This week marks the last week of classes for the spring semester in Korea. To celebrate this momentous occasion, I am dedicating this post to all the things I love about being an English teacher. If you are thinking about teaching English abroad, hopefully this post will inspire you to take that leap and go for it.
Before I dive in to my list, I want to give you a few disclaimers so that you understand where I am coming from. This is my first semester teaching English in South Korea and my first time teaching anyone, anywhere. I am currently teaching Elementary school, grades 3-6 on Jeju Island. This post and all of my experiences are very much specific to my current situation.
Also, while there are so many things I love about teaching English, that’s not to say its always a perfectly, carefree job. There are harder days as well. Days where none of my kiddos pay attention and all they want to do is talk to each other. Days when my voice hurts from yelling over them. Days when I’m so exhausted from my side hustling that I really don’t think I can muster the energy to play a game or be a “fun fun English teacher”.
But honestly, those days are rare, and the many good days in between those hard ones make this job well worth any of the struggles. I also don’t really see the point in dwelling on the negatives. In every job you do there will be downsides. Little annoyances that you have to deal with, coworkers who are difficult, etc. But I think the point in life is to appreciate all the wonderful parts of your days.
So that is what this post is about…. all of the pros of teaching English abroad.
Co-teachers
Co-teachers are the real MVPs of this whole English teaching gig. They are truly the biggest blessing about teaching English in South Korea. A co-teacher is a native Korean who is also a contract English teacher (teaches English full time) or is the homeroom teacher for your given class.
You are supposed to have a co-teacher with you in every single class you teach. Sometimes it is the same person, sometimes it is a different person for each grade or each class. They can play various roles depending on who your co-teacher is, but for me they mainly serve as translators and disciplinarians. One of the most helpful things that my co-teachers do is translate instructions for games. It’s kind of amazing.
Working with a co-teacher is like combining both of your superpowers for the greater good of teaching these kiddos English. Their super power is speaking perfect Korean and understanding English. My superpower is speaking English. Yea…. I think we all know who the batman and who the robin is in this relationship.
You don’t have to reinvent the wheel
Teaching English as a second language, has been done for years and years. Therefore there are TONS of resources out there to make it fairly breezy. Essentially, other people have put in hard work to make awesome PPTs and are generous enough to share the fruits of their labor. I am beyond appreciative that this sort of generosity exists and makes my lesson planning a piece of cake.
My all time fav website for teaching English in Korea is KorShare. It is my go to place for all things lesson planning. When using KorShare, I can plan a 40 minute lesson in 10 minutes without batting an eyelash. It helps me save my energy to really show up for my kiddos and save my time for my side hustle.
Being the ultimate game master
My actual job is to make English fun and to help build up my kiddos confidence in speaking a foreign language. One time, one of my co-teachers actually pulled me aside after class and essentially told me… less textbook, more games. I couldn’t be happier that was the feedback I got and I definitely took that and ran with it.
Watching my student’s progress
Yes, this is cheesy, and it’s also one of the most rewarding and awesome parts about teaching. I’ve had the privilege of watching some of my shy students really open up. Some students who would barely spoke English above a whisper, are now shouting out answers with enthusiasm. Some of the kids who couldn’t read at all are now spouting off words. And my 6th graders, are now able to actually converse with me in the halls and at lunch because they’ve gotten so good!
Rock, paper scissors solves everything
In Korea, rock, paper scissors is king. If I’m trying to decide which student goes first in a game, if there is ever some dispute in the classroom, I simply make the gesture for the kids to play rock paper scissors and they know what to do. RPS literally solves everything, from which team will go first, to who should get the last piece of candy or sticker, to who gets to sit where.
Not only is rock, paper scissors the ultimate decider, the kids also get such a kick out of playing it. If you add an element of rock, paper, scissors to any game… it immediately up levels it in terms of fun. It also adds a layer of intensity to the game that is unparalleled. In short, the kids are obsessed with RPS and I will never get tired of seeing them completely lose their minds over this simple little game.
Learning Korean from my kiddos
One of my students favorite past times, besides playing RPS, is teaching me Korean phrases. If I even use the simplest of Korean words in class, the kids light up and say things like “Ohhhh teacher, very good!”. Literally sometimes all I have to do is count to 3 in Korean for them to get super pumped up.
It has honestly been the best motivation I can think of to learn more of the language. I still haven’t learned to write Hangul (Korean written alphabet) yet, but I’ve heard from other foreign teachers that once I learn to do that…. I will get a standing ovation.
English bloopers
Because my students are very new at English and have a limited vocabulary, they get very creative with how to communicate with me. One of my favorite things, is how they combine and use the words they know to try and explain concepts or guess other words. Some of my favorite moments were “fish human” to describe mermaid and “ a cheesy pancake” to describe pizza. Pretty accurate descriptions, don’t you think?
Watching them help each other
In every class there are a couple kids who are insanely good at English and they are so benevolent about helping the others. They will translate what I am saying if their classmates don’t understand and prompt each other with how to speak the expression if someone forgets. Even when its a team game and they are directly competing, the kids are always willing to help each other out.
Even though this job is not my end goal, or what I ultimately want to do with my life, there are so many beautiful moments throughout each day. Taking time to savor and appreciate all of my interactions with my students and co-teachers has helped me to enjoy this special phase of my life. And that’s what it’s all about right? Just enjoying each step on your journey.
What do you love about your current job? I’d love to hear from you!
