3 Challenges I Overcame Teaching In Korea
When I first received the job offer to teach English in Seoul through Aclipse, I felt a mix of emotions. Although I was extremely excited that a long-term goal of mine was finally coming to life, I was also extremely scared about moving across the world.
Yes, I was nervous about not being fluent in the language and navigating cultural differences, but I was most nervous about my first term as a teacher. While I had some experience teaching, I had never taught English as a foreign language, and never had a classroom to call my own.
Now that I have fully settled into my life in Seoul, I want to share how I overcame the biggest challenges I faced during my first term. I hope my experience navigating this huge transition can help you on your journey as well! Even when things may be tough at first, things will get better with time and patience!
Missing Friends And Family
This challenge is a given when you move half way across the globe, but you truly don’t know how much it will affect you until it happens. I mentally prepared for months before I moved to be away from the people closest to me, but it was still incredibly difficult.
When I first landed, I was so excited, happy, and overstimulated to really even think about my support system. The training and housing process took up a majority of my time, and the excietment consumed me. It wasn’t until my first week in my empty apartment that I realized exactly how far away I was from everyone I loved.
For some, this might not be a challenge at all, but it was a huge challenge I had to overcome. Needless to say, there were a lot of facetimes, emails, and phone calls, but it’s still not the same! Eventually, you build a new support system in Korea that doesn’t replace what you had at home, but is key to your new life overseas.
Cultural Differences
Although I grew up with the Korean side of my family, I am super-duper American. Small gestures like holding the door open for strangers was not common, and it was a little jarring.
Having spent my entire life being accustomed to one way of doing things, I took every single cultural difference to heart. And to my surprise, it did have an effect on me. Sometimes I wondered, “Do they not like me?” Korean people can be rude! Am I doing something wrong?” Many thoughts raced in my head from time to time while transitioning to life in Korea.
But after a couple months, these thoughts eventually disappeared as I grew more accustomed to Korean culture. I realized that while there were some things that seemed rude or strange, it was just the way things are done here. I realized it is not a reflection of the warmth of Korean people, but that it is just expressed in a different way! I quickly learned to not take everything to heart, and realize that there were parts of Korean culture I simply had to adjust to. I don’t even think about those little things anymore, and they have become a part of my normal daily life!
Classroom Management
My first two struggles were a bit more personal, but my third struggle relates mostly to the classroom. While I had some teaching experience before moving to Korea, managing a classroom of students that don’t fully understand English was much different.
When you think about classroom management, you think of keeping students under control. While this might be true in the States, I actually struggled the most with getting students to participate!
Since I teach at an after school program, some of our classes run until 10pm at night. Many students in Korea are fatigued and have trouble concentrating at this time of the day.
Something that really helped me with this was working with other teachers at my branch. Since they have known and worked with the students much longer than I have, they were able to give me great advice on how to get them to participate!
TIP: I also recommend watching social media creators who talk about being a teacher in an EFL environment! They often give great ideas for classroom engagement and helpful tips to make life easier as a teacher! Here’s a good one from Tobias Sample.
Of course, there are other smaller challenges I faced, but these were the biggest three I personally needed to overcome. Moving across the world is a HUGE step that comes with so many twists and turns, but you are not alone in this journey. Your original support system at home, and new support system in at your home school will assist you through every step of the way. I’m now at the point where I have colleagues and friends from my school, outside of my school, and am helping new teachers transition to life in Korea! So, I guess it’s safe to say that they are just stepping-stones to something much greater.
Gabriel White, Marketing Assistant
Gabriel (Gabe) White is an English teacher in South Korea. He is a Korean, Puerto Rican-American from the Richmond, Virginia area and received a bachelor’s degree in English from Virginia Commonwealth University. Being involved in student organizations like Filipino Americans Coming Together at VCU (FACT@VCU) and VCU Globe during his college years, Gabe learned just how much he enjoys experiencing new cultures. In his free time, Gabe loves teaching local dance classes, spending quality time with his loved ones, exploring new cities, and watching nostalgic movies.
