Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kylehawkins2000]

anyone know anything about the EG Language School in Daechi-Dong. Anyone have any experience working at this location?

Thanks in advance,

Kyle

[kangnamdragon]

You looking for a job or researching for a friend?

[kylehawkins2000]

A friend. I'm trying to give up the ESL cowboy show and get on at one of the International Schools at the moment.

[crazylemongirl]

[Confused Canadian]

If the school is still run by a Jeong Rang Ho (a.k.a. Christopher Jeong), keep lookin'. The man is paranoid and has been known to be a tad irrational at times. I've had friends that worked there, and they all have horror stories, either regarding themselves, or the teachers they worked with.

Your friend can find a better place to work.

Confused Canadian

[Basil Brush]

The EG school in Daechi Dong, is between Daechi and Dogok subway stations on line number 3. The EG institute has the best reputation in Daechi. It gives a lot of homework. I understand for the extra salary, the institute asks for extra work. A friend of one of my work colleagues works there...


EG Homepage

[Jane99]

Dear Kyle,

I work for EG Language School and I know the president, Mr. Jung, personally. Mr. Jung has an MBA from Ohio State University--I believe-- and I dare say no real teaching credentials. Most of the materials he uses are from American texts, and some "EG created materials" appear to be in violation of copyright laws. His vision of education lacks any clarity or direction. To adequately answer your question, one ought to know what your goals are. Are you interested in making money, really teaching, or a combination of both?

The work at EG is time consuming for teachers. The curriculum is set by Mr. Jung. You receive a syllabus that dictates what pages you must cover and what tests you must administer daily. One plus could be that you have very little planning, having the lessons planned for you. Of course, this allows very little--make that no--creativity on your part. You will distribute daily tests and word lists to your students. Mr. Jung suscribes to the "quantity is better than quality" educational model. Don't be surprised if you do not have enough time to catch your breath between classroom activites. The students are very adept at memorizing, but many are incapable of assimilating information--a problem not endemic to EG Language School

You will find outstanding students at the Daechi-Dong office, however, and that may make up for the enormous load that you'll have to dole out to your students. You'll typically be required to teach reading, listening, and writing. You're responsible for grading all the essays, daily quizzes, and montly tests that your students complete. You mayl also have to create many of your own monthly tests. The real time-eater is that you'll have to compete with the other teachers for access to computers, where you will have to enter all the grades for all of your students as well as comments.

Bottomline, you will have to invest some time in this job, and you will be paperpusher instead of a teacher. You should definitely ask about the apartment conditions as well. You'll most likely have to share a dingy apartment, but that's not for sure. Make sure you find out before you move in. Furthermore, Mr. Jung's distaste for foreigners is well known. Yes, there are some horror stories out there. I haven't had any real problems, but one sees and hears many things. Anyway, there are better and worse jobs out there. Find out about salary, vacation time, class size, etc. Hope this helps...Oh, ask to talk to some other teachers at our school.

Best regards,

The fifth column

[Derrek]

[gi66y]

(Ignoring the director issue) This is one of the best schools as far as working conditions go; (last ad I saw) you start at 2.3 million, 3 weeks of holidays, working afternoons, and teaching some of the highest level students in Korea. Last I heard the waiting list for students to get into the school was over 400. That and you generally teach about 5 - 45 minute classes per day, which adds up to a little over 20 hours of actual teaching per week (of course this is when they're not in intensive sessions which they have twice a year).

I have worked for EG school (not Daechi) for two years and I really like the curriculum; it is (fairly) well structured with students studying a combination of reading, writing, and listening classes. The syllabus is laid out for you, so it requires little to no prep work. Or course you get hit with the extra marking, but I figure it's a reasonable trade off. That and the daily quizzes are already made up (you have make photocopies) and I find they are a nice way to break up the class. Last I heard most teachers marked them in class at Daechi.

I've met the director, but I don't know much about him except what I've heard. I know a couple of teachers who spent a year there, but they didn't have any "horror stories." They did say at times he was a little quirky and that he wasn't empathetic. For instance, if you didn't like your schedule it'd be tough luck. Oh housing, one had a pretty good shared apartment, but the other said his accomodation was pretty dingy. Find out as much as you can. The best thing to do would be to as to talk to teachers currently teaching at the school.

Overall, it sounds good to me as I've considered applying there myself, but I like my branch of EG, director, and students too much. I'm even planning on signing on for a third year, as my contract is up for renewal right away. Hard to believe I'd spend 3 years at the same school, but when you find a good situation it's tough to move on to a new school where you have to deal with the uncertainty.

[snowboarder4u]

anyone know the situation at kangdong campus? I will be working there in a couple of months.

[Bulsajo]

[Drakoi]