Dom's ESL Cafe Welcomes You to Korea: A More Personalized look into Living and Teaching ESL in Korea!

The right school     Employment Types     Typical Contract     Phone Interview    

Home Page

Teach ESL in Korea

New Teachers

The right school

Air Fare

Japan Visa Run

Going Alone

First Arriving

Your Pay

Korean Culture

The right school

• Take some time to find the best possible school for you. For first time ESL teachers you will be required to attain a working visa within your home country and find a job via the internet. The web is great for this. At any given moment there is an abundance of ESL positions available.
• How do you know which school is right for you or not? There is no way to be 100% sure but you can certainly have a very good idea. This depends on what you consider a good school. Try and consider what your style may be and view employment types to get a better idea. You may like the easy going and relaxed atmosphere of the small private hagwan, or a more professional public school.
• One way to get a good feel for the school is during a phone interview which you will most likely have. You may also speak with an ESL teacher who is currently working at the school, Korean teacher, or recruiter. Speaking to the director would be best and in most cases their English is fine for a phone conversation. In most cases you get a good idea of who they are and what the school is like with a simple phone call. Again, take your time when finding a school and enjoy yourself.
• In my experience working in over 20 different schools, either part-time or full time, most of the management and owners have understood that treating you fairly or beyond will create a better working environment.
• Elaborate Information

Employment Types

• Hawgwans: Most ESL teachers work in private language institutes called hawgwans. Hawgwans employ a number of instructors for conversation and occasionally for writing classes. The typical employee can expect to work 20 to 30 hours per week. The majority of classes are conducted early in the afternoon to late evening; 2-9 is quite typical. Most classes have between 10 to 12 students. For these schools 12 students per class is often a maximum, though sometimes class size extends this number. Most (probably all) hawgwans provide free accommodations or in some cases a monthly housing allowance. The average salary is currently about 2.1-2.3 million won per month. When I first started teaching ESL in 2001, hawgwans paid the average monthly salary of 1.8 million won.

• Adult English language institutes: This type of school consists of adult classes only. College students are typical, business persons who may need to better their English for work, medical personnel, those traveling or planning to live abroad and anyone else who wants to improve their English ability. Most (perhaps all) of this type of institute will provide either free housing or a monthly housing allowance for instructors. The average pay ranges from 2.4-3.2 million won per month.
• Private business programs: Many large corporate groups have their own in-house ESL programs for their improving employee's English ability. The typical instructor can expect to teach part-time. Full time positions are available but are rare. Also, many corporations hire part-time English instructors to teach higher management. The pay varies but is usually 40 000-50 000 won per class typically. Classes are usually early morning 2-5 days a week. One such class I taught was a vice president (one of ten vice presidents) of a large chemical Corporation. Classes were twice a week at 7:00 am. Another part-time class was in a large export company, teaching 3 days a week from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
• University Institutes: Major universities in Seoul, as well as some provincial universities, operate foreign language institutes. Some pupils are university students, but the majority of students are businesspeople. There are also elementary and middle school students as well. These institutes tend to have the highest hiring standards in Korea; most instructors have MA degrees in TESOL or other fields, and years of teaching experience.
• University Departments: Most universities in Korea employ full-time English conversation instructors. University classes tend to be large with little personal contact with the students. Housing may either be free and usually on campus or housing allowance offered. Many universities hire yearly for full time ESL teachers to teach their students. Pay depends mostly on the amount of classes per week. For example you may possibly receive 1.6 million won per month for teaching 10 classes a week.
• Editing/PR/Media: Quite a few public relations and advertising companies in Korea hire foreigners to work as copy editors, and occasionally as teachers. These positions are very hard to obtain as they are quite popular with the resident English-teaching community. There are also opportunities to appear on television programs, movies and radio. Most of these positions pay quite well and some provide housing assistance. Seoul is the best area for these opportunities.

A high school girl's ESL class posing for this picture. The classroom brings multi media together with ESL such as computers around the room.

• Public Schools: Public school programs usually require a more formal application process opposed to applying for hawgwan positions and you may even do an online webcam interview. Other public school programs will usually require a phone interview Public schools are located throughout all of Korea, from elementary, middle to high school. If you are already in Korea airfare money is usually reimbursed upon starting classes. You will teach 3-5 classes daily with 25-35 students on average and also be required to be in the school from 8:30 to 4:30. Housing is provided or a monthly allowance. Pay ranges from 1.8-2.5 million won per month depending on your experience and qualifications.

Left is another look at one the modern multi media classrooms is some public schools, as well as movable desks and chairs excellent for ESL learning.

Right is a high school boy's class in a more traditional classroom setting in which group work in ESL is quite popular.

Typical Contract

Below is a general outline of a typical contract pertaining to most learning institutes in Korea. English learning institutions will vary with contracts slightly depending on individual owners or directors as well as employment types. However, as a general guide line most standard contracts for most ESL teaching positions will include:

• 1. Your name, the institution name with address and length of the contract.

• 2. A job description and teaching hours per week.
• 3. Salary is 1.8-3.2 million won per month depending on the type of employment.
• 4. Income tax is 3-5 %.
• 5. Housing is either provided by the English learning institute or a monthly housing allowance is issued.
• 6. Airfare is provided to and from Korea (round trip) Korea.
• 7. For ESL teachers who have completed at least one year of a teaching contract, the Japan visa run expense should be covered by the English learning institute.
• 8. Korean national holidays are usually paid non-work days.
• 9. Vacation is usually 10 paid days.
• 10. Severance pay (bonus) of one month salary is awarded at the completion of your contract.
• 11. A description of your responsibilities and duties are included.
• 12. Termination of the contract by you is written or verbal with 1-2 months notice. Usually the school will give less notice for terminating a contract depending on their reasons.
• 13. Also included in your contract should be a reference to the transferal of the contract to another institute, such as you transferring to another school with both yours and your school's consent.
• 14. Changes to the contract are done with both yours and your school’s consent. Contracts are in English and may be in Korean as well, signed and dated.

Please make sure your contract is similar to these guidelines and get all the information specified before signing. This will help to ensure no future surprises and make your stay and teaching experience in Korea safer and more enjoyable.

Phone Interview

• You will usually have a phone interview if you are within your home country. If the director cannot speak English well, you may have the interview with a Korean teacher and/or foreign ESL teacher of that school. Often you will have an interview with the recruiter.



• Questions for you from either a recruiter or the school will be of a typical interview nature, but pertaining more to teaching. Questions vary but generally you may be asked whether you like teaching, children, why Korea, and have you traveled or lived in a foreign country. They will be seeking to get an impression of who you are and if you are suitable to live and teach ESL in Korea. For the most part it seems to be a personality interview and to get some idea of your work ethics.



• Find out as much as you can about the school before you embark on your adventure, by asking as many questions as you can. Be sure to be as upfront as possible by asking about the director, his/her treatment of staff, pay on time, work load, and any other relevant information. Try and get a good picture of what the school will be like.