Tim Keefe, 28, taught English in Korea for 18 months (from August 1996 to December 1997), first at a hagweon -- a private school -- and then at a university, where he was a visiting professor of English. Keefe, who holds bachelor's and master's degrees in philosophy, is now working as a substitute teacher in Canton, Ohio, and is pursuing an associate's degree in a self-designed program focusing on information technology. When he graduates from the program, he hopes to find a job in government or business and work overseas. For people thinking of teaching English abroad, he recommends a visit to Dave's ESL Cafe, a spot with advice and forums for job seekers.

Monster.com: What led to your decision to teach English abroad?

Tim Keefe: Back in 1995, I was finishing up my master's program in philosophy at the University of Toledo in Ohio. Earlier that year I had decided to abandon my original career aspirations, which were to continue in the field and eventually get a Ph.D., because of what I saw to be increasingly dismal job prospects in the academic job market. I had in the back of my mind the idea of going overseas to teach English. Originally I wanted to go to the Eastern European region, specifically to the Czech Republic, Poland or Hungary, because it's my impression that those three countries are the most stable. But the thing that bothered me about Eastern Europe is that the salaries that the average teachers make there, even if they have a fairly good job, are not enough where you can save money. In my experience in ESL [English as a Second Language], there are different geographic areas for jobs -- one is Eastern Europe, another is Asia and another one is the Middle East. Unlike Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia are two areas where you can get fairly good jobs and you make rather good money. Unfortunately, in the Middle East, because there are rather good jobs, they're also very stringent in the educational requirements. For most jobs you would need to have some kind of advanced degree, perhaps a master's degree in ESL and a couple of years of experience. Those are the plum jobs, and there's a lot of competition for those.

Mc: What about in Asia?

TK: In Asia, in certain areas, the field is still relatively wide open, so somebody like me, who had little or next to no teaching experience in ESL, could go there, cut his teeth, and then decide if he wants to go for a certificate or advanced degree in ESL further down the road. Eventually I turned my attention to South Korea, which, unlike Japan, had a wide open market that would be a good place to get some experience. Not only that, but the majority of the teaching setups are such that you have your housing provided for. The taxes are low, and you have fairly decent prices, comparable to the U.S. At the time, the exchange rate was favorable.

Mc: What were the two positions you held?

TK: The first job was in a small city, and I was working at a private language school called a hagweon. Hagweons are basically private academies, and they're for foreign language, music and math, mainly. I was teaching students all the way from elementary school to adults. At the university it was a little bit different, in that I had a lighter teaching schedule and I was responsible for freshman students -- English conversation for students from different majors.

Mc: How did you find the job at the hagweon?

TK: I went through a recruiter, which is a fairly common way to get a job in Korea. Because this was my first time in a foreign country, I wanted to make sure things went relatively smoothly. Once I was there, I could start looking for better jobs.

Mc: Did you experience any culture shock?

TK: Fortunately, unlike a lot of people who go to Korea, from the time that I decided to go there, I was doing a lot of reading on the culture -- tour books and what have you -- and I was also talking to Koreans in the area and taking lessons in Korean from them. I also talked to Americans who had been teaching over there to find out about their experiences. Over a year, I collected enough information where I felt prepared when I went to Korea, and that really lessened the culture shock.

Mc: Even with your research, were there challenges?

TK: One of the biggest challenges is communication. Although I did study a bit of Korean before I went over, it was a little bit difficult trying to communicate with different people, especially those who did not know any English. There's no way you can hold a conversation except with advanced students or those Koreans who've worked in embassies overseas, or what have you. Another challenge is that things are run a bit differently. Korea is not as efficient as the U.S. is with bureaucratic systems like mail and banking and other things of that nature. I did have some problems when I was sending money home. I had to follow a certain pattern that did not make any sense to me. But that's just the way it was done.

Mc: What advice do you have for someone thinking of teaching English overseas?

TK: Keep an open mind and have a sense of humor about it. I remember talking to someone in the Peace Corps, and he said, "You're not going to change things." You can only change so much. You have to adapt. There was a fellow American expatriate, and he said the best thing you can do in your teaching is show them a different way of looking at something through the medium of English. You're not really teaching them English. You're teaching them a different way of looking at things through English. If you turn the light on upstairs, then you've accomplished something.

Mc: Anything else?

TK: Do preparation before you go over. That would include getting your hands on any books and State Department reports, to learn what the economy is like, the culture, and talk to anyone who is from that country or who has lived there to get their impression of what it's like.