Korean Job Discussion Forums

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

Wow, was watching the news, kbs? last night.
A reporter went to the English Village in Paju. He had a hidden camera. The staff were all Korean, as much as the camera could see.
He asked in the restaurant, "Is it okay to use English? The response from the young woman serving, "아, 그냥 ..."
There was no English used during service in the restaurant, nor at the entrance, nor at the enquiry desk.
It was all in Korean during the report. Mothers coming in speaking Korean, staff replying in Korean .. etc.

(The camera zoomed in on the 'English ... Please!' sign.)

The foreign staff when they started was 26. Now is two.

The cost, according to the makers of the village, was 18 million dollars.

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

That's hilarious.

I went to the Paju E.V. about a year ago with my wife. Totally lame. We jumped the fence, hiked into the hills, then stripped down to just shoes and ran around like Adam and Eve. That part was cool.

Afterwards, we hopped back inside. We had decided to get dressed beforehand, which we did. I was hungry, so I got a burger. It was the worst freaking burger I have ever attempted to eat.

The other foreigners that appeared to be working there didn't seem too thrilled. I felt bad for them. That place is in the middle of nowhere, too.

Not surprised most have bailed. There was also many Russian girls working in the stores. Wonder if they have remained.

What a waste of the taxpayers' money.

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

caniff · Joined: 03 Feb 2004 Location: All over the map

It was. You should try it. But not at the English Village, and not with my wife. Smile

I have a question. How many English Villages are there, and are there more being planned? I seem to remember some article about one on Jeju, but I don't know.

jaganath69 · Joined: 17 Jul 2003

English village, pfft. I remember seeing the job ads for those when they first opened and thinking one would have to be mad to work in what would become a whitey zoo. Imagine the daily nuisance of the locals and their mocking hello amplified to a by the second occurrence. Imagine the indignity of working for what is essentially the world's biggest hagwon. Man I hope that place crashes and burns. Kudos to the (usually pathetic) Korean media for finally doing its job.

mithridates · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:18 pm Post subject:

Just translated the report and put it up on the blog:

http://koreabeat.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/an-english-village-in-name-only-this-one-uses-korean/

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

Hi Mith.
I am glad you did that word for word translation. It makes vindication even better knowing that it cost 85 million and lost 20 million.

Where it says "Last year when it opened each shop had two foreigners for a total of 26 people, but now ... there are only a total of two foreign employees in the shops." - means, there are only two foreigners left in the whole complex?

Good report.

My kids were screaming in the background and I was sipping some wild chinese Yuhan peach schnapps 50% proof at the same time as the news appeared. Even through those odds glad to know I was almost accurate.

I see the KBS site in the video link.

Cool

mithridates · Posted: Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:39 pm Post subject:

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

You should watch the report on the video link supplied by Mith. It's pretty damning.

And no, I don't speak English. I know only how to write it.
Think of me as just one of those trained monkeys. Like on Planet of the Apes.
Rolling Eyes

PS: What is "Anways"?

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

Cheonmunka · Joined: 04 Jun 2004

Kind of jesting in the last parts....

I was referring to Mith's report which was different than my one.
That's why was querying my own ears.

Anyway, the village bosses stated that there are just two foreigners there so they got a negative report, which for any school or government body which purports to give English instruction, because by their nature are competitive to me, is a good thing for me and my job and reputation.

Well, it just brings me glee.
Sorry that it may not do that for your friend. Crying or Very sad

denistron · Joined: 21 Oct 2006 Location: Busan

I've been waiting to hear this kind of news from them. Somehow I expected this. I wonder if anyone knows any foreigners that work there now. I would love to ask them some questions.

ajgeddes · Joined: 28 Apr 2004 Location: Yongsan

Okay, just read the article. It seems to say that there are only 2 employees in the "shops" section of the English village. I don't really know how it works there, but it seems that there is a seperation between the shops and the actual class part. I will ask my friend on the weekend because I am sure he will know something about this article.

Privateer · Joined: 31 Aug 2005 Location: Easy Street.

This is just so utterly predictable. Like everyone's going to magically start speaking English just because they're in an 'English zone'. No one ever thought the idea through when they started out; they just jumped on the 'English Village' bandwagon.

Maybe it would be workable if they charged enough to make sure the people going in are motivated enough to make an effort. Maybe if they ran classes for people who had no idea what to say. Maybe...

[edit]Maybe they should also hire mainly English-speaking Koreans to lead by example.[/edit]