Reader Question: Studying Korean while teaching ESL in Korea

And the last one from Julie (thank you for asking such intelligent, interesting questions and giving me lots of ideas for blog posts!):

"I would be interested in taking Korean language courses - is this doable with the expected work schedule? I think I would prefer a very structured program but I'm not sure."


The short answer to this is yes, it is possible.  But, you'll really need to do your homework about where you take a job.  If in central Seoul, you'll have a myriad of choices to choose from.  As you go further from there, you'll have far less choices for programs even in the bigger cities like Busan or Daegu.


It all depends on the job you take, what your work schedule will be.  For example, if you work at a hagwon that has the most excellent working hours of 3-9, you'll have plenty of time in the morning for classes.  If you work at a Kindy Hagwon that works their teachers hard (ex: Wonderland/SLP) you'll have no free time or energy to do anything besides drink to make it through the week :)  If you work at a public school and do the 9-5, you should have plenty of time to do your homework while at work, and then have your nights free for classes.  However, these days, it seems like public school jobs in Seoul are few and far between.




And of course, working at a uni leaves you with the most free time for study.  However, in my experience you often won't know your schedule until a few days before the semester starts, and it can often be anywhere from 8am-8pm, which can make it difficult to plan something like Korean classes.