New poster/aspiring ESL teacher

[Au79]

I am currently a Junior in college, but I plan to get an ESL certification as soon as I graduate, and then hightail to Korea to teach english, but I know it cannot be that simple. I would welcome advice or comments from anybody and everybody about what is neccesary to teach ESL in Korea besides an ESL cert and a BA. I also welcome any advice on where the best regions to work can be found, as well as the most reputable channels for finding work.

Some stories I have heard make it sound like anybody who is a native english speaker can just hop off the boat and get hooked up with a job teaching ESL and make tons of money, but other stories make the business sound like it is heavily regulated and that anybody not thouroughly qualified to teach english is up a creek without a paddle. I am a little fuzzy on the truth of this issue as well as many others.

In short, I need all the advice I can take. I am very dedicated to becoming an educator, and I have lived in Korea before so I know I will love the country. Thanks in advance for your help, I hope the experienced individuals on this site can help me to move forward.

[gfell]

Well, it really is quite simple as long as you have the following:

• Bachelor degree
• passport from a native English speaking country

Things which will make it easier or allow you to get the higher paid jobs are:

• teaching experience
• Master's degree
• experience living in an asian country
• quality soft attributes (eg: punctual, fair, patience, disciplined, serious educator, sense of humour, etc.)

Not ANY native English speaker can be a successful educator. Some do lose their jobs or are constantly changing jobs always blaming their failures on the school.

Jeju Island is nice, but it all depends on what you are after. The city life with unlimited entertainment options, or the slow country life or a mixture of both. Do you need to live by the sea or by the mountains?

Of course none of us want to teach and live in the industrial parts of town.

[Au79]

now, does the BA have to be in Education specifically? Or can it be in anything?

[gfell]

Doesn't need to be in Education. The Bachelor's degree is merely to satisy the requirements of the visa office, otherwise you wont be able to get a work permit.