Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mistermasan]

hello all. did a search and came up with nil. anyone have any thoughts on e bo-young talking club? a franchised line of school throughout south korea? their website is almost virtually entirley in korean so i cannot discern much from it.

thanks.

[ModernDayDrifter]

[BreakfastInBed]

I just finished a year at a Talking Club. It was my first teaching experience and my first year in Korea. It wasn't bad compared to the horror stories you hear about many places. My director was decent enough as hagwon directors go. He may have even been above average in some respects. I never had any hassle about pay, it was always on time and I always got a receipt with any withholdings accounted for. He even offered to advance me money on occasion. My flight was prepaid, and when I didn't renew my contract I had no difficulty getting my severance and return airfare. The other foreign teacher who worked there did renew, and he recieved a considerably better contract, including sick days, additional vacation time over Christmas to visit his family, and a substantial pay increase.

Now the down side. I never received health insurance, my pension was not paid, and I had to fight tooth and nail for a couple vacation days which were granted, but at the expense of losing a couple of national holidays later.

The bottom line: For a host of reasons, not all related to the job, I was burned out and frustrated by the end of the contract, but not turned off to Korea and I'm returning now to teach at a public school. If I have to work at a hagwon again someday I would certainly consider returning to a Talking Club provided the health and pension stuff was honored.

[mistermasan]

breakfast, thanks for the reply. what did you think of the books? i am, at times, hard pressed to squeeze any tangental fun out of the lessons. like the polar bears- yeah it is funny when they see the fisherman wearing a polar bear coat but six units on top of each other grinds the spontaneity right out of it.

did you attend the teacher training? i don't want to go but will simply because i want to see the intended system of instruction. i have been warned it is more "salesmanship"/front office than instruction tips?

thanks

[PGF]

[HAITAITIGERZ]

worked for talking club a few years back so here's my two cents;

they have their own books and materials you must use to teach the students ... they aren't the best books so you have to improvise ... the schedule is about 40 to 45 minutes a class with (usually) a 5 minute break in between ... it is a franchise and there is a 'talking club' vacation which is set ( i believe) in August for one week with the owner's discretion ... some hagowns take that week off or some use only half but many didn't take any days off ... vacation is hard to recieve working for talking club so make sure you have it in your contract!!! because talking club vacation is BS ... you will have to go to seoul hq for a weekend long training ... the training is bullshite but a good way to meet new teachers and possible friends ... talking club is notorious for hiring gyopos but there are a few "whities." (sorry) ... i met some great people at that seminar and still friends to this day ... but none of them work there anymore ... what i hated the most about talking club was the occasional saturdays where you (as a teacher) had to go to seminars (hours away by bus) learning the same BS ... and u usually don't get paid for them ... the hq makes money by setting up these seminars and charging your director ... so the director won't really pay for you extra to attend on these saturday seminars since he is already paying the hq (bus + lunch + renting the room out + misc.) it is not cheap .... and you learn nothing ... it is a waste of time and i realized these seminars are created so the hq makes money ... my biggest beef were these saturday seminars and events ... average about one saturday every two months ...

talking club as a whole is not a bad place to work if it is your first hagwon ... but you probably have to work harder than most other hagwons but you can meet good people in the same boat as you ... BUT IT DEPENDS ON YOUR DIRECTOR ... if the director is cool this can be great but if your director isn't ... watch out!!!! talking club is notorious
for being a cheaper franchise to buy than most other hagwons ... if i remember correctly, talking club wants to have the most hagwons in korea so they sell cheap ... because they sell cheap, the hagwon directors can be wild uneducated unprofessional fcuk--nuts ... i heard some ridiculous stories that some of my friends had to do .... so know your owner before you dive in ... ok?

[Chloe11]

I've been at one of the Talking Club's for two months. This is my first contract in Korea.

The good:
I get paid on time, I do minimal prep, class sizes are small, my health insurance was taken care of very quickly, etc. For the most part, my director seems like a nice guy and has taken care of anything that I have asked him for, so far.

The bad:
I never received any official training. I was throw in on my first day, head first, with some kindergarteners. This ended badly, ha.
He did not pay into my pension the first month. I will find out this week if he's bothered to rectify that, as he promised. If he didn't, shit is going to hit the fan.
My director seems to think that I'm going to work Election Day and only get three working days vacation at the end of the month. That's going to be a fun discussion.

[HAITAITIGERZ]

you didn't go to the weekend seminar? Where do you work? are you a gyopo?

[garykasparov]

misterman,

You don't have to sign a contract as quick as you can. I cannot pursuade you which school to work at. However, the reasons in bold red are precisely why it's important to ask the tough questions.

Now the down side. I never received health insurance , my pension was not paid , and I had to fight tooth and nail for a couple vacation days which were granted, but at the expense of losing a couple of national holidays later.

[Dome Vans]

Agree with PGF and Gary kasparov. It's written there plain and simple. He doesn't pay pension or insurance. I had a friend who got bitten by a dog here, then she found out she had no insurance. Had to fork out 1.6 million for the rabies injection herself. Crap things happen, you know they don't pay health insurance, be it on your head if this job goes wrong you get sick and have to pay a fortune for it.

I'm amazed at the lack of common sense of some of the people on these boards. It's there in black and white. They've obviously heard what they want to about the books!!!!!!!!!!!! Ignoring the other bits about getting worked like a horse and the director pocketing the pension. Sheeeesh!

I got offered the contract for talking club earlier in the year, passed on it quickly, vaguely written to say the least.

[ModernDayDrifter]

Worried....

So I just sent my contract in that I had signed to start the whole visa process. I will be working at one of the Deagu locations. I am a bit worried now. I reviewed the contract and was able to clarify some items on there before I did sign. But now I think I am having second thoughts...

[PGF]

[ModernDayDrifter]

[Chloe11]

[Chloe11]