Korean Job Discussion Forums

[esky1]

Teachers that are applying to Yes Youngdo English School.

Yes Youngdo is one of the worst school I have worked with. They have no respect for the teachers. Its their way or the high way. Please think twice before you apply to Youngdo.

[riley]

More information please. If you have a grudge, fair enough. But seriously, say more because otherwise most of us will write you off as a loser. If you had a problem, tell about it clearly so we can understand. If you can't, then maybe it isn't a problem. By the way, I do want the dirty details.

[esky1]

AVOID them like the PLAGUE. They are totally unprofessional and offer terrible service.

[riley]

Hey, keep your topic to one and again simply saying avoid them like the plague doesn't help us to know what the problem was.
Also, I, like others, am reading to be titilated by dirty details of bad hagwons, corrupt bosses, and foolish teachers. So spill already!

[riley]

Hey, keep your topic to one and again simply saying avoid them like the plague doesn't help us to know what the problem was.
Also, I, like others, am reading to be titilated by dirty details of bad hagwons, corrupt bosses, and foolish teachers. So spill already!

[esky1]

Riley,

You MUST be working for Youngdo.

Esky1

[riley]

Nope,
I did and didn't care much for my boss either when I was there. The point is..... if you ask me, I will give details of why. Then you can judge for yourself.

[mmstyle]

Riley,

Yes Youngdo is posting jobs again, so if you wouldn't mind spilling the beans, I'd appreciate it. PM if you want.

[Carole Anne]

I work for Yes and I haven't found a problem. I have been here for about 6 months. Yes they have a lot of work, but it is advertised as a professional school so I was expecting the workload. I have a fantastic apartment, loft style, great teachers that I work with, and have been paid everytime without fail. Most people who complain are angry because they feel like they aren't being heard by the managers. That's the case in most hagwons. I like that Youngdo isn't a franchise. They have a head office who passes the info down the line, so there are the same expectations for all the campuses.

Anyway, I just thought I would let you know where I stand with the company. I'm happy at the moment, and if asked I would probably sign on for another year. Goodluck with everything.

[periwinkle]

I worked for them in 2002. I thought it was a great school. Well-organized, etc. So what's up, OP?

[I_Am_Wrong]

yes yongdo (why do people who work there call it that anyways? Yes stands for Yongdo English School) is shady. Isn't every Korean employee a member of the same cult...I mean church?

They screwed over my friend that worked there. Terminated his contract early with no reason but then gave him a letter of reference. He used the letter of reference when he applied to new schools and, when new schools checked his reference, they bad mouthed him. I've also known some people who have spent 1 and even 2 happy years there, however, these people also ate at KFC and McDonalds for lunch everyday....

Yes isn't terribly bad, however, they are BIG into conformity. Talking to most of their teachers is like talking to a brainwashed zombie. If they screw you over, don't expect any of your friendly co-workin' waygookin chum(p)s to stand up for you.

[riley]

I worked there 3 years ago and like I said, the boss an asshole. He needed to dominate the teachers there and had some real control issues. The work load was heavy but at the time the place was professional and paid on time. This was a big difference from the previous job.
This was three years ago, so it is a little out of date. I would say that from my experience, there were better but there definitely were worse places.

[seoulsista]

I worked for Youngdo for all of 2005. I wrote a long post about it on another thread that anyone can search for and there are a number of others.

I don't want to repeat it all but in short :

1. Your experience will be entirely contingent on your schools individual director. Youngdo is corporately managed to an extent. However, in 2005 a number of new schools opened and these new schools were managed by "investors" who had put up the money and use the Youngdo structure. There are some great Youngdos like the one in Gangnam (from what I've heard) but the ones in Bundang are aweful places to work.

2. I was always paid on time. I recieved every penny I should have from them. However, other people I know didn't.

3. The incompetence was overwelming. So much so that head office wrongly filed a co-workers visa and even after repeated requests my boss never cleared the situation up and the teacher was then forced to take a visa run which the school then made him pay for. This is typical example of things that happened regularly there. Yes this is something true for most hagwons but Youngdo takes the prize.

4. The contract reads 10 days vacation, 5 in the summer, 5 in the winter. Some schools get the five days consecutively others broken up according to the director. Be sure to ask what your situation is. My boss scheduled 14 of us (at two separate schools - 80% of the staff) to miss going home for Christmas in order to work the 26th and then gave us four days off which commenced our contracts.

5. If you are an unamarried couple don't even bother. As far as the the Cho's (owners) are concerned you are living in sin and therefore you are not good enough to receive a decent size apartment but plenty good enough to be hired and put in a single room so they can save a buck.

These are just a few examples of things to be aware of.

[Christian]

My experience at Youngdo was horrible and I would not recommend working for this organization in the least. I was fired after two months of hard work for absolutely "no reason". They simple said that I asked too many 'literal' questions in my classes and not enough 'figurative' questions.

The Korean counsellors in the classes are domineering and after a few day intensive course at the Youngdo HQ they become experts on ESL teaching. They are equipped to have every insight into the world of teacher and with there two days of knowledge are eager to demonstrate how much they know and how little that you know. The Youngdo way is to essentially designed to belittle and dominate their teachers, while boosting the egos of the counsellors and directors. Female employees often break down into tears after having sessions with their counsellors. Male employees often feel broken and downtrodden, thinking that they aren't very good teachers.

The next point about Youngdo is that they do not trust their teachers. The Korean counsellors want to observe all your classes at least once or twice a month. While in your class they write down everything from the blackboard, and everything that you say that might not be in line with the Youngdo curriculum. They count the number of questions that you ask and break down the timings of each individual class. It's like your on a clock that it has to tick perfectly. For example, if you spend too much time on homework check up because the students need extra help then you're in trouble. If you spend too little time on reading because the children undertsood the story then you're in trouble.

The instrusiveness does not stop with the constant observation and critical feedback from the Korean counsellors. Since Youngdo inherently does not trust its teachers they have installed cameras in each classroom. So when your not being observed directly, you are being observed remotely on the camera.

You are constantly under direct pressure from the Korean counsellors, and the common talk in the teacher's lounge is to bad mouth the organization. Teachers often complain about the Korean counsellors and how they don't seem to care about the teachers. The Korean counsellors being shrewd ensure that your exposure to other teachers is limited. During your prep time they insist that you stay in your own classrooms and stay away from the common teachers lounge.

I have talked to many teachers in Korea, and the general reaction is disbelief. There are other schools in Korea that are less instrusive and allow you to teach.

As for my contract, Yes Youngdo still owes me over $2000. Since, I am not in Korea they will not respond to me. It seems that since I am no longer in Korea they believe that Korean law no longer applies.


The lure of the extra $100,000-$200,000 Won that Youngdo pays its teacher over the standard rate is not worth the pain that you'll have to endure while working at Youngdo. In short say, "NO to Youngdo."