Anyone considering or considered teaching English in Korea through the TALK or EPIK program? im considering doing 6 month TALK program 3 hours a day for 5 days a week. any feedback?
I don't know what's TALK or EPIK program, but my parents told me that (since I love Japanese Music & Culture) I should head over to Japan & teach english. Since their english is not very good, your pay will be higher than normal teachers. It's kinda like a french teacher teaching in school, they generally get paid more than normal teachers. Along with good experience, you also get to sight-see the city too
my sister is currently teaching in korea, shes just finished a 1 year contract over there and has extended 6 more months
I know about Japan, not sure about Korea. not sure how 3 hours a day will put a roof over your head though unless the program covers that and food and transport and misc stuff. Not true, your pay wont be higher, lower in fact. Teaching English in Japan (and i guess other countries too) is the low end of the teaching profession and are usually not treated as real teachers. well thats how it is in Japan anyway, most people go there with romantic ideas and a head full of anime and j-pop and teach English then wish they didnt bother, but some do stick it through and move on to better things (not teaching English.. there is no career ladder in teaching English). but no.. you dont get paid more than normal teachers, you kinda looked on like a teachers assistant or 2nd class. anyway if you do it youll see for yourself.
You should only sign up with a well trusted program. I had bad experiences in the past with teaching English abroad. I wanted to visit China so I signed up to teach English for 3 months where I only need to pay for own plane ticket and everything would be covered by the program (living arrangement, food, and all tours). 1 week before flying out, I got an email telling me that the program has canceled because not enough students in China signed up. Guess what? I lost the money for getting the visa processed and ticket booking ... everything just fell apart. Then I found out, they apparently charged each student $900 (USD) in China for the 3 months teaching .. too expensive for most ppl. After all, it was an independent prog and not some franchise like Princeton, etc .. that have worthwhile name. Anyway, I say go if you wanna experience cross culture thing and if you're not sure what to do with your life... spending sometime abroad will open you up to more opportunities and potential that you might otherwise never realize about yourself. I love travel and each time, I learned something new. I think such adventure will be a life changing experience for anyone (good or bad) .. always keep your guards up.
ya TALK program is well recommended. According to the website its 1.5 million won (1,500CAD) a month and free housing and roundtrip ticket. its not bad. i think i should just go but im not sure still. i like korean culture and stuff thats why i only want to go to korea. The experience looks good, its just dealing with the kids would be difficult
dealing with he kids is the fun part as long as you dont make the #1 teacher mistake and try to run the class like judge dredd
If you know how to speak in korean then it would be great. That way if they wanna ask Qs, you can refer it back in korean and then teach them slowly in english. Yes, worth considering if you like.
Hey .. my wife told me this .. you better watch out with the $$$ ..you won't get what's said unless it's clearly stated in the contract that you'll get 1.5 M won in CASH/CHECK. CUZ she went over there to teach and they deducted her "supposedly FREE" housing, roundtrip ticket, and "health" insurance from her monthly check so she really only got about 700-900K won. She didn't care cuz it was a great experience so yeah .. be careful .. if you don't finished the contract, you won't get the departing ticket home and might need to surrender your paycheck so they can hire someone shortly to replace you.
