Tag: teaching in South Korea

I’m sure we can all remember more than one class in high school or college in which we struggled to keep our heavy eyelids from shutting out an instructor droning on in an endless string of statements. Though the teacher or professor was doing their best to share the information in his/her head, very little of that information was entering ours.

The attitude, the rebelliousness, and the constant pushback teachers get from their middle schoolers often leave them with a bitter taste of those classes. I, however, find these classes incredibly satisfying. Here’s why.

Commissioned in 1395, the wall is rumored to have seen its first iteration complete in only three months, employing nearly 200,000 people to construct 97 600-foot sections. Additional defense of the city would be provided by Bukhansan Fortress to the north and Namhansanseong Fortress to the south.

South Korea is a fantastic place to start for new English teachers because the country is very welcoming to foreigners, its location in Asia makes it a great launching pad for additional travel, and the pay and benefits are quite generous. That said, many of us first-time teachers will end up at one of the ubiquitous private academies called “hagwons”. While these offer great opportunities, there are a few things you may want to consider before consigning yourself to a year in one of these schools.

It had been about 10 months since I’d arrived in Daegu, South Korea and I hadn’t left the country since. It’s funny how over time you can change without even knowing it. I went to Japan expecting to have a pretty great vacation (because come on, it’s Japan), but I wasn’t really planning on coming back with a whole list of new lessons learned.

The best kind of teachers are the ones that can recognize their mistakes and grow from them. After all, teaching is a huge learning curve, even the most experienced teacher can be presented with a new situation in which to grow from. Getting feedback from students is the best way to see where you are going wrong, but gaining that feedback isn’t always easy especially in a country like South Korea where challenging authority is often culturally inappropriate.

Taking a deep breath, I instantly recognized the salty undertones of the scent of a port city. The ocean has a certain calming effect, even when we can’t see it, and Busan is a city under its spell.

It wasn’t too long ago that I, like many others, trembled at the thought of standing in front of a crowd of strangers. Now I do it for a living. Not only that, but half the time, those strangers are kids.