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Let's first talk about your job
So you said you are an English teacher here in Korea How long have you been here?
I have been in Korea since February last year but I just moved to Andong in February
Tell us something about this program because some language enthusiasts might be interested to know...
...how you were able to work here in Korea Did you apply online? Did someone hire you directly?
Are you part of some program?
I'm here with a program called Talk, Teach, and Learn in Korea
There wasn't much advertising about it in my home city, Atlanta...
...but I found out about this program, which is actually an internship or a Korean government scholarship program
I found out about it through watching Sun Hyunwoo on YouTube (Talk to Me in Korean)
I found out about the program watching his videos on YouTube and then I found out that there was a Korean consulate...
...right there in my city, so luckily I didn't have a hard time applying for this program the way some of the other...
6th Gen Talk scholars did... I'm 6th Gen by the way
Are you always assigned in the same city or are you distributed all throughout the country?
All throughout the country except for Gyeonggi-do Gyeonggi-do, most is for the GEPIK teachers...
GEPIK?
Gyeonggi English Program in Korea
So there's a special one for that region
Yes, and then EPIK is all around the rest of the country except Jeolla-do
TALK Scholars, however, can teach in any part of the country but we only teach after school
So usually from 1 to about 5 o'clock 5 o'clock at the latest
and maybe 1 o'clock at the earliest and we only teach elementary students
So that's what you're supposed to do, just teach English, and then in return what do you get
I mean, are you enrolled in some master's program that they sponsor or...
Well, luckily with this program because it's an internship you can actually have completed only 2 years of university studies
and then go back and finish school wherever you are from
and at the same time you are earning money to explore Korea, learn about the culture...
and teaching only from 1 to about 5 o'clock, you have your mornings to yourself
so you have time to just rest or you can use that time to just travel and learn a little bit about your town or your city
So how has it been so far, I mean, arey you okay with the treatment, benefits, what problems do you see in this program...
...that you should warn others about if there is
Actually, I find it... a pretty good time since I've been with this program, I got to meet a lot of people...
expand my contact database on Facebook a lot more than I thought I would living back in the States eventhough I already have...
kind of a large list of people... but it also has given me time for the first time in my life to just relax a little bit more
A lot of people who come to teach here, or I guess in any country, we're suddenly faced with a lot of extra free time
more than what we are used to back in our own countries either because we're still students or because we just had to work extra jobs...
So here, what you earn is just enough for... you don't have to get extra jobs just to survive every day...
Right, the stipend that we're given in TALK is more than enough to live a comfortable life here, in addition to the fact that...
since we expats are working for the government, we don't have to pay rent. We pay utilities, but we don't pay rent unless we're...
dissatisfied with what our schools have set up for us... People, when they come here, not just TALK scholars...
but a lot of EPIK teachers and GEPIK teachers, private academy teachers or hagweon seonsangnim, we tend to save money...
to go back to school later on...
About life here in Korea, how is it?
We know that it is a culture that is a bit different than in the United States, and you teach English to Korean children...
Yes
Is it difficult to do that?
Well, it is a bit hard if you don't speak in Korean...
But now that you can speak a little, is it easier to teach English to those kids?
It depends on the students, because there are those who learn in the academies and those who do not know any English
-They don't want to learn... -Yeah...
They don't want to learn, and they are also afraid to talk to English speakers
But before coming here to Korea, did you undergo any training to teach English to students...
At this moment I don't have much problems in teaching my students because I already have experience, but in the beginning...
It was very difficult...
But given the opportunity, what do you prefer, teach English to children or to adults?
Depends, yes it depends. Here in Korea it is a bit weird because there are times when children can speak English more than adults
it is because kids are not afraid, and sometimes they do not have an accent
About your future plans, until when do you plan to stay here in Korea?
I am not sure about it as of now because I like living here in Korea, and I also want to attend a university in Seoul next year
-Hankuk University of Foreign Studies -Good university...
Do you want to continue working as a language teacher?
-No, in the future I want to be a translator -So, Korean-English?
-Maybe... Right now I am... -Spanish-English?
-Yes, Spanish to English, and Arabic as well -Arabic?
Yes, if my Korean would continue to improve... I will add it to my "repertoire", yea�