Do you need to speak Korean to teach English in Korea?
Posted on Wed, Mar 23, 2011 @ 03:01 PM
Upon learning that I was moving to Korea to teach English through Aclipse, one of the first questions people would ask me was, “So you speak Korean?”
It’s kind of a silly question, in my opinion. I don’t know about any elementary, middle, or even high schools that offer Korean as a language where I’m from…and if that was an option, then I suppose it wasn’t as popular as Spanish.
But when I heard this question and chuckled or brushed it off like it wasn’t a big deal, most people were shocked. They’d ask, “Well…how are you going to teach the kids then?”
In all honesty, I didn’t know what level of English the students I would be teaching had. I assumed they knew enough English to be confident in my answer: “I won’t speak any Korean to them at all, they know English!”
There is no danger in moving to Korea without knowledge of Korean because it is easy to get by with minimal understanding and Korean language basics are easy to pick up!
This turned out to be true, thankfully, and knowing Korean has not been vital to live and work in this country. The basics are all you truly need to survive. Foreigners are all over Korea, and there is a good chance that you will even make some Korean-American friends, so English will continue to be your main language (while your Korean friends help you out with the other stuff!) Unless, of course, you want to try to learn more Korean!
In six months, I have learned a little bit out of my own desire to pick up the language. In fact, a few coworkers of mine have been here for years and I probably know more than they do (sorry guys, it’s true). The Korean language is one of the simplest to read and write (so I heard and experienced myself), so that is a great starting point if you want to impress people. I taught myself to read and write hangul in one day, and you can too (in 2 hours probably, no joke!)
Stay tuned for more misconceptions about moving to Korea – you might have some of the same ones! Comment below if there is anything else you’re worried about, and I will shed some light on it if I can!
Sydney Langford knew that one way or another, she was heading overseas after graduating from the University of Illinois at Champaign-Urbana. She began teaching at the Pyeongchon branch of Chungdahm Learning in South Korea this past August, after being recruited by Aclipse, and thinks that her coworkers are awesome! Sydney loves K-POP, kimchi, and Korean life - so Chicago might be missing her for a bit longer...Questions about teaching in Korea? Follow Sydney on Twitter atwww.twitter.com/SydsAclipse and email her at SydsAclipse@gmail.com!