale operations and are short-lived. The ESL (English as a Second Language) market in Korea is extremely competitive and it is common for institutes to fail. Many of the more marginal businesses open their doors, hire the first foreigner they can find, advertise for students, offer classes for a month or so, and then close.

Most hakwons employ expatriate (American, British, Canadian and Australian) instructors for conversation classes. Some of the better institutes will provide housing for instructors. The typical full-time employee can be expected to work 20 to 30 hours a week. The majority of classes are conducted in the early morning and the evening; so many instructors have free time in the afternoon. Most classes have from 10 to 15 students — usually university students, or businesspeople that are contemplating overseas assignments or trying to improve their English skills. Many hakwons also have after-school classes for children as young as five years old.

All institutes are required by law to provide health insurance during the period of employment and severance pay on completion of a contract, but some institutes fail to honor these provisions. (For more information, see "Severance Pay.") The average monthly salary is currently about 1.4 to 1.5 million won a month.

Corporate In-House Language Programs

Most of the large corporate groups ( chaebols in Korean) have their own in-house language programs. An instructor can typically be expected to teach more than 30 hours a week, working irregular hours all day from early in the morning to late at night. Most of these programs are intensive residential programs that require the students to study for three to six months. Some of the programs provide instructors with full benefits, including housing, but instructors may be required either to live on-site or to commute long distances from Seoul . The average monthly salary in such programs is currently about 1.5 to 2 million won. As a result of current economic conditions, many chaebols are reducing or canceling their in-house programs.

University Foreign-Language Institutes

The major universities in Seoul , as well as some provincial universities, operate language institutes. Many of the students are enrolled in university but the majority are businesspeople. The hiring standards of these institutes tend to be the highest in Korea : most instructors have master's degrees in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) and years of teaching experience. The pay, status and benefits offered by these institutes also are among the best in Korea . As a result, there is a very low staff turnover.

Provincial universities tend to provide better housing, working conditions and salaries, and to treat foreign instructors as part of the faculty. These advantages, however, should be balanced against the cultural isolation a foreigner may encounter living in the Korean countryside.

University Departments

Most universities in Korea employ full-time English conversation instructors. University classes tend to be larger and feature less personal contact with the students. Most instructors teach between 10 and 15 hours a week. Academic standards in Korean universities, however, tend to be somewhat lax. Leftist, nationalist and sometimes anti-American attitudes may be prevalent among some students. As most Koreans have difficulty in differentiating between Canadians and Americans, this could be problematic for Canadian teachers. Many universities in Seoul do not provide housing, and some do not provide the benefits required by law. Monthly salaries currently average about 1.5 million won, with three to four months of paid vacation a year.

Government/Private Research Institutes

Many government agencies and some private companies operate research institutes. Most of the institutes hire foreigners with degrees in the humanities, economics or business administration to work as full-time editors. The editors proofread correspondence and research publications, write speeches, and occasionally teach as well. Most of the institutes pay quite well and some provide housing. Because the research institutes are usually government-run or closely associated with powerful corporate groups, instructors who work in them seldom experience problems in obtaining employment visas.

Public Relations and Advertising Companies

There are several public relations and advertising companies in Korea that hire foreigners to work as copy editors and occasionally as teachers as well. These positions are very difficult to obtain as they are quite popular with the resident English-teaching community. There are also opportunities to appear on television and radio programs, and in movies. Most of these companies pay quite well and some provide housing assistance.

Teaching English Part-Time

Many full-time English instructors teach part-time as well, either at another institute or in privately arranged classes. In principle, private instruction is illegal; however, many English teachers do have private students. Part-time instruction at a second institute is possible with permission from the sponsoring institute and the Korean immigration authorities. Private students often pay more per hour but some instructors have found that it is difficult to sustain a long-term private class.

If you are going to hold private lessons, you should arrange for lesson fees to be paid prior to each class. Keep in mind that, over the past few years, Korean immigration authorities have tightened their control over work permits for private instruction. If you are fined, you cannot leave Korea until you have paid the required amount. The immigration authorities will insist that you arrange for money to be sent from Canada if you do not have sufficient funds. When considering private teaching, make sure you know the law and understand that you may be taking a serious risk if you teach without permission.

WORKING HOURS:

Most institutes require foreign instructors to teach 5 to 6 hours a day, Monday through Friday, and some ask instructors to teach on Saturday mornings as well. University departments usually require instructors to teach 10 to 15 hours a week, and to participate in student activities and in the editing of school newspapers. Research institutes usually require instructors to work 40 hours a week and do occasional overtime without compensation.

Contract:

Nature of Contracts in Korea

Koreans see business less as a legally based interaction than a relationship. Consequently, there is a much weaker sense of law in Korean business relations than in international business. For many Koreans, a contract is part of the symbolism involved in beginning a relationship, and "beginning" is the important word. The contract thus is only as binding as the personal connection. It is not surprising, therefore, that foreign instructors in Korea occasionally have contract disputes with their employers. The employer may, indeed, consider the contract a simple working agreement, subject to change, depending upon the circumstances –– and usually after the foreigner has arrived in Korea . Most Koreans do not view deviations from a contract as a "breach," and few Koreans would consider taking an employer to court over a contract dispute.

Instead, Koreans tend to view contracts as infinitely flexible and subject to further negotiation. Furthermore, the written contract is not the real contract; rather, the unwritten, oral agreement with an employer is the real contract. You should bear these factors in mind when you sign a contract.

Negotiating a Teaching Contract

A basic contract for a teaching position should include provisions for the following: salary; housing; working hours; severance pay; income tax; medical insurance; and ticket home. If these items are not covered, you should negotiate until they are specifically included in the contract. Note that class size is not usually specified in a contract, although you may want to clarify this point. Private institutions generally have classes of from 10 to 15 students, while universities may have as many as 100 students in a class.

Salary:

Annual Income: 15K to 35K US$

Average Annual Income: 25K US$

The directors will employ you with the lowest salary if possible. Korean law requires employers to pay a one-month bonus after one year of work. Most contracts provide for either a set monthly salary or a salary based on the number of hours taught. In any event, a guaranteed monthly remuneration should be specified.

The question of Money is very important in Souyh Korea, so don't think I'm taking it the wrong way. But before I actually answer it I want to spend a couple of minutes on my soapbox.

First point: If how much you can make is number one on your list of questions, you're looking into this for the wrong reason. Korea is almost as aggressively capitalist as the US, and Korean business people take their profit seriously. No offense, but you probably don't have the language skills and cultural background to play the game their way on their home turf. You can earn a decent salary teaching English in Korea, but if your main objective is to rake in lots of money in a hurry, trust me - you'll be happier (and more successful) somewhere else.

Second point: If you're looking into teaching English in Korea because you're unemployed and broke, forget it. Flying halfway around the world to take a job you know almost nothing about at a school you've never seen with a boss you've never met is risky enough. If you do this with no money in your pocket and no way to get home if things go sour, you're just asking for trouble.

A typical hagwon salary runs 18 to 30 million won per year (roughly US$15,000 to US$25,000). Yeah, I know, big whoop. But get your mind outside of North America for a second.

A hagwon salary is 1.5 to 3 times Korean per capita income.

Your housing and airfare are paid.

Cost of living is low.

Taxes and insurance are ridiculously cheap.

Korean per-capita income just recently broke US$10,000. Your hagwon salary is more than a typical Korean office worker or computer programmer makes. It's also more than Korean-born hagwon teachers earn (just so you know). It's more money than you're likely to get in most other Asian countries, in part because native English teachers are so much in demand in Korea.
Korean food is mostly cheap; just learn to cook Korean and shop at the traditional market. Even if you can't cook, every block seems to have an endless supply of family-run Korean restaurants and street vendors where you can get a meal for US$3-5. Clothes are very good and on the pricey side at the department stores, but cheap at the bazaars, markets, and street vendors. Appliances and electronics used to be expensive, but prices have come down a lot in the last few years. You'll probably have to pay your own utilities for your apartment, but they're generally less than what you'd pay in most parts of the US. The actual rent most likely won't matter to you, even if you live in Seoul. The hagwon will put you up or cover your costs. If the one you're looking at doesn't, look elsewhere.

Although market "reforms" required as a result of the 1997-1998 IMF bailout have eroded South Korea's social safety net, the government still keeps many of the basics affordable for the sake of low-income Koreans. A bus ride is only 700 won (about 55 cents US -- more in Seoul). There are government price controls and management schemes on quite a few essentials, from medicines to petroleum.

Korean income taxes for foreigners are about 2.5 - 5 percent. Korea has universal single-payer public health insurance, which takes another 2-3 percent or so of your salary. This insurance is usually at least partly paid by your employer. Think about that: you'll typically get to keep over 90 percent of your salary. In the US a good one-quarter to one-third of your paycheck goes for taxes and insurance, to say nothing of what most Europeans pay.

So while the salary itself may not sound too high, it goes a long way. Unless you're a real spendthrift, it's not at all hard to bank a nice percentage of your salary while you're in Korea.

Some of the websites talk about how much you can earn by teaching private lessons. And it's true. "Privates" (yep, that's what teachers call 'em in Korea) can easily bring in more than your hagwon salary. But they're risky. Private lessons fall into a grey area of the law. Many hagwon contracts say you're not allowed to teach outside the hagwon. Your visa is based on the terms of your contract, so breaking your contract can get you deported if you're caught.

Lots of teachers get away with it. But there are always rumors of "ringers" from immigration trying to catch foreign teachers by offering to pay them for privates. Personally, I'd rather take a hagwon salary, spend my spare time sightseeing and relaxing, and not have to look over my shoulder all the time. It's up to you; just make sure you know what you're getting into.

You may have heard that hagwons will give you a bonus of one month's salary when you go home. Now, this is not a yearly bonus, it's a severance bonus, payable when you leave the job for good, but after your first year your bonus keeps building month by month -- so if you leave after 18 months, your bonus amounts to a month and a half's worth of salary.

There is in fact a Korean law that requires a severance bonus for all full time employees. There's also a catch. The Korean courts have ruled that if you aren't actually in the classroom for at least 40 hours a week, you're not really full-time and thus you're not eligible for a severance bonus. Some hagwon directors think that preparing lesson plans and grading papers isn't real work, and I guess the Korean legal system agrees.

Even if you teach an actual 40 hours per week, you can still miss out if your hagwon is very small. The law doesn't require businesses with fewer than six employees (including Koreans) to pay the bonus.

Ask the hagwon director about this before you sign on. Don't let it be a deal-breaker, though.