Teachers Share their Experiences While Living Abroad!

Occasionally, as a Chungdahm April teacher, I get to chaperone on field trips! Recently, I went on my third field trip to a place called KidZania. This is my favorite field trip location. There is nothing for me to do because, as the name shows, it is only for kids. Thus, I just simply love the place's concept and love to see how much fun the kids have on these field trips.

It is such a whirlwind running around preparing for your contract teaching, especially with transitioning to life in South Korea. Oftentimes, you start training bright and early the Monday after you get in, with minimal time for time zone adjustment or sightseeing. It can feel chaotic, so here are a few words from someone who’s gone through two separate training sessions and contracts, one with April and one with CDI.

Now that I have been working for Chungdahm Learning for some time, I find it only appropriate to share some teaching wisdom. There are two concepts that I find to be essential to master in order to be a good Chungdahm teacher (or a good teacher in general) - WH Questions and Cold Calling.

Congratulations on becoming a ChungDahm teacher! As a ChungDahm teacher myself, I want to share my top five teaching tips that will shed some light into my own personal teaching style, philosophy, and experiences, all of which will help you in your exciting new journey. Let’s begin.

I can hardly believe I have finished my year teaching English Korea for Chungdahm. In some ways it feels like the year has flown by, yet somehow I feel well acquainted with Seoul and have a good grasp on Korean culture. For better or worse, this year has been full of phenomenal growth. I have learned so much about myself as an individual, professional teacher, Canadian, and friend. Things that would be impossible to learn had I not ventured abroad. Living abroad is full of challenges that are so rewarding to experience and overcome and  I know I am walking away from this year with fantastic memories and numerous new friends from all over the world. Last week I said goodbye to my coworkers, students and friends, and I am heading off to travel throughout Southeast Asia. While traveling and severance pay makes the transition from teacher to traveler much easier, I was, and still am so sad to say farewell to the city I have called home for the past year. I have decided to write about my favorite things in Korea that I will miss dearly below.  I hope this blog is helpful to anyone considering teaching in Korea.

When I arrived year to teach in Korea last year, I was placed in ChungDahm's April program.  Since many people applying through Aclipse to teach for ChungDahm may not know about the April program, I figured I would use this blog to introduce you to the program and tell you what a typical day as an April teacher is like.

The first thing you need to know about the April program is that although it is a division of Chungdahm Institute, not all Chungdahm branches will host the program. It depends on space availability, budget, demand and enrollment. Thankfully, my branch in Busanjin is able to  host both the CDI and April programs. It is quite a large branch employing 8 foreign teachers, 5 Korean teachers and 4 Korean administrative staff. All April teachers are paired with a Korean co-teacher whom you share classes with.

I know my usual Aclipse blog posts may make it seem like I barely work, but surprise! I am still a Chungdahm employee, and after eleven months of teaching in Korea, I have come to learn the ins and outs of teaching both April and Chungdahm programs. For those of you that are new to reading the Aclipse blogs,  Chungdahm Learning is split into two programs. April, is lower level and encompasses kindergarten, those that are learning the ABC's, up until Junior Master, the highest April level that prepares students for Chungdahm. Chungdahm itself has around 14 levels (each branch offers all or a selection of all levels depending on demand). I have had the unique experience of teaching both Chungdahm and April classes, as my branch runs both programs in the same building. Initially I was intimidated at the thought of working both programs, however it took almost no time at all to get used to both. Now prepping for classes is a seamless process, and I am thankful for my diverse experiences here in Korea, both professionally and personally. This blog aims to give you a glimpse at a regular work day for me.

When people are interested in working for ChungDahm Learning, many people do not realize that we also teach beginning level English courses. This is an interview with our senior April Institute (sister company of ChungDahm) instructor Erin Stuebben. We have been working together at the GangDong Branch for almost 3 years now. 

I took a teaching job in Korea with the plan to take a one year break away from my career as a bank manager. I never expected to stay for four years. But I have, probably because, I really enjoy teaching and I am making good money. After four years as an expat in Korea, I have learned that people with certain interests and personality traits thrive in a teach abroad job. If you are considering teaching abroad, ask yourself these three questions. If the answer is yes, and you have evidence to support your answer – you will thrive teaching and living abroad.