What's up with South Korea??? - Part 1

I knew you'd ask the question, so I decided to answer it from the get go.

Teaching English as a second language (i.e. TEFL, ESL etc.) has been around for decades. Japan was one of the first nations to formalize the process of recruiting native English speakers to come teach their students and business people. Today one can teach English in almost any country, to almost anyone. But not all countries are created equal.

Japan for example, has become SO popular as a destination (due to the "first to market" principle, along with strong marketing), that they no longer need to seduces Americans or Brits or Ausies to fly over. China is fast becoming this way as well - thank the 2008 Olympic Games for a surge in its popularity.

Then with the rate at which Americans are learning Spanish as their second language, South and Central America are also becoming popular destinations for the prospective English teachers who are a bit more risk adverse - not being sure if they could stomach the Asian culture, language, or the [insert notorious Asian food item here].

The only other notable continent would be Europe, West and East. And the sad truth is, those in the European Union care only to recruit from the UK. Don't ask me why. And yes there are those Eastern Euro countries not yet in the EU - yes you could go teach in Prauge, but understand the situation is just like that in Japan and China - low demand, high supply.

Admittedly, there is also the Middle East, but hey, if you are that adventurous, more power to you. Just don't expect any quality information out of me, other than I know the pay is really the big reason people go.

To be continued...