Achiever of the week: Uyanda Ngobeni 

      Aug 24, 2020 | By Nqobile Mdima 

This week’s feature is Uyanda Ngobeni from South Africa. Uyanda graduated from Rhodes University. She holds a BCom in Accounting and a PGCE. Uyanda is an English Teacher in South Korea under the EPIK Program (Chungnam Province Office of Education). After watching a Korean drama online she was fascinated by the country and it's people. Fortunately her desire to visit South Korea and experience its culture was made possible by the opportunity to teach English there. Uyanda moved to South Korea alone, seized every opportunity and managed to make wonderful memories there. 

Uyanda shares with us why she chose to move to South Korea, how one can qualify to teach English in South Korea, where to search for jobs and the pros and cons of living abroad.

What made you decide to teach English in South Korea?

I first heard about Korea in 2014 when I encountered a Korean Drama online. I was bored and wanted to watch something. The name of the drama is “My Girl.” I became curious and watched more dramas to educate myself more about the country. I ended up discovering more about their education system being one of the best in the world. My first career choice was to be an accountant, but after a series of struggles in university to complete my BCom degree in record time and realizing that a career in the office was actually not meant for me, I decided to enrol for the Post Graduate Certificate in Education program offered by Rhodes University. Wow, I didn’t realize that I’d end up meeting some people who have been to Korea. One of the people I met was Tessa Mullins who had been in Korea for 7 years. I also met Taryn Ivison who had worked there for 2 years. I think being able to meet them made it seem possible for me to make my dream of working and experiencing life there possible.

Where can job seekers apply for opportunities if they are interested to teach English in South Korea?

I was with the EPIK program. EPIK is a program that recruits and places teachers in public schools all-over South Korea. Majority of the posts are for elementary schools (Grade 1 to 6) while there are a few for both Middle School (7th to 9th grade) and High school (10th to 12th grade). EPIK has various accredited agencies that they work with in recruiting applicants.  Their names are as follows:

• Korvia Consulting

    https://www.korvia.com/

• Korean Horizon

    https://www.koreanhorizons.com/

• Reach to Teach

    http://reach-to-teach.org/

• Goldkey Education

   http://www.goldkeyeducation.com/goldkey- epik.html

• Hands Korea

  http://www.handskorea.com/? _escaped_fragment_=our-teachers%2Fc10nb

• Canadian Connection

https://www.gooverseas.com/teach-abroad/south-korea/canadian-connection/29177

• ESL Consulting

https://www.eslcon.com/

Alternatively, you can apply directly through the EPIK website… But I don’t recommend it unless you are 100% sure. There’s plenty of benefits of applying through a recruiter than directly.

EPIK website: http://epik.go.kr/index.do

Side note: I went with GoldKey since it is a South African based company. Through them, I was able to save so much money since they do everything else. Including the postage of documents to South Korea. They even assisted me with my application form and interview since they know what works and what doesn’t.

 What are the requirements for legally teaching English in South Korea?

The requirements for working in South Korea are easy and straightforward and they are as follows;

1. BA Degree or above (from an accredited college or University)
2. Native English speaker with citizenship from either Canada, USA, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, UK, or Ireland);
3. Clean Criminal Background Check (CRC);
4. Meet all visa requirements for an E-2 or F-4 visa
5. TEFL/TESOL/CELTA Certificate, BA or MA in Education, or a teaching license. Teachers with 120+ hours of in-person practicum are preferred. 

•  NOTE: Applicants with interest in teaching English in Busan must have 50+ hours of in-person practical hours with his/her TEFL course

The application process can be a bit extensive, so make sure to check out what is required for the EPIK application... Also, EPIK teachers begin their teaching assignments in Korea in either September or March. Applications must be submitted between Feb-July for the September start date and between Aug-Jan for the March start date.   

People with Diplomas can apply for the TaLk program. I don’t know a lot about it, but you can look it up for your convenience. Here’s a link: http://www.talk.go.kr/talk/talk_new/intro.jsp

 What is the name of the visa required to legally teach in South Korea and what is the application process?

The VISA to teach English in South Korea known as the E-2 visa. It is a pretty straightforward process which takes about 3 days to be processed. But before that, there are certain documents that you may have to submit with your application form and they’re as follows:

1.Completed application form .

2. Two recommendation letters .

3.Proof of schooling letters- (Note that if you are from an Afrikaans medium school you will not be accepted into the program). 

4.2 Professional colour portraits .

5.Colour scanned passport .

6.Sealed academic records from your university

for Visa .

7.Criminal record check .

8.2 Sealed academic records .

9.Your qualification certificates plus 2 colour copies to be submitted for Apostilling in Pretoria

10. TEFL/TESOL/CELTA (BEd or PGCE graduates don’t need it).

11. Proof of teaching experience (This helps determine your salary. It may be in a form of letters from past employers stating the number of years you have been a teacher. The more years of teaching experience the higher is the salary.)

Please list advantages and disadvantages about working in South Korea 

   Advantages

1. Smaller class sizes ranging from 10 to 40 learners per class.
2. Plenty of free time to start a hobby. You have 22 contact hours a week working from Monday to Friday.
3. You will be working alongside a co-teacher (usually a Korean teacher who will be helping you with translation, language and discipline issues in class).
4. Sweet learners who are willing to work with you. 

Disadvantages

1.  Bureaucracy. Since you work alongside other teachers, you will have to communicate almost all your lesson plans with the rest of your colleagues
2. Desk-warming- EPIK teachers are expected to work even during school holidays which will involve desk-warming (being at your desk at work even though there may be no students to teach)
3. It can be a very terrible experience if you don’t get along with your co-teacher as it can set precedence for the rest of the staff to avoid you. First impressions count since the Korean culture is more collective than individualistic.
4. A huge need to fit-in since the culture is about community.

Please list 3 advantages and 3 disadvantages about living in South Korea 

Advantages

1. Ease of access. Korea is a 1st world country so be prepared to find everything to be so convenient and easy to access. E.g. Public transport, banking, foreign brands and food franchises etc. 
2. An amazing foreign community. You will have an opportunity to meet a vast community of foreigners from all-over the world
3. Friendly people everywhere especially in rural Korea. Majority of Korean people are so friendly that you’d want to stay a bit longer.
4. Amazing food. Korean food is in a class of its own.
5. SAFETY- Korea is one of the safest places in the world.

Disadvantages

1. Language handicap- The biggest struggle is adjusting to the language differences. Almost everything is Korean unless you are placed in Metropolitan areas. Expect to feel illiterate due to the inability to do certain things yourself due to the language barrier.
2. Isolation- Not all Koreans are friendly or rather should I say, “Foreigner syndrome.” Many Korean people would rather avoid interaction wit foreigners out of the fear of having to speak English… Hence it is important to learn the language.
3. Cultural difference. Depending on where you are from, the cultural difference can be a huge thing to get over… Things such as the sense of community and sharing vs the Western individualism. Culture is everything can sometimes be used against you as a way of putting you back into line. Of course, you can get away with a lot of things as a foreigner but at the expense of isolation.

What would you recommend as the best hacks for surviving in South Korea as an expat?

1. Learn the language
2. Be open minded
3. Not everything you read will ever prepare you enough to know everything about Korea, in fact the internet is filled with a lot of biases and stereotypes… Come and experience it yourself and then make a judgement.
4. Be versed in the culture and the Confucius principles of living… That will eliminate a lot of biases.
5. Be teachable and adaptable. You cannot act like you know everything. Your ability to be honest about your limitations will open more doors for others to be friends with you.
6. Let loose and relax- It is an opportunity of a lifetime to travel the world