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Singapore or Soul Korea to teach Eng for a year?

Singapore or Soul Korea to teach Eng for a year?

Old Jul 7th, 2006, 08:50 AM
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Singapore or Soul Korea to teach Eng for a year?

Which city would you choose and why? My neighbor's daughter has been offered a position by both cities to live for a year or so and teach English. Which city would you choose and why would you choose it? Thanks.
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Old Jul 7th, 2006, 09:25 AM
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which city in south korea.

hmm it's odd someone would recruit a foreigner to teach english in Singapore. English is already the official language and their are, obviously, plenty of people that can teach english.
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Old Jul 7th, 2006, 09:38 AM
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Orgy, I wondered about that too. Singapore sounds like an unlikely place to hire English teachers. I'm assuming that from the title of the post Heavens means Seoul,Korea.
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Old Jul 7th, 2006, 10:43 AM
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Yes, sorry, Seoul, Korea.

Don't know why they want someone to teach English in Singapore. She just said those are the two places willing to place her...

Thanks.
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Old Jul 7th, 2006, 11:14 AM
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Heavens, I think either one would be a wonderful expereince.
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Old Jul 7th, 2006, 08:31 PM
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oops. I miss read soul for south. but that's what I get for posting at 2:25 A.M

one thing to consider is the climate and seasonal difrences betweenthe two cities . Soul has a climate/ similar to some of the norther USA, it snows and can get very gold. and believe sand storms from the Gobi also reach there.

singapore has a tropical climet more like MIami. it's hot, humid and HOT.

-----
Did your friend check out

http://www.eslcafe.com/

it's kind of the first stop for TEFL teachers
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Old Jul 8th, 2006, 07:56 AM
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I am from Korea and also has a close friend living in singapore. Seoul probably is more free spirited and technology savvy city. English learning is top priority to all young people there. I would suggest Seoul for the rewarding experience she be exposed to.
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Old Jul 8th, 2006, 07:57 AM
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I am from Korea and also have a close friend living in singapore. Seoul probably is more free spirited and technology savvy city. English learning is top priority to all young people there. I would suggest Seoul for the rewarding experience she be exposed to.
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Old Jul 8th, 2006, 09:31 AM
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not to mention the rewarding pay check, I've heard the english teachers in Korea make a nice wad a cash.
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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 01:08 PM
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not to scare you or anything but I was an English teacher in Seoul. I have been to Korea many times and felt very safe and comfortable there, especially since I can speak Korean.
Last summer,however, a man broke into my house and tried to kill me. I luckily got away but suffered brain hemmorhaging and skull fracture and mutliple other injuries related to my beating and strangualation. My school did nothing to support me. They, along with the media and police tried to cover it up so that it never got out and ruined their reputation. My attacker never was caught.
I would seriously reconsider korea. I know what happened to me is a freak thing, but I only think about what if I was another English teacher who did not speak Korean, who did not know how to say her address to the police in Korean.
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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 04:57 PM
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I've taught English in Korea for a total of six years - two different times.

The previous poster notwithstanding - generally you'll find that Korea has MUCH less crime that most Western countries - and that was certainly my experience.

Korea is a good place to save money - most people save about US$1000 a month rather easily as teachers are generally provided with free housing - low taxes and a low cost of living help out too.

There ARE teaching jobs in Singapore - but the cost of living and particularly housing, makes it very difficult to survive on the wages offered.

For info about teaching in Korea - take a look at:

http://tefldaddy.com/Korea_Jobs.htm

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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 06:17 PM
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If a company in Singapore is truly offering her employment AND a work visa, I would go there. Not only is the climate better (IMO, Korea has a long cold winter), she will have the chance to travel easily and cheaply all over SE Asia from Singapore. The culture is a mix of Chinese, Indian and Malay so she will get to experience all three. There is also a large expat community of Americans, Europeans and others so she will be able to meet lots of people, from my impressions of meeting expats in Seoul, the expat community is smaller there and it is harder to meet people as the city is much larger and more spread out.

Most important, IMO, English is widely spoken in Singapore so day to day living is much easier to adjust to. (Because English is so widely spoken as is the medium of many schools, that is why a lot of us are wondering why she is being offered a job teaching English there.) Having lived in Singapore and in a country where English is not one of the first languages (Switzerland) I can attest that dealing with government officials on work permits, going to the grocery store, finding an English-speaking doctor, finding English books, negotiating the public transport system, etc are all much easier in a country like Singapore where everything is in English. As she will only be there a year, she would, IMO, have a much easier adjustment to Singapore and be able to actually get out and enjoy living there and experience the place.

Winter12480's experience notwithstanding (which I am very sorry to hear about), both Korea and Singapore are statistically extremely safe so you generally should not worry there. There is of course the some crime in either, but in general she will be very safe.

I would argue that Singapore is even more tectonically-savvy than Korea, every place seems to be wired there, but that can be debated.

I agree Singapore can be expensive in terms of rent, but otherwise things like food, etc are not expensive. For housing, she can share a flat or live in outlying suburbs to reduce expenses. Public transport is extremely good and cheap, as are things like medical care. For an idea of rental flat expenses, here are some websites to check http://www.singaporeexpats.com. On that website I am seeing small 1 bedroom furnished flats from US$700 a month, but there are probably cheaper ones available in other suburbs, and she could share a flat for less IMO.

Get a copy of The Straits Times, which is the main English-language newspaper in Singapore. There are usually ads here for share flats. A newsstand may carry it, or your local library may be able to obtain copies for you. If you are really serious, it may be worth subscribing to the paper, although it will be a few days or a week old by the time it reaches you. They have a website at http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/, but they do not seem to have classified ads.

Here are some general websites on living overseas she might find useful as well:

http://members.tripod.com
www.expatexchange.com
www.expat-essentials.com
www.expatforum.com
www.expatnetwork.com
www.escapeartist.com/expatriate1/expatriate1.htm
www.outpostexpat.nl

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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 07:10 PM
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I don't find it odd at all to have people hired to teach English in Singapore or any other English-speaking counrtry. English of course is the official language here in the States,but that doesn't mean that everyone speaks English. And the English As A Second Language courses are the largest courses in the adult schools and also in various types of colleges especially here in L.A. Also, countries often hire English instructors from other English-speaking countries to teach their own country's English...all English is not the same. I had problems understanding both my Kiwi and Australian friends at times and I'm a native American English speaker. Decades ago, while living in Northern Europe, in most countries basically British English was taught, but many schools that I'm familiar with, through foreign friends, started offering courses in American,British,or Australian English and they preferred to have experienced teacher-educated, native speakers of the language teaching it. Happy Travels!
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Old Jul 20th, 2006, 07:43 PM
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I find it odd that Singapore would agree to issue a work permit to a person to teach English, that was what I meant. They have enough very good native English speakers, and don't like to hand out work permits when they can employ their own citizens to do the job. It is a one of the more problematic countries to get a work permit in, in my experience unless you have an advanced degree.
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Old Jul 24th, 2006, 09:48 AM
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Maybe that's it...advanced degree...because I've spoken with many people in Singapore who have said that they need teachers/instructors/professors whatever category of education it can be categorized in and that they employ foreign teachers. Happy Travels!
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Old Jul 24th, 2006, 09:55 AM
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I have not been to Seoul, but just wanted to pass along some comments. I recently had lunch with a friend's parents who are high level diplomats in their country's diplomatic service. They have lived all over the world, and many places in Asia. I asked what their favorite posting had been over the years. They said they liked them all, but HATED living in Seoul for four years. Their home was broken into on multiple occassions.
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Old Jul 24th, 2006, 06:44 PM
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Thanks all, for your help and comments. The neighbor's daughter came over today and she turned both places down and is now going to the Check Republic ( I probably spelled this wrong). So, I will go on the Europe board now. Really, thanks for all of your help.
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Old Jul 24th, 2006, 06:49 PM
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I would have taken Singapore in a heart beat. Happy Travels!
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