South Korea w.out a TEFL?

[ashleejoy]

I have been interviewed and sent on the process of applying for jobs in South Korea through Footprints recruiting. I don't, however, have any type of teaching certification. I was wondering what everyone thought about going ahead with any offers I received sans certification or should I put it off and get certified before diving into teaching? Any general advice about teaching in Asian countries would be amazing as well! I'm a 5'10" American woman... I will stick out like a sore thumb! But I'm excited about the opportunity.

[Alex Case]

All non-Asian foreigners stick out like a sore thumb in Korea (barring some areas of Seoul), so I wouldn't worry too much about your height.

The jobs you can apply for in Korea won't change a lot by having qualifications, but of course having some knowledge of how to do your job will help enormously with the satisfaction of both you and your students! As post-qualification experience counts for a lot more than pre-qualification experience, with a year of teaching under your belt and a qualification you will be able to apply for much better jobs.

As with any country and TEFL job, the thing that will most help you develop and be looked for in future employers is a course with at least six hours of observed and graded teaching practice. Cambridge CELTA is the most well-recognised of these, but in Korea there are plenty of recruiters who don't mind much who you studied with.

[kaithegreene]

Two things to look out for in South Korea - firstly, after two or three years there you might well feel like an experienced teacher and want to move on. However, an lot of organisations in other countries just can't or won't employ you without either Trinity Cert TESOL or CELTA.

Secondly, you may find it very difficult to buy clothes there - I was continually called "pig lady" whilst shopping for clothes there. Admittedly this is largely due to Koreans having difficulty differentiating between the sounds /b/ and /p/ when trying to speak English, but was, nevertheless, slightly disconcerting at first...!

Good luck!