Teachers Share their Experiences While Living Abroad!

Taking the first steps of an adventure is almost never an easy ordeal. You have all these questions that zoom in and out of your head adding to the list before you can even answer the first ones that popped up. Will it work out? Will I be happy? What if I get lost? What if I do something wrong? What if a giant prehistoric creature ascends from the oceans and battles a giant moth? Ok, maybe that last one was a horrible reference to Godzilla vs Mothra but you get the idea. 

Read More

Hi my name is Janelle, and I began teaching in Korea this past November at ChungDahm's Gangneung branch.  I came to Korea from California in the United States where I recently graduated with my second Master’s degree in Old Testament and Semantics from Talbot school of Theology. Prior to that I completed my first Master's degree in Biblical Exposition and an undergraduate degree from the Master’s College, now known as the Master’s University, with a BA in Biblical Studies.

The reason why I decided to teach in Korea is that over five years ago, I had the pleasure of watching a Korean Drama, called Flower Boy Ramen Shop. While enjoying the show for, probably the second time through, I realized that I wanted to go to Korea one day. As I continued along with my grad school, I met several fellow students from Korea, and eventually even worked as a TA for Dr. Victor Rhee, who immigrated to the United States from Korea many years ago. In grad school, I was able to study many languages, and even had the opportunity to help teach a few people English, so when I saw the Aclipse ad to teach English in Korea, I said both, “Yes please!” and “that will never happen…”  However just a few months later, having completed the application process, here I am.  I’m told there are three phases to culture shock, and if that is true, then I am certainly still in the first one: “Everything is AWESOME!”

Read More

I’ve been teaching in Korea since November with ChungDahm's April Busanjin Branch in Busan.  To get a better idea of how ChungDahm operates, one the first things you should know is that there are four seasonal teaching terms: fall, winter, spring, and summer. The majority of time our teaching timetable remains stable and students are enrolled in a certain level for two terms before taking an achievement to see if they will level-up or repeat the current level. The levels for the April program in order from beginner to most advanced are: Starter, Seedbed, Seed 1, 2 , Sprout 1-3, and Sapling 1,2.  However, during the summer and winter months, the kids have breaks from their regular school classes…so it would be super distressing if they had to continue going to normal English academy classes during vacation time! Still though, to learn English or any language, one needs to be habitual in their practice. Enter: Winter and Summer Hybrid Schedules.

Read More

Often I get asked the question what skills did I gain by teaching in Korea. The answer could be complex depending on an individual’s unique circumstances. It depends on how one makes the most of their time spent living and working in Korea, and how one utilizes their free time accordingly to enhance their lives in various ways.  In this blog I will write about the top skills I have gained during my time teaching abroad and will prove to be valuable as I continue to grow professionally. 

Read More