Korean Job Discussion Forums

[iiicalypso]

I noticed that eg school is again posting for teachers (although this time they seem to be looking for gyopo's only) and I just wanted to warn everyone away from this academy.

There were others who posted about what a control freak the owner is. It is all true. However, the problem is that if you actually care about teaching you will find yourself thwarted at every turn.

They like to brag about their "curriculum". It is "developed" by a woman with no background in eitehr education or English, and largely involves copying page numbers onto a piece of paper. There are no goals or objectives, except to complete the pages assigned. No matter that some lessons include index pages, table of contents, pictures... you would actually have to read the book, or at least look at it, to prevent this from happening!

Just in case you might find a way to sneak some teaching in, along come the tests. They operate on the theory that if you give two or three tests a day, the students will learn more than if you spend the 45 minutes teaching! Instead of preparing lessons, you fight for the copy machine, to make sure that you get the quizzes copied before class.

Luckily there are plenty of non-native speakers churning out lots of "educational materials" filled with errors. These supplement the bootleg American textbooks that they use, and ensure that there are lots of mistakes in the student's English. You can try and correct them as you go, but if you do you won't have enough time to get to the tests! At least there is the comedy of the "listening" lessons, where you can hear native speakers trying to figure out what the script says as they read it. Damn funny stuff.

As an added bonus, you can work in filthy classrooms with non-functioning aircons. The floor is black with dirt, but why spend money on a mop when you can spend it on surveillance cameras, to watch the teachers! While the cameras are great for documenting what a lousy job you are doing, they don't ever seem to catch the students systematically dismantling the furniture.

I would talk about the substandard apartments, but why bother, since you won't be there anyhow. You are required to be there at 1 pm, whether you have a class or not. However, you will find yourself coming in early to grade the piles of worthless quizzes.

In summary, this is the perfect job for someone with no desire to teach, no need for free time, no aversion to crappy working conditions, no problem being watched all the time, and no problem dealing with incompetent staff.

My advice? Don't be tricked by the big money. get a job somewhere you can feel good about yourself and the work you do.

[JongnoGuru]

Oh. Lord.

I know it must have been a living hell for you, Calypso man, and I know this is damn sorry consolation (BTW, I sincerely hope the hard times are over now) -- but your experience has enabled you to write what has to be one of the most hilarious posts I've ever read on Dave's. I'm totally serious. I just watched a two-hour "comedy" that made me snicker twice at most. That's nothing compared to the tears I've just cried from laughing so hard from reading everything that came after this line...

[Derrek]

Dude, that is the first place I interviewed at in South Korea. As I stated before, that Mr. Jung guy cut the interview short, and asked me to come back in 30 mins. I did, and a secretary met me at the door to tell me that the rest of the interview was cancelled. When I inquired as to why, she told me in a hushed voice, "He thinks you're a spy from another hagwon."

HAAHHAHAHHAHAHA!

What a bleepin' idiot!

And there he was, peeping around the corner down the hall with a really uneasy look on his face. I took advantage of the moment, and continued to chat with the semi-attractive secretary -- watching the goofball squirm, wondering why it was taking so long to get rid of me.

Before the interview, I got to chat with some other teachers. They didn't say much, and were VERY hushed -- almost like they were poor, beaten animals on chains or something. Weird.

I don't know what spooked him. I guess he was freaked out that I was able to use the subway to find his place or something. Or maybe it was my suit? hahaha

And hey, to the OP... I sat in that copy room, and watched the teachers line up to copy those tests you talked about! Spot-on! They looked totally stressed and rushed.