By For those of you that teach English in Korea it appears that your ability to conduct private tutoring legally is at least being discussed:
An immigration officer indicated that the government may consider revising the current regulations to allow foreigners to tutor legally for money.
“We understand that the efficacy of the law banning private tutoring for foreigners is questionable as we don’t have sufficient manpower to root out the illegality.
“However, this doesn’t mean foreigners are allowed to breach the regulations,” Kim Jeong-do, an immigration officer told The Korea Times.
He added that foreigners are informed that they are only permitted to work at the workplaces designated by their visas, so not being aware of the illegality of private tutoring should not be an excuse.
“In Japan, they don’t restrict the workplaces of foreign nationals. If calls demanding that the restrictions should be lifted grow, we may consider it, but we don’t have any immediate plans to do so now,” he said.
The Korea Immigration Service has maintained that foreigners should not engage in any other activities beyond those their visa status permits. [Korea Times]
Read the rest but according to the article the government is looking at legalizing private English tutoring and then taxing it. Also according to the article people teaching these private English lessons can make 50,000 to 70,000 won an hour. Do you guys really get paid that much for private tutoring?
6:18 am on February 8th, 2010 1
Anti-English Spectrum is going to have a field day with this.
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6:55 am on February 8th, 2010 2
“Also according to the article people teaching these private English lessons can make 50,000 to 70,000 won an hour.”
I don’t know about that, but what I do know is that it’s peanuts compared to what those celebrity cram school teachers are making…You know, the ones classes are held in an amphitheater that seats 120 people. Ironically, the Korean media loves to write stories praising those people.
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7:21 am on February 8th, 2010 3
…the ones whose classes…
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7:38 am on February 8th, 2010 4
I ran this story by my wife. She used to own an English hagwon. She figures all it will accomplish is make it easier for the government to turn the screws on foreigners who do privates. Sure, they probably won’t run the risk of being deported anymore, but you can expect the amount fines collected from them to shoot through the roof.
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12:03 pm on February 8th, 2010 5
They need to go after the SOFA visa spouses that teach privates on the side. I turn those bitches in every chance I get. Let them live and work on base in Little America for Uncle Sam. But as soon as they start tapping the local economy, they cross the line. They are on the turf of ESL teachers and taking away business, and even jobs. They can’t have their cake and eat it, too.
Do English teachers a favor and narc out any SOFA bastards teaching on the side! Deport ‘m all!
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12:22 pm on February 8th, 2010 6
Funny Teadrinker, some of those people make over 10 mil a month. I met one of those 990, high paying wonders in Incheon one time and the guy’s grammar wasn’t that good (especially comparatives/superlatives and adverbs) and his pronunciation sucked. He asked me one day, “Are you finishid for the night?” Really? “Finishid” And Koreans go on about foreigners not being qualified! Yeah, some of them are virtually fluent, I know.
However, I’ve never agreed with people teaching “privates” and what not. I never did them. It took work away from people like me. Although the gyopos and Korean teachers where I used to work taught privates all the time and didn’t report it as income. They’re Korean so it’s ok to break the law and not pay income tax. Funny how those illegal acts aren’t even mentioned by the Korean media and groups like the AES. At least not that I’ve heard anyway. Has anyone else heard of Korean nationals teaching privates and being busted for it?
It’s nice to see Koreans doing something positive like this. Maybe they learned something from the Japanese, doubt it though. Shit, you can freelance in Vietnam and it’s a COMMUNIST country.
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February 8th, 2010 at 6:12 pm
Yes, JohnT. Illiterate bitter White trailer trash ESL teachers don’t do privates, only the Koreans do.
Korea should weed out these friken losers like JohnT before they are allowed into Korea. That way they can stay as unemployed welfare bums in their own countries. What’s Korea thinking of, giving jobs and opportunities to these people who think they deserve silver spoons in their mouths.
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2:39 pm on February 8th, 2010 7
Ironically, the Korean media loves to write stories praising those people.
The Korean media also loves to write stories talking about how hagwons where they work are the bane of a fair society.
Anyway, don’t expect this to happen for a while. If it does happen, it will be legal for registered tutoring with your hagwon’s permission, which some hagwons will not be too willing to do (some will, though, to keep a good teacher). As long as 신원보증 is necessary to get a visa, that will be an issue.
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February 8th, 2010 at 8:48 pm
“The Korean media also loves to write stories talking about how hagwons where they work are the bane of a fair society.”
But they never write stories praising foreign hagwon teachers, do they?
“Anyway, don’t expect this to happen for a while. If it does happen, it will be legal for registered tutoring with your hagwon’s permission, which some hagwons will not be too willing to do.”
I don’t work for a hagwon. Whether they allow those on work visas to teach outside of their schools or not doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve been a permanent resident for many years. I could get a license this afternoon if I wanted to become a tutor.
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February 8th, 2010 at 9:21 pm
They do. I’ll try to make a list of the ones I spot in the future.
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2:45 pm on February 8th, 2010 8
I make 50-70k an hour. After 6 years experience teaching in Korea and getting a Master’s Degree in TESOL. I could probably charge more, but that is the price I charge for driving somewhere, teaching for 1-2 hours and then driving home. And of course, since I have an F-2 visa it is already legal for me. I work 1 job in now, it is 2 hours work but includes another 3 hours travel time/waiting for the train. I wouldn’t do it for less.
For new teachers starting out…they usually charge 25-35k/hour.
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4:29 pm on February 8th, 2010 9
Now you know why so many people do privates.
Seriously, though, it depends on the area and what the market will bear. It also depends on the student – a corporate executive can afford 70k / hour better than a college student can.
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February 8th, 2010 at 8:56 pm
“Now you know why so many people do privates.”
Because they pay 2.5 million won per month to those with an MA, 2.8 if they have a PhD?
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7:59 pm on February 8th, 2010 10
Story added…
Your story has been featured on Japundit! Here is the link: http://www.japundit.com/Korea/Private_English_Tutoring_Could_Be_Legalized_In_Korea...