Category Archives: Teaching

Feb5

Finding Korean Subtitles

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It’s that silly little week between Winter vacation and Spring vacation (that week of teaching that we will never ever understand) and most of us are “teaching” our kids English by letting them watch movies.

For elementary students and even some of the older students, subtitles are a must.  I know many will say that subtitles make them lazy, because they will just read the text instead of listening to the audio, but I know my students.  I have middle school students who are still learning phonics.    Getting Korean subtitles can be hard… you can try downloading them from subtitle websites, but for me the easiest is just good ol’ Gom Player.

Disclaimer:  I actually really HATE Gom Player and I only use it when showing movies to my students.  :P

 

Step-by-step instructions for finding Korean subs:

Open the movie file in GOMPlayer.

Open the movie file in GOMPlayer.

Select the first option, "자막도우미" (Subtitle Helper) and then the third one, "자막 찾기" (Find subtitles).

Select the first option, “자막도우미” (Subtitle Helper) and then the third one, “자막 찾기” (Find subtitles).

Browser will open with subtitle file. If not, sorry, they don't have it. :) Click "다운로드" (download)

Browser will open with subtitle file. If not, sorry, they don’t have it. :) Click “다운로드” (download)

Click the middle option (Save) and save in the same file as your movie file.

Click the middle option (Save) and save in the same file as your movie file.

Drag the subtitle file (.smi) onto the GOMplayer screen. Tadaaa!

Drag the subtitle file (.smi) onto the GOMplayer screen. Tadaaa!

Hope this helps!   :)

Jan23

Filing *Korean* taxes…

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Firstly… Why can’t SARS be this easy?   Second:  This was so easy, that I feel like I did it all wrong….. but apparently not.  Thanks to all who posted directions like these before me!  I used them and added screen shots.

A few things before I begin with the really easy easy easy guide to getting your documents for Korean taxes:

  1. I am a public school teacher.  I do not know if hagwon and university teachers have different ( or additional) documents, but you will probably need the same.
  2. Public school teachers:  You will need these documents if you’ve been teaching here for more than two years (i.e. you are in your third or fourth or fifth year)
  3. I am still waiting to hear how much tax I have to pay in, so I unfortunately can’t post about that yet.
  4. I am not a tax guru.   If you have different circumstances, please ask your school to help you, or call the NTS.
  5. As stated, this is for KOREAN tax.  This has got nothing to do with your SARS returns.  As mentioned in the previous post about SARS taxes there is a big difference between these three and where they are important:
  • Residency Certificate / tax exemption:   The document that you have to give to your KOREAN employer to be exempt from paying KOREAN taxes in KOREA.
  • SARS tax filing:   You NEED to do efiling every year, even though your KOREAN income will be placed under the “exempt income” section on your SARS forms.  This is for SOUTH AFRICAN tax.
  • Korean tax: Should be done once you are a tax payer in Korea.  You need the forms below.  You should be paying tax monthly, although it might not be enough once they calculate your actual tax.  This is why some teachers have to pay a lump sum even though they have been making monthly payments.  Put some money away every month for this if you don’t want to pay a lump sum later.

Okay!  You will need these forms to do your Korean taxes.  You need to give them to your school office and they should sort it out for you.  (Just make sure, please don’t barge in saying “Do my taxes.”)

Go to the NTS website.  Click on “Income Deduction Search / Print”.

website

You might have to install Java and run some security programs.  After that, log in with your ARC number.

log in

Use your internet banking certificate (the NPKI one you get on your USB when you get internet banking from your bank) to log in.   Type the same password you use for that.

passwords

Then you will see a page pictured below.   Click on the documents you need (most teachers will print medical expenses, debit card, credit card and cash receipts, but you can make sure by clicking them all.  If there is an amount (that’s not 0) print it. :)

docs print

After printing them all, give them to your co teacher or admin office worker who deals with the taxes.  They should be able to tell you how much you need to pay within a few days.

Hope this is an easy stressful (and cheap) process for all of you!

xx

Sep26

EPIK: Changes in Severance pay distribution.

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Just posting this to keep you updated – a bunch of people haven’t heard of this yet and a few million won makes a huge difference when it comes to winter vacation planning!

According to the EPIK website a new law has been passed and the Korean Ministry of Employment and Labor have restrained the premature cashing-in of severance pay.  Basically, this means that instead of receiving your severance pay after each contract, you will now receive it after you complete all contracts with your current POE.

The bad news?  Our end-of-year-bonus is a bit smaller.

The good news?  When you leave, you’ll get all of these severance bonuses you missed out on earlier.   I’ve heard that severance will be calculated based on your final three months’ salaries, which means that you will get all of those pay checks, at the level you are in your final year.

Here’s a basic breakdown:  (Let’s take average teacher on level 2 salary in Daegu, who stays with Daegu MOE for 2 years and decides to head home.):

In the past:  

End of first contract:

  • Final month’s salary for contract term 1 (2.1M)
  • Severance as a level 2 teacher in a Metro city: (2.1M)
  • Renewal allowance (2M)

End of second (final) year.

  • Final month’s salary for contract term 2 (2.2M – level 2+ now)
  • Severance as level 2+ teacher in a Metro city (2.2M)
  • Exit allowance (1.3M)

Now:

End of first contract:

  • Final month’s salary for contract term 1 (2.1M)
  • Renewal allowance (2M)

End of second (final) year.

  • Final month’s salary for contract term 2 (2.2M – level 2+ now)
  • Severance as level 2+ teacher in a Metro city x2  (4.4M)
  • Exit allowance (1.3M)

There are some cases where teachers may get their severance checks earlier, for example if you need your severance for a key deposit, it you accept the housing allowance in lieu of provided accommodation.  Your case will be reviewed by the POE though and you would need to submit proof.   Although some of us are mid-contract, these changes affect us all regardless of what your current contract says.    The bonus renewal vacation has also been shortened (boohoo!) to one week instead of two.  This, however, will not affect you until you sign a new contract.  Example: If you are February intake and are currently completing your Spring 2012-2013 contract, you are still entitled to your 10 days bonus renewal vacation.  If you just signed your new Fall 2012 – 2013 contract, you will see that this applies to you.  When you renew next Fall, you will get 5 days renewal vacation, not 10.     Spring intake teachers, please don’t get annoyed and mad if your co-teacher tells you that you are only entitled to one week this winter.  These changes happen so fast, some of us knew about this change before the regional coordinators did!   Be patient.  If they really don’t believe you, ask them to call the POE and check for you.

Hope this helps settle some of the questions that have been floating around regarding the changes in severance pay!   Have a great Wednesday!

xx

Afrikoreaan

Jun29

First Week Madness

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Orientation is awesome.  When you arrive at your apartment it will either be absolutely awesome or super overwhelming.  After checking out your new area for a bit it might hit you… “crap… I’m teaching tomorrow.”

Best is to prepare for this after orientation.  It’s fine to play around a bit with ideas etc. but personally I think you’ll have a better idea of what to expect after orientation.

The first week will either be very busy or very quiet!!  Depending on your school… ;) Your co-teacher will take you to the immigration office (preferably as soon as possible) to apply for your Alien Registration Card (ARC).  This will be like a Korean ID for foreign workers.  You need this for almost anything!  (Opening more bank accounts, getting cell phone contracts etc).  It takes about 2 weeks to get your ARC.  You can pay a little extra for them to deliver it to your school.

There’s a lot of other things to sort out too.  If you work at multiple schools, your co-teacher might take you to meet with them too.  You will probably get your text books and your co-teacher will discuss your workload with you. (What you should teach, your schedule etc.)

Some co-teachers won’t let you teach during the first week (or a few days) to give you time to settle in etc.  If you have your text books already you can start lesson planning while you have your “settling in time”.  Others might be asked to teach almost immediately.  In both these cases, your “introduction lessons” will come in handy here.

Intro lessons are really great to help you get a feel for the English level of your students and simply to break the ice.  They are both excited as well as terrified of you.  There’s a reason why they call it an ALIEN registration card… ;)    Here’s what I usually do at my middle school:  (I repeat this every year with my new 1st grade middle school kids. )

I made a PowerPoint (although these days I prefer using Prezi) with a quiz about myself. (***If you use prezi make sure your school PCs are all hooked up with Adobe or you’ll have no lesson. Or use Powerpoint first to be safe) I did not tell my students anything about myself before the quiz. They had to guess.  The quiz had questions about me.  (Where am I from? What is my favorite color? Does Mari have a brother, a sister, or a brother and a sister?  etc.)  They were arranged in teams and had to guess the answer (A, B or C).  Teams then had to hold up a sign showing A, B, or C.  If they were correct I gave them 10 points and the winning team got cheap candies.  I had 10 questions and it honestly lasted the entire lesson.  I gave them a minute or two to think about the questions, had each team answer and after revealing the answer I discussed it. (example:   The answer is B! I have a brother!  His name is Wynand and we’re twins.  Who knows what a “twin” means?” etc) You can also then use the chance to ask them “Who has a sister?” then choose someone and ask them a bit more. It was a lot of fun!

For the next lessons you can do simple ice breakers.  Google will bring up some good things!  When you Google, search for something like “ESL ice breakers”.  You’ll have a better chance of finding something “lower level” if you include “ESL”.  The idea of ice breakers is simply to learn your students names or to (duh) break the ice.

Once you start teaching the text book, it’s a good idea to make notes after the first few lessons.  What worked and what didn’t work and how long did it take them to finish a specific kind of activity.  I now know that with my students, practicing the dialog takes 5 minutes and circling the correct answers in the activity book takes 3 minutes.  It will take time to figure these things out.  And yes, you wil fail.  Miserably. But it’s part of learning to be a teacher here.  Adapt or die. :)  I promise you it won’t be long and you’ll have a class where you walk out thinking “that. was. awesome!!!!!”  I still have days where I think a lesson was terrible.  It happens.

HOW will I EVER learn their names?!!!

Yep.. that is EXACTLY what it’s like.   You can choose to give your students English names if you wish. Just run it by your co-teacher first.  I did that once, but I found that if students misbehaved terribly and I had to talk to their homeroom teachers, they had no clue who “John” was…  This year I started learning their Korean names and it’s actually not so hard!  I made a simple seating chart, the kids wrote their names and I wrote it in English after class.  Now I just take the seating chart with me.  It doesn’t take long before you start remembering their names.  And they LOVE the fact that you know it!  Either way, do what you feel comfortable with.

Aaaanyways.. yeah.. your first week will be crazy and will fly by!  Be prepared – you MIGHT have assembly and have to introduce yourself to the school.. *surprise!*   It’s also very possible that you’ll have a teachers’ dinner one night. They usually start the new semesters off that way.   Enjoy it!  Live in the moment and have fun!

xx

Feb3

Magik Aroma – Yummy Smelling Packages :)

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Usually at the beginning or end of the year, or any other special Korean holiday like Chuseok (Thanksgiving) or Seollal (New Year), it is custom to take something small for the teachers at your school.  It doesn’t have to be expensive or dazzling or ooh-la-laaa – just a small token to say thanks.  I used to have stuff shipped here – Rooibos, and all kinds of random things, but that was until I discovered Magik Aroma.

Mila has been running Magik Aroma for a few years now and with great success.   They create the most amazing handmade soaps, candles and body products and have also recently added oils, candle holders and aroma burners to the list too.  All ingredients are organic and smell sooo great!   I just love the combinations!  From spicy citrus to vanilla, lavender, sandalwood and even apple and cinnamon.  These products make great gifts for co-teachers and are really affordable!

"It's gooood and cleeeaaan and fresh! tra-la-laaa!"

They also have special soap ranges for winter and summer as well as a very nice African range!  Soaps can also be custom made if you order 10 bars (1 kg).  Body products include lotion, bodybutters, shampoo & rinse, body wash and vitamin E oil which can either be applied directly, or added to your creams and lotions.

During Christmas time, Magik Aroma usually sell special star shaped soaps and all kinds of nifty gifts – even for children.

Yummmm~~~*

The crunchies are a HUGE hit!  They are the original South African crunchy cookies, made with oats, coconut, flour, sugar and butter!  The flavours are delicious and at only 12,000 – 13,500won for 32 crunchies, they are well worth it!  Crunchies are available in:

  • Cinnamon
  • Traditional
  • Choc-Chip
  • Peanut butter
  • Peanut butter & raisin
  • Choc-chip chilli (*new*)
Here are some more pics of my favourite things (aaahaha I feel like OPRAH!)

Candle holders <3

Aroma burners: Metal with glass bowl (left) and African themed gift set (right)

I now rely on Mila and MagikAroma when it comes to gifts for the teachers’ office.  My co-workers devour the crunchies in about 5 minutes and I am guilty of ordering too much just so I can keep some for myself… :)  If you’re wondering about what gifts to bring from home, save the luggage space and order from MagikAroma once you arrive.  Join the MagikAroma Facebook group for updates on specials and new products by clicking here.  To order, send an e-mail to Mila at metermila@yahoo.com

Soaps from the African range.

Dec11

“What not to wear”…

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Recently I’ve seen a lot of questions regarding the dress code at school.  Knowing this helps a lot, because you can leave behind all of those unnecessary things and pack more important things.   I’ve mentioned it briefly in the “10 Questions Every Newbie asks” post, but didn’t realize that I never actually posted about it.  Whoops!  So here it is!  I’ve asked my best friend to help:

…bwahahaha!

Aaaaanyways….  dressing for school in Korea is pretty much the same as dressing for any semi-professional company in South Africa.  There are, of course, some key things to remember.  What seems appropriate in South Africa isn’t necessarily appropriate here in Korea and vice versa.  Here is a perfect example:

This really happens…

This really explains a lot!  :)  In Korea, wearing short short shorts is fine.  Showing shoulders is frowned upon and showing cleavage might get you a few words from an Adjumma!   So when it comes to school, you need to be even more careful. It’s all really simple actually:

  • Don’t show any cleavage – This includes semi-see through shirts.   Come on, they’re middle school boys.  Think about it…
  • Try your best to cover your shoulders.  This is also a respect thing.  I often wear short sleeved shirts in summer but you can pack away those sleeveless ones.
  • Like mentioned above, they like their short shorts, but you are a teacher.. Rather wear knee length skirts or pants.  The teachers room is usually air-conditioned in summer, so no, you won’t die. :P

So what do you wear?

Men:

If you are a suit guy, bring one or two.  You probably won’t be expected to wear a suit, but it doesn’t do any harm if you wear one for the first week or so.  It depends on your school, but you will probably be expected to wear neat pants and a dress shirt.  If you don’t want to do the suit thing (please don’t buy one!!!) throw on a tie for the first few days.  Don’t bother buying expensive dress shoes.  Will comment on this later.  Bring a pair of nice, neat jeans.  Some schools are fine with jeans as long as they aren’t baggy / washed-out / have holes in them.  If you pair up the jeans with a dress shirt you’re good to go.  (aaaah I sound like Glam Guru!!!  The JOY!)  Invest in a nice jacket or coat for winter.  It doesn’t have to be classy, just neat.  Like the jeans.  And warm…. :P  Your teachers’ room will be heated in winter, but might still be a bit chilly.. and the school hallways are the complete opposite of hell.

Ladies:

No shoulders… No cleavage… sounds difficult… It really isn’t.  I brought some shirts from SA and realized they were just a bit too revealing (according to Korean standards of course) so I threw on a spaghetti-strap underneath and fixed it.. hehe!   I usually wear neat pants to school and pair it up with either a short sleeved button shirt or a long sleeved one…   I often wear long-sleeved t-shirts in the colder months, with a jacket/jersey/coat.   With pants, make sure you don’t show any underwear when bending down.  Middle school boys are at *THAT* age, so really make sure you don’t have anything see through, revealing or inappropriate.  In summer I wear three quarter shirts or short-sleeved shirts.

Shoes:

Don’t bother buying expensive shoes for school.  When you get to school you will take off your “outdoor shoes” and put on “indoor

These will look goooooorgeous with my white skirt!!

shoes”.  These are usually sandals… like “Hang Ten sandals”!!  Schools usually have spare ones for visitors (like when the parents come watch the open classes), but it’s best to bring your own pair, as you might find your toes hanging over and your ankles touching the floor…..!  And they will definitely point it out to everyone.   Ladies, if you’re wearing a really nice skirt and you really don’t want to wear these, you can wear other sandals (strappy ones etc) but they can’t be worn outside and it would be best to wear secret stockings with them.  Some female teachers don’t wear the secret stockings anymore, but it is still frowned upon by most Koreans.  They don’t really believe that feet are very clean.  The pretty sandal + secret stocking thing is revolting at first, but you get used to it and it’s really not too bad.  Also, you might go to a school dinner after work,which you’ll only find out an hour before.  It’s slightly awkward when you have to kick off your shoes before entering the restaurant and you’re not even wearing socks!  On that note make sure your socks are clean and hole-free and that they match! Your students will see your socks every day. :P  Don’t worry about socks with bears and hearts and duckies on them.. your principal will wear them too… with his suit.  :)

So, last thing about “what to wear” at school – Always look professional.  The best thing you can do is find a few teachers who are roughly the same age as you (if there aren’t any, choose the youngest one) and use what they wear as a guide.  If they wear neat jeans, you probably can too.  Don’t wear suits the first week and then rock up in jeans the next Monday – Friday.  They’ve seen you at your best, so tone it down gradually.  Always remember this:  ”When in doubt, throw it out.”  If you’re standing in front of the mirror and doubting whether or not your shirt is too revealing, it probably is.

xx

Dec8

A typical day at work…

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Recently someone asked me what the schedule looks like when teaching in Korea. So here it is!

The average teacher has 22 classes  a week.  That is roughly 4 – 5 classes a day.  You will be at school for about 8 hours a day – usually from 8:40am – 4:40 pm, but this depends on your school.  Lunch is some time between 12pm and 1pm and you will have lunch for  30 – 50 minutes (also depending on your school!).  Usually class times are as follows:

  •  Elementary lessons: 40 minutes each
  • Middle School lessons: 45 minutes each
  • High School lessons:  50 minutes each

Here is my time table. I teach at my main school on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.  On Tuesdays I travel to an Elementary School in the area and on Fridays to another Middle School.  My main school is a  Middle School, but there is a High School in the same building, so I teach there too!  (Don’t worry, most teachers have 1 or 2 schools that are the same level, I’m unique!!!)   ALSO!!  My students have too many subjects (seriously these poor kids!!!)  so at my main school I actually teach them English before the school day actually starts… so this is a non-typical lesson schedule! It will give you an idea though…

Okay so I have different times on Tuesdays and Fridays.   Teachers’ Class is when I have conversation classes with the teachers.  If you’re in a bigger school you probably won’t have this.  You might have 2 classes for each Elementary grade (I did last year) so then your schedule will be way better, since you get to repeat your lessons!  I really teach in the sticks so I have all schools, all grades (except for Elementary 5 & 6).   I don’t like the morning classes really… The students are still sleepy, I’m still sleepy and at the moment it’s bloody cold.  Mondays are rough, but the time goes by really quickly.     After school classes can earn you more money if you already have 22 classes.  I don’t so no extra money for me.. although my teachers’- and after school classes get canceled often – Especially during exam time. I haven’t had teachers’ class since October…  So I guess that’s a bonus.  For after school classes you might have one or two grades (together) on one day and another on a different day.  Mine is a free for all. Plus, despite going to school early and leaving late (My co teacher has a *lot* to do, so I leave school late often) I get to go home straight after my classes on Tuesdays and Fridays, so I catch the 3pm bus and I’m home by 4. (The bus takes longer)

Also, as you can see, you’ll have quite a lot of free lessons in between for planning.  These are GREAT.  In the beginning you’ll spend a lot of time lesson planning, so it might not feel like enough, but after a few months the lesson planning goes very fast so you will have a lot of “free” time.

At my Elementary School last year (I only had Elementary), teachers played Volleyball together every Wednesday afternoon.  I don’t ever see it or hear of it at my current school, but my students still have classes in the afternoon, unlike Elementary students.  As mentioned earlier, my students have too many subjects, so they literally start their day with morning class and end at16:15.  During the summer months, we change to 50 minute lessons (to accommodate the High School classes in our building) so then my poor middle school kids leave at 5:20!!  The sad reality is that most of them go straight to hagwon (academies) where they study even more, or they would have self study sessions at school – sometimes until 10pm.  It’s hard.  English teachers obviously don’t stay at school till then, but you can understand why the students are sleepy in my morning class…

On some occasions we go for dinner after school.  This is merely to socialize.  DO IT.  It might not be the BEST part of your day – especially if they don’t speak English to you! – but do it.  Koreans are very social and they love it when the waygook enjoys it.  It can honestly be a lot of fun.  It’s what you make of it.  Besides, after a few soju shots my principal is Mister English!  They try.  So can you.  Force-drinking happens.  But there are ways to not drink, without offending your principal.  I have friends whose teachers *never* drink at staff dinners, so once again every school is different.  Not scaring you, just telling you what to expect.

Sometimes there are also teacher’s trips.  Day trips.  Overnight trips.  I personally haven’t been on an overnight one, simply because I  don’t feel comfortable.  Maybe if I was a guy.  I would be like MacGuyver. But I’m not.  I’m a girl with a boyfriend whom  I only see  on the weekends.   I work longer than most teachers.  My weekends are super precious to me. I still try to make the best of it though – for instance, we have a teachers’ trip coming up on the final day of school. Over night.  23 December.  Which means?? We’ll be back home at around 9pm on Christmas eve.  I’m sorry, I just don’t do that.  It’s Christmas Eve.  I already have plans to go to Seoul for Christmas, so I compromised with my school. (They really are very understanding, so this is not an issue)  I am still joining the trip – come on, they’re going to BUSAN! :) – but I will subway to the train station and catch a train to Gumi late Friday night, since I’m departing from there for Seoul early the next morning.

Okay that was a bit of a babble, but my point is this:   If you really don’t like teachers trips and dinners, at least try to make some effort.  It doesn’t happen every week. It happens maybe once in 2 months.  Sure, it gets long and sometimes crazy, and I know me not going on the trips isn’t ideal, but at least try to go.  They will appreciate the effort and usually after a teachers dinner they’re all smiles and happy and they try one more time to speak English without being terribly shy around co-workers. :)  I’ve eaten some of the most delicious and also weirdest things by going to teachers’ dinners!  Plus, you find all the hotspots in your town! :P

What do I do during vacations?

Well… if you’re not on leave, you’ll probably teach English Camps.  They are at school, during school hours (maybe just morning or afternoon sessions) but they are much more fun and you *usually* can teach what you want.  If you’re lucky you’ll have a really nice Camp budget to buy all kinds of fun stuff with (to do a cooking lesson or buy snacks for the movie day).    If you’re not teaching a camp or on leave, you’ll be deskwarming.  It’s super boring. I love the first week of deskwarming, because I plan ahead, but then it gets super boring and you don’t feel like working….  :P   There’s a whole list of things to do while deskwarming on waygook.org.  Your school hours will most likely be the same during vacation time, however some schools tell their teachers to leave after lunch or not come in at all.  The POE doesn’t like this, so it is often done in secret. Shhh!

Anyways, this post was supposed to be about my lesson schedule.. Feel free to ask any questions and remember that my 4 different level schools and early morning classes are NOT the norm!! :)  Last year I had 4 Elementary grades (3,4,5,6) and I had two classes for each grade, saw all 8 classes twice a week and had a second school on Fridays. It was much easier! :)

xx

Sep20

Double pay before I do something like this…

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Recently I’ve been facing some really difficult lesson topics.  There are at least 50 topics I can think of that they SHOULD cover.  Instead, we are trying to poo out lessons about “Nasreddin and the Fish” and “Encyclopedia Brown – The Boy Detective”.   I guess I can’t complain too much… I definitely have one of the “better” Middle School text books.

As for Elementary, I have freestyle.  Stick to the topic but do whatever you want.  Fortunately this means that I no longer have to teach those awkward songs in their text books.  One of my friends just sent me a youtube link.  Loads and loads of videos supplementing these lessons.  If the songs weren’t awkward enough, this dude has gone the extra mile and set a standard for all GETs.

I think the only way I’ll EVER perform like this guy, is after about 7 bottles of soju and double pay!  Enjoy!  And thank your lucky stars your school will not expect this from you. I hope.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-Rwe_yPxHs&feature=channel_video_title