“All You Need is Love” – How I Became an English Teacher in South Korea

Did you know that with a 4-year college degree, in any field, you can teach English abroad in countries like China, Thailand, Japan, Indonesia etc. and make a good salary with benefits and sometimes even paid housing? Let me tell you about how I did just that!

In 2019, I made one of the biggest decisions and transitions of my young adult life… I decided to move to South Korea… random right? Fresh out of college with zero job prospects, adult life was looking really ghetto. I had always heard about people going to teach English in other countries, but I had never imagined that for myself. Funnily enough, that became my reality for the next two years. I arrived in South Korea in February 2019 excited, curious, and clueless. I had always been fond of Asian culture, as I had worked in a Chinese restaurant all through high school and college, but I knew nothing about South Korea… like I didn’t even know about BTS, thats how clueless I was (BTS is the hottest male k-pop group in the world).

I was going to be a PRESCHOOL English teacher! And not just any English teacher, but one that was in charge of their own class! Now in South Korea, typically as an English teacher you float around the school teaching lessons to various grade levels, and if you are a preschool teacher than you may teach a special lesson about a topic, while the main Korean teacher takes a break. I was going to be the main teacher of a group of little people, for all class subjects, field trips, performances, potty breaks…everything! I began working at Sogang University Language Program (SLP) Preschool on March 1, 2019. I secured this job by working with Planet ESL recruitment agency, who submitted my resume to various schools and set up interviews with ones that were interested in me.

Our class name was LOVE, and our room was decked out in pink tables, chairs, and cubbies. I had twelve students, two boys and ten girls. I remember on the first day of school I just looked at them… and they looked back at me…wide-eyed. I said “Hello” and they immediately came running to me with smiles curiously looking at my hair, touching my skin, and saying “Jasmine Teacher.” And that was my new name for the next year. “Jasmine Teacher.” Well, if you say it with a Korean accent its more like “Ja-suh-min Tea-ch-uhhh” On that day we became LOVE class and we spent the next year loving, laughing, and learning English together.

Teaching English to preschoolers is complicated…most of my students didn’t speak any English. A few had done pre-preschool programs at SLP and knew the basics, but not enough to hold full conversations or express themselves. Luckily, in the Korean preschool setting there is always a Korean teachers’ aid who will translate or reexplain things to help the students understand something better. My aid’s names was Selena. A unique collaboration between English and Korean, the students, in a couple months, were asking questions, sharing about their weekends, and even making jokes in English. One of my favorite memories was when one of my students Ellie asked to go to the bathroom. I said “No,” and then cracked a smile. She looked confused, but I then told her to go ahead and go. A few months later I made the same joke and she said “Teacher you are making joke.” How clever had she become to recognize that this was indeed a joke in a different language.

We read, sang, spoke, wrote, danced, and even went on field trips. Each month the entire school would go on a field trip; one of my favorite was the aquarium. It was so cute watching the kids in awe of the sea creatures. It’s funny how when we are adults we forget how amazing it actually is to see those kinds of things. We also did monthly school wide birthdays assemblies. Each class would perform a special song to honor those who had a birthday that month. The parents would also bring cakes and gifts for their child’s respective class mates. Check out the cake that Ellie’s mom got for her birthday for our class… its literally fondant figurines of all of us – I am still convinced that birthday assembly days were for the parents to show off.

The school year began to wind down in February 2020 and we began preparing for graduation. I was almost brought to tears seeing my little ones in their graduation gowns getting their photos done. Is this what it is like when you have kids?

Unfortunately, we never had the ceremony. Late February, the entire school and world shutdown due to COVID-19. While South Korea managed the pandemic exceptionally, we were still forced to end all programs. Many schools shut their doors for months, including SLP. I never got to say goodbye to my students, but I am so proud to have been their teacher. I spent my next and final year in Korea teaching virtually at another academy, but that experience did not compare to the one that I had with LOVE class. Leaving behind my life in America to teach abroad was one of the best decisions I ever made. I discovered my passion for teaching and working with children, which was something I never imagined for myself. I remember feeling so unsure and anxious of what was next for my life post college. Who knew, all I really needed was LOVE.