As English continues to gain prominence as the lingua franca of international commerce, diplomacy, and higher education, Koreans have become more zealous in their pursuit to acquire it. Korea’s rapidly advancing technologies coupled with a strong global economic presence, and the world’s growing cultural awareness of Korean pop culture have further fueled the need for Koreans to become more internationally conversant. Consequently, English education has become a national obsession . In fact ,congress has just recently revealed that “South Koreans have spent some 10 trillion won ($10.5 billion) for private English education, including lessons at cram schools and overseas ESL (English as a Second Language) programs every year.” (Korea Times 05-07-2006 )
This scenario has further fueled a massive demand for qualified expat teachers which in turn opens a wealth of opportunity for them to travel for free, work aborad, gain insight into a very different culture — and even to save. Indeed teaching english in Korea proves to be a very interesting option!
Perhaps with the exception of Japan and and to some extent Taiwan, it will be difficult to find another country that has an overwhelmingly strong desire to learn English. However, unlike English teaching positions in Japan and Taiwan where both esl markets are saturated, ESL jobs in Korea are both numerous and lucrative. In fact, Korea provides one of the highest paying ESL jobs in the world! ESL expat teachers easily save at least W1,000,000 or USD1,055.00 a month. Native English teachers in Korea make well above the average Korean wage. They earn more than a typical Korean employee or a computer programmer and more than Korean-born english teachers. Hence more and more native speakers of English are discovering teaching ESL in Korea as their passport to paid overseas work and travel!
