Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bourquetheman]

Well I've been at a public high school for 2 years now, and while the hours are fine the vacation time sucks. Two weeks a year is a joke, as in my first year it was 4 weeks but in the second year they said it was a mistake giving me four as they had to follow the Kyunggi-do board of education rules and that two weeks was the max. My class size has been around 33 and I teach 15 classes once a week. It would be better to see fewer classes more often in my opinion.

[jacl]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

[TheUrbanMyth]

Anyway how long have you been here? You should know that a hakwon that pays 2.55 is VERY unusual. The average hakwon wage for a month tends to be around 1.9 million to 2.1 million. On average a public school is a safer bet as your wages are paid by the government.

[jacl]

[jacl]

[Karabeara]

I tried something. Whenever I meet a Korean that speaks decent English, I ask them what it is that helped them learn it. I have now modified my lesson plans to teach what they say. One woman I know is an elementary school teacher. She said that she learned for free with the mormons (she is not mormon now, and never was). She said that they had lots of speaking drills, drills, drills. Practicing past tense sentences, present tense, future tense, and so on. They did not spend the time memorizing lots of vocabulary unless it was directly used in the lesson. They were encouraged to write down and learn the every-day vocabulary they encountered, and study that. Although I meet my classes just once a week, I feel I am having more of an effect because I spent no less than 3 weeks teaching past tense, then 3 weeks teaching future. In their Korean teacher english classes, they waste so much time memorizing (then forgetting) pages of vocabulary they never use. I just want them to speak basic sentences. Now I am making them string the past/present/future sentences together with conjunctions. We have a book that we must teach, but I just blew through that like the waste of time that it was, so I have time for MY lessons.

Although I only meet them once per week, I feel a great sense of accomplishment when my students catch themselves in the middle of saying I GO HOME and change it to I WENT HOME. It may sound stupid, but the fact that they actually recognize the correct tense, and even can use it correctly when they try, makes me feel good.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[jacl]

[sonshine20]

As a teacher (in the States), I sure wish there were some evidence that small class size improves learning. There is a small amount of research that supports small class sizes. There is about equal evidence that doesn't. Although common sense would tell you that it MUST help, the overall conclusion is that class size is overshadowed by other variables. The quality of instruction is one of those variables.

Honestly, folks, there is no end to a debate over whether hagwons or public schools are better. It's really okay for some folks to prefer one while others prefer another! It will be influenced by your personal experiences (good/bad hagwons & good/bad schools) and your own values and teaching style.

THAT'S OKAY!!!!!!!

[jacl]

Another variable would be what is being taught. In this case, we're talking about learning English. How often does a student get to speak English in a class of 20 or more where the native speaker/teacher gets to listen to the student's pronunciation and correct them?

[schwa]

jacl, give your head a shake. Youve been here a handful of months & youre all full of yourself how your 'repeat after me' is making some kind of huge difference. As if.

[jacl]

Oooh! Burn!