Korean Job Discussion Forums

em79 · Joined: 19 Mar 2010

Just wonder if anyone's got a perspective on ECC Gwangju?

I've got a CELTA and some teaching experience (not Korea), are the ECC schools super-restrictive with cirriculum etc?

what do you think is my best bet?...seem to be getting a lot of offers from these franchise schools - should i hold out for something different or is it a case of each one is different? seems to be a lot of negativity on here about them.....thanks

smoggy · Joined: 31 Jul 2009

I found the ECC books to be terrible and with lots of mistakes. You had to teach 25 mins. from the books, and then you could do something else. Many like to do word searches, but the head teacher did not like them. They don't seem to realize that it is a great way to learn vocabulary. I will never teach at an ECC again.

bcjinseoul · Joined: 13 Jan 2010 Location: Seoul, Korea

I worked at LCI Kid's club across the street 4 years ago...my first job and city in Korea. I remember those poor people had to work Saturdays. Most of the large chain hogwons suck, as do the ones that start before noon and have kindies. If you want to do a smaller town, consider a rural public school, where you might get 8-12 weeks vacation...or not. This place has changed quite a bit....

Hyeon Een · Joined: 24 Jun 2005

I met a couple of guys who worked at one of the gwangju branches once. I remember them saying "the good thing is that because we teach kindergarten classes in the morning we get to finish early, at 7.15 instead of 9!" they started at 9am. They thought a 10.5 work day was good haha. Only five hours on Saturday though.

I was working at an ECC in a different city at the time and worked 3.15 to 7.30 or 9 depending on the day. I liked my schedule much better.

freakyaye852 · Joined: 24 Feb 2010

smoggy · Joined: 31 Jul 2009

All of the foreigner teachers gave word searches the last couple of minutes as the students would not speak, even with speaking games. They just talked in Korean or ate their food. I tried to use all of the TEFL games, but they just sat there like lumps of clay. The other teachers used the puzzles to kill time. The students did not want to be there.