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garykasparov
Joined: 27 May 2007
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 Posted: Sat May 10, 2008 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Tell them to check and see if they use GnB textbooks.
If they do, tell them to go elsewhere.
GnB textbooks are horrid. |
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antgonz
Joined: 30 Nov 2007
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 7:52 am Post subject: |
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| so I guess I should turn them down>? I got offered something in Miryang |
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ontheway
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Location: Somewhere under the rainbow...
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| Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2011 8:24 am Post subject: |
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| antgonz wrote: |
| so I guess I should turn them down>? I got offered something in Miryang |
The OP in this thread is 8 years old.
The most recent post before yours is 3 years old.
Was Miaryang even mentioned?
Talk to current and recent past teachers at the school you are considering. |
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cincynate
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Location: Jeju-do, South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 2:05 am Post subject: |
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I work at GnB and love it. While I agree the text books are pretty bad, so are the PS textbooks and 95% of the other english books I've seen floating around Korea. Don't generalize a hagwon because of one person's bad experience (except maybe Wunderland.. I've never heard anyone happy with that place).
Talk to former teachers. If the director isn't willing to put you in contact with them.. Red flag.
Good luck! |
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Bruce W Sims
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Illinois; USA
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 5:43 am Post subject: |
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| cincynate wrote: |
I work at GnB and love it. While I agree the text books are pretty bad, so are the PS textbooks and 95% of the other english books I've seen floating around Korea. Don't generalize a hagwon because of one person's bad experience (except maybe Wunderland.. I've never heard anyone happy with that place).
Talk to former teachers. If the director isn't willing to put you in contact with them.. Red flag.
Good luck! |
Do folks who come to Korea to teach ever bring their own materials? Are they allowed to? How flexible would a typical school be in letting a teacher use a selected approach (and its attendent materials) in a classroom? Thoughts?
Best Wishes,
Bruce |
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mohair_blues
Joined: 23 Aug 2010
Location: Bundang
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:30 am Post subject: |
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Really would love the western media to put a headlight on these kind of practices.
Someone with the authority should report this to the Korean government and tell them they will go to the media and shine a bright light on these type of things |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 7:41 pm Post subject: |
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| mohair_blues wrote: |
Really would love the western media to put a headlight on these kind of practices.
Someone with the authority should report this to the Korean government and tell them they will go to the media and shine a bright light on these type of things |
Why would the Western media even care? Why would someone in authority even care?
And the Western media (well at least one newspaper) has run a couple stories on English teachers in Korea...where is the outrage and bright lights? People back home by and large (unless they are family) simply can't relate. As for the media, next week they are focusing on a different story. |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:01 am Post subject: |
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If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is.
I know of a lot of teachers that leave within 6 months to 1 year. Most schools try to show power over their teachers just like they do with the Korean teachers. Very few schools treat teachers as we would expect to be treated. You either accept it and stay or don't accept it and move on. |
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Bruce W Sims
Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Illinois; USA
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:05 pm Post subject: |
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| sojusucks wrote: |
If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is.
I know of a lot of teachers that leave within 6 months to 1 year. Most schools try to show power over their teachers just like they do with the Korean teachers. Very few schools treat teachers as we would expect to be treated. You either accept it and stay or don't accept it and move on. |
Ok....but would you not want to be recognized as a trained, educated and experienced educator? Wouldn't you want to be treated as a professional?
I don't think anyone wants to be willfully abused or misused, right? Still, there seems to be an uncomfortably large number of situations where people are reporting not being treated as professionals. Thoughts?
Best Wishes,
Bruce |
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some waygug-in
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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Thoughts? There are far too many hagwons, some OK but many that are being run as "daycare" centers but being sold to parents as "schools".
Many Koreans get into the hagwon business as a kind of "get rich quick" scheme. They often have no real idea about how a school should be run and often care even less to find out.
Not all are bad, but the bad ones ruin things for a lot of people.
Be careful. |
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kscouse
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:01 pm Post subject: |
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Can somebody give me a little insight into GnB.
How much is tuttion?
What kind of schedules do they offer for the kids? MWF? TT?
How many hours a week do they study there?
Thanks |
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cincynate
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Location: Jeju-do, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I think GnB tuition is standard across the board, but not completely sure. My school charges 160,000 won/month, and the students get 2 classes with Korean teacher and 2 classes with native teacher per week. |
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cincynate
Joined: 07 Jul 2009
Location: Jeju-do, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 8:31 pm Post subject: |
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| So pretty cheap for daycare!! |
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northway
Joined: 05 Jul 2010
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| Posted: Tue Jul 05, 2011 10:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Bruce W Sims wrote: |
| cincynate wrote: |
I work at GnB and love it. While I agree the text books are pretty bad, so are the PS textbooks and 95% of the other english books I've seen floating around Korea. Don't generalize a hagwon because of one person's bad experience (except maybe Wunderland.. I've never heard anyone happy with that place).
Talk to former teachers. If the director isn't willing to put you in contact with them.. Red flag.
Good luck! |
Do folks who come to Korea to teach ever bring their own materials? Are they allowed to? How flexible would a typical school be in letting a teacher use a selected approach (and its attendent materials) in a classroom? Thoughts?
Best Wishes,
Bruce |
A lot of schools will allow (and encourage) you to produce your own materials. The problem is that you will still need to get through the book in the allotted time, and that time will often be rather rushed. You won't always have extra class time available for introducing supplementary materials. At the end of the day, Korean parents need to see those textbook pages filled in, even if their kids are three years old.
I should note that I'm speaking in general terms, not about GNB in particular.
Last edited by northway on Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:49 am; edited 1 time in total |
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shifty
Joined: 21 Jun 2004
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| Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2011 12:36 am Post subject: |
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| northway wrote: |
| A lot of schools will allow (and encourage) you to produce your own materials. The problem is that you will still need to get through the book in the allotted time, and that time will often be rather rushed. You won't always have extra class time available for introducing supplementary materials. At the end of the day, Korean parents need to see those textbook pages filled in, even if their kids are three years old. |
As above.
I worked for 2 GnB's. The one issued one book per 3 months and it was essential to develop loads of own material. In retrospect this school must have been a non-franchised school, though they did have perpetual checking of standards by the GnB inspectors.
The other one was a franchise. Here it was a race to get through a book a month. So in this instance you need only some top ten minute game to offer as a reward for zealous study.
Often you have to help the Korean teacher get through her monthly book/s. All the pressure is on the K teachers, whilst you can be relaxed and all charm. Basically you are there to correct pronunciation and satisfy the parents' demand for a round-eye to be on the scene.
Most often the Korean teachers' English is very poor. There was one teacher who I taught to say "I'm fine thanks, and you?" over a 6 month period. I'm not joking, though it is simplifying matters.
However she was a fairly good teacher. Her role was to cajole her students into following the GnB structures which are quite formidable. When the inspectors would make a turn she was anxious, as were all the K teachers. But not about her English ability, since the inspectors were only a nose ahead in this regard.
Some K teachers one could have a conversation with, even if at times halting. These teachers in their classes would every 20 minutes utter, "Only English spiek, plez!" And then immediately revert to Korean.
On occasion an ambitious K teacher would give speaking English only in class a shot. Well, it was really mangling the language and even I could hardly understand the desperate pronunciation.
So I conclude that nothing is lost them using Korean only to teach. All their energies are rightly directed to enforce the GnB system, which makes extensive use of technology.
On the issue of books. The old range is pretty bad but in the final analysis the errors in them make negligible difference to such low level students. The new lot of books is fantastic and in my view far better than say English Time of Let's Go.
The new books for upper level middle students are truly breathtaking. And the GnB powers that be, are prolific in their new stuff. Practically every month, there's new stuff. No errors, all wonderful. |
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