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Yu_Bum_suk

Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:38 pm Post subject: Good hagwons really do make a difference |
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I have a really good student and it took a while to discover just how good she is. I had been talking about her with my friend, who worked at a hagwon she went to a few years ago, and he was really surprised when I went on about how well she can write. I asked her what academy she goes to now and ... chalk another one up for Yale Academy in Daegu. It's a 45-60 minute commute to and from, which must suck doing three times a week, but I think it would still be better than spending the time closer to home with a Konglish teacher who has no practical English skills. BTW if Brian-teacher from Yale Academy is reading this forum you must have done an amazing job in such a short space of time, because there's no way I could have had such an impact over the past two years with 45 minutes a week in a class of 30.
The other week I was over at a co-worker's place and was really impressed with his son's English. It turns out his English teacher for the previous year had been Seoulsista's boyfriend at Moongyong.
There's also one near-native speaker who teaches hagwon in my town and her long-term students are consistantly the best. So often when I ask a student who has great pronunciation and listening skills it turns out to be one of hers.
So if any of you think you can't make a difference - well if your at Wonderland or Ding Ding Dang you probably can't, but - if you're at a good hagwon you can make a hell of a difference, believe me. |
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Roch
Joined: 24 Apr 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:16 am Post subject: |
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| I was recruited by Yale last Fall. The woman who sent me letters came across as a solid type of person. |
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Yu_Bum_suk

Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:21 am Post subject: |
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| Roch wrote: |
| I was recruited by Yale last Fall. The woman who sent me letters came across as a solid type of person. |
They wanted to interview me back in the summer of 2005. I probably would have gone for it were it not for having to work Saturdays. The ironic part is that now I've volunteered for two Saturdays a month with my public school. |
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ChuckECheese

Joined: 20 Jul 2006
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:26 am Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Roch wrote: |
| I was recruited by Yale last Fall. The woman who sent me letters came across as a solid type of person. |
They wanted to interview me back in the summer of 2005. I probably would have gone for it were it not for having to work Saturdays. The ironic part is that now I've volunteered for two Saturdays a month with my public school. |
You volunteer your Saturdays without any pay or additional benefits?  |
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Yu_Bum_suk

Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 12:33 am Post subject: |
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| ChuckECheese wrote: |
| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| Roch wrote: |
| I was recruited by Yale last Fall. The woman who sent me letters came across as a solid type of person. |
They wanted to interview me back in the summer of 2005. I probably would have gone for it were it not for having to work Saturdays. The ironic part is that now I've volunteered for two Saturdays a month with my public school. |
You volunteer your Saturdays without any pay or additional benefits?  |
There is extra pay and there are benefits, believe me. For instance, when I told the other teachers at my school that my aunt and uncle would be visiting Busan for one day on a Monday it was just automatically assumed the other teachers would cover for me, and not as official vacation time, either. At how many hagwons would that happen? |
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VirginIslander
Joined: 24 May 2006 Location: Busan
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:56 am Post subject: |
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| A good teachers makes more of a difference in bad howgran than a bad teacher does in a good howgran. |
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VirginIslander
Joined: 24 May 2006 Location: Busan
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:57 am Post subject: |
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| teacher |
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Yu_Bum_suk

Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 4:19 pm Post subject: |
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| VirginIslander wrote: |
| A good teachers makes more of a difference in bad howgran than a bad teacher does in a good howgran. |
I don't know. I didn't teach hagwon very long before I got out, but I saw some classes that were basically unteachable, even though they had a few students who were. There were a few classes that no one, foreigner or Korean, could control because management had tied the teachers' hands. A good teacher would have been an utter waste in some classes at that place.
On the other hand, I have a few public school classes that are so good, well bahaved, and responsive to learning that I think even a bad teacher could still help out their English skills a lot. ...and who knows, maybe that's indeed the case. |
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