In the first part of this write up, i talked about the diaspora of the Koreans to the Philippines which was brought about by the necessity to learn the english language. In this article, I will be discussing things that a prospective english teacher must have and the ins and outs of this kind of profession.
To begin with, you must have a good command of the english language. In the Philippine setting, many Filipinos can speak the language very well. Also, a lot of them can imitate the standard American, British and Australian accents. They do this in an almost perfect way that Koreans think they are really natives of these countries. Furthermore, many Filipinos have mastered already the English grammar. They have a very rich vocabulary and really conversational. Being the haven of the Business Outsourcing (BPO) Industry, it has established itself as a major hub of the American English in the Asia-Pacific region, which status attracts Koreans to choose it as the place where to study english.
That being said, number one requirement is of course a good command of the english language. This is the bread and butter of a teacher in this kind of industry. Most Koreans don’t actually care much about grammar. As long as you can speak the language very well, it is already enough. They want a conversational one than book-based. In addition to this, you will be an demand teacher because like gossip, you will become an instant celebrity! Korean moms (which act like stage mothers to their kids) will approach you, ask you to be their kid’s tutor, or, if you are lucky enough, a home tutor (which is twice or thrice the pay) or if you are the luckiest person in the world, an online tutor (which is four or five times the pay).
So how will you teach them english? There are three ways: First, a man-to-man which is a more personal interaction. You and the student will be inside a cubicle. You will have the basic tools of a teacher – a whiteboard, marker, eraser, papers, glue, pens etc. Literally, you are taking a shower in this kind of setting, except that the water is from the mouth of your student. And uhm, do you have enough patience? If not, don’t consider this job. If you have little, try to earn more of this because trust me, you will be needing this. I had a chance to teach children below 6 years old and guess what, they ended up crying in my class. Hahahaha… The reason? I have loud voice and they thought I am shouting or angry. but not….. I am using this secret weapon if the student is really stubborn, lazy or naughty. Well, good for me because our manager gave me nice students. But for others, it is more than a torture! Imagine enduring an hour of stare and look without doing anything! It is worse than boredom! And oh, did I mention that they want to be always on time? If you are a sleepy head and has the habit of waking up late, I suggest find another job. You have to do this everyday for at least a month. Now thinking? Well you should….
The second form is a group class. In this kind of setting, you are like in an actual classroom. There is a big table that can accommodate 4-8 students, or sometimes an actual classroom is being used. Well, this is better than a man-to-man class in terms of payment, but the quality of education is of course compromised. Most Korean moms dont like this kind of set up precisely because the class is sometimes rowdy and cannot be controlled by the teacher. But then, they say that they’re learning something in this kind of set up.
The third form is online. Via skype, we can teach students in Korea. All you need to do is to have a good internet connection capable of supporting video calling. You can get your own students through referrals or maybe through a company/agency profitting in this kind of activity. The good thing: no need to dress to impress, you can do this job even in the convenience of your bedroom, or in the internet cafe……the downside, well, no emotions and most of the time, internet connection is bad (in most places in the Philippines).
As to payment, it can be on a monthly basis, 15-30 or depending on the number of hours finished. it can also be prepaid or postpaid. You can choose. But in the online setting, usually the set up is that the Korean family will give you their card (mostly citibank) wherein you can withdraw your salary.
Overall, this experience is very rewarding. I am having a good time with this kind of job. but of course, I have to pursue my real career. But I will miss this job once I leave this. Hope it will not be soon…..:-)
The Legal Traveler 