Teach English in or near: Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Incheon, Daejeon

Salary: Up to £1800/$2500 per month

Benefits: Return flights, end of year bonus, medical insurance

Requirements:  Bachelor’s degree, native English speaker, TEFL preferred

South Korea is a small, very modern and high-tech country located across the South China Sea from Japan, and is one of the best places to teach English in East Asia thanks to superb natural attractions and excellent teaching salaries and packages.

South Korea is also known for beautiful mountain ranges that invite hiking in summer and skiing in winter, cherry orchards, Buddhist temples, beautiful beaches and islands and a unique chilli-based cuisine.

The many cities in South Korean offer all Western conveniences as well as uniquely Korean entertainment centres called ‘bangs’ (rooms) for playing computer games, watching DVDs and singing Karaoke. Temples throughout South Korea also offer opportunities to participate in Temple life and learn martial arts – and most teaching appointments offer plenty of time to do it.

Experience the ancient history and traditions that co-exist comfortably with the current culture of technological and industrial progress in South Korea

Teach English in or near: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Ratchasima

Salary: Up to £800/$1120 per month plus benefits

Requirements:  Bachelor’s degree, native English speaker, TEFL preferred

Thailand is no doubt one of Asia’s most popular tourist destinations thanks to its low prices, incredible Temples, exquisite islands and shopping. Thailand is also immensely popular with young people, more and more of whom are taking advantage of TEFL qualifications as a means to live and work in this extraordinary country by teaching English.

From the white beaches and crystalline waters of islands like Phuket, Phi Phi Island (made famous by the movie The Beach), Kho Samui and countless others like them, to the night markets and sights of Bangkok, to the tropical jungles of Chang Mai, Thailand offers exceptionally diverse environments and experiences – all at ridiculously low costs.

The people of are diverse – ranging from ethnic Chinese to Thai to Burmese – with cuisine and customs reflecting the diversity of Indochina. Ornate Buddhists temples abound and the extravagant palaces in Bangkok are almost fairy-tale visions of Thailand’s unique history.

Teach English in or near: Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, Kaizo, Yokohama

Salary: Up to £2500/$3250 per month

Benefits: Return flights, end of year bonus, medical insurance

Requirements:  Bachelor’s degree, native English speaker, TEFL preferred

Japan is a cultural standalone in many ways among its Asian counterparts – a unique experience for tourists, travellers and TEFL graduates. Consisting of a string of densely populated islands, most of the landmass is mountainous (including 200 volcanoes – Mount Fuji being the most famous), surrounded by a beautiful coastline and opportunities for outdoors activities abound. If skiing is your thing, then Japan in winter is hard to beat, with some excellent ski resorts making the most of thick powdery snows, and others resorts the most of numerous hot springs.

Japan is a very developed and highly sophisticated country, very clean and very cultured, though the cost of living is higher than in Southeast Asia and Indochina.  Japan is also known for an almost 100% literacy rate, a proud but exceptionally hospitable populace, thousands of temples and shrines, cherry blossoms in the springtime and undeniably superb cuisine – including sushi of course!

Teach English in or near: Central Hong Kong, Kowloon

Salary: Up to £3500/$4500 per month

Benefits: Return flights, end of year bonus, medical insurance

Requirements:  Bachelor’s degree, native English speaker, TEFL preferred

Hong Kong, made up of mainland Kowloon and Hong Kong Island, is part of China but the formerly independent and densely populated metropolis is a long-established East Asian centre for International business and commerce in addition to being an administrative centre for China.

A former British colony that has developed in harmony with Western mores and open to Western influence far longer than mainland China, Hong Kong offers a very integrated and comfortable living experience for foreign English teachers, despite not having lost any of its authentic Chinese character.

The official languages are English and Chinese, but with a majority Chinese-speaking population, teaching opportunities still abound, inclusive of excellent benefits, easy access to mainland China and some of its own well-known cultural spectacles, such as the annual dragon-boat races. Hong Kong is also a centre for East Asian cuisine and unsurpassed shopping – from night markets to designer and bespoke stores.

Teach English in or near: Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), Hanoi, Haiphong, Da Nang

Salary: Up to £1450/$2000 per month

Benefits: Return flights, end of year bonus, medical insurance

Requirements:  Bachelor’s degree, native English speaker, TEFL preferred

Vietnam has in recent years become another exceptionally popular destination for travellers to East Asia, due not only to its sub-tropical beauty, cultures and numerous attractions but also thanks to the fact that it offers both low cost living and extraordinary sightseeing opportunities.

Stunning Ha Long Bay with its unique limestone islands is one of Vietnam’s most famous attractions and alone worth choosing Vietnam as a teaching location, but it has plenty of competition from Vietnam’s beaches on the South China Sea coast, as well as truly stunningly beautiful countryside full of marvels, lush terraces and endless rice paddies, vibrant towns and villages – complete with friendly villagers in traditional dress.

TEFL teaching opportunities abound in this fascinating country, both full and part time, especially in Hoh Chi Minh City and Hanoi. Travel and accommodation are inexpensive, and beer and food are arguably cheaper than anywhere else in Southeast Asia.