Catt – ESL Teaching

I’ve been in Korea now for about 9 weeks, as I mentioned in the last post.  I’ve been teaching for about 7 of those.  (I’ve lost count of the exact time, sorry.)  I wanted to share with you some of my thoughts and perceptions on teaching English in South Korea.  These are simply personal experiences and to be taken with a grain of salt. 

Let me start with my thoughts on desk warming.  It’s a great theory.  Getting paid to sit around all day.  Getting paid to read, watch Youtube videos, play on your cell phone or even sleep.  Maybe getting some lesson planning done.  All in all, a great situation, unless you’re faced with it for 20+ hours a week.  Yes, per week.  Most of the time it’s quite nice, a little break between classes, time to edit a lesson plan if something isn’t working, time to breathe.

Don’t get me wrong, desk warming is far from the worst thing that could happen.  I might have too many classes or never get planning time.  It’s just frustrating when I’d rather be teaching and interacting with others.  My classroom is away from all the main building, so I’m by myself all day, except when I have a class.  It’s nice to get away sometimes, but mostly I crave interaction with others, so this can be difficult for me.

Another thing about teaching in Korea…sometimes I don’t actually teach.  Weird right?  I’m not talking about desk warming again, I’m talking about feeling like just an English entertainer. 

The students, and the other teachers for that matter, don't expect much out of me.  I'm supposed to teach English but when I try to actually teach them conversational English like I'm supposed to, their eyes glaze over and I get little to no participation.  (I only teach conversational English, not grammar.  Korean English teachers are actually experts on English grammar because they have studied it for years.  Where as I just know it because I've grown up speaking it.)  However, when I introduce a game they love it.  I mean, who wouldn't?  But I'm really struggling with how to teach them English through just games.  (Any other ESL teachers out there struggling with this?  I could use some advice!)  

Something that is both a positive and a negative is educational background levels of ESL teachers.  You must have at least a Bachelor's degree to even be considered for the EPIK program.  That degree though can be in anything, from math, to English, to education, to communications, to history, etc.  Now, if your degree isn't in education, you are required to complete a TEFL course.  (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)  I didn't have to do one of those fortunately and neither did Dan.  But I wonder, how well does that course prepare you for teaching children?  Does it cover the years of studying that I did on child development?  Does it talk about the multiple ways that children learn?  EPIK does have a pre-orientation course you must complete that includes these things, but only briefly.  They hardly skim the surface of teaching strategies and philosophies.  I just wonder how well prepared others felt for this job.  And would you go back and do it again if you could?  (Comment below!  I'd love to hear your thoughts!)      

Please understand, I LOVE that I have a teaching job.  And I love that I have a job period, I'm not trying to be ungrateful.  I am just simply sharing the not-so-glamourous side to teaching abroad.  I mean, every job has its ups and downs.  And I must say, I really am valued here for just being me.  While educational background is important, it is not all that they look at.  They look to me like they would an expert on English.  It's kind of crazy.  They ask "why?" a lot of the time when I tell them that something should be different grammatically, and I honestly don't know why, that's just the way it is!  lol  

Let me end this on a positive note - 

- I love teaching.
- I love my students.
- I love my co-workers.
- I have a great co-teacher/manager who really goes out of her way to help me.  
- Korea is an amazing opportunity and I am SO lucky to be here.
- Korean life is wonderful.
- I really am doing splendidly!  


Love and miss you all!  Talk to you later!  <3