1912 teaching English in DPRK at the Pyongyang College of Tourism

From: Visitdprk <visitdprk@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 11 Dec 2019 at 03:03
Subject: Re: teaching English in DPRK
To: Jasmine
Cc: Visitdprk <visitdprk@gmail.com>

Dear Jasmine,

thank you for your message.

I started up the volunteaching project at the Pyongyang College of Tourism in the summer of 2016 and have now been teaching there for four consecutive summers.  Koryo Tours facilitates the travel and the practical arrangements.

We do invite experienced and qualified teachers of English and/or Chinese (and Russian) to express their interest in joining us for a week or for two weeks and to engage with groups of local students at the college.  The college has five year groups with students aged between 17 and 28 (some students complete their military service before joining the college).  They all train to go into the Tourism industry, as managers or tour guides or hospitality staff etc.  The students are simply fantastic - very keen to learn, very eager to show what they can already do, and very curious to learn from their visiting lecturer(s).

This is a volunteaching project, no salaries are being paid, the teacher is responsible for the cost of their tour.  Everyone's tour is booked directly through Koryo Tours and follows the same procedures as any other tour (I go there on a tourist visa even though I spend most of my days with the students ...).  

So, if you or your colleagues are interested in this project and would like to express an interest in going there, not so much for the sightseeing but instead to help the students become more proficient in the English language and more confident when speaking with foreigners, then please send me such expression of interest, together with a professional CV indicating the amount and the level of teaching experience.  

As far as visas are concerned, the same regulations apply as for tourists.  Anyone who has a passport for which a DPRK visa can be obtained, is invited to express their interest.  Ethnic Koreans regularly visit the DPRK through Koryo Tours, as long as they have a passport other than from the Republic of Korea, they should be fine.  Simon can also provide further (and the most accurate and up to date) information on this.

I hope that this helps a bit.  Please feel free to let me know if you or your colleagues have any questions, I will be happy to try and answer them.

Many thanks, I look forward to hearing from you soon again.

Best wishes,

Ronny Mintjens