When you arrive to Korea for the first time. The most important thing you can do is fake it until you make it. Koreans hate nothing more than when a newbie says “I don’t know what to do” . Although that is probably true for most first time teachers be sure to just pretend that you do in the beginning as your first impression is so very important. You’ll figure it out quickly so just hang on until you do.

The other thing to do is accept you won’t be great in the beginning. There’s really nothing that can prepare you for ESL in Korea but ESL in Korea. Being a successful ESL teacher in Korea just takes some time and a desire to improve oneself. So be sure to be nice to yourself for the first month and just try to learn as much as you can.

While in the classroom be sure not to take things too seriously. You are going to be doing this for 4-6 hours a day so why not enjoy it and have some fun. It’s not rocket science and if the students are having fun they will absorb more than if you have a rigid perfectly constructed lesson plan.