Her Irish accent may have been a factor for not being offered a job in Korea and heavily accented English is very confusing for any English learners. But Ms Mulrennan managed to find a teaching job in Seoul in the end and she can now laugh off the whole episode. American English is preferable in the Far East to any other forms of English including British English, which is the standard in any language schools in Europe. A white female teacher from the US or Canada is the most sought-after English teacher in Asia and you don't want to catch bad Aussie or South African accents.
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Many of the jobs here openly advertise wanting an American/Canadian female regardless of qualifications. Koreans can be very blunt when it comes to appearances and stereotypes etc." He also revealed that the variety of Irish accents can be detrimental to teachers coming from Ireland and said: "
There's also definitely a pecking order when it comes to which English speaking country you come from as a teacher. America/Canada is top and Ireland/South Africa/Scotland are probably tied for the bottom. The huge variety of Irish accents is pretty baffling to not only Koreans but anyone from outside of Ireland. I've often had American friends comment on how different my accent is compared to their former Irish co-workers."
Irish girl turned down for South Korea teaching job because of alcoholism nature of your kind - Irish Mirror Online
