Korean Job Discussion Forums

[cj1976]

This isn't the first thread I've posted asking for opinions and/or experiences with different schools. I'm a newbie teacher, first time in korea so I'm trying to ensure I don't get screwed by my first employer. This school has been forwarded to me by my recruiter and after checking the Hogwan Blacklist http://www.geocities.com/hagwonblacklist/list.html, I noticed that other schools in the same franchise had bad reputations. Does anyone know anything about the Suwon school?

[Ya-ta Boy]

If possible, ask the recruiter for the e-mail address of someone who works there. That's the best way to get information about a school.

[cj1976]

Good idea Ya-Ta. I may have the chance to talk to one of the teachers on the phone. Can you advise what I should ask him about?

[ajuma]

First: Make sure that you talk to him when s/he's not at the school. You'll get more honest answers that way.

Ask about pay (on time?), hours, housing....does s/he really LIKE working at the school....how many other foreign teachers (if that is important to you), and anything else you have concerns about.

[davai!]

there are two. Is it the one near the Soccer Stadium? (O-Man Dong)

I would be amazed if that one is still in business!

the guy paid me, but I had to feel bad about it because that meant that the Korean teachers didn't get paid. They left at the rate of one per month, and there were only 5 of them. Most hadn't been paid in 3 mos.

The guy would take money out of my pay for the bills and then not pay them. Once, my gas got shut off after a night of partying and I had to go to school with no shower. uck!

The plane ticket was a nice mess, too. Explaining he would pay, he wanted me to make a res. for the ticket, so I did. only NW airlines requires a default credit card so I gave them mine. He never paid. Amazingly, with only 100 bucks in my account, they approved a 1300 dollar plane ticket, and I found out about this about 5 days after I got there.

You would think it was him that told me.... No. I went online and noticed a 1200 negative balance. When I asked him why he didn't pay like he said, he said, "I forgot."

The only reason I ever got anything out of the guy is because I'm a foot taller and I'm a big goon, so when I put my finger in his face and said, "You will pay my bills, TODAY, " he literally ran out the door and drove as fast as he could to the bank.

Bolted out of there after 4 mos. never imagining a return to Korea, but there I was 6 mos. later trying to negotiate a release... He took my offer of $300, but I insisted he meet me at immi to make sure it got done. After waiting for him for an hour at Seoul Immi, and then thru the lunch, then waiting for another 90 min. together, we found out the file had been moved to the new Suwon office. He said , "Let's go." I told him another time, and found a different job.... He never got his 300 bucks!

Anyway, it was really isolated with almost no foreigners around, but Yeongtongdong was really cool. (another Suwon neighborhood) Ended up there every Friday nite at "pool bar" at the University.

Good luck!

[frankly speaking]

There are many schools in that franchise that have a bad reputation, so I would be careful. I personally would not work for them. You are a new teacher and may not have a lot of experience with choosing a good curriculum, but I must say that there curriculum is absolute garbage. They use only their own materials; written by Koreans entirely. None of the dialogs and exercises emphasize natural spoken language. They mis understand common expressions (idioms). The majority of their style is based on translation, all explanation is given in Korean. They don't utilize a whole language approach. You would be better off with a school that uses a descent commercial text.

Again, my advice, in general, is to stay away from Chung Chul.