My contact, Ms.Nokes, graduated from a US school with a degree in business. Knowing she was not interested in business as a career, she talked with friends and family about her ambitions to travel. She was presented with an opportunity to travel to South Korea to get paid to teach English and decided it was a win-win. Her food and housing is paid for, and her salary allows her to travel frequently. She has noticed that many colleagues are teaching in S.Korea because they did not want to go through all the certifications necessary in their own countries.
In terms of poverty, she says there is a noticeable difference. She works at a private school in an English-speaking village. Public school children in grade 6 spend a week of 'camp' at the school to teach them subjects such as cooking, science, world currencies, global connections, and world festivals all in English. She expressed that the level of English competency in children is much higher with families who have money. Privileged children are often in English classes year round and many travel extensively, which gives them an opportunity to use their language skills outside of school. Underprivileged children are often embarrassed by their lack of experience visiting other countries and often have a very different view of the world than those who have.
I think it is unfortunate that the children only get a week of English intensive classes, and that in her area it is restricted to grade 6. One week is not enough for someone to fully grasp the basics of our language (or any, for that matter!!)
