Zsarlene Liao

Living in Korea and working with Korean children seemed like just a dream more than a year ago. I had always been fascinated with Korean culture and I loved working with children so coming to Korea to teach children was an experience I’ve always wanted to have in my life. However, back in the beginning of 2020, the dream seemed further away from reality with the Covid-19 Pandemic shutting the world down. Despite that, I took my chances and applied for the August 2020 intake of TaLK.



I had learned about TaLK while talking to a friend of mine that previously taught in Korea. I learned that TaLK was the perfect program for those that were still studying in university, like I am now. It gives people an opportunity to learn about Korea, Korean Culture, and the Korean language, while also teaching children about Western society and culture, and the English language. This was the perfect program for me.

Unfortunately, in the Kakao group chat for the August 2020 intake, we were hearing rumours that the intake would be extremely small due to the pandemic. I took a shot at it and continued through with my application. At first, I was waitlisted to come in February 2021 instead, however, in late August 2020, I received an email stating that there was a spot open and that I could take this spot. I would need to get to Korea by September 4, 2020. This gave me less than 2 weeks to say my goodbyes, pack everything, and come to Korea.

At first, it was hard. The language barrier was extreme, the culture and food were completely different, and it was lonely being in a foreign country. However, as time went by, my relationship with the children grew stronger, I slowly learned about Korean culture from them, tried as much Korean food as possible, and made friends with fellow TaLK scholars.



As you continue to teach the students, you learn so much about them and yourself. You make memories and build relationships with them even though there is a language barrier. At times, it’s difficult to communicate the activity or the rules of the game, but sometimes the children understand you right away because they’ve played or done something similar before. Every day in the classroom is never the same. Sometimes the children are super happy and cooperative, while sometimes they had bad days and want nothing to do with English. The uncertainty was nerve wracking but fulfilling at the same time. It makes you realize how much of an impact you have in these children’s lives, how one simple activity that took you 5 minutes to think of can lighten the mood of a sad child, or how a simple “Hello” causes five young children to run away from you in absolute delight that you spoke to them in English.

This past year as a TaLK scholar has been truly enriching. It was an experience that changed my life. Despite this being my last semester, I’ll always remember the children that I met, the fellow Korean teachers, my mentor teachers, and the school administration team that allowed my time in Korea to be wonderful.