The purpose of this study is to examine the perceptions of good English teachers’ characteristics and to suggest guidelines for how to be a good English teacher by conducting a survey questionnaire to middle and high school students and their English teachers in Korea. The survey was composed of 48 items regarding teaching skills, personality and creativity, and assessing skills. The results showed there are different perceptions about the characteristics of good English teachers between teachers and students. Teachers perceived checking students’ understanding during the class as the most important characteristic followed by giving appropriate feedback to students, while students perceived treating them respectfully as the most important one. According to the research findings, this study suggests that English teachers should carefully consider developing students’ affective and creative aspects as well as linguistic skills that were shown to be important in both teacher and student perceptions. It also suggests the curriculum developers and teacher trainers for English teachers should continuously monitor the teacher evaluation process and apply the findings as helpful guidelines for future research and practice.