The web is a great place for current and aspiring ESL teachers to find information about networking, job opportunities, education programs, teaching certifications, and other things that can move a career forward. The following ten sites provide all of these professional development resources and more:

The Apple - This Monster site was created specifically for teachers who want to explore new careers, read articles about teaching, and network with other teachers and educational professionals.

We the Teachers - We the Teachers is a social networking and professional development site for teachers. Members can share lesson plans, join teacher groups, start a teacher group, and network in the site forum.


Teachers Support Network - The Teachers Support Network is a good place to find information about teaching careers, state certifications, job hunting, and online resources.

NCATE The NCATE, a professional accrediting organization for U.S. schools, colleges, and departments of education, provides information about careers in education, teacher preparation programs, financial aid resources, and accredited education programs.

All Education Schools - All Education Schools provides information about 1,100 schools offering on campus and online education programs. The site also offers articles about careers and an ESL education resource center.

Online Masters Degree - This site is a good place for current ESL teachers to learn more about getting a masters in education and other types of masters degrees online.

English as a Second Language - The English as a Second Language site provides a wide range of resources for ESL teachers. In addition to a forum and a blog, the site also offers articles on teaching strategies and careers.

ESL Teachers Board - This ESL community allows teachers to search for jobs and post their resume online. Other site features include articles on teaching, self growth, and professional growth.

Teachers-Teachers.com - This site wasn't created specifically for ESL teachers, but it is still a good place to search for ESL teaching jobs online. Teachers can join for free and are able to view job postings from 1,740 school systems and private schools nationwide.

Teach Abroad - The Teach Abroad site helps ESL teachers explore job opportunities around the world. The site also provides articles about teaching abroad and ESL-related careers.

Guest post from education writer Karen Schweitzer.

Incheon, in retaliation to a particular ‘hagwan’/institute’s failure to pay employees on time and threatening to dismiss teachers unjustly, the local government gave the go ahead for teacher’s to form a union. 

Jung said five native English teachers at a private language institute in Incheon were given approval to establish the union by a ward office on Nov. 24.

The union, headed by Evan Lloyd from the United States, has nine members, he said. Native English teachers belonging to the institute are eligible to join, he added. The union head was unable to be immediately reached for comment.

A pattern of "unlawful" behavior by the employer - unpaid overtime and threats of dismissal - drove them to unionize, Jung said.

The five founding members decided to set up the union after the employer forced them to work 40 hours per week rather than 30 hours stipulated in their contract. - Korea Times

This is the second legally formed foreign teacher’s union permitted in Korea.  The first foreign teacher’s union was permitted in Gangnam, 2005. 


Foreign teachers from around the world have come to know Korea as a place to be cautious of English institutes.  Late pay, unjust layoffs, unpaid overtime and inadequate living accommodations are just some of the things that a vast number of teachers have experienced.  By allowing teachers to form unions, Korean establishments might be forced into re-evaluating past action.

The issues of country loyalty may not be the only problem, AES may be facing.  Andrea Vandom, English teacher, is pending a case in Constitutional Court of Korea - against E-2 Visa regulations, for foreigners.  She wrote a letter, to the web host of AES, proposing they shutdown their website.

Vandom writes:

”Anti-English Spectrum’s Cafe Violates Korean Law and Naver Cafe’s Operating Principles

The Anti-English Spectrum group hosts “promotional posters” that promote racial hatred by calling foreigners “Black pig[s],” and telling the Korean public that foreigners have “AIDS,” engage in “sexual molestation” and are “targeting children.” This group’s highly defamatory statements violate Article Ga-4 (Defamatory Posts) of Naver cafe’s terms of service agreement and rise to the level of violations of the Korean Criminal Code."

Vandom also suggests, that hosting AES is the equivalent to the KKK website being directly hosted by Google.


To date, there have been no government assurances for foreigner's safety, from AES or affiliated vigilante groups. Nor is it known, who originally posted the "How to Molest your Students" - whether it may be a Korean citizen or a Non-Korean citizen.  Adding to these concerns - the affiliated companies, to AES's web host,  has yet to have taken any action.

According to Lee Eun-Eung, he claims appropriate action have been taken by the ESL community members:

"Recently, innocent/good foreigners, who are also being harmed because of some other troublesome foreigners, are submitting reports to our cafe immediately whenever they see a troublesome foreigner, as a part of their efforts for self-purification."

Despite these assurances from AES, foreigners may still wonder why the police haven't reacted to the stalking and harassment (which come from AES, itself).  Perhaps, as AES suggests, it's because foreigners are afraid of having their identity exposed, while subjected to investigation.

As far as the Korean Media's Concern, AES is often credited as a source of information; mainly for 'informative' news on the illegal activities of foreigners.  However, AES can not take direct credit for these news articles, but it seems Lee Eun-Eung can, and has.

The following are some networks that have shown affiliate with AES:

CBS, Olive TV, Mail Economic Daily, No Cut News, Kyunghyjang Daily, Yonhap News, Segye Ilbo, and Chosun Ilbo.

Foreigners are becoming discouraged.  The attitude of the government has also sided with AES.  In 2007, the Korean Government credits the E2 Visa criminal background check changes, to the Citizens' Movement to Expel Illegal Foreign Language Teachers - aka Anti English Spectrum.

English Teachers agree, that Teachers, who work with children should be required of criminal background checks.  However, this does not lessen the concern of the fact that the Korean Government has affiliates with a vigilante group, AES.

New University news also reported many of the current concerns - and appropriately ends their report with this:

AES is not a reflection of Korean culture. Koreans are kind and generous. It is upsetting that a group such as AES could potentially diminish these qualities. - Andrea Vandom.

By: Jyu Young Lee

I returned to New Zealand with the knowledge my parents were seriously ill. After a few days in Auckland, I sent an email offering to minister to them. When I arrived at the bus station in my home town Gisborne, my elder brother was waiting for me. Every other time, my now ninety one year old father had met me at the airport or bus station. At dinner at his house, my brother made the family proposal that I change my career to care giver. In the old days, that role was given to the unmarried daughter. Bed pans would replace markers and chalk. He gave me a piece of paper with daily instructions. I noted one instruction was do not mention controversial political subjects or write letters to the Gisborne newspaper. I demurred the proposal, saying that my parents were in their own home tyrants.

When I went to my parents' home I was relieved to see Mother in her clothes in the living room. Father was in bed and reduced to a walker. A special bedroom had been prepared for me.


The next day, Father collapsed in my arms. I held him up in the bathroom. Mother came in and said, ''He is leaving us". Then Father opened his eyes and has been in a fit mental state ever since.

The next day ambulances took both my parents away to the Gisborne public hospital. Father's last words before he left his home, was a monologue how he flew his aeroplanes in Asia in World War Two. The neighbours had become increasingly excited by the daily and nightly visits of ambulances.

My other brother and sister arrived from out of town. I have been an ESL University teacher for two years in Mongolia and Iraq. But when I am with my family in New Zealand, I return to my place as the retarded member.

My mother spent a day in an oxygen tent. Both parents are now in a much better state. Father was moved to the Rehab Unit last night. Mother does not think they will be returning to their home. She has been booked for a heart operation. She says if the prognosis is not relative good health she will decline it.

I may be returning to China as a University or high school ESL teacher. However comments by ESL readers about me have unnerved me. So this is the last edition of  A Letter From China.

Goethe

In 2007, after the Christopher Paul Neil incident, Koreans learned a hard lesson: not all foreigners are good. More so, not all English Teachers may be good. But whether the South Korean population had already a discreet knowledge of this possibility, the recent activities of a vigilante group called Anti English Spectrum (AES) treats this as an entirely new and historical phenomenon.

AES's fundamentals are to save Korean women from foreigners and protect children from foreign influence. In essence, AES believes Koreans, who encounter foreign influence, are victims.


In the following statement, the leader of AES explains a flaw in the way government empowers these victims:

"When people suffer abuses such as violence from foreigners, if they directly contact the police, then their identities become exposed and they have to be subjected to investigation, and therefore because of that sense of burden, our members receive counseling through our cafe and they also report such abuse cases (of being victimized)."

AES was first formed, in reaction to an anonymous forum user who shared a post called "How to Molest Your Students." As the title implies, it listed a series of instructional techniques to take advantage of children. But it wasn't only the Korean population that was outraged. Members of the ESL Community were infuriated as well.

"wheh...tlqkf shaemfdk," one responder says, so dumbfounded and unable to produce coherent words.

And the list of responses continue, anywhere from "What are you thinking?" to simply, "Idiot."

From this isolated incident, to another, the AES began its witch hunt. The speculated leader of AES, Lee Eun-Eung (Internet Cafe owner of the AES website) has openly admitted to stalking 'suspected' foreigners, for up to 150 days. The end results are to gather as many violations and compile it as a case against the entire peninsula of Korea. Those who object to this cause AES brands as "Traitors" of Korea, especially Korean women who date Foreign men.

Some ESL members question AES on this matter, as one anonymous English Teacher asked, "How does this save Korean women?"

By: Jyu Young Lee

Emma Jones, an outgoing English teacher from Caerphilly, UK, died in her apartment on November 11.  Emma was a 24-year-old, energetic, and well loved teacher. The young lady had completed her sociology major last year and had been teaching eight-year-olds at the ‘International School of Choueifat’ in Khalifa City. Her room mate had found her collapsed on the floor of her room and immediately called for help and attempted CPR; unfortunately, Emma died prior to the ambulance arrival. So far Emma Jones’ death has been “unascertained” and described as “mysterious” by the local authorities in Dhabi, and news reports.  

Related:

Wales Online

Caerphilly Observer

BBC

Last Sunday I got a morning mobile call from my HOD. The headmaster Mr Chua from Wonderland School Attached To Sun Yat Sen University has ordered me to go "at once" to the school. That sounded like a bad dream. Wonderland school is about an hour's taxi drive from my school. I had originally been promised by Mr Chua a high school teaching position at Wonderland. Only when I arrived in Guangzhou did I find out I would be teaching instead at Mr Chua's Cinderella elementary school. Mr Chua I had never met. He is the big man. His views of contracts are clearly very elastic. His schools have no attachment to Sun Yat Sen University except in possibly his delusion. I had specifically in New Zealand written to him I would not teach at an elementary school.
 

When I arrived at Wonderland,I found the headmaster's office. He was in his office with a young North American I found out was my recruiter. Mr Chua shook my hand in a grumpy way. Then we went to the cafeteria to have lunch. The recruiter was friendly and I began to think this was a social invitation. When we returned to the headmaster's office,I was left outside with the recruiter. The recruiter went through a few issues that were contradictory and I was easily able to explain. One was too much drilling, the other marking answers correct that were different from the textbook! The school's educational resources are very meagre. I am expected to teach to forty students for forty minutes from one textbook and no supplementary materials. Then I got the bomb shell. Mr Chua wanted me to come to Wonderland to teach high school classes science and math. I had to honestly say I could not teach those subjects. Then said the recruiter I would have to finish teaching immediately but Mr Chua would supply me an air ticket back to New Zealand. The recruiter tip toed back into the office to see if I could get a reprieve. No avail. I said to the recruiter,the contract was not worth the paper it was written on. He demurred. China he said was run by big men. If their plans are upset, they will cut through any contractual document. I asked to be refunded for my taxi trip. Mr Chua's report was relayed back, take it up with the other school. I never got the taxi trip refund. I returned to my apartment by bus.

The next morning I went to my school. My HOD knew nothing about my dismissal. I removed all teaching materials that I had imported from New Zealand. I said to my HOD, "Now stew in your own juice".

The HOD said to me quietly after I collected my due wages and the air ticket, that the deputy principal of her school said to her, "He is a good man but too old for these students".  She said she was sorry. One more male teacher has been pushed out of elementary school teaching. Male teachers are given the tough classes in a feminist run teaching environment, forbidden their evolutionary advantage, and then let go.

I took the flight to Auckland on Wednesday morning. I am now in Auckland and am looking for ESL positions in New Zealand and overseas. New Zealand has many ESL schools. But they hardly ever advertise for teaching vacancies. I will try to find out how ESL teachers and ESL schools in New Zealand come together.

I think a lesson for ESL teachers interested in China is: Chinese Han culture divides into three classes. The aristocrats, the peasants and the merchants. Chinese merchants have been traditionally the least esteemed class because of their materialistic non Confucian values. Don't take on faith the promises or contracts of Chinese businessmen in China. Mr Chua for one is a fraud. That is not to say there are not very ethical Chinese businessmen and business women in China. But until you are in China, you won't know what will be expected of you.

Goethe

TO BE CONTINUED  

TOEFL, Test of English as a Foreign Language, is the widest used English testing system in the world today.  The test was first made public in 1964 and is comprised of reading, listening, speaking, and writing sections.  However, the Korea ministry of education has decided to create there own nation wide test.

"The new exam surpasses other similar exams in its credibility because of the fact that it is supported and approved by the state," said Minister of Education, Science and Technology Ahn Byong-man during an exclusive interview with The Korea Times last Tuesday. Korea Times

For decades, Korean students have struggled with the English college entererance exam.  TOEFL, a numbered based evaluation for student’s English proficiency, has proven to be high pressure and has driven the English language market through the roof.  As TOEFL is an American based company the tens of billions of won the Koreans have spent on it does little to  benefit their own economy.  In order to partly alleviate the competitive aspect of the exam while at the same time curb the high costs, the new testing system will now be just pass-or-fail and be completely run by the country.

Because the new test is intended to provide a pass-or-fail result for applicants, its adoption in the annual standardized college entrance exams means a significant disincentive for students to take private English lessons. Korea Times

The new state run test will be more comparable to the Japanese EIKEN test, Test in Practical English Proficiency. 

Often called STEP Eiken or the STEP Test — is an English language test conducted by a Japanese non-profit organization, the Society for Testing English Proficiency (STEP), and backed by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT)…

A number of schools outside Japan use Eiken as an admission qualification for international students. In Canada and the United States, approximately 300 colleges and universities recognize Eiken… Wikipedia.org

It is also hoped that the new Korean testing system will be globally recognized for college acceptance for international students.

Related article: High demand causes 'Toefl crisis' in South Korea

With my legs stuck firmly in the mud, and my shoes having been swallowed by the red muck pretending to be the road, I had to pause for a moment to laugh. The self-inflicted suffering that a budget traveler seems to attract deserves no complaints. When you're cutting costs in foreign countries, ridiculous situations happen constantly: sleeping three-to-a-bed in a nasty beach bungalow (Ko Samet, Thailand), unwittingly eating “happy snake” minced-meat salad (Siem Reap, Cambodia), returning to your hotel to discover they've put out the red light (Sao Do, Vietnam), or taking a hot mineral bath deep within the rice paddy (Sam Neua, Laos). A SE Asian cycling adventure certainly includes a wide variety of moments!

The journey from rural southern Cambodia to the Vietnamese city of Ha Tien, right across the border, was supposed to be a leisurely afternoon ride, including a stop at a pepper farm, with the only time pressure coming from needing to cross the border before it closed. Our last day in Kep – the unofficial “crab capitol” of Cambodia – started on a bad note, as one member of our cycling squad woke up sick. That set off a chain reaction: our planned departure time of 10am was rolled back until noon; our breakfast plan at a local bakery became canceled due to a holiday; our plans of visiting the pepper farm were scratched entirely. In the town's main circle, eating some of the Larabars we carry with us while holding our bicycles, we re-examined the situation. With about 50 kilometers to go, a decent-sized town on the map (Kampong Trach, about 15 km from the border) seemed like a good place to eat lunch.


Off we pedaled then, into the mid-day heat, through several fishing villages, giving countless waves and greetings, all the while keeping up a decent pace despite the distractions.  By the time we pulled into Kampong Trach, and finally found the non-English sign pointing towards the border, a lunch-stop sounded like a risky maneuver – showing up late at a land-border crossing isn't a good idea.  We grabbed some sodas, a warm-and-flat Pepsi or Mirinda on ice is a wonderful source of sugar energy, before turning off the paved highway onto a red-dirt road.  Cambodia has plenty of roads that aren't sealed, we'd cycled them before and never had any real problems, but this time around the entire region had been completely flooded just the week before.  Within five minutes our speed had slowed, and swerving was replacing pedaling as our primary concern.  The fifteen kilometers stretched out in front of us like one hundred, and the border started to feel like a distant dream, though we'd already biked over half our total distance for the day.

Amidst the fields of rice paddy the rut of a road dragged on, yet no one was upset or frustrated, not even us.  Everyone was friendly: boys leading oxen paused to say hello, passing motorcyclists smiled over their shoulders, farmers stood up in their fields for a better view of the unusual parade of five mud-splattered Western mountain bikers.  The terrain and time slowly passed by, avoiding potholes and mud-pits is an intensive process, one eventually destined for failure.  As my bicycle came to a sudden halt, both myself and it turned a redder shade of brown.  Wheels and shoes completely gooped, ankles and brakes totally caked, it was a sloppy and heavy unwanted mess.  Dragging my bicycle out almost resulted in a total disaster, but at least that was narrowly avoided!

Heels heavy with a few extra pounds of mud, we pedaled onwards, eventually having to cross a sea of mud where the entire road had turned into a swamp.  Tired and sweaty, an easy ride had become quite challenging, but at last we arrived at the Cambodian check-post.  The guards couldn't help but chuckle at our plight, splattered with red and brown, we were a filthy mess but a living testament to the willpower of foolhardy foreign travelers.

A border crossing is usually a two-stop affair, first to get stamped out of the country you're departing, second – and more time consuming – is entering the new country.  However, we required a third stop, at the Cambodian water-tank/shower/bathroom to get the abundant mud off of our bicycles and ourselves.  Despite the slothful nature of a socialist country's check-in, we still spent more time trying, and failing, to actually get clean.

The remaining ride to Ha Tien, about five kilometers on a decent paved road, went smoothly as dusk approached, as did finding a hotel, though by then we were too exhausted to search much.  Our bicycles had to wait until the next morning to get clean, but we weren't that patient.  After a long blissful hot shower each, we staggered next door to a restaurant.  Our first meal in Vietnam appropriately involved rice, along with mixed vegetables and fresh shrimp in a garlic sauce.  While we could only manage one beer that night, it was necessary to toast to my fifth wedding anniversary.  Celebrated in two countries, it was tougher and sweatier than the years before, but certainly the most fulfilling and adventurous yet!

The Muths' Blog: http://themuths.blogspot.com
Anderson's Travel Articles: http://www.travelfish.org – appearing every Wednesday

Earlier this year, the Korean government established that citizens from countries with trade agreements are now permitted to receive E-2 visas.  The E-2 visa is the most common visa granted to foreign language teachers from English speaking countries (Canada, USA, Australia, UK, New Zealand, South Africa and Ireland).  Teachers are required to have a bachelor degree, submit a criminal record check and pass a health exam.  However, teachers from countries that are not English as a first language, but have trade agreements with Korea, must possess: “both a bachelor degree and teaching license from their native country.” ESL Daily  Further, teachers that do not belong to the above seven major English speaking countries, may only apply to Korean public schools and not private institutions (hakwan).


Joongang Daily Reports:

“The Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed between Korea and India last Friday has opened a 1.2 billion-strong Indian market. We expect a number of qualified English teachers from India will come here,” said the source.

The ministry will recruit around 100 Indians early next year and if the trial is successful, it could raise the number to 300. The source said there is a high chance that those teachers will be dispatched to regions outside the Seoul metropolitan area where there is a shortage of native English teachers.

Korean schools introduced the so-called English Program in Korea project in 1995 for “globalized education” and set the goal of allocating one native English teacher for conversation with students for every class. Currently, there are 7,088 assistant native English teachers employed but they are from seven English-speaking countries - the United States, Australia, Britain, Ireland, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. Their monthly salary ranges between 2 million won ($1,700) and 2.5 million won… Joongang Daily

It is unclear whether or not Indian teachers will receive the same contract as the teachers in the past have, and if they will receive the same monthly salary.  However, if the T.A.L.K. program gives any indication of pay difference… expect some changes. 

Related:

Korea loosens E2 Visa Rule for those in the T.A.L.K. Program

Seoul: Newly Elected superintendent of public schools vows: “I will make sure that all schools will have native English teachers”

Korea Teaching Visa Opens Up to Non-Native English Speakers

Korea: E2 Opens Doors, but not too Wide