David Adams
BA English Language for TEFL - Korea (South)
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My dream is to teach English abroad, and the Far East really appealed. I jumped at this opportunity as it involved 3 weeks of peer-to-peer English teaching which I absolutely loved. For the remaining 3 weeks I took a Korean Language Beginner class which was perfect for the environment and for my potential future.
Dankook runs cultural activities including: temple stay, baseball game, Korean music taster, mud festivals and theme parks. Public transport is a dream. The host university have a team of interns if you do need any help or assistance so please do not stress!
What I gained
Learning Korean really helped me and gave me incredible confidence, having not had any real exposure to the language before!
Personally, it was very fulfilling - going far from home and not knowing anyone. I handled it well, got to connect with a wide range of people and made lifelong friends with some of my students.
Professionally, I feel confident that I made the correct choice career-wise and it’s given me invaluable experience and a real boost to my CV!
Highlight of my trip
Definitely the teaching and team-building days, along with being shown the best restaurants and dishes by the Korean students! I also got to explore Korea, as this program does allow a decent amount of free time and I went to several Korean football games which was fun. I made friends at all the games!
Some practical tips
Pack an umbrella: June – August is rainy season in Korea!
Pack lightly - it’s still very humid
You could get a head start on learning Korean, even basics such as numbers and restaurant/travel vocab
Get a wifi sim or "egg" at the airport/any mobile provider
Go with an open mind and embrace new things!
Attending the summer school is an ideal chance to get experience abroad without extending your degree; I would really encourage anyone "on the fence" to take these wonderful opportunities.
