Korean Job Discussion Forums

grandpa · Joined: 19 Oct 2009

I just started my contract at an elementary public school. I've come to realize that I prefer teaching adults.

If I end up deciding to teach adults, which is most likely a split shift job, how do I best acclimate my mangled body to handling such a schedule?

I doubt think the school will mind me suffocating some flies by closing my eyes.

VanIslander · Posted: Mon Nov 09, 2009 8:01 pm Post subject:

Don't do it grandpa!
Split shifts are HELL.
I know from personal experience,... recently.
Starting 8:30am at an elementary school and finishing midnight at a hagwon, my days were tiring in the extreme. After six energizing years teaching afternoons and early evenings in a hagwon setting I thought I could handle split shifts... well, one, two, three months into it I knew I couldn't and finally had to quit after five months (this September), take a month-long vacation in Thailand to recover, and now am in search of a wise job for me: afternoon and early evenings only, no mornings, no late nights and certainly NO split shifts!

UrbanStyle · Joined: 23 Jul 2009

I've never done split shifts, never plan on trying. I heard its hell - there are lots of hogwans out there with early afternoon/evening shifts only - go for one of those thats what I have and i love it.

asylum seeker · Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Location: On your computer screen.

Drink some zombie juice and shoot yourself in the head.

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

My first hogwan job was teaching adults. There are pluses, in that your students might take you out for beer and your elementary students probably won't, and it's (slightly) more intellectually interesting. But yes, I got up at 5:30, taught at 7-11 and then from 6-9 PM again.

I managed by taking Mexican-style siestas through the afternoon. I would only consider such a job if you don't have a long commute home. Half an hour to work added up to two hours a day on or waiting for the damn bus.

I eventually lost that job, though, partly because I was so tired that my teaching suffered. So consider your energy levels if you really are a grandpa, or close to one like me...

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

grandpa · Joined: 19 Oct 2009

Is it easy to find a job teaching adults in the afternoons/evenings in Seoul?

Also, any books on English I should study up on to get ready for the bombardment of grammatical questions from adults? I get them on occasion from the teachers at my public school, and sometimes I don't know the exact answer.

cashpiles · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Location: Busan, South Korea

I'll be starting a split-shift contract teaching adults.

What can I do to keep my energy up so that I can give my students quality?

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

grandpa · Joined: 19 Oct 2009

Moldy Rutabaga · Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea

I do not know any secret advice for keeping your energy levels up with split shifts. Some people just are able to divide their sleeping into halves of the day. Again, I would try not to have a job too far from your home, and to be the sort of person who can fall asleep easily! You also can't be the type who likes to go out boozing on weeknights. You just can't.

Older adult students will likely know their grammar. Find a good reference book, like Michael Swan's books. Read digestible Wikipedia entries about grammar points. Admit you don't know when you don't know, and then look it up. But adults are probably more interested in the "soft grammar" of English -- expressions, idioms, and appropriate vocabulary (e.g. levels of respect in conversation) than in diagramming sentences anyway. They've generally had their fill of that.

Even with those nettles, I'd still rather teach adults. I still have friends who were students from my hogwan days.

grandpa · Joined: 19 Oct 2009

djsmnc · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Dave's ESL Cafe

Split shifts put me on a womanizing cycle. It was: get up early, take a mid-day nap, do the second set of classes, then go out in the evening. Getting up in the morning was the worst part, but after a lot of coffee, the last morning class would be a breeze before lunch. I wouldn't call it a healthy cycle by any means, but it was easy to run errands midday and I had plenty of fun nighttime escapades. Good times!

halfmanhalfbiscuit · Joined: 13 Oct 2007 Location: Seoul

cdninkorea · Joined: 27 Jan 2006 Location: Seoul

Not all adult hagwons have split shifts. Wall Street Institute, for example, never does. I'm not sure about others but WSI can't be the only one.