ScoobyDew
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I've been asked by @Fudgenugget and others how I teach English in other countries such as Vietnam, Korea, Thailand etc. So I've taken the liberty to write on how to get started and my experiences teaching abroad in South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. It's a long read but if teaching abroad interests you I highly recommend you read it. I'll give you a little backstory on my part first.
Originally before I had begun my Math degree I wanted to be an English professor. Literature and philosophy was my thing. I would stay up all night reading books. Classic books like Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, Les Miserables. Philosophy books like The Republic, Leviathan, Candide. I used to buy out the book shelves in Barnes and Noble because the classics were 3 for 5 bucks. Eventually I figured... what the fuck am I going to do with an English degree? I had never thought of teaching abroad at this point. I had planned on teaching in NYC. I decided I'd leave English and philosophy as my hobbies instead of making them my profession.
Once in University I befriended all the Korean kids. Literally 90 percent of my friends were from Korea. I was the token white guy in a group of 10 Koreans. As I delved deeper into Math I was surrounded by Chinese. Suddenly all of my girlfriends were foreigners. Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese. I was surrounded by foreigners. I wasn't really a fan of my Dominican/Colombian culture. Besides the merengue and cumbia I didn't really care for it. Foreigners always interested me. Soon I was cooking Chicken Tikka Masala, Sichuan cuisine, and Korean BBQ. When I learned my Uni offered a year of English teaching in rural Korea with all expenses paid for I had to jump on board.
South Korea offers foreigners a program called TaLK(Teach and Learn in Korea) and EPIK(English Program In Korea). There are different requirements for both programs and they offer different experiences. Know this. In order to teach English you MUST be a native speaker. Sorry Europeans. They don't care how well you can speak English, if you are not from USA, Canda, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand then you're not applicable. These countries prefer Americans probably because they see lots of American movies and prefer the American accent. Not to say you can't get a job as a Brit, Aussie etc but you'll probably be made fun of for sounding strange to them. If you're Irish or Scottish then good luck having them understanding and not insulting you. I've seen it happen. You must also have an Associate's degree or be in 3rd or 4th year of getting a Bachelors if you enroll for TaLK and have a GPA of 3 or higher. To enroll for EPIK you must have a minimum of Bachelor's degree.
I enrolled for the TaLK program through my Korean department. It's a lot easier to get accepted through my Uni but I had to write a paper on Korean culture. This isn't needed if you enroll by yourself. The TaLK program allows you to teach elementary school students in RURAL areas only. I was shipped to Jinsari. A small Korean village 40 miles south of Seoul. I was given a small apartment and was paid a decent wage. My school where I taught many young kids was a short walk from my apartment. I hadn't met another foreigner the entire duration of my stay. There were two grocery stores, a few bars and karaoke places. Not one of them spoke English. Most of them had never seen a foreigner before, especially the children. They were fascinated by my round eyes, big beards, and tattoos. So much so they keep touching me.
The programs require you to come up with a teaching rubric. How you plan on teaching your class, through music, poetry, games, etc. There are templates they give you to come up with ideas. I've seen all kinds of different ways the teachers get the children to learn from spelling games to guitar sing a longs. I love hip hop and dancing so I based my curriculum around that as you'll see I did in Vietnam as well. I recommend you find a way to fit music into your plan to keep the children entertained. The children are extremely friendly, sometimes even say things they heard on TV so don't be surprised if they say "I love you Mom" or "Fuck you son". If you have a beard be sure they will tug at it.
I never learned Korean despite living in Korea for a year. If I attempted to speak Korean they'd answer in broken English so I gave up. I communicated mostly through hand gestures, it's actually amazing how much humans can get done with gestures alone. I taught myself a bit of Hangul to be able to read but mostly forgot it by now. The Korean girls would all come to see the "foreigner" to see his round eyes and tattoos. You wouldn't believe how many times a group of Korean girls would follow me around giggling. I bought all my groceries but rarely ever cooked as I'd always be invited to eat at someone's house. NEVER step into a Korean's home with your shoes on. They will bug the fuck out.
After a year of teaching for a year in Korea I came back to the USA. Korea was a great time, extremely modern and technologically advanced though I hadn't experienced most of it since my village was a throwback to the old days. Occasionally I'd hitch a train ride to Seoul for some food and music but not often. Teaching English was superbly easy, the people loved me and I loved Asian girls after the whole experience so I figured 'why not continue'? So I applied for teaching in Vietnam and Thailand.
My University is mostly Asian foreigners so my Asian department is large. I applied through my University to Thailand and Vietnam. There are several sites you could go to for employment but I can't guarantee employment as they're not government programs such as the Korean EPIK and TaLK. I would try expat.com. A Bachelor's degree was required for both countries. I was shipped to Pattaya, Thailand. A city known for its Beach Road. Where prostitution is rampant and foreigners from all countries come for sex and alcohol. My experience was a lot different in Thailand as I'd see a lot more foreigners compared to rural Korea. I was also in a city setting this time. No walking a few minutes to school, I had to buy me a scooter this time.
Foreigners aren't allowed a bike over a certain amount of cc without a license. Not that you'd probably want one anyway cause if the police decide to stop you they will take whatever money you have as a bribe. You can drive without a license but be sure to hide most of your money from the police as they'll just snatch your entire wallet. In Thailand, especially Pattaya, the people spoke moderate English since foreigners were so frequent. The nightlife in Thailand is obviously wild. Karaoke bars, Go Go bars, massage places, they all try to lure you in with girls. Ladyboys are pretty frequent by Beach Road. Supposedly it's looked down upon to be gay in Thailand but becoming a ladyboy is acceptable. I'm not 100 percent sure on this so don't quote me on it.
Unlike Korea I taught high school teens this time. Did I enjoy teaching high school teens or children? Both were great really. Korean children aren't like American children. They were a lot more calm and highly respected their teachers. Thai teens always tried to be hip with me. They'd see American movies, listen to American music and recite lyrics or movie lines. I'd mostly teach the teens proper grammar and pronunciation. Now that I was teaching teenagers I had to put in more work towards teaching. I would read some Macbeth to them and try to get them to act out the scenes. I can tell you they enjoyed it a lot more than Americans students did mostly because I over exaggerated the voices and movement. I recommend you try to be that "cool" teacher you had in school, talk to the kids, get to know them and encourage them to study hard.
I was required to wear a shirt, tie, and dress pants to school now that I was professionally teaching. You can't imagine how fucking hot it was. The other teachers would often come over to me during lunch and flood me with conversation. They'd comment on my tattoos if they were gang affiliated. Tattoos weren't uncommon in Thailand as there were a few parlors around but those who had tattoos were either prostitutes or gang members.
Living in Pattaya was a bit annoying after a while though. All the foreigners running around after dark drunk, with girls around their arms and ladyboys alike causing trouble. Thailand was a place for Chinese, Japanese businessmen to relax and fuck. Same for Western guys who would spend truckloads of cash on their Thai girlfriends. Coming from NYC, I much prefer the quiet countryside so if you are like me try not to live in Pattaya or Bangkok. I recommend moving a bit North.
I never left Pattaya as I now had a full time teaching position. You'd be working around 38 - 45 hours a week like a normal job. After half a year I was now being sent to Saigon, Vietnam otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh was a Westernized city with it's night life, large buildings and frantic traffic. For Vietnamese jobs I'd look at expat.com again. Finding English teaching jobs in Thailand and Vietnam is pretty difficult since there is no government run program. You'd be fighting for a job with many others who want to land it as much as you. For Thailand and Vietnam I'd say try to get some teaching experience under your belt. If you seriously want to go through with this I'd look at Korea first then move your way to the other countries.
Vietnam was my favorite place to teach. Here I had taught middle school kids. They weren't children so I didn't have to keep them entertained but they weren't teens so I didn't have to deal with their teenage hormones. My students would often want to play soccer with me as I told them I was Spanish. 'Spanish?' they asked. They knew what being Spanish was but they hadn't a clue of how many Spanish countries in South America there were. I'd try to incorporate my lessons through hip hop. I'm not gonna lie I actually tried to get them to rap in English. I was a bboyer in Uni so I'd teach them how to break dance if they did their homework. I was required to wear a shirt, tie, and dress pants at this job as well.
Living in Vietnam was exceptionally cheap for me. I'd gotten a little apartment in district 10. I believe district 11 was were foreigners mostly lived. The traffic was of course, without traffic lights and all but eventually you settle in. I'd recommend buying a scooter off a visiting foreigner. Many times foreigners fly in, buy a scooter to ride around then sell it on the street to make some money back. Be sure to check it thoroughly though. You don't want to get ripped off and have the thing break down on you after a few miles. Luckily enough there are mechanics on every corner who can fix you right up for a decent price. Be wary of police though. Like Thailand they will demand a bribe if you are riding without a license. As for groceries, there are many markets that sell fruit, fish, veggies etc. The markets are fairly cheap but make sure you check the freshness of what you buy. BE WARY THEY WILL TRY TO RIP YOU OFF. They are not stupid, they will overcharge you for many services. I recommend learning some simple phrases such as "too much money" or "please take me to" for taxi services.
After a half year I came back to the USA to finish my Math Phd. I realized how much I loved living in a foreign country that I wanted to live there forever. Vietnam was my choice of residency so I applied once again. Since I'm American it is a lot easier to obtain a visa for 250 USD. If you are serious about teaching English abroad I recommend looking into TaLK and EPIK. Start with Korea. Who knows? Maybe you'll decide you want to live there.
Originally before I had begun my Math degree I wanted to be an English professor. Literature and philosophy was my thing. I would stay up all night reading books. Classic books like Huckleberry Finn, Of Mice and Men, Les Miserables. Philosophy books like The Republic, Leviathan, Candide. I used to buy out the book shelves in Barnes and Noble because the classics were 3 for 5 bucks. Eventually I figured... what the fuck am I going to do with an English degree? I had never thought of teaching abroad at this point. I had planned on teaching in NYC. I decided I'd leave English and philosophy as my hobbies instead of making them my profession.
Once in University I befriended all the Korean kids. Literally 90 percent of my friends were from Korea. I was the token white guy in a group of 10 Koreans. As I delved deeper into Math I was surrounded by Chinese. Suddenly all of my girlfriends were foreigners. Pakistanis, Indians, Chinese, Koreans, Vietnamese. I was surrounded by foreigners. I wasn't really a fan of my Dominican/Colombian culture. Besides the merengue and cumbia I didn't really care for it. Foreigners always interested me. Soon I was cooking Chicken Tikka Masala, Sichuan cuisine, and Korean BBQ. When I learned my Uni offered a year of English teaching in rural Korea with all expenses paid for I had to jump on board.
South Korea offers foreigners a program called TaLK(Teach and Learn in Korea) and EPIK(English Program In Korea). There are different requirements for both programs and they offer different experiences. Know this. In order to teach English you MUST be a native speaker. Sorry Europeans. They don't care how well you can speak English, if you are not from USA, Canda, UK, Ireland, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand then you're not applicable. These countries prefer Americans probably because they see lots of American movies and prefer the American accent. Not to say you can't get a job as a Brit, Aussie etc but you'll probably be made fun of for sounding strange to them. If you're Irish or Scottish then good luck having them understanding and not insulting you. I've seen it happen. You must also have an Associate's degree or be in 3rd or 4th year of getting a Bachelors if you enroll for TaLK and have a GPA of 3 or higher. To enroll for EPIK you must have a minimum of Bachelor's degree.
I enrolled for the TaLK program through my Korean department. It's a lot easier to get accepted through my Uni but I had to write a paper on Korean culture. This isn't needed if you enroll by yourself. The TaLK program allows you to teach elementary school students in RURAL areas only. I was shipped to Jinsari. A small Korean village 40 miles south of Seoul. I was given a small apartment and was paid a decent wage. My school where I taught many young kids was a short walk from my apartment. I hadn't met another foreigner the entire duration of my stay. There were two grocery stores, a few bars and karaoke places. Not one of them spoke English. Most of them had never seen a foreigner before, especially the children. They were fascinated by my round eyes, big beards, and tattoos. So much so they keep touching me.
The programs require you to come up with a teaching rubric. How you plan on teaching your class, through music, poetry, games, etc. There are templates they give you to come up with ideas. I've seen all kinds of different ways the teachers get the children to learn from spelling games to guitar sing a longs. I love hip hop and dancing so I based my curriculum around that as you'll see I did in Vietnam as well. I recommend you find a way to fit music into your plan to keep the children entertained. The children are extremely friendly, sometimes even say things they heard on TV so don't be surprised if they say "I love you Mom" or "Fuck you son". If you have a beard be sure they will tug at it.
I never learned Korean despite living in Korea for a year. If I attempted to speak Korean they'd answer in broken English so I gave up. I communicated mostly through hand gestures, it's actually amazing how much humans can get done with gestures alone. I taught myself a bit of Hangul to be able to read but mostly forgot it by now. The Korean girls would all come to see the "foreigner" to see his round eyes and tattoos. You wouldn't believe how many times a group of Korean girls would follow me around giggling. I bought all my groceries but rarely ever cooked as I'd always be invited to eat at someone's house. NEVER step into a Korean's home with your shoes on. They will bug the fuck out.
After a year of teaching for a year in Korea I came back to the USA. Korea was a great time, extremely modern and technologically advanced though I hadn't experienced most of it since my village was a throwback to the old days. Occasionally I'd hitch a train ride to Seoul for some food and music but not often. Teaching English was superbly easy, the people loved me and I loved Asian girls after the whole experience so I figured 'why not continue'? So I applied for teaching in Vietnam and Thailand.
My University is mostly Asian foreigners so my Asian department is large. I applied through my University to Thailand and Vietnam. There are several sites you could go to for employment but I can't guarantee employment as they're not government programs such as the Korean EPIK and TaLK. I would try expat.com. A Bachelor's degree was required for both countries. I was shipped to Pattaya, Thailand. A city known for its Beach Road. Where prostitution is rampant and foreigners from all countries come for sex and alcohol. My experience was a lot different in Thailand as I'd see a lot more foreigners compared to rural Korea. I was also in a city setting this time. No walking a few minutes to school, I had to buy me a scooter this time.
Foreigners aren't allowed a bike over a certain amount of cc without a license. Not that you'd probably want one anyway cause if the police decide to stop you they will take whatever money you have as a bribe. You can drive without a license but be sure to hide most of your money from the police as they'll just snatch your entire wallet. In Thailand, especially Pattaya, the people spoke moderate English since foreigners were so frequent. The nightlife in Thailand is obviously wild. Karaoke bars, Go Go bars, massage places, they all try to lure you in with girls. Ladyboys are pretty frequent by Beach Road. Supposedly it's looked down upon to be gay in Thailand but becoming a ladyboy is acceptable. I'm not 100 percent sure on this so don't quote me on it.
Unlike Korea I taught high school teens this time. Did I enjoy teaching high school teens or children? Both were great really. Korean children aren't like American children. They were a lot more calm and highly respected their teachers. Thai teens always tried to be hip with me. They'd see American movies, listen to American music and recite lyrics or movie lines. I'd mostly teach the teens proper grammar and pronunciation. Now that I was teaching teenagers I had to put in more work towards teaching. I would read some Macbeth to them and try to get them to act out the scenes. I can tell you they enjoyed it a lot more than Americans students did mostly because I over exaggerated the voices and movement. I recommend you try to be that "cool" teacher you had in school, talk to the kids, get to know them and encourage them to study hard.
I was required to wear a shirt, tie, and dress pants to school now that I was professionally teaching. You can't imagine how fucking hot it was. The other teachers would often come over to me during lunch and flood me with conversation. They'd comment on my tattoos if they were gang affiliated. Tattoos weren't uncommon in Thailand as there were a few parlors around but those who had tattoos were either prostitutes or gang members.
Living in Pattaya was a bit annoying after a while though. All the foreigners running around after dark drunk, with girls around their arms and ladyboys alike causing trouble. Thailand was a place for Chinese, Japanese businessmen to relax and fuck. Same for Western guys who would spend truckloads of cash on their Thai girlfriends. Coming from NYC, I much prefer the quiet countryside so if you are like me try not to live in Pattaya or Bangkok. I recommend moving a bit North.
I never left Pattaya as I now had a full time teaching position. You'd be working around 38 - 45 hours a week like a normal job. After half a year I was now being sent to Saigon, Vietnam otherwise known as Ho Chi Minh City. Ho Chi Minh was a Westernized city with it's night life, large buildings and frantic traffic. For Vietnamese jobs I'd look at expat.com again. Finding English teaching jobs in Thailand and Vietnam is pretty difficult since there is no government run program. You'd be fighting for a job with many others who want to land it as much as you. For Thailand and Vietnam I'd say try to get some teaching experience under your belt. If you seriously want to go through with this I'd look at Korea first then move your way to the other countries.
Vietnam was my favorite place to teach. Here I had taught middle school kids. They weren't children so I didn't have to keep them entertained but they weren't teens so I didn't have to deal with their teenage hormones. My students would often want to play soccer with me as I told them I was Spanish. 'Spanish?' they asked. They knew what being Spanish was but they hadn't a clue of how many Spanish countries in South America there were. I'd try to incorporate my lessons through hip hop. I'm not gonna lie I actually tried to get them to rap in English. I was a bboyer in Uni so I'd teach them how to break dance if they did their homework. I was required to wear a shirt, tie, and dress pants at this job as well.
Living in Vietnam was exceptionally cheap for me. I'd gotten a little apartment in district 10. I believe district 11 was were foreigners mostly lived. The traffic was of course, without traffic lights and all but eventually you settle in. I'd recommend buying a scooter off a visiting foreigner. Many times foreigners fly in, buy a scooter to ride around then sell it on the street to make some money back. Be sure to check it thoroughly though. You don't want to get ripped off and have the thing break down on you after a few miles. Luckily enough there are mechanics on every corner who can fix you right up for a decent price. Be wary of police though. Like Thailand they will demand a bribe if you are riding without a license. As for groceries, there are many markets that sell fruit, fish, veggies etc. The markets are fairly cheap but make sure you check the freshness of what you buy. BE WARY THEY WILL TRY TO RIP YOU OFF. They are not stupid, they will overcharge you for many services. I recommend learning some simple phrases such as "too much money" or "please take me to" for taxi services.
After a half year I came back to the USA to finish my Math Phd. I realized how much I loved living in a foreign country that I wanted to live there forever. Vietnam was my choice of residency so I applied once again. Since I'm American it is a lot easier to obtain a visa for 250 USD. If you are serious about teaching English abroad I recommend looking into TaLK and EPIK. Start with Korea. Who knows? Maybe you'll decide you want to live there.
