Teaching English is a craft that we all have to learn. We all know that you are not automatically a good English teacher just because you are a native speaker. Having a Bachelor’s or a Master’s degree won’t make you one either except if one of these involved  substantial, observed teaching practice, in which case you’d be off to a great start. Likewise those with a PGCE or equivalent teacher training.

There are also teachers who although unqualified, have made it their business to read, experiment, learn from colleagues,  peer observe, ask for feedback and develop from an ingrained sense of personal and professional pride. These are to be admired.

In any event, what English teachers need, is proper teacher training - hard training in effective classroom techniques and methods. Why does this simple fact not register with so many employers in Korea and especially Korean Universities for whom a Masters (in anything!) is often seen as the badge of competence? Don’t people know that even most TESOL MAs are completely theoretical without any practical teacher training? Also, why do so many foreign teachers in Korea not bother to get trained or train themselves in ESL/EFL teaching methods? The obvious answer is they don’t need it to get a job here and once appointed, there is little real quality control after the fact in all but a few select schools. Read more »

Having written about kids hagwons in Korea, next up are adult only schools. I’m afraid I can’t recommend them. The biggest problem is the split shifts you have to work - as your students are only really available for study at the top and bottom end of the day, and that can often mean 630am starts! For more on split shifts, see my post entitled Day of the Dead… Read more »

It would be good to get a discussion going on this blog about split shifts. In my view they are the pits of the earth…. Read more »

At your local bookstore, you’ll find hundreds of them. Some focus on American English and some on British so it’s a good idea to check this out, especially if your school has a preference. What I look for, is as follows: Read more »

Do you use a textbook in your lessons? Read more »