you turn up.

I've taught English in ROK and China. Am going back to China after the summer ends for another year.

ROK is slim pickings. The hours are going up and the pay is going down. Too many fresh off the boat people take any job thrown their way without asking questions. Private school owners see this and exploit the ignorance of foreign workers.

China is a hell of a trip. Had a small bit of culture shock as I expected it to be similar to ROK. It's not even close. You won't get paid a lot in China right off the bat, but the cost of living is so low that you could save a third of your salary without much effort.

That said, I am getting a bit tired of East Asia. I'll have my Irish passport soon and will try teaching elsewhere starting fall 2013.

Maybe a stupid question, but hard is it teaching kids? Do you have to have a very thick skin or is it easy to pull off with practice?

You sound like you have a finger up your arse to be honest and a biased view to boot.

I've been researching TEFL courses recently, although the negativity itt is putting me off.

The climate of teaching in Korea must have changed from when you were here since you can get a job like nothing. Most pay 2k a month plus housing and other extras makes it pretty darn easy to do.
If you get your 100 hour Tefl it will bump your pay by 100 bucks a month so it's worth it.
Korea is the place to teach since it's best for money, cost of living, culture and savings.
Go to Daves Esl cafe for huge job posting.

China has some good jobs too but most of them are with Walt Disney. 1 of my friends was making Korea money in China. Experience is the biggest thing and a little patience in finding a job.
GL

Well, some teachers get put into jobs that they are nothing more than a show piece so it can become very crappy. At my public school last year the other teacher had little to do but repeat lines like a tape recorder. I on the other hand just took over the class. It all depends.

He's not joking about the ass thing.

That's it? 2.0 million? In 2009, I got 2.2 million fresh off the boat with an unrelated major and no teaching experience in a public school with 19 50-minute classes per week plus paid vacations. Hours have been going up and the pay has been going down because of the spike in supply. Plus, the paperwork process has become ridiculous for jobs where you have 30-35 classes per week for 2.0 mil won and you get dumped after 5 months because your boss doesn't want to pay for your flight reimbursement.

China has tons of jobs. You can go private academy or public uni. There are hundreds of universities in China that employ foreign English teachers. The academies are much like the hagwons in ROK. The unis have a lower workload and more curriculum flexibility. It allows for more traveling and moonlighting (which is not illegal in China).

Super: Yeah, I was just averaging both hagwons and public. If you take a job for 2 million it might only be 30 hours a week. YOu can bank up to 3 million if you want to work all the time.

PokerSiv: I'm well aware of the dongchim and it's been done to me many times. Thanks for telling me something I already know.

The moonlighting is nothing to cough at either. You can be a private tutor, start a biz, or whatever.

I know several people in their mid 20's who are making well over 20,000 RMB/month running their own business. To put that into perspective, a typical uni salary pays less than 5,000 RMB.

Looks like China might be a better bet than Korea. Some have said Korea is heading for a crash in with it's debt bubble much like USA. First hit will be the private schools.

I wasn't even replying to you, why u mad?

Not mad.

Yea I'm sure it can become very monotonous for some people. It's something I'll definitely look into.

Wow! Seems that he wasn't, although I still think he has had a finger or two up the ass at some point.

Strange pastime, but each to their own I suppose...