Qualification Requirements to Teach English in Korea

Korea employs many English language teachers, and generally does not require that you have any special qualifications for teaching English other than having a Bachelor's degree (in anything!) and being a native speaker of English.

Basic Qualifications

Bachelor's degree of any field or higher
Passport from Australia, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa, United Kingdom, or the USA
English must be your first language
Enthusiasm about teaching
Teaching experience is preferred. If you have teaching experience, you will be offered better salary and benefits.

Teaching Qualifications

ESL - EFL - ELT - ESOL - TEFL - TESL - TESOL - CELTA - B.Ed - M.Ed

HELP!!! This industry is full of acronyms (click here for ESL acronyms defined). Should I take a TESL course or where should I start with things...

Often enough, Korean ELT employers are unaware of the standard, internationally recognized ELT training programs and certificates. Unfortunately, some Korean employers view language-teaching as something that people do for a couple of years after finishing university, and they are surprised if one pursues it as a career. This attitude tends to favor the unqualified and inexperienced applicant but certainly does not benefit Koreans trying to learn English.

On a personal note, I started teaching in Korea without a teaching certificate, without any experience and without TEFL/TESL or TESOL, in fact I hadn't even heard of the acronyms and ESL was still undefined for me. It took me all of about a week to realize I was in over my head. Yes, the school had textbooks and workbooks but I received no training on how to put a lesson together or manage a class. It took me about 2 months to actually figure that out and that was only because I was driven to succeed and I felt terrible for my poor students who were received sub-par English lessons. I highly recommend taking a TEFL course before you go or starting one a couple weeks after you arrive. Find a TEFL course near you - click here.

Teaching Children in Korea

Most Korean employers do not require an ELT Certificate. Having one, however, does usually result in a greater chance of being hired at a "higher" salary. The most useful and appealing qualifications for teaching children include:

a Bachelor's of Education and Elementary or Secondary teaching experience
volunteer teaching experience
tutoring children
daycare experience.
any post-high school job that you've held which involved responsibility for children

Be sure to highlight this experience on your resume. - resume writing tips click here

Teaching Adults in Korea

Most hiring directors or employers would like to see at least a full-year of ELT experience as well as some sort of ESL certification or credential.

If a potential employer doesn't ask for these, you can be pretty sure the program is not necessarily focused on the quality of the teaching.

Some Koreans look for master degrees period for jobs teaching adults... there are a couple reasons for this, neither is necessarily a good one - 1) a Masters may suggest that you are more mature and therefore may be more suited to teaching older students or 2) there is a certain prestige attached to being able to say that their teaching faculty have Masters degrees.

Teaching Certifications - Where Do I Begin?

The CELTA (Certificate of English Language Teaching to Adults) is, by far, the most recognized initial qualification for English Language Teaching. It is offered through Cambridge University (U.K.) in a variety of international venues on an ongoing basis. There is also a version of the CELTA for teaching children, though it isn't offered in as many places. Both are one-month intensive programs with lots of hands-on teaching practice. Few quality ELT employers outside Korea and Japan will consider an application without the CELTA or equivalent.

Most on-line ELT courses and programs are of questionable or poor quality and do not adequately prepare people for classroom language teaching. While some Korean employers may offer a slightly higher salary for them, they are generally not worth the cost and trouble. One-week training courses might be useful for raising awareness, but they will not be recognized as worthy of increased salary by most employers.

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