Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ruby_tuesday]

Has anyone worked at Gyeonggi English Village Paju as either a one day or regular program teacher? I'm not quite sure what the difference is in terms of work or the tasks/responsibilities, and the only information I can find on this board is by people who were "edutainers."

And yes, I've heard the "dancing monkey" bit and read that thread, but I'm still interested in hearing people's experiences.

[wylies99]

[ruby_tuesday]

[wylies99]

There's also pay problems and housing issues.

You can do better.

[DrunkenMaster]

Wylies99's avatar is annoying, but don't let that undermine what he's saying. People rarely come on here lauding the wonderful experiences they've had at these failed experiments in language acquisition, Paju included.

If it was good, you'd probably hear about it, and it would be more than one or two people saying so.

[cosmic charlie]

Well I can only speak for myself. I worked for a year at Paju as a regular one week program teacher and I had a great time. It was not perfect and it is not for everyone. I made great friends and it was my favorite place to teach in Korea.

[Milwaukiedave]

I haven't worked there, but I did visit with a group of my students two summers ago. One of the other native speaking teachers in my group was tripping because it was such a strange place. I can't recall the exact comment the teacher made, but it was pretty damn funny.

Here are some comments I wrote in an email two years ago to a family member:

"Friday we went to the English Village in Paju and it was kind of like Disneyland (in a sense it was like a built to look like a town), except each area was a different activity where the kids could learn English. When we got there, my group did an activity at a hospital (not real one of course) and then they had some free time to walk around and eat on their own. Pretty much all I had to do is make sure the groups got to their activities on time and play with them. We watched a "circus show" where they had some foreigners juggling and doing different things to teach the kids English, then we took them to the main activity they signed up for which was making a toy. So a few of us foreigners went to the bar (yes, they have a bar in an English Village. I only had a Coke though) and sat and relaxed. It was pretty hot, so the kids were playing in a big fountain. I had an empty water bottle so I decided to start filling it up and getting the kids wet (Ok, so when I am I not the instigator?) and the kids started splashing me. I got a little wet, but some of the kids were just soaked. It was pretty funny. "

[alpope23]

Hey all you haters who base your advice about EV on a couple of 1 day visits with your kindy class. Your bad advice about the place would work much better if you end it with I HAVE SPOKEN in bold and allcaps.
It lends an air of authority to your pronouncement that it lacks in the experience/knowledge area. So next time try something like. . .

Russians, grumble grumble, had to pay, grumble, had to watch our own kids, grumble grumble, expensive. I HAVE SPOKEN

Kinda like the man behind the curtain, except the man behind the curtain had SOME facts!

[wylies99]

[alpope23]

[alpope23]