Accommodations for English Teachers with South Korean Teaching Jobs

Instructors with South Korea teaching jobs will be provided with housing. Your school will provide you with your housing. They will make every effort to make sure that you are comfortable and situated in a place that is within walking distance from the school. Usually an ESL teacher is provided with a studio or one bedroom apartment; however, shared accommodations can be requested. There are schools that offer shared accommodations, which you may request if you are coming with a friend.

Below is a list of the types of accommodation:

Studio Type A - Officetel

The name of this type of housing comes from "office" and "hotel". An officetel is a furnished apartment that is usually built into an office/multi-use building. It's generally new and modern, including amenities like a refrigerator, freezer, and a gas stove. It will have a Western-style bathroom (with a shower stall in it), a designated parking space and a security guard on the first floor. Often times, there are convenience stores and/or restaurants located on the main floors along with other businesses dispersed throughout the building. These types of amenities are very attractive to instructors with South Korean teaching jobs.

Studio Type B - Joo-Taek

Also called a villa or yeon-lip, this type of apartment is in a smaller building (usually under five stories) and does not come furnished (the school will furnish it for its English teachers in Korea, not the building manager). These villas range from typical one room, studio apartments to two or three rooms and usually there are no maintenance fees. Unlike other types of apartments, there is no central management for security or maintenance. Some villas may have underground or designated parking areas.

High-Rise Apartments

Korean families typically live in apartment complexes with several large apartment buildings (over five stories) and with a centralized management office which controls maintenance and security. The apartments usually contain a kitchen, a living room and multiple bedrooms. These apartments are not furnished by the owner of the apartment complex; however, if you are an English teacher in Korea, the school will furnish the apartment for you. As these apartments have two to four bedrooms, these apartments are usually provided to English teachers requesting shared housing. Each ESL teacher will get their own room and will share a common living room, kitchen and bathroom. The monthly maintenance fee and utilities will be divided equally among all the ESL teachers living in the apartment.

Serviced Apartments

Serviced apartments are similar to hotels. They are fully furnished spaces that often have cleaning services and can be very pricey. The buildings which house the apartments will also have convenience stores, gyms and/or restaurants. A very small percentage of instructors with South Korean teaching jobs will be provided with housing of this type.

Home Stays

It is possible for English teachers in Korea to live in the home of a Korean family. You would have your own bedroom and share the other facilities of the home with the family members. Most host families would gladly open their doors to you and try to make you as comfortable as possible, but they may also expect that you teach English to their children.

Renting Your Own Place

If you choose to find your own housing, the school will usually offer a monthly housing allowance (in addition to your monthly pay cheque) to take some of the burden off of you. In these cases, the allowance will be around the cost of one month's rent for a single studio apartment (around 300,000-500,000 won per month).

Below are some sites which offer listings in English.

• www.seoulapartment.net
• www.nicerent.com
• www.sublet.net/BusanApartmentRentals.html

Also, teachers with South Korean teaching jobs should check Facebook and the Seoul listing for Craigslist. Apartments are listed in both places, and can be quite reasonable.