Teach English in South Korea if you want to save money!

Finding Work as an English Teacher in South Korea

Foreign English Teachers can find well-paid teaching positions in both rural and city areas of South Korea, with public schools, private language schools and academies and in private tutoring for children and business-people. You can earn well as a TEFL graduate and live cheaply in South Korea, and enjoy various benefits such as free accommodation and 50% health insurance from both private and public schools. Most teaching positions are advertised abroad by South Korean recruitment companies.

Teaching English in Private Language Schools and Academies 

Private language schools (known as Hagwons) in South Korea offer foreign English teachers excellent teaching packages with benefits such as free accommodation, free flights and excellent salaries.  Working hours can be long compared to those required by public schools, often up to 30 hours per week and although working hours are flexible, you will be required to fit those hours into late afternoons, evenings and over the weekends.  Holidays are short – usually only up to ten days.

Due to the very stringent and business-like way Hagwons are run, incorporating an extraordinary work-ethic in both teaching and administration, new TEFL graduates may find the private school environment overly pressurised – if only initially. On the other hand, you will be working with other foreign English teachers who will be able to guide and assist you while you settle in and get used to it.

There are many private language schools in South Korea, as most South Korean children attend public schools in the morning and Hagwons in the afternoons.

Teaching English in Government Public Schools

Public schools in South Korea offer longer holidays and demand fewer working hours – usually around 20 to 25 hours – but salaries are slightly lower. Nevertheless, the benefits usually also include free accommodation and airfares, and the environment is a little more relaxed than that of the private schools.

Private English Tutoring for Children, Adults and Business Executives

There are private tutoring positions available in South Korea – ranging from tutoring young children right up through high-school to university-level to business-people and executives – and they are known for exceptional pay. However the E-2 visa does not cover private tutoring and though the practice is very common, it is technically illegal for foreigners to teach English outside of a Hagwon, public school or government program.