Hi Amanda! I recently found your blog and I was so excited to see a real foreign teacher and her life experiences in Korea. I am very young, but I myself am interested in teaching English in Korea. I was wondering what you had to study in college/university and how you became a certified foreign teacher?

- Anonymous

Thanks for your question!

In university, I changed majors 5 times, finally settling on Mass Media Production (emphasis in Radio).  I was a radio DJ for one year until I freaked out about adulthood and decided to run away to France to teach English at a summer camp.   I was not an education or English major.  

I started teaching at the English summer camp called American Village, located in rural sites all over France.  It was part teacher, part actor, part clown, and part older sister.  It was my first time teaching and I quickly fell in love with it… even though I had no idea what the hell I was doing.  My summers at American Village were most definitely the best summers of my entire life.  I can’t wait to go back after I’m finished teaching in Korea.

I returned to America for the fall/winter, where I was hired as a Substitute teacher in a couple local school districts.  

I went back to American Village for a 2nd summer, much more prepared to teach.  I also decided that ESL was something I wanted to actually do for a career, so I looked into getting a certification so that I could work more easily in more countries. 

I applied to get my CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults).  This is widely known as one of the most respected and most recognized ESL certifications (along with the Trinity TESOL).  In fact, there are some companies who will ONLY hire CELTA or Trinity graduates!   I chose to do my CELTA at Akcent International House Prague.  I chose this location because I had been dying to go back to Prague and the cost of living while there seemed reasonable.  

Getting my CELTA was the single most challenging academic feat of my life.  It is not easy.  It’s like an ESL boot camp — intense schedule, kicks you into shape, you are thrown into teaching the 2nd day there, etc.  However, I also truly believe that getting my CELTA was the single most rewarding thing I’ve done for myself academically.  Not a week goes by teaching in Korea where I don’t use something I learned or practiced while on the CELTA course.  

Teaching in Korea:  

If you want to teach in Korea, you don’t need anything but a 4-year degree…. in any discipline.   If your major is English or Education, you get a pay-grade bump.  If you have any TEFL certification (even cheap online ones!), you get a pay-grade bump.  Also, the more experience you have, the more you get paid.   

Outside Korea, however, the requirements for English teachers can be a little more selective — including requiring TEFL courses that included  live teaching sessions with feedback (NOT online ones).

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If you are serious about going into ESL,

1.  I would try to major in English or Education

2.  Try out ESL teaching for a summer or student-teacher program and make sure you actually want to teach.

3.  Invest the money in getting a CELTA or Trinity TESOL.  While pricier than other TEFL certifications, they are much more valuable in the long run.