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emmuh
Joined: 26 Nov 2008
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 Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:26 pm Post subject: Positive experiences YBM ECC |
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Has any one has positive experience at YBM ECC Bundang? I would like a job in this area. Does anyone know any good reliable schools in bundang? I�ve searched for YBM and yes, have found many many negative reviews just trying to see if anyone�s had any positives.
Thankyou,
Emma |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Sorry, not me. Only bad. |
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emmuh
Joined: 26 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:22 pm Post subject: |
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| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| Sorry, not me. Only bad. |
Tell me what happened? was it at the bundang one?
do you know of any good schools in the area?? |
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maingman
Joined: 26 Jan 2008
Location: left Korea
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:37 pm Post subject: , |
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| noo |
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Chris_Dixon
Joined: 09 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:01 pm Post subject: |
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Remember that people only write about bad experiences, people hardly ever jump on and say wow my school...Also, take bad experiences with a grain of salt, my school is excellent, 12 foreign teachers, ive been here a few years and only one or two teachers have had problems....yet there are bad reviews about it from loser teachers who were at fault....
YBM have an ok curriculum, eg you will be given books to teach from that aren't bad. It is also a big chain and there is a smaller chance that you will get stuffed around than with a independent academy.
However i know nothing about this school....and i do stress 'smaller chance', i have read of people having trouble with YBM. Your best bet is to email a FT that works there and ask questions. |
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Ruraljuror
Joined: 08 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:29 pm Post subject: |
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I've worked for ECC. It's a good "starter school" to learn the ropes of teaching in Korea, as the management and parents mostly leave you alone. It's not a high-end hagwon with constant pressure.
It is probably a kindergarten hagwon though, as my ECC was, so you will have to figure out if you think you can teach kindy kids. It's fun, but much more difficult, and your day will be much longer since you will start teaching at 9:00, teach all day, then do afternoon/night classes when the kindies leave. Ask if they expect you to do kindies, but if they say no...well...they probably will need you to do kindies at some point during your contract. That's what happened to me anyway. Try to get it in writing you won't have to do kindies, unless your ECC pays enough overtime to make it worth your while to work a longer/harder day. Mine certainly did not. |
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emmuh
Joined: 26 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:10 pm Post subject: |
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| Chris_Dixon wrote: |
Remember that people only write about bad experiences, people hardly ever jump on and say wow my school...Also, take bad experiences with a grain of salt, my school is excellent, 12 foreign teachers, ive been here a few years and only one or two teachers have had problems....yet there are bad reviews about it from loser teachers who were at fault....
YBM have an ok curriculum, eg you will be given books to teach from that aren't bad. It is also a big chain and there is a smaller chance that you will get stuffed around than with a independent academy.
However i know nothing about this school....and i do stress 'smaller chance', i have read of people having trouble with YBM. Your best bet is to email a FT that works there and ask questions. |
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I am keeping an open mind. I've been looking at these boards since around... July and I do notice everyone posts the shit and not the good. I'm a journalist so lol, i'm use to it. Sadly, when I did a search on YBM I got so much bad crap coming up, I was hoping I'd get a positive from this thread.
Do you teach in Bundang? I really want to find a good school. My friend who is in Cheong-ju loves his school says its great to teach adults etc. However, I posted his contract here awhile ago and man it was nasty. 10% tax, 3 days holiday, contract to teach 'outside' or school classes (private lessons for students who wanted it and the school got $ and so did you) there was so much wrong with it. The biggest bit was that he didn't get pension or health insurance or whatever, well he 'did' but it was under the hagwons account and he is unlikely to be able to claim it back in the end. But at the moment he is happy has his house and gets paid on time, good students and a nice boss..and gets paid 2.5mil won before tax, which is all well and good... but yeah. I don't know if I should work there, and deal the the dodgyness of it or look around more.
Can you recommend any schools? |
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emmuh
Joined: 26 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Mon Feb 02, 2009 9:15 pm Post subject: |
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| Ruraljuror wrote: |
I've worked for ECC. It's a good "starter school" to learn the ropes of teaching in Korea, as the management and parents mostly leave you alone. It's not a high-end hagwon with constant pressure.
It is probably a kindergarten hagwon though, as my ECC was, so you will have to figure out if you think you can teach kindy kids. It's fun, but much more difficult, and your day will be much longer since you will start teaching at 9:00, teach all day, then do afternoon/night classes when the kindies leave. Ask if they expect you to do kindies, but if they say no...well...they probably will need you to do kindies at some point during your contract. That's what happened to me anyway. Try to get it in writing you won't have to do kindies, unless your ECC pays enough overtime to make it worth your while to work a longer/harder day. Mine certainly did not. |
Thanks for your reply. The HR man said I can arrange a time for him to call me to discuss the positions, and asking about the age group is on the very top of my list. I don't mind kinder kids, but I really want to teach an older group. But, it will be my first time in Korea and maybe YBM ECC is a good starting point, they seem really structured which is nice but a downer in some ways. I just want to find a school that people have had good experiences in! its wayyyyy more difficult than I expected! |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:19 am Post subject: |
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| emmuh wrote: |
| runthegauntlet wrote: |
| Sorry, not me. Only bad. |
Tell me what happened? was it at the bundang one?
do you know of any good schools in the area?? |
No, not at the Bundang one but my experience seems fairly run of the mill compared to friends in different ones around the country.
Typical MWF
Arrive 12:45, teach Kindy (which I specifically went to this school not to do, but anything I said was immediately ignored) at 1:15 for 40 minutes. Prep for the next hour (i.e., grade tests, quizzes, or diaries) until 3. Then 8 more classes in a row. In a row. There are five minute "breaks" in between classes but by the time you walk back to the office and grab books for the next class you barely have enough time to pee, much less eat or do anything else.
Typical TTh
Arrive around 3, start class at 4:30, teach 6 in a row.
In addition, I was grading 50-65 diaries a week. I was also making quizzes and tests for all my upper level middle school classes and doing about 100 report cards each month. I was also routinely asked to "check and run through" student's speeches or reports for their public school classes. Along with constant passive aggressive criticism and pessimism, etc. from the "boss."
And there are also the two or three "conferences" we had throughout the year where we had to prepare 10-15 minute "teaching" presentations. And two other Saturdays where we had to show up and be foreign so the Kindy parents could gawk and prod and see if we were indeed from another country.
They didn't pay the proper amount of pension; it varied between 50-65k each month when it should have been closer to 95k or so and the "10" days vacation included the weekend.  Yes, the weekend counts as two of your ten days. So about 6 working days of vacation for the whole year, most of those being one day off at a time. And you have only one sick day but it doesn't matter. You have to show up regardless because everyone has so many classes that there is absolutely no way anyone can cover yours.
But maybe I'm just focusing on the negative. I survived and most others I know have too. It's a bit indicative of the place, however, that six other native teachers I worked with there are all back in Korea or on their way and none are at ECC, myself included. I finished last September. |
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:29 am Post subject: |
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Oh, I forgot my favorite part. This isn't so much tied to ECC as it is to absolutely nutty parents, but nonetheless. It's a nice example of the Boss getting behind you and their promotion of sharing cultural ideals.
Huge American beef protests last year, right? So the fine folks in my city held their candle light vigils on the streets for a week or so and the students continually brought it up since I'm an American. I told them I've been eating beef weekly for close to twenty years as have most of the people I know. No mad cow disease. It's safe to eat, I told them.
The hellstorm that followed was hilarious. Parents from three different classes called up (or...it was claimed) and the boss pulled me into the room and gave me a ten minute spill about how we're going to kill everyone with our Mad Cow beef. I said I wouldn't talk about it anymore but was greatly looking forward to getting back to the States and having a T bone nightly for a month. Great stuff.
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runthegauntlet
Joined: 02 Dec 2007
Location: the southlands.
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| Posted: Tue Feb 03, 2009 6:32 am Post subject: |
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| Chris_Dixon wrote: |
However i know nothing about this school....and i do stress 'smaller chance', i have read of people having trouble with YBM. Your best bet is to email a FT that works there and ask questions. |
Good advice. I did this, got good reviews. Showed up and everything was nice for two months. Then, bam. Fired the director, fired the "boss", brought in the new folks and the stuff I posted above followed shortly after.
Nothing is really safe. Things can change overnight. It's a crapshoot. |
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