South Korea Reviews – ESL Teacher Testimonials

안녕하세요! Making the decision to come to Korea to teach was a good one. I knew the opportunity to work in another country would give me the experiences of being a teacher, learning new culture and language. I had never traveled outside of the United States before and knew I wanted to experience something exciting and challenging. Reach to Teach provided the steps to make teaching in Korea a reality.

I came to Korea in August 2009 and am currently employed under EPIK (English Program in Korea). Last semester I taught grades four through six in elementary school. This semester I teach grades five and six. So far it has been a great experience. Teaching is most rewarding when you see the student understands the information given and is able to use it while communicating. There’s never a class that isn’t filled with laughter. It’s my opinion that being a teacher gives you the chance to also be a student. I’m amazed at what types of things I learn every day.

Korea is a great place to work. Not only are you able to live within your means, you’re able to send money home, save money and travel in and outside the country without worry.

I’ve been in the city of Gwangju for seven months and I love my job. How many twenty-two year olds can say that? In less than five months I knew that Korea was the place for me and that I’d be staying another year. Because of that decision, I’ve signed up for an online TEFL so that I can learn more about what it is that I do. I must say that I’m very happy here. I have good friends, places to go, things to do and not much to worry about. I call that living the life.

My decision to move overseas was completely spontaneous. I had just graduated from university, and was having a hard time finding a job at home. In a moment of intense frustration at the job market, I decided that I would move to Asia. I spent a brief period of time looking for teaching jobs online, and then I stumbled across Reach To Teach. From the moment I applied, I felt confident that I was making the right choice.

Of course, I had a million questions about living in Korea, about teaching English, and about the application process. Mike was able to answer all of my questions flawlessly. I was also in a rush to get started in Korea. With Reach To Teach, I was encouraged to go forward with the move at whatever pace I decided was best for me. And Reach To Teach offered me ongoing support throughout the application process and after the move.

Now that I live here, I am frequently reminded of how glad I am that I chose to find a job through Reach To Teach. I have heard first hand so many horror stories about bad schools or living arrangements or contracts. Because of Reach To Teach, I work in a great school, I have very supportive co-workers, and I live in a great area. There have been some challenges, and moving to Asia is a huge adjustment, but I feel totally safe knowing that the Reach To Teach staff are always available to help me with any problems that I have.

I have had some amazing experiences in Asia. I have been able to travel and see parts of the world that may never have been available to me otherwise; I have made great friends, and I truly enjoy my job and my life. I recommend Reach To Teach whole-heartedly to anyone who wants to have the experience of a lifetime in Asia!

- Nichelle Reed

I was a teaching elementary school for the four years before I got involved with Reach To Teach. I was watching my friends go off, travel the world, and return home with incredible lessons and stories, and it struck a chord with me. It got to a point where I was just going to take a year off to travel, come back, and start things anew, when a friend suggested I teach abroad. Having that thought never cross my mind, I began the process of weeding through the web sites and information. I ended up interviewing with several different schools and agencies, but it was Reach To Teach that provided the comfort level and support system I wanted in order to take on the leap of faith that living and working abroad truly is.

At last count, I had one million and fourteen questions regarding living in a foreign country, teaching ESL, something even I was a bit uncomfortable with, and navigating the proper paperwork so that I’m legal. Both Mike and Mitch expected and anticipated that, and were far too wonderful, and quick, returning emails answering everything I could throw at them. Never at any point did I feel under prepared taking the next step of the process.

My appreciation of Reach To Teach grew once I was in Korea for a while and heard some nightmare stories of schools, situations, and placements. Struggling with the enormity of the change, it was always comforting to know there is a kind of safety-net underneath you to help if things did go awry. Because of their diligent work, my transition to culture and life in Korea was flawless.

- Jon Wick & Cassie Weightman

For as long as I can remember, I have always wanted to experience living in Asia. Coupled with my love for working with children, I thought that teaching would be a very ideal path to take. I came across the Reach To Teach web site when I was performing initial research on teaching English overseas. After reading through the web site, I decided to apply and was immediately contacted to set up an interview. I had the pleasure of speaking with Mike, who was able to answer all my questions and eliminate any sort of hesitation I had been feeling about moving half way across the world to teach English. I was provided with a great deal of information about Korea and after the interview, I was extremely excited to proceed.

Now that I’ve passed my 4-month mark in Korea, I can honestly say that I am extremely happy that I went through Reach To Teach. I have met other teachers here who have either found schools on their own or used other recruitment companies and many of them have had very negative experiences.

Overall, I am tremendously satisfied with how things worked out. It’s a very scary experience to move half way across the world, and it was nice to know that Reach To Teach was there the entire time to help guide me.

- Terry Gee

Being a recent college graduate, I was very unsure of myself. I had several friends who were about to being their adventures’ on the other side of the world teaching English in Asia. They were so enthusiastic and open-minded about what their lives’ would be like as foreigners that I became jealous. Having been adopted from South Korea I have always wanted to visit my home country, but had never gone. Now my friends were going to beat me to it!

I started to research my options and decided I would take the first leap and apply to Reach To Teach. I was pleasantly surprised. A lot of ESL recruiters are very lucrative and are only out to make money. Not Reach To Teach. The quality and commitment of Reach To Teach became clearly apparent during my interview. The staff is very efficient, and is always in communication with their applicants and current teachers. They are there for you every step of the way.

Reach To Teach genuinely wants to help you get to where you want to be. They are always thinking of you when they make decisions. I had a somewhat specific location in mind of where I wanted to teach in Korea and Reach To Teach made it happen. Mitch, my recruiter, was very informative, efficient, patient, and caring. He substantially alleviated the stresses and anxieties of the general process.

With Reach To Teach you get the complete package. Reach To Teach only deals with respectable Hagwans, and wants you to have the time of your life. As for now, all I can say is “One year is not enough!” I was very happy working with Reach To Teach to become an ESL teacher in Korea. Without hesitation I recommend Reach To Teach to anyone who is seeking his or her dreams in Asia.

- Dustin Smith

To be honest when i started thinking about coming to teach English in South Korea, it made me very nervous. That coupled with some unfortunate family issues prior to my leaving almost made me decide not to come. Looking back, that would have been a terrible decision. With a lot of patience and help from Reach To Teach, in particular, Gillian Benjamin,who was very understanding and sympathetic,I made it here, and I am so happy. This past year in Korea has been one of the best years of my life!

I came to Korea in March 2010 and I am currently employed through EPIK(English Program In Korea). My apartment is nice for one person, and it is a 5 minute walk from my school. I teach at Hagik Elementary school in Incheon. My school is great. I have 3 co-teachers all with their own unique styles of teaching. I have not had any problems co-teaching with them. All of the other teachers at the school are really nice. They all go out of their way to make me feel welcome. Most importantly, the students are great..most days. They love me so much, and they are really cute, it really makes me feel great to walk in there and be so appreciated. I have heard some horror stories about bad schools, so I am thankful to Reach to Teach for placing me in a good one.

Life out here is usually low stress, work is good, nightlife is good, the foods good, there is always a sense of adventure, Koreans are really nice, and Korean girls are beautiful, I even managed to find myself a Korean girlfriend. Get out here and have an amazing experience you'll never forget!

- Brian Gorenstein

I found out about Reach To Teach through a friend who was recruited to work in Taiwan. I have known that I wanted to teach in Korea since my sophomore year of college, but I didn't know how to get started. It was the end of my senior year, and I was getting nervous about finding work, and my friend directed me to their web site. Reach To Teach was great. I got a response within two weeks, and an interview was set up. Mike, my interviewer, answered all my questions and made me feel at ease with the huge decision I was making. Mitch Gordon was extremely helpful and supportive through the entire process. I emailed him all the time with all types of questions, and he responded right away.

As for teaching in Korea, it's great. (I work at a private after school institute or hagwon.) I'm Korean American, so I can speak and understand the language. My school and I decided to hide this from the students. Now that I've been given more work, I had to tell the students the truth. I was worried that my relationship with my students would be ruined, but our relationship has gotten better! They come to me after class and try to talk to me in English, and if it gets hard, they'll say sorry and speak in Korean. It's uncanny how much I came to love the students within six months!

I'm glad I went with Reach To Teach. I have a friend who found a school on his own, and he ended up quitting because of how badly the school treated him. Thanks to Reach To Teach, I'm having such a great time with both my coworkers and students! They were able to find a school that was perfect for me! I see that they've expanded in Korea, so after my year is up, I'll turn to them to help me find another position in a public school 😀

- Ahsa Yoo

I ended up using Reach to Teach after one of the bigger recruiters ended up ignoring me, and I'm really glad I did. They helped me the entire way through and would always be there to answer my questions -- no matter how many times I emailed them. I'm in month 7 of teaching in South Korea, and it's all thank to them that I'm here!

I couldn't have chosen a better recruiter. I used Reach To Teach to teach in South Korea August 2013, and I'd gladly recommend them to anyone looking to teach abroad. The staff is kind, patient, knowledgable, and organized. My personal recruiter walked me through the entire process and was always ready to answer any questions or concerns I had during the application process. What really sets them apart is their genuine care for the teachers they help land jobs abroad. They send out personal emails throughout a teacher's stay in a foreign country to make sure everything is going smoothly. I've been in Korea for 7 months now, and I am still in regular contact with my recruiter, who I now consider a friend. Reach To Teach is a great recruiting company!

I found Reach to Teach by complete accident, but it has been the best accident of my life! John has been incredibly helpful and told me step by step what I need to do! My move to Korea in a few days would have been a lot more stressful with Reach to Teach and for that I am thankful. They are in constant contact and never keep you in the dark about anything. Best of all they are incredibly friendly even when I ask stupid questions. I 100% recommend anyone to apply through them, they take all the worry of paperwork away from you so you can focus on other things and not have a break down! Thanks guys!

If you're thinking of teaching abroad like me, I'd definitely recommend this agency. My recruiter helped me get a position in South Korea with EPIK. You can apply directly, BUT the tons of questions that you'll have throughout the process will be answered by these guys. So you won't be stressed out and trust me I had a lot of concerns. Honestly, when I applied I definitely thought I wouldn't pass the interview or even the application stage. I still believe that the only reason I passed was thanks to Jason and John. John checked the application, the essay and the lesson plan before sending it to EPIK. Jason's mock interview was realistic and his critique allowed me to improve for EPIK's interview. Also, Reach to Teach has worked together with The Arrival Store to come up with a discounted package, so even though the whole process is done, they're still helping us out. I'm really thankful to Reach to Teach and John for helping me along this journey. Thank you and I can't wait to see you at the airport! 🙂

RTT is an excellent recruiting agency! My husband and I decided to use them to help us become teachers in South Korea. We researched many recruiting options and found that RTT had zero negative reviews, which greatly influenced our decision to go with them. John (the president) worked with us directly via e-mails and phone calls. He was able to answer any and all questions we had. He was also direct with us, which we greatly appreciated. RTT has been an excellent resource guiding us on our long journey to South Korea, and we wouldn't have been able to make our dreams come true without them. I would recommend this recruiting agency to everyone interested in teaching abroad, whether they are looking to teach in Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, or any of the other countries listed on the RTT website.

I appreciate your help in the process for securing my position with EPIK (English Program in Korea). ReachToTeach is very thorough with helping to guide me through the process. All potential setbacks or problems were pointed out ahead of time and any questions I had were answered right away. I'm very thankful for your help. My recruiter also went through all my application forms and made sure it was filled in correctly and that I was not missing anything. He also gave me in advance what to expect next from EPIK and to prepare accordingly. For example, what forms are to be filled in next, what documents I need to have next and also booking my flight to Korea. He is an experienced recruiter and knows how to handle any potential problems that occurs during the application process. I highly recommend ReachToTeach.

To begin with I was with another recruiter to arrange my move to Korea and Reach To Teach took me on as their client. The transition was smooth and straight away they made me feel welcome and secure. There are so many questions to ask that you would never think of to begin with so it's great to have someone there to reply very quickly who you can rely on. My personal recruiter has vast experience and has been reassuring and helpful, sending plenty of checklists and ringing with check-ups so that you know that you're on track. Reach to Teach have been efficient with the massive amount of documents that are needed to sort, but it also feels as though they care about you settling in there as well. Looking forward to my arrival and meeting people!

My wife and I worked with Reach to Teach when we applied for the Fall 2014 EPIK intake, and our experience has been absolutely wonderful! The staff has been attentive, quick to respond to our questions, and always courteous. They've made a complicated process easy for us to navigate, and have helped us see everything through. Their mock EPIK Interview gave us a great warm up that enabled us to go in to our interview with confidence, and their partnerships and services since we have been accepted into the program have been top notch. I would not have wanted to do this with any other recruiter!

I am currently in the process of packing for my trip to South Korea as an Epik Teacher for August 2014, and must say that the process to getting to this point has been fairly smooth due to Reach to Teach and my awesome recruiter. I always felt informed and considered from the very beginning. Any questions I had about the process/ application were answered with care and in a timely manner. I never felt like just another applicant, instead I felt like they knew me as an individual. I would highly recommend using Reach to Teach because they will stick with you through the process and consider you as an individual!

Reach to Teach has been really helpful in helping me to apply to the EPIK program in Korea. I started out with Gone2Korea but got switched over to RTT and I was worried about my application, but I received a call right away from my assigned agent and we discussed what documents he had, what I had completed in the meantime and what I needed to do next. I was actually quite happy that if there were any immediate concerns I would receive a call from my agent. RTT really made everything so much easier for me during the EPIK application process with no real problems or added stress.

I would like to thank Reach to Teach for making the process of getting a position with EPIK so smooth and for all the support they have given me. It’s the first time I’ve applied for a teaching job abroad, and whilst nervous and apprehensive, Reach to Teach, and in particular John were fantastic. He helped me all the way through the long process of applying for EPIK and no matter how small or trivial the questions or concerns I had, John was always there to answer them.
I am flying to Korea in a few days time and it is thanks to John for making it happen!

Thank you. Thank you. 감사합니다 for this opportunity again, whether I muster up enough juice to make it three years, or depart after this one is complete. It has been an invaluable experience of ups and downs, with the classroom being a haven of sorts.

They made what would have been a very complicated process easy. I always felt like they really cared about me and I never felt intimidated emailing or calling when I was confused. Highly recommend!

I honestly don’t remember what made me choose Reach To Teach as a recruiter, but I am so incredibly glad that I did.

Jason and John were professional, detailed, thorough and generally just so helpful throughout the entire EPIK application process. RTT really goes the extra mile to make sure you are prepared and informed at every step of the way- from the initial application and interview to document preparation and airport arrival.

Applicants from other recruiters are always surprised when I tell them how attentive and supportive RTT was. They are hands down 5 stars, A+, #1.

Reach To Teach Review: EPIK Teacher in South Korea 2018

A friend referred me to Reach to Teach, and I am 100% thankful that I went with this company. The EPIK application process was very intimidating and confusing, but Reach To Teach provided precise step-by-step instructions.

Jason reviewed my application and kept me informed throughout the application process. Reach To Teach responded to my emails quickly, and they (Jason and John) were so polite throughout our correspondence. Reach To Teach's services included a mock interview, checklists (I love checklists), and access to fantastic articles/blogs from seasoned teachers.

Reach To Teach went above and beyond my expectations, and I would recommend them to all prospective ESL teachers. Thank you again Jason and John!

Reach To Teach Review: Teaching in Korea with EPIK

Reach to Teach helped me so much during the process of teaching in South Korea.

From the initial EPIK application to last minute documents, Reach to Teach was there every step of the way and explained each step in a way that made the process simple and easily doable. Without them it would've been so confusing and overwhelming.

Therefore, I'm thankful for everything they have done to help me achieve my goals and would highly recommend Reach to Teach to other aspiring EFL/GET teachers

Reach To Teach Review: Teaching with EPIK in South Korea

I used Reach to Teach to get a position with EPIK in South Korea. Jason and John were great with guiding me through the application process and answering any and all questions I had promptly. They make a great effort to make sure you come in prepared and comfortable for the whole teaching ESL process.

100% recommend for anyone looking to teach English abroad.

Reach To Teach Review: Teaching in South Korea with EPIK 2019

The Reach To Teach team was amazing! They helped me prepare my EPIK application, prepped me for my interview, and even helped me get in touch with a travel agency that got me a great deal! I want to give a shoutout to Jason and John for being so responsive and patient!

If I haven't found this company, I'd honestly be so lost and probably would have never got a teaching position.

I would definitely recommend contacting this company if you're interested in this career field! It's free too!

Reach To Teach Review - Teaching with EPIK in Korea

Reach to Teach was a great experience and a good choice for recruiter when applying to South Korea's EPIK program. I worked directly with John and he always answered my questions in a timely way and made sure our entire group was prepared for our trip to South Korea.

He helped us book our flights and hotel with a travel agency, and took us out for Korean barbecue the first night.

But what really made Reach to Teach 5-star is when I had troubles with my school in Korea right away. I hadn't been told my apartment needed deposit money to the tune of 1 million won. This was almost all the money I brought with me. John reached out to EPIK to help remedy the situation and get me my money back. Definitely worth five-stars!

Reach To Teach Review - T. Slade - Teaching with EPIK in South Korea 2020

Reach to Teach was very helpful in my process of applying to EPIK. John delivered everything to me in small easy steps, and provided very detailed instructions (as certain documents are a little complicated to do/fill out). He helped prepare me for interviews and what to expect when coming to South Korea.

He called to check in on me regularly, and smoothed out any issues I had with the application process. Overall, my experience with Reach to Teach was very pleasant and I definitely would recommend them to anyone who is interested in teaching in South Korea!

Reach To Teach Review - C. Webb - Teaching With EPIK in South Korea - 2020

Reach to Teach has been wonderful in assisting with documents and various other questions I have had along the way. If unable to get into a program that you may want, they have backup options just in case.

If you are trying to get into the EPIK program, then I highly recommend using them (or if you're trying to teach any place else).

They go far and beyond by providing mock interviews, scheduled phones, and various other services. Once approved, Reach to Teach guides you along by over-viewing the documentation needed to get into the country of your choosing. Once documentation is done, the amount of work needed from you is minimal.

Truly a great recruiting agency.