Teaching english in south korea... some questions

The Talk program was mainly designed for English speaking Filipinos & Indians; & pays less than Epik & Gepik. From memory, the 'Talk' salary was about 1.5 million won, whereas the standard salary is around 2.1 million won a month. The government plan was to progressively replace the teachers on 2.1 million, with the cheaper teachers, on 1.5 million won a month. The scheme has only been partly successful, with Korean parents preferring American, Canadian, Australian, RSA, NZ & British / Irish teachers; even though qualified teachers from India & the Philippines are just as good.

http://www.gone2korea.com/public-school-korea/talk.html

In my reading, TALK is geared towards gyopos (overseas Korean). There's a large 'cultural experience' aspect to it. And, as described in the link, it's for those with an assoaciates degree/2 years finished work on a bachelors degree.

I would say it's more of an internship than a job. If you have the education, get a regular ESL job in Korea with full benefits and pay. You're also more likely to be somewhere that's not in the sticks (though there are rumors that some TALK program teachers do get put in smaller cities).

Also, it's highly unlikely that you can teach art unless you're a gyopo who's eligible for an F-4 visa. There might be some hagwons/kindergartens (beware) in which art is taught through an English medium. But you will be, first and foremost, and English teacher. Don't expect to actually be teaching art for the sake of art. There's already enough Koreans to do that.

Edited by: Hanguk

Talk isnt aimed at Indian or phillipino workers, it's for people from the big 7 countries (uk, Ireland, south africa, Canada,america new Zealand and australia) who have completed 2 years of a degree. Pay is a lot less and odds are you will be pretty remote, although I do know of some people living in major cities on talk.

Talk isnt aimed at Indian or phillipino (sic) workers

What's this in the Korea Times, then? December 2008 (Filipino, btw)

Non-Natives Can Become English Teachers
By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter

Non-native English speakers from India and other countries that use English as an official language will be able to teach at public schools from next year.

The Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the Ministry of Justice said Sunday the government is opening the door for English teaching positions wider to secure more foreign English teachers at primary and secondary schools nationwide.

The government has so far allowed English teacher assistant jobs at public schools only to native-English speakers who had completed more than two years of their college courses; and the nationality of the eligible applicants was limited to seven countries ― the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland... ... We don't oppose English teachers from India or the Philippines as long as they are proven teachers,'' said Yoon Sook-ja, chairwoman of the National Association of Parents for True Education.

[http://www.international.ucla.edu/asia/events/showevent.asp?eventid=6788]

Chrisj, that article makes no mention of the TALK program. Rumor has it there's a handful of Filipino teachers around, but very few.

As demonstrated in Krazykatie's link, this is not the purpose of TALK. I will highlight an important part of her link:

"The program is open to citizens of countries where English is the national language (Special consideration will be given to individuals of Korean ethnicity)"

Also:
http://en.cakec.com/?b_id=85&c_id=399&mnu=a03b01

"Opportunities for new cultural experiences and Korean language acquisition
Using the weekends and other free time, participants may enjoy cultural experience programs including travel, traditional Korean arts and music, etc
Pride of being a Korean Government Scholar
A 'Korean Government Scholarship' certificate will be presented to each participant
Unique addition to students' career development
The program offers an invaluable career experience and improves the participants' CV
Establishing an alumni network
With fellow participants, more visits and invitations will be made to Korea for further exchanges"

Edited by: Hanguk

That Talk link is dated Sunday, June 15, 2008.

The decision by the Korean Government to relax the rules to include Indians & Filipinos, was made around September 2008, when I was still in Korea. It was a hot topic on all the teacher's chat forums, at the time, and still is, to a certain extent.

You might be better off going directly to the original source, rather than UCLA, for accurate, up to date info (don't despair, it's in English): It seems that Korea still has not yet officially included any of the other English speaking countries, such as India or the Philippines. The website is still advertising the 'big 7'.

http://www.talk.go.kr/

Korea has been talking for some time about expanding the list of 'acceptable' countries of origin for English teachers to include India and the Phillipines where English is the official language.

http://www.korea4expats.com/article-E2-English-teaching-visa-Korea.html

March, 2010:

Children’s English hagwons are now using English instructors from The Philippines to offer high-quality English education. Because The Philippines is an English-speaking country like the UK and USA, many people there can speak English well. Their ability is being recognized and they are working as English instructors in hagwons.

http://asiancorrespondent.com/30527/filipina-english-teachers-tell-of-discrimination/#respond

There are many other forums I could quote.

OK, thanks for the link.

TALK is for citizens of the Big 7 (or overseas Koreans with permanent residency in the Big 7).

Indians and Filipinos cannot apply.

Chrisj was incorrect in his original posting.

That is all.

Indians and Filipinos cannot apply. Chrisj was incorrect in his original posting.

Not entirely. The Korean Government has been talking about relaxing the rules since July, 2008. They HAVE allowed Filipinos & Indians to work in Hagwons or private academies, but despite a lot of talk, they still haven't relaxed the rules to allow them to work in Public Schools through the TALK program. There are a limited number of Indians & Filipinos employed by EPIK. The endless arguments are ongoing.

eg: http://www.thekoreaguide.com/2010/05/18/why-indians-speak-better-english-than-koreans/

I just wanted to post some accurate information for the OP. I believe the issue been discussed enough in the thread. If one has questions, they can look through all the posts in this thread and draw their own conclusions regarding TALK's hiring and other opportunities in Korea.

If one has other questions regarding teaching English in Korea, feel free to pm me.