Korean Job Discussion Forums

[escapeartist]

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say that I appreciate people giving feedback to my questions. Anyhow, I'd like to teach older kids, maybe 12-17 year olds but I also want to start teaching in June or July so I'm thinking my best bet would be at a hogwan. Do hogwans' generally have older kids there or just little kids?

Cheers!

[escapeartist]

Hi, it's me again. I'm thinking of working at a public school but it seems that those jobs are more competitive. I only have a bachelor's degree and not very much teaching experience. i also would like to have a job lined up before going to Korea. From reading previous threads, it seems like most people who work at public schools have paid their dues already by working at hogwans. Is that a correct assumption?

Thanks!

[jinju]

[crazylemongirl]

[Ya-ta Boy]

I'm sitting around the office killing two hours before last class and then start the weekend, contemplating my navel. My navel is sending messages: find a similar situation a lot closer to Seoul.

1. Would I have to put up with EPIK to pull this off?

2. Anyone know which province education offices hire directly? (I mean the ones around Seoul.)

3. Anyone know any actual high school names that don't have a teacher?


(Someone mentioned they work in a 'small town of 300,000. I almost choked on my sandwich. That is a major city where I come from. Small to me, means a high school of a couple of hundred or smaller. Right now my high school has 116. I like that size. I know all of them.)

[jinju]

116? You must be out in the boonies. I would never again work outside of Seoul.

[UncleAlex]

The oldest student I ever had was a 96 year old grandma in Yoncheon
back in '95. She accompanied her much younger daughter during a house
wives class at my hagwon, but sometimes she would join in and try to pro-
nounce a word or two. Pronunciation took a lot of effort for this old lady
who had only her gums left for speech support.

[Poemer]

middle school kids go to hogwan too, to answer your question OP.

[Lemonade]

How are your (classroom) management skills? Imagine trying to control a room of over over 40 students who don't know English well or at all for that matter. It's quite a challenge! Many of them like to test you just to see your reaction. I'm teaching freshmen at a university and I'm quite certain it's a lot like public school. In some ways, the hogwon was easier simply because there aren't the number of students per class. If you are new to teaching, new to ESL, new to Korea and still relatively young I wouldn't think that starting out fresh in a public school would be the wisest decision. Not all hagwons are horror stories. It's just trying to find one with a "better than decent" boss/director/owner that's a nighmare in itself here in Korea.

[HapKi]

also consider motivation. children up to h.s. are going to a hagwon at the parents request, same as public school.
it is MUCH more rewarding for the teacher to teach students who want to be there. Thus, hagwons located around universities tend to have a much more motivated student body.

[stat]

it's hak-won. Or Hagwon if you like. there's no way on earth it'll ever be hogwan.

�� (hak) means education. �� (won) means center, or worker, or a variety of other crap.

but ��� (hogwan)? It's just not going to happen.

Don't be pissed off with me, I sound like a *beep* but I'm doing you a favor. If you ever refer to a hagwon as a hogwan, the person you're talking to is going to think you're a fucking idiot.

[Return Jones]

[Hater Depot]

My hagwon has mainly adult students as well as a decent number of middle and high school students. [We will have openings this summer.]

[ontheway]

stat where are you from? You have funny vowel sounds.

Hogwan.

a hag is an old woman. sounds like bag, gag, rag

The Korean sounds do not really match the English sounds for most native speakers.

I met a Canadian who wrote and said "hagwon". All the Koreans laughed at him.

[UncleAlex]

She was approaching 60, by the look of her.